Season 7, Episode 09
Juliet Wears the Pantsuit
"Oh, come on, Jules, at least tell me I'm better company than Kimberly... she's like Buffalo Bill with a red bow in her hair!"
Directed by Jennifer Lynch
Written by Brittany Hilgers
Shawn and Juliet have officially split up, and Shawn is moving out. While Shawn deals with the trials of having Coroner Woody as his new roommate in a trailer, Juliet looks for a new roommate of her own. Unfortunately, her first prospective roommate, a young woman named Kimberly, turns up murdered in a field outside town. Her second one, Laura, seems sweet and friendly, but starts acting very strange, mimicking Juliet’s look to an eerie degree before stealing most of her clothes and vanishing. Some investigating reveals that Laura actually goes by quite a few identities, and was Kimberly’s former roommate. Is she a criminal? Or is she desperately fleeing from something?...Tropes:
- Blinded by the Light: Juliet and Laynie shine flashlights in Patrick’s face at the end to blind him for a moment, opening him up for a brutal beatdown at Juliet’s hands.
- Blunt "Yes": Shawn asks if Gus would really rather host Rachael and Max at his house than him. Gus responds with this.
- Brick Joke: At the beginning of the episode, Juliet tries to throw out a tacky black shirt Shawn got her that says “FASHION!” in rhinestones across the front. Later on, Laura steals almost all of Juliet’s clothes… except for that one shirt.
- Coincidental Broadcast: After meeting up with Shawn and Gus at a bar, Laura sees the news of her roommate’s death on the TV, and she flees in horror before Juliet can ask her anything.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Juliet beats Patrick unconscious at the end, after baffling him by stepping out from behind Laynie (who was dressed as her) and shining a flashlight in his eyes.
- Face-Revealing Turn: Shawn and Gus approach Juliet from behind at a bar, only when she turns around, they’re shocked to see that it’s not Juliet – it’s Laura, who’s copying Juliet’s hair and look, which seriously creeps them both out.
- Faking the Dead: Laura ditches her jeep in a river at one point, faking her crash and her death.
- Fat Idiot: Dave, Laura and Kimberly’s fat, slovenly, drunken landlord.
- I Have Many Names: “Laura” also goes by “Wendy”, and half-a-dozen other names and fake IDs. Her real name is Laynie, and she adopted these names in an attempt to hide from her abusive husband.
- Metaphorically True: Woody claims to have a palatial beachfront property when Shawn offers to move in with him. Turns out it’s an Airstream trailer he parked down by the beach.
- Not Good with Rejection: Shawn spends much of the episode trying to get Juliet to take him back, though it’s Played for Laughs and it’s also that he just doesn’t want to get kicked out. Patrick takes a considerably darker attitude towards this, having tailed Laynie from Arkansas, stalking her and hellbent on getting her back.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: The main reason Shawn doesn’t move in with Henry again; he still hasn’t entirely gotten over walking in on his parents having sex a few episodes back.
- Psycho Ex-Boyfriend: Patrick, Laynie’s abusive estranged husband who trailed her from Arkansas. He’s so hellbent on getting her back that he kills Kimberly, and nearly runs Lassiter and Juliet off the road at one point. Worse, his father being in law enforcement meant that she couldn’t even get a restraining order against him, and she’s been running from him for quite some time.
- Roommate Drama: Juliet’s troubles with new roommates drive the main plot. Woody is generally too cheery and oblivious to realize that Shawn finds him an intensely obnoxious roommate.
- Slipping a Mickey: Woody gets fed a hallucinogen by a pair of women he met at a bar. They promptly steal his trailer while he’s stoned out of his gourd.
- Torment by Annoyance: After Laura’s Bikram Yoga instructor blows off Shawn and Gus, refusing to answer their questions, Shawn and Gus simply join the class and act as loud, obnoxious, and annoying as possible so the instructor will take time out from the class and answer their questions.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The episode appears to be a reference to Single White Female, before it's revealed to actually be Sleeping with the Enemy.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Woody actually likes the “FASHION!” shirt that Juliet is forced to wear after all her other clothes are stolen. This does not help Juliet’s opinion of the shirt.
- X Meets Y: Single White Female meets Sleeping with the Enemy.
