Season 8, Episode 5
COG Blocked
"I have a standing shotgun in this vehicle, and everyone knows it!"
Directed by Brad Turner
Written by Carlos Jacott
Shawn discovers that Henry's been paying for his motorcycle insurance since he returned to Santa Barbara, and realizes he's largely been leeching off everyone else in his life. Genuinely abashed, he starts to look for legitimate work. Meanwhile, he sucks Gus into yet another case, this one involving the apparent suicide of a man named John Russell. Gus is unnerved to discover that Russell's life mirrors his own, and flatly denies he killed himself, despite even Shawn admitting it looks like a standard suicide. Gus takes the lead on the case, looking over what happened to Russell, and soon discovers his connections to a shady Russian nightclub, a mysterious private eye named Angela, and potentially dangerous co-workers.Tropes:
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: While Shawn and Em are arguing over who gets to call shotgun, someone takes a shot at them, hitting the Blueberry and causing everyone to yell "SHOTGUN!".
- Badass Bystander: The trope is referenced when Lassiter mentions Posthumous Character Pony Wayne White was shot to death when he tried to hold up a shooting range, a location that is always full of armed and well-trained marksman. Lassiter views White's death as a perfect example of being Too Dumb to Live.
- Berserk Button: Gus takes any comment made at the expense of John Russell incredibly seriously.
- Blunt "Yes": Gus' reply to a worried Shawn asking if Gus sees him as a leech.
- Call-Back: Among the things Gus and John have in common, the latter likes tap-dancing, Harry Potter, and even finds it messed up that Pluto is no longer considered a planet (all of which were brought up in past episodes).
- Character Development: By the end, Gus has quit his day job after years of abuse, and Shawn is legitimately looking for full-time work.
- Heel Realization: Shawn realizes that he's spent the last several years largely leeching off Gus, Henry, and Juliet, and vows to find full-time work.
- Identical Stranger: John Russell seems to be this to Gus, to an uncanny degree: An unappreciated, low-level "cog" for an insurance company whose homes share a similar earth-tone aesthetic, identical carpeting, tap shoes, a photo from Pottercon, and a 6th-place bowling trophy. A couple people even initially mistake them for one another.
- Insurance Fraud: The head of John's insurance company had come up with a scam to pay out people's life insurance policies while they were still alive in exchange for getting the money back at a high interest rate. John stumbled across the scheme when one of them died for real, and the head of the company silenced him.
- Killed Off for Real: After 8 Seasons worth of abuse, the Blueberry gets T-Boned and is torn in half by the killers vehicle.
- Never Suicide: Once again, an apparent suicide is slowly revealed to be a well-disguised murder.
- Psychological Projection: Gus does this to John Russell a lot.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite wanting to stay out of the case at first, Lassie starts to get more involved as Shawn comes up with proof that John Russell did not kill himself.
- Running Gag:
- Gus referring to himself as John Russell.
- Shawn spends the whole episode trying to get a job.
- Shawn and Em's rivalry over who gets to call shotgun.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After witnessing someone get pushed off a balcony at Putin on the Ritz, Gus and Em end their date early.
- Stupid Crooks: Pony Wayne White died when he was shot to death during a robbery. What was he robbing? A shooting range!
- Swapped Roles: Gus becomes the more impulsive and is willing to break the rules to find Russell's killer, while Shawn becomes more cautious, concerned, and acts as the voice of reason.
