Season 8, Episode 06
1967: A Psych Odyssey
"So are you telling me this whole murder charade is about some crush that didn't pan out?!"
Directed by Kirsten Nelson
Written by Tim Meltreger and James Roday Rodriguez
After months of suffering under the obnoxious, bullying Trout, everyone is relieved that Chief Vick is back – but she’s only come back long enough to say goodbye. She’s taken another job as chief up north in the bay area. Saddened by the loss of their old friend, everyone bids her goodbye, but she’s also offering Juliet a job as head detective in her new department.Meanwhile, Lassiter is interested in becoming the new chief of police, but he botches the interview with Mayor Swagerty. Desperate to prove himself, he looks into a case that Swagerty was never satisfied by: the death of the mayor’s beloved uncle, Archie Baxter, who apparently died in 1967 in a DUI incident. Lassiter opens the old case back up, and Shawn volunteers to help find out who might have had it out for Baxter… in a case that was seemingly closed almost fifty years ago.Tropes:
- Bad Guy Bar: The Limelighter Lounge, owned by famous mobster Rodney Caruso.
- But You Were There, and You, and You: For the flashback scenes, each of the primary cast play the roles of the people involved with the case.
- Lassiter is Archie Baxter.
- Shawn is Rodney Caruso.
- Juliet is Scarlett Jones.
- Gus is Miles Velour.
- Woody is Police Chief Olson Watt.
- Henry is Coroner Dr. Dick Miller.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Caruso hates Miles Velour’s music, and one might expect the mobster to kill him after Miles loses a lot of his money gambling – except Miles’ music is the biggest reason people come to the Limelighter Lounge (alongside his girlfriend Scarlett loving Miles' music (and Miles himself, unbeknownst to him)), and Caruso knows it, so he forces him to work the debt off instead.
- Can't Stop the Signal: While Baxter died before he could gather any truly damning evidence, what he did gather was enough for the police chief to call in Federal agents who cleaned a great deal of organized crime out of Santa Barbara for good.
- A Deadly Affair: Archie's murder ultimately boils down to a type 6 version of this, as since Rodney would almost certainly kill Miles and herself for the affair, Scarlett bumped off Archie to keep things quiet.
- Dirty Cop: It is believed Chief Olson Watt was on the take. In reality, he was not, and the reason he never investigated Rodney Caruso was because the FBI put a gag order on him.
- The Gambling Addict: Miles Velour had a love of the cards. He was also a person Rodney Caruso entrusted to hold onto his money. No points for guessing how that ended up going.
- Group Hug: Shawn, Gus, Juliet, and Lassiter give one to Vick after she announces she’s leaving.
- Guilt-Induced Nightmare: After Lassiter jumps to conclusions and blames Miles for Baxter’s death – only to learn he couldn’t have done it, due to being in prison several states away – Lassiter has a nightmare about Baxter’s ghost demanding Lassiter avenge his death.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Mayor Swagerty is convinced that Baxter, who apparently died driving while drunk, was set up, since he was a teetotaler. He’s right.
- Mrs. Robinson: Scarlett Jones, Caruso’s former girlfriend, apparently sees herself as this when she ends Lassiter’s interrogation of her by flirting with him. He’s clearly uncomfortable enough with the situation to end the discussion in a hurry.
- Pillow Pistol: Of course Lassiter keeps a gun under his pillow.
- Pyrrhic Victory: By the end, Lassiter has finally become chief of police, but the mayor has attached a lot of strings. While Lassiter wants Juliet to be head detective, the mayor is pushing a total stranger named Betsy Brannigan. Juliet leaves the department to work with Chief Vick up north, so she won’t stand in Lassiter’s way.
- Posthumous Character: Half the characters being investigated are dead, as the crime occurred in 1967. Archie Baxter especially, for obvious reasons.
- Running Gag: Everyone but Henry and Vick steals (or tries to steal) something small over the course of the episode.
- Slipping a Mickey: Downplayed; Scarlett Jones killed Archie by drugging him enough to get him sleepy and confused while driving, then ran him off the road.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Miles was put in charge of handling Caruso’s money a few times… but he liked to gamble. At one point, he lost enough that Caruso forced him to work the debt off by doing a few unspecified “jobs” for him.
- Younger Than They Look: Implied with Henry; Lassiter originally invites him to help with the case, but an annoyed Henry points out he’s not quite that old and wasn’t even on the force in 1967.
