Season 7, Episode 5
100 Clues
Shawn and Juliet are invited to a mysterious party at a mansion outside Santa Barbara. Juliet can't make it, due to a missing person case, so Shawn invites Gus, instead. It seems the party is being hosted by Billy Lipps, a former rockstar who was convicted of murdering his groupie, thanks to Shawn's evidence. Billy claims that his time in prison let him turn his life around, and he's invited Psych, Clizby (his cook and butler), Highway Harry (his band manager), Martin Kahn (who wrote Billy's biography), and Leslie Ann (a former groupie) for a celebration. Then the lights go out, and when they come back on, Highway Harry is dead. But who could have done it? Or maybe it's not just one person...
This is the series' Homage to Clue and thus essentially synonymously named.
Tropes:
- Absurd Phobia: Gus is terrified of toupees and wigs. Largely because his grandfather wore one, and he beat Gus for being afraid of it, which made it worse.
- Actor Allusion:
- The actors who play Martin Kahn (Christopher Lloyd), Highway Harry (Martin Mull) and Leslie Ann (Lesley Ann Warren) played Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet in Clue.
- Martin Kahn cries "great scott" at one point.
- Additionally, Martin's last name is likely a nod to actress Madeline Kahn, who played Mrs. White in Clue.
- Affectionate Parody: The episode as a whole is one for Clue.
- As Himself: Curt Smith turns up halfway through the episode, having been shot.
- Bookcase Passage: Several are scattered throughout the mansion; Shawn and Gus find one that leads into a room with multiple wigs and a mirror. One is said to lead to a hidden "chocolate room", but the one character who finds it promptly forgets where it was.
- The Butler Did It: An enforced example from the viewers on the East Coast, as they voted for the butler to be the killer in the 100th episode. In contrast, the West Coast viewers chose a different suspect to be the murderer.
- Butt-Monkey: Curt Smith. He's shot before he even makes it to the mansion, then gets mauled by Billy's panther.
- Casual Kink: Lassiter threatens to interrogate everyone. Billy replies that if anyone's to be bound and denied oxygen, some safe words might be in order.
- Closed Circle: Everyone is initially stuck in the mansion due to a combination of a massive thunderstorm, and Billy's pet panther broken loose outside. When Juliet and Lassiter show up, there's a dead body on their hands and nobody is allowed to leave now anyway.
- Dramatic Thunder: There's a massive thunderstorm going on outside.
- Homage: There's numerous shots and references to Clue throughout the episode.
-
Milestone Celebration: The one-hundredth episode of the series. - Multiple Endings: As befitting any Homage to Clue.
- Panthera Awesome: Billy has a large, extremely aggressive pet panther that's broken loose, and is roaming around the grounds, initially keeping anyone from leaving.
- Red Herring: Shawn initially believes that Rip is the killer, and is hiding somewhere in the mansion... until his body is found stuffed into the mansion's meat freezer.
- Running Gag: The doorbell for the mansion is shaped like a pineapple.
- The Teaser: We see the outcome of Psych's third case back in 2007, which got Billy thrown in prison.
- The Unintelligible: Highway Harry, who mumbles random phrases, and needs Billy to be his Translator Buddy.
