HomeTelevisionStaff Pick's: Our Favorite Psych Episodes

Staff Pick’s: Our Favorite Psych Episodes

With Psych: The Movie creating a lot of craze for fans around the world, it reminded some members of The Pop Break that we were overdue for a fan piece.

We had harmonized “suck it” with Gus and Shawn, spotted random pineapples throughout episodes, and cried when Shawn finally told Juliete “the secret” because it marked the ending of a great show.

Maybe, not all of us were shedding tears … on the outside.

Though, we couldn’t keep up with all of Gus’s nicknames, we still tuned in, caught up, watched and then rewatched most to all Psych episodes. We fell in love with the show and became psych-os too. And some of us are pretty sure that Psych + Monk = The Mentalist.

Here we share our adoration for Psych with our favorite episodes.

Season Four’s “Mr. Yin Presents…”

Psych is one of my favorite shows of all time and it’s my favorite not-anime show. I honestly had a really hard time deciding which episode was my favorite because there are just so many choices. I can’t even think of an episode I didn’t like. So, even with my decision of “Mr. Yin Presents…” the finale episode of season 4, I’m still not really sure if it’s my favorite. But it’s definitely a top tier episode.

Psych was always known as a comedic show and it wasn’t really until “An Evening With Mr. Yang” in Season 3 that the show truly expressed how versatile it can be. However, “Mr. Yin Presents…” took it even further. The whole episode was full of subtle references to Alfred Hitchcock, some of which I didn’t even catch until like the 3rd or 4th time I watched it (yes, I’ve re-watched episodes that many times).

Seriously, even the title of the episode is a reference to Hitchcock’s series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. This was a killer that gave Shawn a real run for his money and this was the first time (that I recall) that they didn’t catch him at the end. In fact, we still had no idea who he was until he came back for the season 5 finale. This was perhaps the most well-thought out and detailed episode of Psych. It was and still is a masterpiece.

-Rachel Freeman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkulVvBybjM

Season One’s “Scary Sherry”

Pop culture references, classic Hollywood-esque action scenes and dramedy at its best, are the things that made Psych one of my favorite TV shows. On top of those things, Psych timed its own ending pretty perfectly; I wasn’t even mad or relieved during the series finale because the timing just seemed right.

Looking back at the series, I can recall many episodes that have made me laugh or proud to be a fan. So it’s hard to choose one episode as my overall favorite. Since I have to choose one I’ll go with “Scary Sherry: Bianca’s Toast.”

“Scary Sherry” is about an urban legend Shawn and Gus created when they were kids. The urban legend re-emerges when Juliet O’hara goes undercover in a sorority that is attached to the tall tale. The scene that steals my heart is when Gus and Shaw go into the, supposedly, haunted sorority house and then Gus gets stuck near the staircase. Shawn leaves him to save Juliette, leaving Gus to have a complete meltdown and he starts physically fending off his imagination. I laughed hysterically the whole entire time and I continue to when I see reruns of it. Plus, Juliete got to shift between being a prissy soror and a serious detective, which is a rare sight to see in this show.   

-Asia Martin

Season 2’s “American Duos”

Choosing a favorite out of eight seasons of hilarious episodes of Psych might seem like a tough job, but there is one particular episode that has me in tears every single time.

“American Duos” is the first episode of season two and is a spoof off of American Idol where the contestants are duos. The judges, Zapato Dulce (Cristian de la Fuente) is the Randy Jackson is the group, Emilina Saffron (Gina Gershon) is the drug addicted Paula Abdul character and Nigel St. Nigel (Tim Curry) is the Simon Cowell that everyone hates. It is everyone’s pure hate for Nigel that drives him to hire Shawn as his personal psychic for an episode filming in Santa Barbara. Multiple attempts have been made on Nigel’s life and the security guards are obviously not protecting him, so he believes Shawn can stop the attempts before they happen.

Naturally Tim Curry is perfection as one of the worst human beings to ever exist. The man has nothing positive to say to anyone at any time and is just horrible to Zapato. It’s no wonder everyone wants him dead.

Gina Gershon is my favorite part of the entire episode. Her hair and makeup are a mess, she looks like she smells terrible and she does so many drugs that she can’t even be killed by overdose. She is so high at all times that she is willing to sleep with absolutely anyone, including Nigel, which says a lot.

The end scene with Shawn and Gus performing on “American Duos” with a Tears for Fears/ Michael Jackson mashup is, by far, my absolute favorite scene in the entire series and, alone, is worth watching the episode for.    

-Ann Hale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kC_XgnQesM

Season 5’s “Dual Spires”

Psych, as a show, has always been kind of weird. That weirdness pales (expectedly) in comparison to David Lynch’s foray into TV, however. Entitled Twin Peaks, it may have ostensibly been about a murder, but in actuality it’s about the town itself and all the weirdos contained within.

But in Psych’s homage episode, “Dual Spires”, you don’t need to know that. It certainly helps, and the number of references and cameos from the original show that they managed to score is truly remarkable; but incredibly, the episode functions on its own. Shawn and Gus receive an email about a cinnamon festival (come on, son!) in the small town of Dual Spires, but when they arrive they find themselves embroiled in a murder investigation.

All the regulars are their delightful oddball selves, but Shawn and Gus stand off to the side and let the guests take center stage. It’s a small-scale episode, and completely self-contained, but even if you’re not a fan of Twin Peaks, you should give “Dual Spires” a chance.  

-George Heftler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_CSE69RxR0

To all you non-psych-os out there, come on son.

Asia Martin
Asia Martin
Writer-at-large. Crushing hard on this era of TV📺
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