Season 6, Episode 14
Autopsy Turvy
"How's Elaine?" "We're separated... she cheated on me twelve times with ten men."
Directed by Jennifer Lynch
Written by Andy Berman and James Roday Rodriguez
Woody is at risk of losing his job when Grace Larsen, his old flame and a mortician, declares that a death that he ruled to be an accident seems to be a murder. Shawn and Gus try to find out what really happened, with the help of true crime enthusiast Whip Chatterly.
Tropes:
- Alone with the Psycho: Woody ends up alone with the murderer in the morgue.
- Autopsy Snack Time: Creepy Mortician Grace and The Coroner Woody feed each other strawberries and crème fraiche.
- Bookcase Passage: Whip Chatterly has one in his bookstore.
- Creepy Mortician: Grace Larsen certainly has her fair share of odd traits, and is also the murderer.
- Crime Reconstruction: Shawn makes Gus portray the victim when they head to the scene of the crime. Later, he portrays the victim himself.
- Dances and Balls: Shawn, Gus, and Whip go to an retro dance hall that the victim once gave out tickets to as a tip. Shawn even ropes in Henry for his dancing skills.
- Expospeak Gag: Whip, after Miss Ivana tells him that she sees death in his future.Whip Chatterly: I think maybe it's time I leave the residue of this deadly cryptogram to those far more equipped to decode it than I. What I'm trying to say is - I'm freaked out!
- Fake Russian: Invoked in universe by the psychic, Miss Ivana, who uses a fake Russian accent.
- Fan Boy: Whip Chatterly is a massive true crime fan, even running a bookstore that's entirely dedicated to it. He's also quite a fan of Psych and their work.
- Firing Day: Shawn and Gus try to solve the murder so that Woody doesn't lose his job.
- Geeky Turn-On: Woody and Grace each find the other's knowledge of autopsy science very attractive.
- Genre Savvy: Whip accurately guesses the exact injection site thanks to his extensive study of murder.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Grace Larsen’s real motivation for killing Bob White. She hasn’t been able to find work in criminal pathology since graduation, and has been stuck working as a mortician. Envious of Woody’s high-profile job, she decided to manipulate things so Woody would look like he’d screwed an autopsy up, and then swoop in to take his job.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Shawn's excuse for standing in a dark street is to tell Whip Chatterly that he and Gus are "pantomime artists from New Guinea developing a new routine."
- Late to the Punchline: Shawn doesn't get the response he was hoping for to "the dwarf was still at large." When Gus gets it a little bit later, he thinks it's hilarious.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The death of Bob White. It initially looks like he got drunk and passed out in front of a bus, since he had loads of alcohol in his system. However, it turns out he was allergic to alcohol, and someone killed him before dumping him in the path of the bus. Turns out to be even more meta than that, though, since someone made it look like someone was making it look like an accident.
- Marshmallow Hell: Done to Gus, although he seems to nearly suffocate.
- And to Henry, in the end tag.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The psychic proves herself by grabbing Shawn’s head and reading his thoughts. Shawn is legitimately shocked, and claims she’s the real deal. Later, it turns out some aspects of her character are put on for show, and Shawn calls her out for leading Bob on to thinking someone he had fallen for reciprocated his feelings, but that doesn’t change her initial reading of Shawn, or the Tarot Troubles seen below.
- Mistaken for Racist: An eyewitness questioned by Shawn and Gus is a white man who speaks with a very pronounced Thai accent. They accuse him of mocking Asians, but he explains that he was adopted by a Thai family and raised in Bangkok, so that "offensive accent" is how he actually speaks.
- Monster Fangirl: Whip Chatterly is quite a big fan of true crime, and admires murderers so much that Shawn and Gus find it a bit odd. Of course, this is exactly why Grace decided to frame him for Bob's murder.
- Never Suicide: It initially looks like Whip was the murderer, and he killed himself with a pistol in his car, desperate to become a part of history. Then, Woody discovers a little capsule full of incriminating evidence in the back of his throat. Meanwhile, Shawn learns Whip sent a voicemail as he was being killed, and hears the car door shut after he was shot.
- Old Shame: In-Universe, Penny was the bologna girl at House of Meats. She also used to do cam work. She regrets the former more than the latter.
- Phony Psychic: Sandy from the dance hall tells Shawn and Gus that she sent Bob to a psychic who she believed to be fake, who lied and told him that he would have a future with Penny, who he was in love with.
- Plot Allergy: The victim was allergic to alcohol, and was murdered by injecting alcohol into his bloodstream.
- Slipping a Mickey: Whip grumbles about having missed Bob’s murder, since he fell asleep when he almost never sleeps. Turns out the killer drugged his coffee.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: When Shawn, Gus, and Whip walk into the retros 40 dance hall, they all begin swaying in synch with the music.
- Tarot Troubles: Whip Chatterly draws the “Death” card when he, Shawn, and Gus visit a psychic. The psychic freaks out, and kicks them all out. Later, he’s found dead in his car.
- The World's Expert (on Getting Killed): Despite his in-depth knowledge of true crime, Whip Chatterly ends up dead.
- Working with the Ex: Woody and Grace, who were classmates and former lovers, are forced to work together when she's brought in as an Expert Consultant.
