Season 6, Episode 07
In For a Penny…
"I'm not embarrassed by you. Disappointed, but never embarrassed."
Directed by Mel Damski
Written by Todd Harthan
Juliet’s long-estranged father Frank O’Hara has come to Santa Barbara to see if he can reconnect with Juliet. Shawn tries to get them together, but he soon learns that Frank is a con artist who skipped out on most of Juliet’s childhood. However, Frank seems sincere about wanting to reform, and much to Juliet’s horror, Shawn invites him to help on a case. It seems a series of strange, well-thought-out and efficient robberies in the area are building up to a much bigger heist… and Frank’s past may be the only way to figure out what they’re up to. That is, if he’s not taking Shawn and Gus for a ride, too…Tropes:
- A MacGuffin Full of Money: The main things the thieves are looking to steal.
- The Atoner: Frank really does want to change for the better if it means being part of Juliet’s life again. Juliet is unimpressed, since he’s attempted this so many times over the years she’s pretty much stopped caring.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Half of Juliet’s dialogue is her chewing Frank out, or occasionally chewing Shawn out for bringing Frank back into her life. When she realizes that Frank planted the stolen penny on Chad, she gets so fed up with his behavior that she tells him that she doesn’t want him in her life anymore.
- Chekhov's Gun: The small heists the thieves pull in the beginning – stealing oxygen tanks, power tools, and construction equipment – turn out to be them gathering equipment for a couple much bigger heists.
- The Con: Frank intended to pull a heist, and reconnect with Juliet at the same time, pretending to help with the case to regain her trust.
- Con Man: Frank O’Hara is one, and he’s been one all his life. At this point, it’s practically a compulsion for him.
- Daddy Didn't Show: Juliet’s mother kicked Frank out of the house when Juliet was a child, and his involvement in Juliet’s life afterwards was just one long string of broken promises. Except it turns out, near the end, that Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You. Frank was secretly watching from afar because he didn’t want Juliet to resent her well-adjusted, supportive stepfather in favor of him.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: Zigzagged; Frank legitimately wants to reform if it’ll let him reconnect with Juliet, but his years as a con man and criminal mean that he can’t resist when an opportunity to pull another heist falls into his lap. He tries going for both, and it blows up in his face… until the very end.
- Metaphorgotten: Juliet is so furious that Shawn brought Frank back into her life, she claims he’s going to have to work his way back up to being in the doghouse. Shawn wonders where he is, initially considering the yard before deciding he’s at the dog pound, and Gus is in there with him.
- Nerdy Inhaler: Sheldon Gates has an asthma attack and pulls one out in horror when he realizes the coin has already been stolen.
- Not My Driver: A rare heroic example at the very end; Lassiter takes over the thieves’ van and drives them straight to the police station.
- Odd Friendship: Hardass cop Lassiter gets along surprisingly well with shlubby con man Frank, even after Juliet reveals what Frank is really like.
- Oh, Crap!: When Frank realizes Juliet has figured out he set up Chad, his face turns to an expression of horror that his plan has come crashing down around his ears.
- Rare Money: The 1943 bronze penny. Only 12 are known to exist, and it’s worth 2 million dollars.
- Safecracking: Jimmy Fitz is one of the best safe-crackers in the game, and breaking him out is a sign that the thieves are up to something big.
- Spies In a Van: Both the heroes and villains get in on this; the former during stakeouts, the latter during sneaky heists.
- White Mask of Doom: The thieves wear them to their heists, and dress all in black otherwise.
