Plus, in the early episodes Henry is openly hostile to the psychic detective idea. That seems inconsistent with lying to the Chief of Police so Shawn can continue.
In addition, there's a fair amount of evidence against Vick believing in Shawn's powers. Despite nominally believing all his information comes from psychic visions, she usually insists on evidence before acting or putting resources towards a theory. She has also witnessed him using deductive reasoning to solve a case without commenting.
In light of this, and what we know of the characters, it seems plausible that Henry simply laid the cards on the table- Shawn is a demonstrably brilliant detective, receiving a perfect score on the detectives exam. As Shawn refuses to join the police force, and has a criminal record, she can't use his skills unless she pretends that she buys the psychic routine. By this time she has seen him in action, and is less hostile towards his interference in the course of justice, and agrees. She then tells Shawn she believes him in order to retain plausible deniability if it all blows up in her face.
- Chances are, she asks for evidence because that's what they need to actually try the case. Yeah, Shawn may be right but that doesn't mean he can be used as evidence that a court will accept. A confession on the other hand or being caught in the act...
- A variation, but similar: Henry doesn't outright admit the truth (since doing so would put Vick in a position where she would have to act appropriately or else potentially face consequences if it came out she knowingly facilitated Shawn's lie), but he himself raises the issue of Plausible Deniability in a "do you really want me to answer that question?" fashion. He then makes pretty much the same case as above, perhaps throwing in a statement along the lines of "Say I hypothetically told you that his "powers" manifested when he was, say, eighteen...", but in a way that avoids having to put himself on the hook for giving a definitive yes-no answer and Vick on the hook for having the concrete knowledge this would give her.
- This Troper would love to see this written.
- Seconded
- Fake Psychics and Psychic Paper
- Shawn Spencer Saves the World starts ok, but remains unfinished because the author went and had a baby.
- Seconded
Shawn may not even realize he is psychic because of how well his father indoctrinated him. His mother left because, as a psychologist, she believed that a child should know the truth. Henry kept Shawn at a time when men rarely did because he seemed like the more stable parent; custody judges hate parents with 'non-traditional beliefs'.
- He probably has a low-level psychic ability that he just shrugs off as intuition. As above, it explains why he is drawn to key clues (the flash is just for audience benefit), and there are an awful lot of coincidences Shawn seems to stumble upon... Several episodes in each season don't just rely on Shawn seeing things others miss and his superior deductive reasoning, but occasionally going somewhere that the perp was or is at just the right time completely by accident.
- There may actually be more to this than one might think. In Right Turn or Left for Dead, Shawn daydreams during his concussion about what would have happened had he given Juliet a random cloth to cover with rather than his jacket. The next day's events play out completely differently, and while the "better" path may be mildly unbelievable with some of the things that go on, the clues that he picks up in the "better universe" help both break the case and give closure to it. These clues are VERY specific to this universe, as several things would not have been found if Elan had lived (as she did in the "real universe"), meaning Sean is able to literally divine from another universe/alternate reality clues to bring the story together.
- Shawn has also been able to pick up clues that were either on photos too small or too grainy to reveal what they were properly or has been able to pick out very tiny ones at distances that should have been too far away for him to notice (such as seeing about four flakes of dandruff from about thirty feet away).
- I can't help but laugh at the idea that of a Psych / World of Darkness crossover fanfic.
- Real police departments do use psychics, though. They're just rather less reliable than Shawn.
- There's at least three other times when someone besides Shawn purports to have psychic abilities and they seem to be telling the truth (Notably Ivana the Fortune Teller accurately guesses what Shawn is thinking in "Autopsy Turvy") so its entirely possible Psych is in a world where psychics exist its just that Shawn isn't one.
- Why else is she never around? Gus is supporting this pretence because he wants to see Jules and Shawn get together.
- As of "Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers," confirmed.
- Isn't Abigail in Africa?
- Abigail was in Uganda for 6 months.
- Actually, it was finalized in "Mr. Yin Presents" when Abigail knew that dating someone involved with the police would put her in a risky position. She wants to help third-world countries and can't do that if she's dead.
- Given how most No Fourth Wall characters act *cough* Deadpool *cough* this might explain why he acts the way he does. Given how lazy Shawn is, you'd think by now he would've given up the whole routine. He's established his credibility after all.
- Wasn't it established in the first episode that if anyone ever proved he WASN'T a psychic, he'd be charged with interfering in police affairs, regardless of results?
- Yes. In "The head, the tail, the whole damn episode" Lassie says to Henry something like "I'm telling you this as a father!"Henry: "What do you know about being a father?!"
- The Psychwrites twitter account said that that line was just a joke that didn't land.
- Implied by the picture at the end of 'Mr. Yin presents'
- Good idea, but compare Yang in the picture to the young Shawn. She looks too old, so no, they can't be dating. Smart idea though.
- Status: Jossed. She was a lonely woman who Shawn's mother allowed to take a picture with him, in a minute of spectacularly bad judgement.
- Umm... what Plot Holes? Please Elaborate.
- Status: Jossed. She is his daughter.
- Chief Vick also knows that Henry has been involved. To what extent, she isn't clear on, but it's possible that she knows that Shawn is simply going for help since he's stuck on a case. It also explains why nobody questions his process, where he goes, why he needs to see the crime scenes sometimes and other times he doesn't... It makes a lot of sense.
- To build on this, remember the Season 2 episode where Lassiter's car is stolen? They mention sound guns a few times. Remember that crappy Alliance gun in the Firefly episode "Ariel"? Looked like it used sound to me.
- Not only that but Carlton may himself be the descendant of Jim Lassiter from Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage as they not only share a surname but several characteristics as well.
- Jossed: Mr. Yin is Mr. Yang's father.
- More or less confirmed in the same episode that shows the actual arrest. One, Shawn isn't at all surprised when Henry shows up, and two, Shawn explicitly states that he'll never be able to join the police force now.
- Jossed. She's a complete unknown. The daughter and useful tool of a respected university professor who is the real serial killer.
Now, Winslow was possibly Jenny's married name, her maiden name would have been Winchester, or perhaps later generations of the family changed it from Winslow to Winchester. She likely had at least one brother to carry on the family name. Flash forward to 1983 and the Winchesters suffer the tragedy in Lawrence, Kansas which sets them on the road hunting evil. Clearly this is some sort of off-frequency echo of the past (hence why the mother is killed this time and the father and boys survive) or a wicked twist of fate.
- Which could mean that by WMG standards, Woody (the coroner) is actually Zachariah, since they're both played by Kurt Fuller. Zachariah could be posing as a coroner in order to get closer to something in Santa Barbara, possibly a vessel or ancient artifact.
- I love the idea of Zachariah as a coroner. Somehow it just fits.
- Or Woody just happens to be Zachariah's vessel, and he's oblivious to the fact that anything is off because he attributes his time with the angle to his drug addled loopy mind.
- Based on his apparently rough childhood and overly suspicious mother, Lassiter was raised to a be a hunter. He has all the expert gun training, obsessive behavior and sub-par social skills to fit the profile. He could have seen what the hunting life did to others and decided to go a little more mainstream with his sense of justice.
- Shawn's dad could have also been trying to raise him as a hunter, but not wanted to tell Shawn that monsters exist. He drilled him on survival skills, and got pretty extreme. It's true that Shawn has no real experience with guns, but his father could've decided that it wasn't worth trying to teach Shawn after a point, or that Shawn wouldn't be able to kill.
- Shawn was shown in the first episode to be an uncanny shot, so that's another point for this theory.
- Shawn's dad could have also been trying to raise him as a hunter, but not wanted to tell Shawn that monsters exist. He drilled him on survival skills, and got pretty extreme. It's true that Shawn has no real experience with guns, but his father could've decided that it wasn't worth trying to teach Shawn after a point, or that Shawn wouldn't be able to kill.
- A whole new level just got added to this WMG by the Supernatural episode "First Born" which stars Tim Osmond as Cain...as in ABLE and CAIN. this version of Cain is actually a good guy that got recruited by Lucifer in order to save his brother. It was apparently around the civil war era that Cain met a woman named Collette that convinced him to escape from hell and return to good. It could be that Lassiter's ancestor was Cain with a different name, and that his blood line comes from Cain and Collete, and we have a serious case of Identical Grandson
- Someone did almost exactly this, except Lassiter IS Cain and a hunter, and Karen had an affair with John Winchester and always knew about magic/psychics/hunters. Just read it. It's one of the best SN/Psych crossovers I've found: Shawn's Guide To The Real Supernatural
- Or prehaps he gets killed by hir.
- Status: Jossed.
I know you want them to, admit it.
I suspect that Madeline and Jack had an affair shortly after meeting each other and Henry knew all along because he is sterile, but he has never told anyone. Madeline has always suspected but doesn't know for sure. Jack has no idea.
Sounds insane doesn't it, but think for a second.
His first scene is beating Shawn in a movie trivia question and Mr. Yin was all about movies, his resume was a good enough forgery to fool Henry. He is the only confirmed person on the show so far to deduce that Shawn is not a psychic, and he went straight for Juliet. So what are the odds of another incredibly intelligent person just moving to Santa Barbra, go to the exact same coffee place as Shawn, get hired for the exact same case as Shawn, and go for the exact same girl? Declan is Yin, and is setting Shawn up for a major game sometime next season.
He also has an insane amount of cash which he could use to his own murderous gain (that makes since right? Murderous gain?)
OOH! Maybe when he was tying up Juliet to the tower he was attracted to her!
- "Draft us a couple cold ones and let's make a toast, to you falling head over heels for me." This is a clue to Juliet from Mr. Yin. Yes, it probably was referring to the trapdoor under her, but that doesn't rule out a double meaning. Also, how about Mr. Yin's last clue in "Mr. Yin Presents...", which starts out with "I'll drop by at half past four..." Declan first appears in the eight episode of a sixteen episode Season 5, which is halfway past the fourth season.
- Could be. The last scene in "Mr. Yin Presents" doesn't make sense, then. But then again, if it was my "sister" theory (like above), it would leave a few odd questions (like how Yin has a masculine build). Then again, wouldn't it make more sense for Juliet to break up with him and THEN have Declan try to kill both Shawn and Abigail? Then again, Yin did build the elaborate Hitchcock scenes, therefore, Yin has to have money.
- If Declan is Yin then him dating Juliet wasn't out of attraction, it was all part of the game so the break up wouldn't particularly matter, unless Declan was planning on kidnapping Juliet on their trip. Imagine if you would, Declan and Juliet go off on a trip that is planned for a week, but suddenly Declan shows up at the Psych offices by himself, completely panicked, saying Juliet has been kidnapped and the only clue was a note "Dear Shawn, The Game has begun - Yin", and through the entire episode Yin himself is watching Shawn try to save Juliet while trying to hide his feelings so Declan would not find out about their feelings for each other. Sounds like a Yin/Yang style plot to me. - Ryuplaneswalker
- This could still work! Juliet just derailed the whole thing, completely obliviously, by breaking it off before the trip.
- Yes, but Yin isn't stupid, so I would say in a few episodes say...around the time of the season finale *wink wink* he will have adapted his plan to Juliet and Shawn dating.
- OK, if Declan is Yin, the ending of "Mr. Yin Presents" just doesn't make sense, though.
- How so? If Declan is Yin then "Declan" doesn't really exist persay and was all just a persona made up to infiltrate/screw with Team Psych.
- Here's how: Yin is seen stroking a picture with what appears to be Yang and Shawn (both younger) in some sort of warehouse. The whole scene would make a bit more sense if the woman in the picture WAS Yin: Yang's identical twin. Unfortunately, the depiction of Yin with a muscular masculine build will be hard to write off as even Cast as a Mask. Still though, I think Declan WILL be involved somehow.
- Declan could just be Yang's younger brother, I don't recall anything about Yang having an identical twin.
- That was one of my WMGs, about Yin being a twin to Yang. But younger brother...that's a new one.
- Well, truth be told we know nothing of Yin, so anything is possible. The Photo was of Yang, and it was Yang monologuing during the last scene.
- Could be. The last scene in "Mr. Yin Presents" doesn't make sense, then. But then again, if it was my "sister" theory (like above), it would leave a few odd questions (like how Yin has a masculine build). Then again, wouldn't it make more sense for Juliet to break up with him and THEN have Declan try to kill both Shawn and Abigail? Then again, Yin did build the elaborate Hitchcock scenes, therefore, Yin has to have money.
Pretty self explanatory; the whole Yin/Yang thing has been applied to Shawn and Gus several times in the show and by the creators. Shawn himself said to Gus "I am the Yin to your Yang." Coincidentally, that quote comes from the last episode before the whole Mr. Yin and Mr. Yang thing started.
- As it turns out, the reference may be more about the relationship between Shawn and Henry.
1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;2. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others;6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations;7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another;
B) The individual is at least 18 years of age.C) There is evidence of Conduct Disorder with onset before age 15 years.D) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia or a Manic Episode.
Sound familiar? The only one of that list that is arguable is aggressiveness and physical violence. Note that the diagnostic requirement mentions only three. Out of the list, there's only one that Shawn hasn't really demonstrated. Additionally, Shawn's parenting seems like the sort of thing that would encourage the onset of this type of disorder, according to most research.
- No he has ADHD.
- Even if he didn't have ADHD, he has no history of Conduct Disorder.
- Debatable, Henry states in multiple episodes that Shawn was a troublemaker as a child; and in one episode Shawn worries (in typical Shawn fashion) that Gus's faily thinks Shawn was a bad influence on Gus.
- To support the ADHD he does show signs of hyper-focus which is fair common in people with certain types of ADHD
- I always thought it was more autism than ADHD. Mostly because Shawn is shown to not be a very social person and he seems to think in pictures.
- Shawn having ADHD is confirmed in episode 4x09 where he says "I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything but the gun. Could be my A.D.D. acting up."
- I agree. I’ve viewed him this way ever since he drugged and kidnapped his best friend, and completely dismissed Gus’s upset over it.
- bear with me on this Shawn forgets a lot of things so inside of having a photographic memory he has a very good memory.
- "Eidetic memory as observed in children is typified by the ability of an individual to study an image for approximately 30 seconds, and maintain a nearly perfect photographic memory of that image for a short time once it has been removed—indeed such eidetickers claim to "see" the image on the blank canvas as vividly and in as perfect detail as if it were still there. Much like any other memory, the intensity of the recall may be subject to several factors such as duration and frequency of exposure to the stimulus, conscious observation, relevance to the person, etc. This fact stands in contrast to the general misinterpretation of the term which assumes a constant and total recall of all events." Shawn forgetting events and things he's supposed to do doesn't mean he doesn't have an eidetic memory, just that he wasn't actively thinking about it when he needed to be. Him 'not remembering' things while solving a case is usually more just not seeing the relevance just then. Once he does, he recalls it perfectly.
This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while now, but the more it rolls around in my head, the more it makes sense. We know Lassiter's home life wasn't great, but we don't know much beyond that. We know he spent a lot of time at that Old West town with its proprietor, and considered him a father figure this suggests Lassiter and his father didn't have a great relationship...possibly because his father was never around. We also don't know what specifically led to Henry and Madeline's divorce, could it have been infidelity, or perhaps Lassiter was conceived before Henry and Madeline got together. If you look at Lassiter, he could very easily be Henry's son. He's an acerbic, workaholic, occasionally Jerkass cop who takes pride in his detective skills and his marksmanship and has an unflinching belief in the law. His marriage has fallen apart, just like his father. They both have a very keen interest in fishing. Also, even though he and Shawn are obviously unaware of this connection, Lassiter and Shawn have settled into a very natural sibling rivalry between one another. Also Henry's new job as department liaison would allow him to keep a closer eye on both his sons.
- Would also explain why despite having more in common with Henry on many of the aforementioned levels, Lassiter seems to think of Shawn and Henry as two sides of the same coin, and resents it to boot. Unconscious jealousy, perhaps, of the bond he (Lassiter) never got to have with Henry?
- Henry DOES seem to have a horrible way of attracting women who are unsuitable for one reason or another. It's outright stated in recent (as of 2013) episodes that Lassie's mother is a lesbian and has a partner, but in order for Lassie to have been born and be the age he is, she had to have slept with a man at some point. Probably multiple times, since Lassie states that his much younger sister Lauren was a surprise.
It's established at the end of the season 5 finale that she's innocent of all the murders (except Yin), and her personality fits in with the Psych world in a way even Despereaux's doesn't. Even if she stays in custody, she seems perfectly suited to being the Token Evil Teammate.
- Status: Jossed. Only one episode left in the season and she hasn't even appeared.
- Update: Yang will be returning for Season 7's Musical Episode
Meanwhile, Juliet's college flame Scottnote , who she agreed to meet at a train station in a year, will show up around the same time that she finds out Shawn's secret. She will rebound and leave with Scott, and Psych will go out with a dramatic Season Finale.
- Half Jossed; Juliet does find out, but no of the old flame.
- Confirmed. Sorta. In "Deez Nups," Lassiter brings along his old totally awesome best friend, Stumpy... who he hasn't seen or talked to in years, was never really his friend anyway, and is a total loser. He admits in a moment of surprising candor that he only asked Stumpy to come to his bachelor party because he was embarrassed at not having friends. To their credit, none of his real friends (Shawn, Gus, Henry, and Woody) tease him too much about it.
- Shawn is the one who tells people that, though. Gus yells at him to stop doing it at one point after someone asks him if he really is Bud.
Madeleine is rarely referenced and never seen in flashbacks because she was a workaholic. She let Shawn get away with anything out of guilt for not being around often, while Henry — despite having a stressful career as a cop and also working long hours — responded the opposite way: by suffocating Shawn with expectations, control, and pushing his own dreams on his son.
The parenting styles (Henry's borderline-though-not-intentionally-abusive Sink or Swim Mentor parenting style; Madeleine's hinted-at doting parenting) were so contradictory that it screwed with Shawn on a deeper level, though he mostly uses humour to cover for it.
As it becomes clearer that Shawn is in Santa Barbara for a while, Gus starts to relax, becomes less neurotic, finds fulfillment in Psych that his sales job fails to provide, and takes joy in things again. When he becomes more comfortable with Juliet, Henry and even Lassiter as companions, he comes out of his shell more and starts standing up for himself, taking initiative, and grows more comfortable with himself. In other words, as much trouble as Shawn causes for him, he and the excitement that Psych brings give Gus a reason to live.