Psych – Despereaux Returns To Plague Shawn and Gus!

PSYCH -- "Extradition II" Episode #5011-- Photo by: Alan Zenuk/USA Network

Pierre Despereaux [Cary Elwes] may be the most intelligent, erudite, suave and elegant criminal that Shawn [James Roday] and Gus [Dule´ Hill] have ever put behind bars. His return makes for an enjoyable mid-season premiere of Psych [USA Network, Wednesdays, 10/9C].

Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part finds Shawn and Gus traveling to Vancouver, British Columbia to visit Despereaux in prison. That the trip is paid for [all-inclusively] by the art thief is of great concern to Gus but not Shawn – until Despereaux uses their visit to escape and pull off what he expects to be the perfect crime. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned – the owner of the newly stolen art is found dead in his home. Even worse, he’s the Crown Prosecutor who sentenced Despereaux!

Meanwhile, Lassiter [Timothy Omundson] and Juliet [Maggie Lawson] have arrived to extradite Despereaux which puts Juliet and Shawn in awkward proximity. While Lassie is his usual pain in the butt self, Juliet is even more perplexed by Shawn than usual – he says they need to talk, but backs away [for good reason – though she doesn’t know that].

Just for good measure, we get the reappearance of Deputy Commissioner Ed Dykstra [Ed Lauter] and Constable Robert Mackintosh [Peter Oldring] as unwilling allies for Shawn and Gus.

To say that wackiness ensues is pretty much a given, but the series does finally give Shawn and Juliet an opportunity to face their feelings and that adds a much needed grounding undercurrent to the proceedings [which goes the way of the dodos when they actually get a chance to talk about those feelings…].

The longer Psych runs the sillier its humor becomes, frequently preventing eps from being all they could be. The trick, it seems, is to bring in guest stars who can play both comedy and melodrama. Here, Elwes is marvelous as the greatest art thief in the world. To Despereaux’s intelligence, elegance and suavity, Elwes adds just the tiniest dash of world weary seediness. The result is that you want to accept the art thief’s word but just can’t quite.

Extradition II is not the best ep of Psych, but Elwes, along with the ep’s Shawn/Juliet moments – are enough to hold our interest.

Final Grade: B-

Photo by Alan Zenuk/Courtesy of USA Network