Psych: Viagra Falls

The Santa Barbara Police Department’s former police chief, Herb Wilkins, is found shot to death down by the waterfront. Two legendary SBPD veterans, Peters (William Devane) and Boone (Carl Weathers), who are essentially a more curmudgeonly version of Shawn and Gus, come roaring up to the crime scene in their lime-green Cadillac, anxious to investigate their old boss’s murder. Gus and Shawn sulk and moan and complain about having to share the investigation with the pair of old duffers.

From questioning the owner of a waterfront churro stand, Shawn and Gus discover Herb had been spending a lot of time with a young redhead who works at a nearby gift store. Shawn and Gus, plus Boone and Peters, search Herb’s locker down at the aquatic center and discover a duffle bag filled with cocaine. Juliet notes that Herb withdrew fifty grand in cash a couple days before his murder. Evidence points to a drug-related hit, though Boone and Peters refuse to believe their former boss could have been mixed up in anything dirty.

(In some episodes, Psych is less successful at making Vancouver look like Santa Barbara than in others. Just look at that proud Canadian flag flapping in the breeze behind Boone and Peters.)

Back at the station, Shawn observes Peters and Boone swiping a matchbook for a hip nightclub named Dollhouse from the pile of evidence related to Herb’s murder. Peters and Boone chat up one of the club dancers and discover Herb used to go there regularly with a red-haired dancer named Sarah Lynne -- the same girl who works at the gift shop on the waterfront, who has been missing for the past few days. Per Juliet, fingerprints on the drugs found in Herb’s locker belong to Dollhouse's owner, a shady character named Otto.

The guys break into Otto’s office. Otto catches them in the act. When Boone pulls his gun, Otto makes a break for it. As Shawn and Gus chase after him, shots are fired… and Otto turns up dead, apparently shot by whoever killed Herb.

Chief Vick bawls out Shawn, Gus, Peters and Boone for mucking up her investigation and kicks them all off the case. Undeterred, the guys find Sarah Lynne’s home address from her job application, which Boone swiped from Otto’s office. They head over to her house and talk with her roommate, who confesses that both she and Sarah Lynne worked as drug mules for Otto and an unknown dealer, using the gift shop on the waterfront as a drop point. She claims Sarah Lynne has gone on the run; Shawn discovers she’s been hiding in Herb’s house.

When Shawn, Gus, Peters and Boone arrive at Herb’s, Sarah Lynne refuses to let them inside, claiming she doesn’t want to get anyone else killed. Herb tried to help her leave her life of crime -- he’d withdrawn the fifty grand to get her out of debt -- and ended up getting murdered by Otto and the drug dealer.

The dealer, a local locksmith whom Peters and Boone had seen at the docks immediately after Herb’s body was discovered, is currently hiding inside Herb’s house, holding Sarah Lynne at gunpoint. Gus and Shawn create a distraction by hiding in the bushes outside and barking like dogs, while Boone and Peters sneak into the house and jump the dealer from behind. Juliet and Lassiter arrive in time to make the necessary arrests, and all ends well.

Another perfectly enjoyable midrange episode: light and frothy and fun, with a plot that makes no damn sense under even the faintest scrutiny. Just ignore the plot, and sit back and enjoy the banter. Psych works much better that way.

Gus’s fake names:
Control Alt Delete, plus Imhotep (Shawn: “Or ‘he cometh in peace.’”

Awesome Eighties references:
Shawn: I think we should relax, take a load off, have some of my dad’s yam frittes, and talk about why Meshach Taylor came back for Mannequin 2 when everybody else said no.

Chief Vick: I’ve put a hold on all vacations.
Shawn: And Vacation sequels. I think the Griswolds have been through quite enough.