Season 1, Episode 10
From the Earth to Starbucks
The episode begins with a flashback to 1987. Shawn, Gus, and Henry are at a grocery store. Shawn is buying some candy bars, but is short. He tries to get Gus to take his place, allegedly so he has time to decide which bar to leave behind. Gus refuses, since Shawn usually just takes whatever money he has left. Shawn reluctantly hands his items to the cashier, when suddenly lights flash, a siren blares, and a bell rings! Shawn is the 1 millionth customer of this chain, and has just won a ton of stuff! Shawn excitedly asks if he can use one of his gift certificates now, before throwing a bunch of check out line candy onto the belt.
It's twenty magical years later, Shawn's on a date. She seems nervous and ignores a call on her cellphone. Shawn asks if she just got out of a relationship. Shawn's date confides that she just broke up with her boyfriend yesterday because he was cheating on her after a month of odd behavior. Shawn tells her that her boyfriend is just going to propose, he was just being far too sneaky about it.
Shawn turns to leave, and spots a extremely drunk Lassiter sitting at another table. Lassiter rambles about how impressed he is with Shawn, how he's actually been separated from his wife for 2 years rather then 6 months, and how his arrest record has become so terrible that he just wants to be done. Shawn tries to cheer Lassiter up, but is cut off when Lassiter begins talking about this week's case. A astronomer has been found dead, and Lassiter thinks it was murder, but the coroner has declared the death to be due to natural causes. Shawn attempts to reassure Lassiter that he's going to solve this case.
Later at the station Shawn asks Lassiter if he's alright after the previous night's events, but Lassiter denies everything either not remembering what he said, or deeply in denial. Shawn walks away, and tells Gus that they will solve this case for free, and in a way that Lassiter will think he did it on his own. Gus is less then enthusiastic, so he leaves.
Shawn meets the victim's widow in the chief's office, telling her that his name is Lassiter. The victim, Bryant, and a old friend of his whom he recently partnered with, Hugo, had just been accepted to work with a new digital telescope at the space center. Bryant began working exceedingly long hours after two weeks, and after some prompting from Shawn, the victim's widow mentions that she suspected Bryant had been cheating on her, but that would have been totally out of character for him.
As Shawn escorts the victims wife out of the building, Juliet pulls him back to the chief's office, and demands a explanation. Shawn tells her that he's going to solve this case for Lassiter, and get him back on his feet. Juliet seems impressed, and declares herself "in".
At the Psych office, Shawn's troubled that Henry isn't answering his phone and Gus is still angry. Shawn tries to persuade Gus to help him by mentioning that the victim was found at the space center. When Gus asks why that fact would interest him Shawn mentions that he tails Gus, and knows that he goes to the space center on Thursdays. Gus is incensed that Shawn has been following him, and vows that since he now knows Shawn is following him he's going to leave him in the dust. Later, on "Not Thursday", Gus stealthily drives to the space center, only to find Shawn working at the reception desk.
Gus is reluctant to join Shawn's plan. Gus's job is to distract a janitor while Shawn grills the girl who works in the planetarium. Gus tells Shawn that he shouldn't grill Jessica, and Shawn realizes that Gus has a crush on her. Shawn wants to try and set Gus up, but Gus protests. Shawn ignores Gus and calls Jessica over. When Jessica says she has to run the planetarium show, Shawn volunteers to do it for her and runs off, leaving Gus and Jessica to talk alone.
Back at the department Juliet brings Lassiter the file on the murder, and tells him that she interviewed the victims wife. She says that the victim's wife suspected a affair, and Lassiter excitedly goes off to re-interview people.
Shawn bluffs his way, badly, through the planetarium show. Eventually he cranks up the effects to full power, and runs off to follow the creepy janitor, who he finds pilfering lockers. Shawn then finds Bryant's partner, Hugo, working on the telescope. Hugo asks Shawn for some help, and talks a bit about his work during which Shawn notices something about one of the logbooks. Hugo implies that he and Bryant were about to discover something big, and Hugo is still trying to verify it.
Shawn relays his talk with Hugo to Gus, mentioning that he thinks Hugo is hiding something. Gus shows Shawn Jessica's phone number, and Shawn seems pleased. Shawn then tells Gus that Juliet called, and has Bryant's phone records.
At the department, Lassiter is still beavering away at the case. Shawn and Gus steal in just as Lassiter leaves, and ask Juliet about the phone records. Only one weird thing has come up, a bunch of late night phone calls from Bryant's cell phone. Juliet remembers the first 6 numbers, and as she looks for the piece of paper with the rest of the number Shawn and Gus share a significant look. The number that Bryant was calling in the middle of the night was Jessica!
Later at the space center, Shawn recaps that Bryant was calling Jessica, and how odds are they were having a affair. Gus defends Jessica, saying that the death of a ex isn't something that you can casually mention, which is why she wasn't talking about it. Shawn concludes that while they have a new suspect, they don't have a motive, or method, so they should keep looking for clues. Shawn leads Gus deeper into the employee-only areas, but their progress is halted by a locked door. Suddenly the creepy janitor appears and helps them get into the telescope room. While the janitor jimmies open the door, he talks about how Bryant took the key when some small items went missing, including some mail. The mail implied that Bryant was thinking of dissolving his partnership with Hugo and moving on to more prestigious organizations. He also mentions that Hugo buys everyone who works with the telescope coffee. After the janitor gets the door open, Shawn finds the logbook he noticed earlier, and tells Gus that he noticed that a page had been torn out. Something happened between 8:39 and 10:42 on June 21st.
Shawn and Gus meet Jessica a little later, she asks Gus if they can move up their date a little. As Gus and Shawn leave the building, they pass Hugo who is carrying a heavy locked case supposedly stuffed with instrument readouts. Shawn offers to carry it, but Hugo declines. Shawn then tells Gus that Hugo's house is now empty.
At Hugo's house, Shawn is unsuccessful at getting inside, but he does notice some odd purple flowers growing in Hugo's vegetable garden. Shawn takes one to Henry to find out what it is and see why Henry hasn't been answering his phone. Henry's been spending time with a woman he met on the internet, upsetting Shawn, who drops the flower on Henry's porch before leaving.
Shawn tells Juliet about the missing log page. She slips Lassiter the information without him noticing.
Gus gets ready for his date at the Psych offices. Shawn wants Gus to wear a wire, but Gus is insistent that he doesn't want Shawn to follow him. Gus asks Jessica about her ex, and she talks about how she found out he was married, and wanted to call it off, but he wouldn't stop calling her. Gus is relieved. Jessica tells Gus that Hugo and Bryant's big discovery was a extra-solar planet. As Jessica finishes talking about how huge this discovery would be for a astronomer's career, Shawn pops up and declares that they don't suspect her anymore. This sours Jessica's mood, and she storms off declaring the date over.
Hugo is holding a press conference at the space center to announce his discovery, which happened at 9:55 on June 21st. Shawn tells Gus that this only counts as motive, but they still need a method. Shawn then gets a call from Henry, angry at the foxglove that Shawn left on his porch. Gus tells Shawn that foxglove contains a poison that makes a person killed by it look like they died from a heart attack.
Lassiter arrives and seems to have come to the right conclusions. Hugo killed Bryant when he found out that Bryant was planning to cut him out of the discovery. Shawn does some psychic stuff to point Lassiter at the foxglove, but Lassiter points out that something would have shown up by now unless Bryant had been poisoned very slowly. Shawn flashes to the coffee that Jessica's drinking, and the janitor telling him how Hugo brought everyone who worked with the telescope coffee. Shawn prompts Lassiter, and despite Gus blurting some things out before Lassiter, Lassiter eventually figures out that Hugo slipped to foxglove into Bryant's tea.
Later at the department, Lassiter, accepting praise from everyone after "solving" the case, pulls Shawn into the chief's office, and asks about what he said at to Shawn in the bar at the start of the episode. Shawn tells him, and Lassiter builds himself up a bit before heading outside to talk to the press.
At the bar Henry is drinking alone. Shawn walks up and ask him what happened to his date.
- Henry: Would you believe that I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Sit down.
Shawn: You buying?
Henry: You kidding?
Tropes in this episode:
- Drowning My Sorrows: Lassiter is in a slump and Shawn finds him at a bar, drunk and upset.
- In Vino Veritas: Drunk Lassiter not only confesses that, although he doesn't for a second believe Shawn's psychic schtick, he is astounded by his talents as a detective. He also confesses that he and his wife have been separated for two years and he's the one holding out hope.
- Master of Unlocking: Vernon, the Almighty Janitor, helps Shawn and Gus pick a lock. By rubbing a deadbolt with a pocket knife?
- Mistaken for Cheating: Shawn's would-be conquest in the opener thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her, bringing up examples of what she believes are evidence of infidelity, including a friend telling her of where they thought they saw him. He debunks all of them, including that there were no such places to pick up women where the boyfriend was claimed to be. Turns out the boyfriend wanted to propose but was just being too sneaky.
- Oh, Crap!: It doesn't help Lassiter to learn where he got the tip that helped him catch a serial killer. Doubles as one for Lassiter (I suck) and for Shawn (I just kicked a good man in the balls).Lassiter: You know, I used to be a good cop, seriously, stunning arrest record. I was one of the best in the departments. I caught... the Back Bay Killer.
Shawn: Yes you did, I remember it well!
Lassiter: Although, I had a tip.
Shawn: The blue sedan.
Lassiter: Yeah... [face]... it was you?
Shawn: [face] - Parent with New Paramour: Shawn is very upset to learn his dad is dating again.
- Romantic Wingman: Once Shawn realizes Gus has a crush on a planetarium employee, he builds up his friend and gets him to hang out with Jessica.
- Running Gag: This episode features the first use of Gus's most famous pickup line, "You heard about Pluto? That's messed up."
- Stalker without a Crush: Gus finds out that Shawn has been following him around and knows about his trips to the planetarium.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It's really hard for Shawn to deal with Lassiter at first. As Lassiter continues his drunken complaint, he continues to struggle, even as it becomes clear Lassiter really needs a friend.
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Throw It In!: Juliet holds her hand out as space-work while telling Shawn "this case isn't a case". Shawn gives her a high five. Maggie Lawson struggles not to lose her shit as James Roday Rodriguez gives a brat smile. - Umpteenth Customer: The cold open begins with young Shawn as the one millionth customer of a supermarket.
- What You Are in the Dark:
- In the episode's opening, Shawn couldn't take advantage of the girl's anger. He had to tell her the truth. Her boyfriend wasn't cheating, he was doing things the old-fashioned way and was getting ready to propose. Even better, Shawn starts having second thoughts as soon as he notices clues indicating she just got out of a relationship.
- Doubles as the premise of the entire episode. Shawn wants to help Lassiter get a win without Lassiter knowing he ever had any help. Without getting paid.
