Season 7, Episode 02
Juliet Takes a Luvvah
"I'm sorry, Mike, this is my ex-boyfriend. He's a little unbalanced, and very immature."
Directed by Andy Berman
Written by Andy Berman
Shawn moves in with Henry to help him recuperate after his gunshot wound in the previous episode, and his mother Madeleine is moving in to help as well. As Henry and Madeleine start getting close and reconnecting again, Gus meets a beautiful, smart, talented young woman named Rachael on the dating site SoulMateConnection.com. The two of them hit it off incredibly well, but Shawn is suspicious of her. Shawn then stumbles onto Juliet’s latest case: a killer who’s targeting women on the same dating site. Both women dated a cross-section of six men, and Juliet is looking to see which of them might be responsible. Between moving back in with his parents in his 30s, his best friend finding an actual steady Love Interest, and Juliet “dating” several men in rapid succession, Shawn’s feeling deeply insecure… but the case, and Juliet’s safety, must come first as Psych dives into the world of online dating.Tropes:
- Affectionate Nickname: Madeleine still calls Shawn "Goose", and Gus calls Rachael "Boo".
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Madeleine can't stop herself from trying to buy clothes for Shawn while he’s working on a case with his girlfriend.
- The Bait: Juliet goes on dates with the six men from the site that both victims dated, wearing a Hidden Wire while McNab and Lassiter quietly watch nearby.
- Catfishing: Shawn believes the internet is full of liars and catfish-types, but only actually finds one in several profiles on the dating site. However, he turns out to be the killer.
- Cuteness Proximity: Shawn and Juliet are in full agreement about the adorability of pugs.
- Dating Service Disaster: Someone seems to be targeting women on the website for murder. That said, the worst actual date Juliet goes on is with a slightly awkward-looking fellow with an odd passion for seahorses. It goes downhill in a hurry when he turns out to be the killer.
- Entitled to Have You: The real killer is a Straw Misogynist who sets up a profile of a “perfect” man on the website, then kills women after they make an excuse for not being interested in him and fall for his flawless alter ego.
- Fake-Out Make-Out: Shawn and Lassie have to embrace and pretend to be romantic to keep from blowing Juliet's cover.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Between Juliet dating several men in quick succession, Gus getting a terrific (and long-lasting) girlfriend, and himself moving back in with his parents, Shawn’s feeling deeply insecure for most of the episode.
- Idiot Ball: Shawn figures out that the profile on a dating website is using photoshopped pictures of a catalogue model. Somehow all the main characters think that must mean that the model himself owns the profile instead of the much more likely scenario that someone used his widely available pictures to make a fake one.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Shawn walks in on his parents. It scars him.
- It Makes Sense in Context: After one of Juliet’s "dates" comes up as being probably-not-the-killer, Shawn comes back home grumbling about how nobody tried to kill Juliet, but at least he got some action from Lassiter.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Shawn walks in on Henry and Madeleine having sex in their bedroom, and is deeply disturbed at the sight. Gus and Juliet are very sympathetic.
- Poor Communication Kills: Shawn nearly screws up Juliet’s “date” by discovering her online profile and confronting her at the restaurant before she can tell him about the assignment. Later, Gus nearly does the same thing after Shawn fails to tell him.
- Satellite Love Interest: Rachael apparently has an active life outside of Psych; she's smart, beautiful, and confident, and she and Gus fall head-over-heels for each other. However, she doesn't actually get involved with Psych’s cases even after she becomes Gus’ only long-term love interest in the show proper.
- Undercover as Lovers: Shawn deliberately invokes this after he and Lassiter nearly get caught spying on Juliet and her date; he pretends to be making out with a deeply-annoyed Lassiter to fool the latter.
- Unwanted Assistance: Henry initially really doesn’t want Shawn helping him recover, but is more amenable to Madeleine’s aid.
- What Does She See in Him?: One of Juliet's dates – a handsome, wealthy, intelligent man – doesn’t understand why she’s more interested in Shawn. It doesn’t help that Shawn was acting like more of a Manchild than usual when they met.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Once again, Shawn’s motorcycle is nowhere to be seen when he needs a ride.
