Season 7, Episode 08
Right Turn or Left for Dead
"Make a right." "Make a left."
Directed by David Crabtree
Written by Carlos Jacott
At the end of the previous episode, Juliet discovered Shawn has been a fraud the entire time, and has split up with him out of disgust at his dishonesty. During a murder investigation of several men involved with a Swedish immigrant named Elin—who was apparently badly injured by a masked man—Shawn finds himself ruminating on the events of the case, but his mind also starts delving into what might have happened if he hadn’t given Juliet his jacket, and hence, had her discover a pair of tickets inside that led her to finding the truth...Tropes:
- Alternate Timeline: Much of the episode follows the same case in two different timelines: the real one where Shawn gave his coat to Juliet, she found out the truth, and broke up with him, and a false one made up by Shawn's concussion-fueled imagination where none of that happened and they're still together. More directly relevant to the case, Shawn stayed at Gus' place that night, his cab driver almost ran into the badly-wounded Elin on the way, and took both of them to the hospital - none of which happened in the false timeline, where Elin was found dead the next morning.
- A Tankard of Moose Urine: Shawn and Gus endure a truly vile drink at a bar for Swedish expatriates at one point.
- Chekhov's Gag: Near the beginning of the episode, Shawn becomes mildly obsessed with Elin’s shoes, and decides he wants a pair. Much later, the masked killer shows up, but Shawn realizes it’s Elin, wearing the same shoes.
- Color Wash: the “real” timeline has much gloomier, dimmer colors than the brighter and cheerier “false” timeline. This allows the viewer to keep track of which is which, and is also indicative of Shawn’s mood.
- Concussions Get You High: Downplayed. Shawn suffers a concussion when his cab driver slams on the brakes in the real timeline. He’s somewhat loopier than usual afterwards, and his temporary difficulty separating his imagined timeline from the real one is implied to be a result of it.
- Fake Better Alternate Timeline: In this episode, Shawn imagines how things might have turned out if he'd managed to continue hiding his lack of psychic abilities from Jules. At first, the alternate timeline seems better, as he and Jules remain together, but he fails to prevent a crime that occurred in the real timeline, and in the altered timeline, his attempts to keep his secret from Jules have unexpected consequences for everyone around them.
- Freudian Excuse: Elin herself is the killer; she has severe daddy issues – bad enough to get her institutionalized - because her real father left the family and her mother left her in the care of her abusive and vicious stepfather, moved to Santa Barbara, and died in a car crash. She kills men who remind her of said stepfather, as well as her psychiatrist from Sweden and one fellow who found out about the whole thing. However, one of them fought back enough that she bled out after killing him in the false timeline, and was badly injured in the real one.
- Gentleman Snarker: Elin’s employer is a female version, a slightly obnoxious and wealthy woman with a sarcastic attitude.
- Hope Spot: At the very end, Shawn sees Juliet come into the Psych office and forgive him for lying to her… before it turns out it was All Just a Dream, and the real Juliet comes into the Psych office to tell him she’s breaking up with him and he has to move out.
- Innocently Insensitive: Shawn is rather rude towards Elin while questioning her about her multiple boyfriends, but is apologetic about it afterwards, admitting it was out of line.
- In Spite of a Nail: Even though the two possible realities' investigations follow the leads in a completely different sequence, the end result is the same: Shawn solves the case in a flash of insight at the exact same time in both realities.
- Just a Flesh Wound: Shawn is deeply stabbed in the shoulder by the killer at one point, but aside from wincing in pain several times, he doesn’t seem to register it for the rest of the episode.
- Odd Friendship: Surprisingly, it turns out Henry is still friends with Lloyd, despite all the trouble Lloyd got them into a few episodes prior.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Happens in-story when Shawn and Gus try to mimic a Swedish accent to get information out of a bartender at a bar for Swedish expatriates. Shawn’s accent slips into an Irish one at one point.
- Plot Allergy: Gus turns out to be allergic to gold dust. He eats a lot of biscotti with edible gold dust inside in the false timeline, and suffers a serious allergic reaction. Shawn warns him in time in the “real” timeline.
- Precious Puppy: “Lassiter Junior”, a basset hound puppy that Shawn gets Lassie for a wedding present in the false timeline. In the real one, Shawn was at the hospital all night and never picked him up from the shelter.
- Rule of Funny: Shawn and Gus pretend to be Swedish, using hilariously awful fake accents (while talking a character who is actually Swedish) and he actually buys it.
- Split Timelines Plot: Shawn giving Juliet his coat—which led to her finding a concert ticket in his jacket, which led to her figuring out he wasn't a psychic—is the single action which led to her breaking up with him. This episode plays out reality simultaneously with an alternate timeline where she's not given his coat, leading to two very different investigations and stories.
- Red Herring: Anders, Elin's psychologist, who she calls her crazy ex.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Subverted. Anders isn't based on Anders Brevik, the misogynist whose murder spree had recently been in the news.
- They Have the Scent!: Lassiter Junior manages to track down one of the victims’ bodies in the false timeline.
