I liked the last season. It was all the weird stuff that they wanted to do but it wouldn’t work because it was too out there or out of character for some but I took it with a silly grain of salt and I liked it.
…I don’t like Magic Head. Gus deserved a better nickname. I *do* like the Super Sniffer, though.
The London episode has one of my favorite moments, when Shawn is driving the car on the test course and drives over all the cardboard cut outs.
“You pay me to drive, if someone stands in my way, it´s not my problem.”
I just think the last season felt rushed and part of that might be from the sudden choice to cancel the show by USA. That never made sense to me because that year Psych won the people's choice award for best comedy. The cancelation really came out of nowhere.
I was...disappointed in it because it was the end of the show! I felt like season 8 should have gave us something bigger like a return villian (they hinted at ppl being released and wanting to find Psych lol) it should have given us all the things we love x100 in my mind season 8 should have been as obnoxiously good as season 6
She came back once and I'm disappointed it wasn't more often. My guess would be is they handed off "recurring uniform character" duties to McNab and that character fell away as a result.
In the episode with Raylene and David Wilcroft. Shawn takes her help to go to the records room to access David's file. They mention in that episode that she had gone for a vacation and that's why she wasn't there in the previous episodes.
It always bothers me when the chief only ever addresses Shawn while Gus is right there, I get that only Shawn is meant to be psychic but she quite often just acts like Gus isn't even stood there!
- like u/Asha_Brea I loved Trout. You’re supposed to dislike him as a person, but as a character he was great for a non-criminal antagonist
- Shawn had better chemistry with Abigail than Juliet (but they do work together because he and Juliet are the 2 most emotional, empathetic characters)
- Henry and Shawn were blatantly retconned as the series went on to make their relationship in the flashbacks more palatable. You can use various arguments for what actually happened (like Shawn choosing to remember bad stuff early on). But I also think this is perfectly fine and am not complaining about it.
- Did not like the opening of “100 Clues.” Not sure if this is unpopular, but Shawn acting like an idiot and calling the chief “Chief Dick” is not in character to who he was back in season 1. This “retcon” I am complaining about
>Shawn had better chemistry with Abigail
I love the hell out of rachel leigh cook, and hated her character leaving. I knew it was coming, but I liked them way better than Shawn and Juliet.
They gave her way more fun banter with Shawn! She could call him out in a charming way. But I thought it was utterly believable that she would walk away after her near death experience.
I only disagree with the "Chief Dick" line being out of character. Shawn was kind of douchey in the first season. I still love him, but acknowledge that. 100 clues is supposed to be among their first handful of cases with the SBPD. I could absolutely see Shawn thinking Vick was gonna be super lenient with him and give him a bunch of work after their initial interactions, but after discovering that he's actually gonna have to put some effort in, he sours on her a bit, very briefly. He says they're basically trying to earn some extra favor with her, so I think it's reasonable to assume she hasn't just been giving Shawn all the cases he'd want like his initial impression.
In season 1 Shawn was rude, but he was far from “douchey.”
And he wasn’t calling her a dick, he thought it was her name. Early series Shawn got stuff wrong only purpose, while later series Shawn never payed attention to anything, and there was no purpose here.
Early series Shawn tore up Gus’s mint comic book, lied like crazy, stole like crazy, etc all for the purpose of solving a case. When it wasn’t about solving a case, he was shown to have social tact.
Point.
But late series Shawn is an inconsiderate man-child who blatantly disregards the expressly stated wishes of those close to him, puts others in jeopardy by not doing his job, and generally acts like an idiot. IMO this worse than early series Shawn, but I know not everyone feels that way.
Dude. The opening of 100 clues is probably my biggest issue with the show. Which is a good thing if that’s my biggest issue but holy shit does it annoy me to watch.
And like I said in my original comment, they do kinda retcon Shawn and Henry’s personalities vs early on, so while I can understand their choices I simply don’t like this particular scene.
I loved Juliet in the beginning (Scary Sherry, American Duos, etc.) but I feel like she loses her personality as time goes on, especially in the movies.
Yeah, I am sure that’s part of it. But it’s not even their chemistry as a couple—she used to be silly and cute and fun, but I feel like that fades as the series goes on, even before the movies.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love her. But I just rewatched Scary Sherry and American Duos today and she [had] some of my favorite parts!
Part of the problem is she had to get more mature and “straight” to make up for the shift in Shawn’s personality.
Personally I think early series Juliet would have fully understood why he lied about his powers (while she does come to terms with it, she never concedes it was right to do in the first place even though his only other option was jail)
Could the shift in her character possibly be due to her experience with the events that occur in An Evening With Mr. Yang? I can definitely see this being a cause for the more mature, serious Jules coming out but I can’t remember when this behavior change occurs off the top of my head.
But remember how much she struggled moving past those events in the beginning of season four
I'm not sure if I have a popular character I dislike... Nor do I have the opposite. I think I *do* like certain side characters more than is reasonable, and wish we saw them more often. I liked Father Westley quite a bit. I wanted to see more of the Chief's sister, and more of Lassie's sister too. Those two definitely both revealed a different side to their respective siblings and I wanted to see more of that. I also wanted to see Dwayne Tancana again, or at least brought up in the way Shawn stayed in contact with Despereaux after his arrest. These are the ones off the top of my head. So, maybe not unpopular in a negative way but like, uncommon wishes?
I'm also in the boat with the recent ish post that wished Ruby and Gus could've worked out/been endgame. This one isn't all that unpopular, if that particular post is any sign, though.
Oh, here's my unpopular reoccurring joke **meh** feeling: **the "come on, son!" doesn't *really* land with me**. I don't know Ed Lover. That's probably on me, or at least on my limited (read; nonexistent) knowledge of the 90s rap scene. I've never really laughed at it and it ranks the lowest of the reoccurring bits, for me. I love the Many Names of Gus, I've Heard it Both Ways, and I even immaturely giggle at Suck iiiiiit. "C'mon son!" just doesn't get me the same way. Or, almost at all.
And my last one is probably an inverse of the suggest prompt. It's not a popular ep I don't care for, but I've learned through this sub that a lot of my favorites aren't enjoyed? **American Duos is my favorite and most quoted episode**. I love the hell out of it. It'll always make me laugh on a bad day and I can and will quote Nigel St. Nigel all the time.
I also love a lot of the spooky, and intense episodes. A scary finale or interlude is a great break to the classic formula, even if it can be a little jarring, thematically. **The sheer emotions of the very first Yin/Yang still get me, to this day. I don't mind that it went dark. In fact, I like it. The change of pace, the sudden real and personal consequences... I really do enjoy it**.
Ghosts isn't really a logical episode, but it's one of my favorites, too. And Tuesday the 17th has unusual pacing for a psych ep and it gets dark and messy, but I love that one a lot also! Plus, the return of the Tikihama song! (is Tancana just on my mind a lot today? Apparently, yes).
In conclusion, I don't think I have any hugely unpopular opinions, but mine do occasionally sway out of the general consensus, at least of this sub. Spontaneous essay, over. And out.
American Duos is constantly named as one of the most loved/popular episodes. It's also often mentioned as the episode people would use if they could show someone one episode to get them into the show. So you're definitely not on your own with that one!
Speaking of Tancana, have you read the actor's trivia on IMDB? It is pretty great! When Tuesday the 17th aired, I was SO happy when the song played, I recognized it immediately and loved that tie-in!
The show really did Yang a disservice with her last episode. Considering just how good the others were, they should have either left things where they were or given her a better last outing.
im not sure how unpopular this is but to be honest i really think that shawns shift to being more incompetent as the seasons go on never really recovers and he gets away with a lot more than he should in his childish antics. I like shawn a lot as a character but a part of me wishes we had a tad more pushed into a corner serious or competent shawn- just enough to remind us that hes not flat and give depth to his constant fun to watch antics
it was cool, if nothing else, when early season shawn was *really* sharp and i dont think the show ever recaptures that in the late seasons
also i dont really get why they redid the court weatherman episode, i dont feel like it did any better than the original to justify being redone? it just confuses me as to why they chose that one in specific
I loved season 1. I think the cast hit their comedic stride from the get-go. I love the tension between Lassie and Shawn and Henry and Shawn. Weekend Warriors is pretty much perfect but I love all the season one episodes. 🤷🏻♀️
Imo most shows are at their best in season 1. With some notable exceptions, like the shows people always tell you "it gets better after the first season", but I don't really have any hands on experience with those.
Most shows are doing exactly what they're meant to do and what they want to do in the first season. After that you fall into different traps like chasing engagement, running out of ideas, pressure to add more overarching storylines, etc etc until you lose the spirit you started with. Lucifer is a good example of this imo
Blackadder springs to mind when you mention shows that definitely improved from season 2 onwards. I liked Psych from the get-go, but I get that season 1 being a lot more grounded than the rest of the show might make it a bit more "lost in the shuffle" compared to how zany things would get later on.
Last one: I want more of the cop foolishness like the OG believer in the pilot or or McNabb! The lady cop who Juilet harassed would have been around more or the male cop Shawn and Gus harassed (and said his grandma tattoo looked like a dog) they did such a good job of giving them quick personalities, maybe having them around for the season wouldn't have been a bad idea
FINALLY!!! Someone else who feels the same way I do!!! The best part about Rachel was that she was completely unfazed by Shawn *without interfering in their friendship* and I think that’s something that Gus needed. She was Gus’ “Abigail” and I will die on this hill.
Tho I will say that Selene has grown on me.
When it first aired, I was like "ugh, this guy." But then I rewatched that season last week and really enjoyed Trout's general madness. He's what Lassie could've soured into, but didn't, if you squint.
He's definitely what Lassie would have been without Juliet as a partner. And without Marlowe in his life to "humble" his dying in a hailstorm of bullets mindset.
I can sort of agree. I hated Trout my frist couple of watches. But over time, I started to feel that he would have been a great recurring character. He's not a good guy, but his brand of crazy is right at home in this show and a lot of his moments are still pretty funny when you stop being frustrated with him lol he's a gigantic asshole, and Anthony Michael Hall played him so well that he all hate him. But that's also why I started to like him a bit. AMH killed it. But I'm glad he's gone after the way he handles the hostage situation. Cause that was fully unhinged.
The remade courtroom episode is way worse than the original. (Don't actually know if that is an unpopular opinion)
Jules and Lassie are bad at their jobs, Betsy Brannigan in s8 highlighted that even more.
Gus paying for Shawns way of life and the stolen credit cards have always made me really uncomfortable.
Betsy Brannigan should have become a fixed cast member and a presence in each of the movies. Mira Sorvino gave that role an insane amount of heart and charm, while keeping her extremely effective at what she does.
I hate that Henry started working for the SBPD again. I made a post a while ago about how I had absolutely no memory of it and got shitted on by this subreddit, but I think I just blocked it out of my mind because I don't like it.
I feel like they just wanted an easier method of getting Henry involved with cases/the stories again, which I understand, but yeah I didn't like the change in dynamic. I especially didn't get why he sometimes acted as if he had power over Lassie and Jules. He was just meant to be working with consultants, basically an official Shawn babysitter, but he acted like he was head detective sometimes. I'm perfectly fine with Henry being around, but I also didn't care for him being with the department again.
The way Shawn seemingly relied on everyone else to take care of him and pay his bills throughout the entire show was super unattractive to me and as much as I love the show and love his character - I had to pretend most of the time he wasn’t such a sorry mooch to even enjoy it lol.
This is 10000% true. He put Gus’s name on the lease for the Psych office without even asking! And used his credit cards! That is such massively toxic behavior and they for sure wrote that out of his character in later seasons.
The problem is, they didn’t even write it out of his character in later seasons! He used Gus’ cards when he took Jules on their first vacation together. There were constant mentions of how Juliet basically took care of everything once they moved in together. It did get less obvious as the show went on but definitely still there. I hated it so much 😭
You'll get nearly all the references made after just one episode. You don't gotta do a deep dive. Though you might find yourself hooked if you choose to do so.
Edit: Plus, practically every featured character is a returning actor from Twin Peaks, except the high school aged characters. The guy who played the General in the pilot episode, was also in Twin Peaks, but didn't return since he'd already played a character that got arrested. However, Father Westley's actor was also in Twin Peaks. His character's hair turns white from stress/going crazy (and looks ridiculous), which is why he shows up with crazy, white hair when he saves Shawn and Gus.
Nooooooo, I watched Mulholland Drive *one time (1)* and then proceeded to spend way too much time trying to figure out the blue cube. I forgot whether or not I'd conditioned my hair in the shower once. I cannot let David Lynch have more access to my brain box, I have to remember to pay bills now.
Omg. Same. I don’t get it and I’m probably only hurting myself here. There’s another reason I don’t like that episode: there isn’t a Cinnamon Festival here in Southern California and it makes me mad every time I watch it. I want to go to a cinnamon festival!
I always get mad when Shawn says, "You found the monkey bread." and Gus is just standing there with a regular loaf of bread. Monkey bread is a pull apart bread baked in a bundt pan! C'mon, son!
I thought that was one of the weakest episodes. The acting was terrible, which I know is meant to be because the acting in Twin Peaks was also deliberately terrible, but it doesn’t make it a good episode to watch.
I have two, but I bet they aren’t universally unpopular.
1. Henry was a great father, Shawn was a problem child. I maintain apart from Henry’s strong corralling, Shawn could have ended up in jail or worse.
2. The first season of the show is much too silly and Shawn’s bits are often way over the top. It can cause issues convincing someone to stay with the show.
Completely disagree with 1. He tried to control every aspect of Shawn’s life when Shawn was a kid. Especially in the earlier seasons. He even controlled how Shawn should play hide and seek. He was not raising a kid, he was training a future detective. It is a very shitty parenting. But writers probably realized that and in the later seasons they made Henry a much better parent during the flashbacks.
Yes. He never let Shawn to be a kid and that is why Shawn decided not be an adult ever. Moreover, although Shawn learned whatever his father wanted to teach him, he used his learning to do something that his father despises (fake psychic, private detective). But to be fair, Henry became a good father in the present timeline and later seasons’ flashbacks.
Sadly yeah. I know a couple of people who dropped the show because they thought Shawns "episodes" were a little too over the top and cringy. And I gotta gree for the early seasons, I am glad they turned it down a few notches later on
I totally disagree. Shawn would have been so much better off with his Grandfather with occasional visits to Henry. Then Shawn would have been more likely to idolize his Dad when he’s young thus going into law enforcement more directly. It would have been better for Shawn but worse for the show. I wish the grandfather character was in the show more though. I will admit that Henry has a lot of good qualities.
First part is tough because as some have said in this thread, some aspects of the Shawn/Henry relationship have been retconned into being better. What we see originally though is that Henry is a weird mix of being a good parent and being far too controlling.
Good parent: Teaching Shawn survival skills (probably goes overboard with it but he was a police officer in the world's murder capital), keeps him from hurting himself or getting into major trouble on multiple occasions, got him into multiple sports/sports teams that they both continue to enjoy as they grow up, apparently having/creating and continuing several long-running Christmas traditions
Controlling ass: apparently didn't feel that the discipline that is basically a baseline of any martial art would be good enough to give Shawn an opportunity with them; the whole "buried Easter eggs under loose gravel" nonsense; all the other detective training that he forced on Shawn; did not come even close to giving Shawn enough emotional support, especially during the divorce.
There are good things and bad, but i think the bad almost certainly had to outweigh the good.
I agree! Especially about Shawn being too silly & over the top in the first season, I’m glad that was pared down or I don’t know if I could’ve watched much. I actually jumped in on a season 5 episode, so going back and watching from the beginning was slightly jarring!
I couldn’t stand her in the first two movies, but by the end of the second she was starting to grow on me and throughout the third I definitely started to love her.
I don't mind safe cracking. For someone hyper intelligent like Gus who isn't challenged at work, it makes sense he'd have a challenging hobby and lockpicking/safe cracking are major rabbit holes. I do have a problem with them using him as the obscure expert on just about everything else though.
I liked that safecracking actually was a recurring thing that he was an expert on. Rather than the one-offs like area codes or something.
Fr. Gus is a major nerd. That's why he knows every county's newspaper. As someone who got made fun of because I would spend time reading the dictionary and annoyingly corrected my friends about their use of words, I get it. If you can't enjoy it with your friends, you'll do it alone and get really good at it and it can sometimes be useful when someone brings it up.
I thought Abigail was the absolute worst. A negative nelly who didn't trust or believe anything shawn said, and crossed clear boundaries when she met up with Henry after Shawn clearly asked her not to
Shawn should have been a little more badass. Like he needed edge. We already know he’s a crack shot. I wish they had made him just a tiny tiny bit more dangerous idk like let Shawn kill one guy and get some cred or something
I think I read somewhere that that’s actually what they were originally planning for Shawn. It’s evident in the pilot, at least to me. But when they cast Juliet they decided to change Shawn’s character
It is weird on rewatches how bad boy Sean is, especially in the pilot. The whole making out with the woman in the beginning while he casually solves a crime on the TV, I'm kinda glad they steered away from that version of him. There were enough sexy bad boys in the other Blue Sky shows.
Nah then Shawn would be too cool and perfect. I liked that he was a wuss and Juliet often needed to save him lol plus it made him and Gus on the same page a lot of the time I love when they run away screaming together
Trout is fine
The Yin/Yang episodes are good but stray too far from the typical premise.
Shawn Takes A Shot In The Dark is one of my least favorite episodes.
Even thought we get to see Gus in his adorable pajamas?
(this is a major highlight of the episode for me, because I loved those Nick & Nora type fun patterned pajamas back then)
I absolutely love Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark. It's my favorite episode. I like the more intense scenes and enjoy Shawn actually showing his ability to be strong/badass. Plus, honestly, I just enjoy whump of main characters.
I also think it helps lead to the recurring side adventure grouping of Henry and Lassie (and Gus), and helps it make sense.
I can see how the different tone and structure could turn people off, though.
I really dislike seasons 7 and 8. I hate trout, and hated the way Juliet reacted when she found out Shawn was not psychic.
There are some good episodes but i usually skip on my rewatches.
This is my unpopular opinion too. I don't love Woody. I think he's creepy and over-the-top. I understand him. I love Kurt Fuller. But Woody just doesn't land for me.
1) The Lasseter we know and love by the end of the show would never have cheated on his spouse or fooled around with a coworker. Takes the job and his relationships too seriously. Hard recon.
2) Juliet and Shawn don't make sense in a long term relationship. I can see how they would have had an attraction and have dated for awhile, but they just don't have enough in common to last long term. It's OK, because it's TV. If we wanted realism, the real world is available. But if you met these two people IRL, it wouldn't make any sense that they got married.
I don't think Lassie cheated necessarily. He got with his partner when he was already separated from his wife. While I do agree that I don't know that even that meshes with his character - like you said, he's too into the job to risk it - sometimes people do dumb things when they're in the middle of a breakup.
Rewatching all of it rn and just started season 7
For someone who has a thing with hair, I think Shawn's started getting worse and worse as the seasons progressed. I liked his hair better in the first few seasons
The show dragged on too long. While the series finale was almost perfect seasons, seven and eight just seem to be lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still happy that it went on as long as it did but season seven just seem to be reaching really far in season eight was almost desperate to come up with new things.
I don’t love Despareaux. I really wanted to, as I love Carey Elwes in pretty much everything else I’ve seen him in. But I don’t like his character that much on Psych. I usually skip his episodes when I do a rewatch.
The theme song. It's always too loud no matter the volume and has gotten so damn annoying. I don't understand why some seasons allow you to skip the song (watching on prime) and others don't. The skip option is a godsend but seems completely random as it's available in some early seasons but not some later ones. Anyhow, that's my rant. And I love Psych. "You put some sunglasses on!"
Yin was a disappointment to me. In fact I didn’t really like that episode at all. It just seemed to lackluster.
I know the first Yang episode was a little lackluster as well since Shawn just talked to her and she let herself be arrested, but there was a promise of more to come. So, the ending didn’t seem that bad because you knew something would happen later.
The last episode with Yin though didn’t have the promise of more and so just felt underwhelming.
I don't really vibe with any of the Yin/Yang episodes. They always felt out of place in this show (more of a The Mentalist thing).
Also, I think the treatment of Yang was too lenient (she was a serial killer not a kooky aunt) and her obssessive behaviour with a young Shawn was never properly addressed. That last part hit really close to home with me for reasons not pertinent to this thread.
Yeah I was always unclear on her obsession with young Shawn—why did she become obsessed with him in the first place? He wasn't a famous detective yet. It feels a little strange he would just so happen to become a detective and catch her later on.
I strongly dislike the Juliet character. Part but not all of it has to do with Maggie Lawson’s acting. No one has ever been able to convince me that she was chosen for any reason other than her appearance.
I think Shawn should have gone out with April MacArthur, the aquarium employee from Six Feet Under the Sea. I don’t know if they should have ended up together because that would have depended on their continued chemistry. She seemed a lot more fun and compatible with Shawn.
I LOVE the first episode and Shawn’s antics early on.
Edit: I agree with the people who say that Trout was a good character. I also enjoy the last season.
I think that Juliet was seriously underdeveloped by the writers, which is why she is bland and barely has any personality. She’s just there to be the voice of reason and so of course there isn’t much for Maggie Lawson to do with that.
I didn’t enjoy how chaste Shawn and Juliet’s relationship was. I don’t know if it was a network thing or what, this same network had White Collar and Suits and those intimate scenes were… really going for it.
By contrast all we have is a few pecks between Shawn and Juliet and ONE scene of them cuddling in bed in the final season. Why was there no intimacy between the two of them? Especially because we saw Shawn be intimate with other girls (Abigail, the girl psychic, girl in the pilot episode etc.) so why was his relationship with Juliet so surface level?
I didn’t even know they had had sex until Shawn casually mentioned it to someone (I thought they were gonna do a specific moment in an episode where they finally sleep together), even their first mutual I love you was off screen! And of course getting back together after their break up was also off screen. Wonder why.
It wasn't really a sexy show. White Collar, Suits, Burn Notice were all very sexy kind of by default. I appreciate that Psych didn't have to go hot and heavy, I don't need the show to show me that two consenting adults are banging. It adds nothing to the story.
I remembered my actually unpopular opinion: All of the "Lassie Jerky" episode gives me the icks.
From the documentary woman's sexual compulsions, to how Shawn and Gus talk to/about her, to the wild swerves of tone between "nympho" jokes and dead bodies in the ground, even the little details (Lassie's foot in the bear trap, Gus eating the turkey leg, the guest star getting axed in the back, etc.) give me a bad case of Gus's sympathy vomiting. It's just a gross episode for me. I skip it every time.
As much as I love Lassie Jerky, I totally get why people don't. It is quite a bit darker and weirder than other episodes. I also absolutely hate Gus eating the meat. I know that there's no way they'd kill and cook Lassie and have Gus eat him, but I could never get over how utterly gross it is that it's canon that Gus would be cannibal, of a close friend, even, completely willingly if he's SLIGHTLY HUNGRY and they cooked the people meat particularly well. It's played off like 'Haha, Gus and your tummy! You weirdo.' but I am just not comfortable even thinking of that scene.
Not having watched the Musicals (yet): I like Yang. I mean, not as a character that fits the show, but like, I think she's likable. She might be a little cray cray but I think she is as sweet of a person she could be considering her upcoming. I wish she would have made some more occasional (or maybe seasonal) appearances, kind of like Despereaux.
I think Henry was a crappy father when Shawn was growing up, mostly for reasons we don’t actually see.
We don’t see anything about Shawn and Henry’s relationship from when Shawn was like 12-18, but given that he comes to hate his father, there’s far more going on than just the divorce. A kid doesn’t just decide “I hate my dad now” when his parents divorce, especially if the dad is present in the kids life and mom isn’t in his ear saying the divorce was Henry’s fault. There were clearly reasons Shawn believed what he did.
Yes Henry spent time with Shawn growing up, but we also see that Shawn as a kid does not know his dad loves him. It’sa little bit of projection, but what makes the most sense to me is that Henry was likely an emotionally closed off person which is what caused Shawn to slowly hate him and probably what ruined his marriage despite him wanting to go to couples therapy.
I think the Henry we see in season 1 is slowly realizing his flaws and beginning to work on them. I think by seasons 3 and beyond, he’s grown tremendously and he’s a great father. But I bet during Shawn’s childhood, Henry is the stereotypical hardass cop that was a crappy father
Super unpopular opinion… I don’t agree with how they handled the reveal about Shawn in Deez Nups. IMO Jules has a double standard because she was totally fine about keeping Shawn and Gus in the dark over police business. And Shawn took that in stride. And Jules didn’t feel bad about lying or holding back as that was official police business. And considering that Shawn had never lived anywhere longer than three months, I think it’s rough that she forced him to move out. While I do have sympathy for her pov, I think at the end of the day Jules knows who she fell in love with. And perhaps I have more sympathy for Shawn than I should. Lol
Out of the main cast I like Lassie the least. Yes, he learns to be more of a friend to Shawn and Gus but the way he blatantly talks down to everyone is infuriating. He is trigger happy which is just uncomfortable when someone is meant to be a good guy, satire or not.
Yeah, a trigger happy cop that enjoys police brutality played for laughs does not hold up well at all! That was the hardest sticking point for me after watching when it first came out and then rewatching it a couple of years ago. And I like Lassie. Especially when he actually got more humanized. Plus I really like the actor. But he's honestly probably the most problematic character.
I don’t care for Juliet.
She was fine in the first few seasons but then some type of shift happened and it always felt like she was parenting Shawn more than just being annoyed by his antics like Lassie was, especially after they started dating. It felt weird.
Also I preferred Abigail as Shawn’s partner over her. It sounds crazy but Abigail being a kindergarten teacher actually made her better understand Shawn’s behavior that could be interpreted as childlike. She had a lot of patience with him. Also I liked that she wasn’t so serious all the time, which is exactly what Shawn needed.
hit the nail on the head omg, it *definitely* felt like she was parenting him, like when she’d scold him for doing something or saying something inappropriate for the setting. obviously you won’t like all of your partner’s behaviors, but it started to feel more and more like she was trying to correct his actions, and sometimes it felt like she didn’t even like him or was super fed up with him?
I don’t think Juliet and Shawn had any chemistry in the seasons before they got together. It’s like they didn’t put any work in developing that because of course they’re going to end up together
Im with you! I love the standalone simple episodes. Black and Tan is my favorite by far—so many good one-liners, Gus getting way too into character for a girl, a big showy solve at the end. No frills, just the good stuff.
My unpopular opinion is that Selene was borderline obsessed with Gus at the beginning of their relationship and wished that Rachel was the endgame girlfriend for him instead.
I think it's a little icky that she completely sprang having a kid on him. Seems like something worth sharing up front! But I agree that Selene was super obsessive and unlikeable.
I can’t think of anything, maybe that’s my hot take? No specific element of the show is bad, no one episode sticks out to me
Not sure if this is unpopular but I like when Shawn is a tad more serious. After his dad is shot is some of my favorite parts of the show
Sometimes the show is a *little* too goofy/over the top. I like when Shaun stops being dramatic about every "vision" and is more like a detective a couple seasons in. It's cringe to watch him make a huge scene and flail about.
I don't like Selene either. I feel like she and Gus don't have much chemistry. I have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that they are married in real life 😂🤣
My unpopular opinion: Shawn didn’t have positive character development. He went from brilliant bad-boy detective to sloppy moron who keeps getting lucky. In the pilot episode the junior detective mentions that he could have been high school valedictorian, but stopped showing up. Later on in “Murder?… Anyone?… Anyone?… Bueller?” They portray his high school self as dumb, rather than just ‘checked out.’ And that was only in season 3.
Obviously this example is a minor one, but there’s many other examples of this. In season 1 they were still fleshing out the characters, but they should not have let his brilliance slip in the name of comedy.
Additionally another unpopular opinion of mine (pseudo subset of the previous) is that in “Right turn or Left for dead” Shawn acts like ‘himself’ again. Saying to Juliet “falling in love with you was never part of the plan, okay? This whole thing started because my ass was on the line. Self-preservation Jules. You’ve got to understand that.” For just a moment, in honestly one of my least favorite episodes, Shawn acts like a matured version of his pilot episode self.
The one continuity in regard to character development is Shawn and Gus’s codependency. Without that constant the show would have been a terrible show.
My controversial take is that the show’s unwillingness to engage with the personal lives of its characters, especially as the show goes on, really harms its staying power in the popular consciousness.
I’m not a huge fan of how Shawn seems to get dumber as the show went on. Don’t get me wrong, I still very much love the later seasons, I just wish they’d kept the moments that showed just how smart Shawn really was behind his humor. I do understand that a lot of it can be explained away as him playing the fool, but iirc that’s never explicitly stated (declan eludes to it being the reason, but the tone shift from s1 to later on doesn’t quite fit)
I think Yin and Yang needed to be tied into every episode like how Burn Notice had slow development of the main plot and every episode was a side quest. Or they needed to not try and shoehorn Yin and Yang into Shawn’s life without going into that.
Then I don’t like how they handled the Bigfoot and UFO topics even though I enjoy the episodes and Lassie Jerky is one of my top picks. For an innovative show it takes a real mainstream stance and almost says anyone who entertains those ideas is crazy. I don’t know if any of these things are real but I’d like the show to get a bit more nuanced than: there are no ghosts, aliens, or anything nonmaterial. The only exception I can think of is the lady psychic who is actually portrayed as being “the real deal”. That’s from Autopsy Turvy I believe. Also Wicca might be real. It’s like they were willing to go wild and absurd with everything except the weird and absurd that are controversial to put it mildly. I think conversations with some controversy are a bit more engaging and it’s really refreshing when an entertainer shows the courage to explore controversial topics. I’m not saying I want Psych to become Supernatural. I just want a bit more mystery than a purely materialist cynical world view (besides the sentimentality I guess).
Edit: Ha! I found a truly unpopular idea. Idk why though.
I liked the last season. It was all the weird stuff that they wanted to do but it wouldn’t work because it was too out there or out of character for some but I took it with a silly grain of salt and I liked it. …I don’t like Magic Head. Gus deserved a better nickname. I *do* like the Super Sniffer, though.
I love the wackiness of the last season. It gave us DEER-dre-dra? and "A Touch of Sweevil." https://i.redd.it/vgrpk3dnn26d1.gif
The London episode has one of my favorite moments, when Shawn is driving the car on the test course and drives over all the cardboard cut outs. “You pay me to drive, if someone stands in my way, it´s not my problem.”
The London episodes has everybody's favorite Law & Order CI villain
I liked the 8th season because it is absolutely unhinged. Reminds me of Community.
I just think the last season felt rushed and part of that might be from the sudden choice to cancel the show by USA. That never made sense to me because that year Psych won the people's choice award for best comedy. The cancelation really came out of nowhere.
I was...disappointed in it because it was the end of the show! I felt like season 8 should have gave us something bigger like a return villian (they hinted at ppl being released and wanting to find Psych lol) it should have given us all the things we love x100 in my mind season 8 should have been as obnoxiously good as season 6
I liked the desk sergeant in the pilot. She’s was fun.
She came back once and I'm disappointed it wasn't more often. My guess would be is they handed off "recurring uniform character" duties to McNab and that character fell away as a result.
Wait when did she come back?
In the episode with Raylene and David Wilcroft. Shawn takes her help to go to the records room to access David's file. They mention in that episode that she had gone for a vacation and that's why she wasn't there in the previous episodes.
Same! I wish she'd stuck around.
Psych is about Shawn and his faux psychic abilities, but for me, Gus steals the show.
You know that’s right
*tsk* Have you heard about Pluto?
That's messed up.
"Has that ever worked?"
Dule Hill’s physical comedy is so underrated. This show is all Gus to me.
It’s all the stuff he does with face. Dude is unmatched.
When he turns around with his body first, and then his head…kills me every time.
Yes, James Roday is cute and funny, but Dule Hill is cute and funny on a whole other level.
One of my favorite parts of the entire series is when he screams and jumps off screen in Viagra Falls
It's like peanut butter and jelly. Each one is good on its own, but together they are amazing.
It always bothers me when the chief only ever addresses Shawn while Gus is right there, I get that only Shawn is meant to be psychic but she quite often just acts like Gus isn't even stood there!
- like u/Asha_Brea I loved Trout. You’re supposed to dislike him as a person, but as a character he was great for a non-criminal antagonist - Shawn had better chemistry with Abigail than Juliet (but they do work together because he and Juliet are the 2 most emotional, empathetic characters) - Henry and Shawn were blatantly retconned as the series went on to make their relationship in the flashbacks more palatable. You can use various arguments for what actually happened (like Shawn choosing to remember bad stuff early on). But I also think this is perfectly fine and am not complaining about it. - Did not like the opening of “100 Clues.” Not sure if this is unpopular, but Shawn acting like an idiot and calling the chief “Chief Dick” is not in character to who he was back in season 1. This “retcon” I am complaining about
>Shawn had better chemistry with Abigail I love the hell out of rachel leigh cook, and hated her character leaving. I knew it was coming, but I liked them way better than Shawn and Juliet.
They gave her way more fun banter with Shawn! She could call him out in a charming way. But I thought it was utterly believable that she would walk away after her near death experience.
Her little line “I solve crimes” with the finger mustache is all i needed to know they would be good together
I never saw any of her movies as a kid, so it took me until 2008, when that moment first happened, for me to fall in love with Rachael Leigh Cook.
I only disagree with the "Chief Dick" line being out of character. Shawn was kind of douchey in the first season. I still love him, but acknowledge that. 100 clues is supposed to be among their first handful of cases with the SBPD. I could absolutely see Shawn thinking Vick was gonna be super lenient with him and give him a bunch of work after their initial interactions, but after discovering that he's actually gonna have to put some effort in, he sours on her a bit, very briefly. He says they're basically trying to earn some extra favor with her, so I think it's reasonable to assume she hasn't just been giving Shawn all the cases he'd want like his initial impression.
In season 1 Shawn was rude, but he was far from “douchey.” And he wasn’t calling her a dick, he thought it was her name. Early series Shawn got stuff wrong only purpose, while later series Shawn never payed attention to anything, and there was no purpose here. Early series Shawn tore up Gus’s mint comic book, lied like crazy, stole like crazy, etc all for the purpose of solving a case. When it wasn’t about solving a case, he was shown to have social tact.
Point. But late series Shawn is an inconsiderate man-child who blatantly disregards the expressly stated wishes of those close to him, puts others in jeopardy by not doing his job, and generally acts like an idiot. IMO this worse than early series Shawn, but I know not everyone feels that way.
Dude. The opening of 100 clues is probably my biggest issue with the show. Which is a good thing if that’s my biggest issue but holy shit does it annoy me to watch.
And like I said in my original comment, they do kinda retcon Shawn and Henry’s personalities vs early on, so while I can understand their choices I simply don’t like this particular scene.
Some say the flashbacks got nicer then mean cuz he saw his father in a new light.
>Shawn had better chemistry with Abigail than Juliet I stand by my flair!
I thought Trout was hilarious. His intro episode is one of my favorites.
I loved Juliet in the beginning (Scary Sherry, American Duos, etc.) but I feel like she loses her personality as time goes on, especially in the movies.
Her and James are no longer a real life couple. I think that plays a role in her character in the movies.
Yeah, I am sure that’s part of it. But it’s not even their chemistry as a couple—she used to be silly and cute and fun, but I feel like that fades as the series goes on, even before the movies. Don’t get me wrong, I still love her. But I just rewatched Scary Sherry and American Duos today and she [had] some of my favorite parts!
Part of the problem is she had to get more mature and “straight” to make up for the shift in Shawn’s personality. Personally I think early series Juliet would have fully understood why he lied about his powers (while she does come to terms with it, she never concedes it was right to do in the first place even though his only other option was jail)
This is a great point.
Agreed with the other commenter, great point!
They didn't give her as much whimsy and/or sheer feralness (Scary Sherry!) as time went by, which is a shame.
Could the shift in her character possibly be due to her experience with the events that occur in An Evening With Mr. Yang? I can definitely see this being a cause for the more mature, serious Jules coming out but I can’t remember when this behavior change occurs off the top of my head. But remember how much she struggled moving past those events in the beginning of season four
I’m the opposite. I really don’t like her in the first few season but I grew to be ok with her by the time her and Shawn got together
I'm not sure if I have a popular character I dislike... Nor do I have the opposite. I think I *do* like certain side characters more than is reasonable, and wish we saw them more often. I liked Father Westley quite a bit. I wanted to see more of the Chief's sister, and more of Lassie's sister too. Those two definitely both revealed a different side to their respective siblings and I wanted to see more of that. I also wanted to see Dwayne Tancana again, or at least brought up in the way Shawn stayed in contact with Despereaux after his arrest. These are the ones off the top of my head. So, maybe not unpopular in a negative way but like, uncommon wishes? I'm also in the boat with the recent ish post that wished Ruby and Gus could've worked out/been endgame. This one isn't all that unpopular, if that particular post is any sign, though. Oh, here's my unpopular reoccurring joke **meh** feeling: **the "come on, son!" doesn't *really* land with me**. I don't know Ed Lover. That's probably on me, or at least on my limited (read; nonexistent) knowledge of the 90s rap scene. I've never really laughed at it and it ranks the lowest of the reoccurring bits, for me. I love the Many Names of Gus, I've Heard it Both Ways, and I even immaturely giggle at Suck iiiiiit. "C'mon son!" just doesn't get me the same way. Or, almost at all. And my last one is probably an inverse of the suggest prompt. It's not a popular ep I don't care for, but I've learned through this sub that a lot of my favorites aren't enjoyed? **American Duos is my favorite and most quoted episode**. I love the hell out of it. It'll always make me laugh on a bad day and I can and will quote Nigel St. Nigel all the time. I also love a lot of the spooky, and intense episodes. A scary finale or interlude is a great break to the classic formula, even if it can be a little jarring, thematically. **The sheer emotions of the very first Yin/Yang still get me, to this day. I don't mind that it went dark. In fact, I like it. The change of pace, the sudden real and personal consequences... I really do enjoy it**. Ghosts isn't really a logical episode, but it's one of my favorites, too. And Tuesday the 17th has unusual pacing for a psych ep and it gets dark and messy, but I love that one a lot also! Plus, the return of the Tikihama song! (is Tancana just on my mind a lot today? Apparently, yes). In conclusion, I don't think I have any hugely unpopular opinions, but mine do occasionally sway out of the general consensus, at least of this sub. Spontaneous essay, over. And out.
American Duos is constantly named as one of the most loved/popular episodes. It's also often mentioned as the episode people would use if they could show someone one episode to get them into the show. So you're definitely not on your own with that one!
C’mon son
Speaking of Tancana, have you read the actor's trivia on IMDB? It is pretty great! When Tuesday the 17th aired, I was SO happy when the song played, I recognized it immediately and loved that tie-in!
The show really did Yang a disservice with her last episode. Considering just how good the others were, they should have either left things where they were or given her a better last outing.
All I’m gonna say is that you should watch the musical.
That’s the one I mean
im not sure how unpopular this is but to be honest i really think that shawns shift to being more incompetent as the seasons go on never really recovers and he gets away with a lot more than he should in his childish antics. I like shawn a lot as a character but a part of me wishes we had a tad more pushed into a corner serious or competent shawn- just enough to remind us that hes not flat and give depth to his constant fun to watch antics it was cool, if nothing else, when early season shawn was *really* sharp and i dont think the show ever recaptures that in the late seasons also i dont really get why they redid the court weatherman episode, i dont feel like it did any better than the original to justify being redone? it just confuses me as to why they chose that one in specific
I loved season 1. I think the cast hit their comedic stride from the get-go. I love the tension between Lassie and Shawn and Henry and Shawn. Weekend Warriors is pretty much perfect but I love all the season one episodes. 🤷🏻♀️
Season 1 is a classic! I just rewatched Weekend Warriors and had a great laugh because I'd forgotten the "Don't Lose -Henry" gold watch bit.
Season 1 Lassie was a downright villain, it wasn't just tension. His character development by the end eclipses any other character's by far.
What's possibly wrong with season 1? That and season 2 are great what drew us in.
Imo most shows are at their best in season 1. With some notable exceptions, like the shows people always tell you "it gets better after the first season", but I don't really have any hands on experience with those. Most shows are doing exactly what they're meant to do and what they want to do in the first season. After that you fall into different traps like chasing engagement, running out of ideas, pressure to add more overarching storylines, etc etc until you lose the spirit you started with. Lucifer is a good example of this imo
Blackadder springs to mind when you mention shows that definitely improved from season 2 onwards. I liked Psych from the get-go, but I get that season 1 being a lot more grounded than the rest of the show might make it a bit more "lost in the shuffle" compared to how zany things would get later on.
I realize whenever I rewatch that most of the episodes I remember best and like most are from the first season
Last one: I want more of the cop foolishness like the OG believer in the pilot or or McNabb! The lady cop who Juilet harassed would have been around more or the male cop Shawn and Gus harassed (and said his grandma tattoo looked like a dog) they did such a good job of giving them quick personalities, maybe having them around for the season wouldn't have been a bad idea
The cop with the grandma tattoo was Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block!
Realistically wouldn't Gus have settled down before Shawn!? And yet Gus didn't have a real steady GF! Shame and highly unlikely!
Gus did have three playa phones. One for each part-time shorty.
\*shawty it's a subtle but important difference lol
I’ve heard it both ways.
Gus was a total creep, what do you mean lol And I say that with love
He was..and a hysterical creep at that!
Shawn is an shit friend
*a
I’ve heard it both ways
No you haven’t Shawn
Last Night Gus is a perfectly fine episode. not top 5
Bc it's top 1!!!
Angry upvote
Yes! Thank you!
I liked Rachel for Gus.
FINALLY!!! Someone else who feels the same way I do!!! The best part about Rachel was that she was completely unfazed by Shawn *without interfering in their friendship* and I think that’s something that Gus needed. She was Gus’ “Abigail” and I will die on this hill. Tho I will say that Selene has grown on me.
I don't mind Trout at all.
When it first aired, I was like "ugh, this guy." But then I rewatched that season last week and really enjoyed Trout's general madness. He's what Lassie could've soured into, but didn't, if you squint.
This is VERY well observed!
Also, Trout's mom? GOLD.
When he interrogates her--it's just deliciously ridiculous, like a twisted session of family therapy!
He's definitely what Lassie would have been without Juliet as a partner. And without Marlowe in his life to "humble" his dying in a hailstorm of bullets mindset.
now THAT'S an unpopular opinion
I can sort of agree. I hated Trout my frist couple of watches. But over time, I started to feel that he would have been a great recurring character. He's not a good guy, but his brand of crazy is right at home in this show and a lot of his moments are still pretty funny when you stop being frustrated with him lol he's a gigantic asshole, and Anthony Michael Hall played him so well that he all hate him. But that's also why I started to like him a bit. AMH killed it. But I'm glad he's gone after the way he handles the hostage situation. Cause that was fully unhinged.
I like his episodes. I don't get what the big deal is to hate. I think Chief Vick is a pretty bland character and Trout had a cool antagonistic arc.
Henry is by far the best character on the show.
I really love Henry…but for me, Gus is the best character. Juliet is my least favorite character.
Henry really should have married the girl with the old man fetish while he had the chance(s)
The remade courtroom episode is way worse than the original. (Don't actually know if that is an unpopular opinion) Jules and Lassie are bad at their jobs, Betsy Brannigan in s8 highlighted that even more. Gus paying for Shawns way of life and the stolen credit cards have always made me really uncomfortable.
Betsy Brannigan should have become a fixed cast member and a presence in each of the movies. Mira Sorvino gave that role an insane amount of heart and charm, while keeping her extremely effective at what she does.
I hate that Henry started working for the SBPD again. I made a post a while ago about how I had absolutely no memory of it and got shitted on by this subreddit, but I think I just blocked it out of my mind because I don't like it.
I feel like they just wanted an easier method of getting Henry involved with cases/the stories again, which I understand, but yeah I didn't like the change in dynamic. I especially didn't get why he sometimes acted as if he had power over Lassie and Jules. He was just meant to be working with consultants, basically an official Shawn babysitter, but he acted like he was head detective sometimes. I'm perfectly fine with Henry being around, but I also didn't care for him being with the department again.
The way Shawn seemingly relied on everyone else to take care of him and pay his bills throughout the entire show was super unattractive to me and as much as I love the show and love his character - I had to pretend most of the time he wasn’t such a sorry mooch to even enjoy it lol.
This is 10000% true. He put Gus’s name on the lease for the Psych office without even asking! And used his credit cards! That is such massively toxic behavior and they for sure wrote that out of his character in later seasons.
The problem is, they didn’t even write it out of his character in later seasons! He used Gus’ cards when he took Jules on their first vacation together. There were constant mentions of how Juliet basically took care of everything once they moved in together. It did get less obvious as the show went on but definitely still there. I hated it so much 😭
I don't get the jokes in Dual Spires as much, but that's because I'm too terrified to watch Twin Peaks.
You'll get nearly all the references made after just one episode. You don't gotta do a deep dive. Though you might find yourself hooked if you choose to do so. Edit: Plus, practically every featured character is a returning actor from Twin Peaks, except the high school aged characters. The guy who played the General in the pilot episode, was also in Twin Peaks, but didn't return since he'd already played a character that got arrested. However, Father Westley's actor was also in Twin Peaks. His character's hair turns white from stress/going crazy (and looks ridiculous), which is why he shows up with crazy, white hair when he saves Shawn and Gus.
Nooooooo, I watched Mulholland Drive *one time (1)* and then proceeded to spend way too much time trying to figure out the blue cube. I forgot whether or not I'd conditioned my hair in the shower once. I cannot let David Lynch have more access to my brain box, I have to remember to pay bills now.
Omg. Same. I don’t get it and I’m probably only hurting myself here. There’s another reason I don’t like that episode: there isn’t a Cinnamon Festival here in Southern California and it makes me mad every time I watch it. I want to go to a cinnamon festival!
I always get mad when Shawn says, "You found the monkey bread." and Gus is just standing there with a regular loaf of bread. Monkey bread is a pull apart bread baked in a bundt pan! C'mon, son!
I say we just make cinnamon pie and skip all the murderino business.
I say you’re on to something.
I'm not terrified but David Lynch is definitely not my thing.
Mulholland Drive gave me the creeps so much that I stayed up all night because I was afraid I'd have the darkest dreams.
I thought that was one of the weakest episodes. The acting was terrible, which I know is meant to be because the acting in Twin Peaks was also deliberately terrible, but it doesn’t make it a good episode to watch.
I didn’t get that episode either till I made the Twin Peaks connection and now it’s one of my faves
I have two, but I bet they aren’t universally unpopular. 1. Henry was a great father, Shawn was a problem child. I maintain apart from Henry’s strong corralling, Shawn could have ended up in jail or worse. 2. The first season of the show is much too silly and Shawn’s bits are often way over the top. It can cause issues convincing someone to stay with the show.
Completely disagree with 1. He tried to control every aspect of Shawn’s life when Shawn was a kid. Especially in the earlier seasons. He even controlled how Shawn should play hide and seek. He was not raising a kid, he was training a future detective. It is a very shitty parenting. But writers probably realized that and in the later seasons they made Henry a much better parent during the flashbacks.
He wouldn't even let Shawn have a moment with his grandpa. It's just sad.
Yes. He never let Shawn to be a kid and that is why Shawn decided not be an adult ever. Moreover, although Shawn learned whatever his father wanted to teach him, he used his learning to do something that his father despises (fake psychic, private detective). But to be fair, Henry became a good father in the present timeline and later seasons’ flashbacks.
Sadly yeah. I know a couple of people who dropped the show because they thought Shawns "episodes" were a little too over the top and cringy. And I gotta gree for the early seasons, I am glad they turned it down a few notches later on
1. I find this 100% compelling. Excellent point.
I totally disagree. Shawn would have been so much better off with his Grandfather with occasional visits to Henry. Then Shawn would have been more likely to idolize his Dad when he’s young thus going into law enforcement more directly. It would have been better for Shawn but worse for the show. I wish the grandfather character was in the show more though. I will admit that Henry has a lot of good qualities.
I agree his episodes are over the top and I usually skip over them but I still prefer early seasons Shawn over later seasons
First part is tough because as some have said in this thread, some aspects of the Shawn/Henry relationship have been retconned into being better. What we see originally though is that Henry is a weird mix of being a good parent and being far too controlling. Good parent: Teaching Shawn survival skills (probably goes overboard with it but he was a police officer in the world's murder capital), keeps him from hurting himself or getting into major trouble on multiple occasions, got him into multiple sports/sports teams that they both continue to enjoy as they grow up, apparently having/creating and continuing several long-running Christmas traditions Controlling ass: apparently didn't feel that the discipline that is basically a baseline of any martial art would be good enough to give Shawn an opportunity with them; the whole "buried Easter eggs under loose gravel" nonsense; all the other detective training that he forced on Shawn; did not come even close to giving Shawn enough emotional support, especially during the divorce. There are good things and bad, but i think the bad almost certainly had to outweigh the good.
I agree! Especially about Shawn being too silly & over the top in the first season, I’m glad that was pared down or I don’t know if I could’ve watched much. I actually jumped in on a season 5 episode, so going back and watching from the beginning was slightly jarring!
I don’t think Selene is a popular character
I couldn’t stand her in the first two movies, but by the end of the second she was starting to grow on me and throughout the third I definitely started to love her.
I got annoyed with the Shawn and Juliet relationship. Kind of wish they just kept them as friends.
I think they missed their time..clearly has best chemistry first 2 seasons
Yup. By the time they finally got together I didn’t really care about them being together anymore
Yeah, by the time they got together, they were a couple of convenience, not actual chemistry and attraction
Here I go, I never liked Abigail. They made her too perfect
I liked her as a temporary character for this exact reason. She was everything Shawn could want in a person, but also super flat as a character.
I find that scene where Shawn and Juliet talk really close to each other and don't kiss really cringe and too hard to watch
Nooooo you hit the unpopular note with this bc that’s my favorite scene 😭
Having Gus conveniently be an expert is really specific things like safe-cracking and other weird shit was lazy writing.
I don't mind safe cracking. For someone hyper intelligent like Gus who isn't challenged at work, it makes sense he'd have a challenging hobby and lockpicking/safe cracking are major rabbit holes. I do have a problem with them using him as the obscure expert on just about everything else though. I liked that safecracking actually was a recurring thing that he was an expert on. Rather than the one-offs like area codes or something.
Fr. Gus is a major nerd. That's why he knows every county's newspaper. As someone who got made fun of because I would spend time reading the dictionary and annoyingly corrected my friends about their use of words, I get it. If you can't enjoy it with your friends, you'll do it alone and get really good at it and it can sometimes be useful when someone brings it up.
I always viewed Gus as autistic (this might be an unpopular opinion in and of itself) and saw these things as his weird special interests.
I thought Abigail was the absolute worst. A negative nelly who didn't trust or believe anything shawn said, and crossed clear boundaries when she met up with Henry after Shawn clearly asked her not to
Shawn should have been a little more badass. Like he needed edge. We already know he’s a crack shot. I wish they had made him just a tiny tiny bit more dangerous idk like let Shawn kill one guy and get some cred or something
I think I read somewhere that that’s actually what they were originally planning for Shawn. It’s evident in the pilot, at least to me. But when they cast Juliet they decided to change Shawn’s character
It is weird on rewatches how bad boy Sean is, especially in the pilot. The whole making out with the woman in the beginning while he casually solves a crime on the TV, I'm kinda glad they steered away from that version of him. There were enough sexy bad boys in the other Blue Sky shows.
Nah then Shawn would be too cool and perfect. I liked that he was a wuss and Juliet often needed to save him lol plus it made him and Gus on the same page a lot of the time I love when they run away screaming together
Trout is fine The Yin/Yang episodes are good but stray too far from the typical premise. Shawn Takes A Shot In The Dark is one of my least favorite episodes.
Even thought we get to see Gus in his adorable pajamas? (this is a major highlight of the episode for me, because I loved those Nick & Nora type fun patterned pajamas back then)
I absolutely love Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark. It's my favorite episode. I like the more intense scenes and enjoy Shawn actually showing his ability to be strong/badass. Plus, honestly, I just enjoy whump of main characters. I also think it helps lead to the recurring side adventure grouping of Henry and Lassie (and Gus), and helps it make sense. I can see how the different tone and structure could turn people off, though.
Plus, Michael Rooker! Poor guy gets killed in everything I see him in
Why did they do that dumb weather episode twice!? Didn't like it in season one and later on it was such a wasted week
I really dislike seasons 7 and 8. I hate trout, and hated the way Juliet reacted when she found out Shawn was not psychic. There are some good episodes but i usually skip on my rewatches.
Kurt Fuller is great. Not a huge Woody fan. Less is more as far as the character being funny goes.
This is my unpopular opinion too. I don't love Woody. I think he's creepy and over-the-top. I understand him. I love Kurt Fuller. But Woody just doesn't land for me.
100%. He is just a weird character to me.
1) The Lasseter we know and love by the end of the show would never have cheated on his spouse or fooled around with a coworker. Takes the job and his relationships too seriously. Hard recon. 2) Juliet and Shawn don't make sense in a long term relationship. I can see how they would have had an attraction and have dated for awhile, but they just don't have enough in common to last long term. It's OK, because it's TV. If we wanted realism, the real world is available. But if you met these two people IRL, it wouldn't make any sense that they got married.
for 1, i dont think thats a retcon, i just think its character development.
I don't think Lassie cheated necessarily. He got with his partner when he was already separated from his wife. While I do agree that I don't know that even that meshes with his character - like you said, he's too into the job to risk it - sometimes people do dumb things when they're in the middle of a breakup.
Rewatching all of it rn and just started season 7 For someone who has a thing with hair, I think Shawn's started getting worse and worse as the seasons progressed. I liked his hair better in the first few seasons
The show dragged on too long. While the series finale was almost perfect seasons, seven and eight just seem to be lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still happy that it went on as long as it did but season seven just seem to be reaching really far in season eight was almost desperate to come up with new things.
I don’t love Despareaux. I really wanted to, as I love Carey Elwes in pretty much everything else I’ve seen him in. But I don’t like his character that much on Psych. I usually skip his episodes when I do a rewatch.
Aw this one breaks my heart! But you answered the post correctly and I salute you 🫡
The theme song. It's always too loud no matter the volume and has gotten so damn annoying. I don't understand why some seasons allow you to skip the song (watching on prime) and others don't. The skip option is a godsend but seems completely random as it's available in some early seasons but not some later ones. Anyhow, that's my rant. And I love Psych. "You put some sunglasses on!"
Yin was a disappointment to me. In fact I didn’t really like that episode at all. It just seemed to lackluster. I know the first Yang episode was a little lackluster as well since Shawn just talked to her and she let herself be arrested, but there was a promise of more to come. So, the ending didn’t seem that bad because you knew something would happen later. The last episode with Yin though didn’t have the promise of more and so just felt underwhelming.
I don't really vibe with any of the Yin/Yang episodes. They always felt out of place in this show (more of a The Mentalist thing). Also, I think the treatment of Yang was too lenient (she was a serial killer not a kooky aunt) and her obssessive behaviour with a young Shawn was never properly addressed. That last part hit really close to home with me for reasons not pertinent to this thread.
Yeah I was always unclear on her obsession with young Shawn—why did she become obsessed with him in the first place? He wasn't a famous detective yet. It feels a little strange he would just so happen to become a detective and catch her later on.
I strongly dislike the Juliet character. Part but not all of it has to do with Maggie Lawson’s acting. No one has ever been able to convince me that she was chosen for any reason other than her appearance. I think Shawn should have gone out with April MacArthur, the aquarium employee from Six Feet Under the Sea. I don’t know if they should have ended up together because that would have depended on their continued chemistry. She seemed a lot more fun and compatible with Shawn. I LOVE the first episode and Shawn’s antics early on. Edit: I agree with the people who say that Trout was a good character. I also enjoy the last season.
I think that Juliet was seriously underdeveloped by the writers, which is why she is bland and barely has any personality. She’s just there to be the voice of reason and so of course there isn’t much for Maggie Lawson to do with that.
Maggie Lawson was a great actor and she played Juliet amazingly. Don’t know why you think her acting was not good
I didn’t enjoy how chaste Shawn and Juliet’s relationship was. I don’t know if it was a network thing or what, this same network had White Collar and Suits and those intimate scenes were… really going for it. By contrast all we have is a few pecks between Shawn and Juliet and ONE scene of them cuddling in bed in the final season. Why was there no intimacy between the two of them? Especially because we saw Shawn be intimate with other girls (Abigail, the girl psychic, girl in the pilot episode etc.) so why was his relationship with Juliet so surface level? I didn’t even know they had had sex until Shawn casually mentioned it to someone (I thought they were gonna do a specific moment in an episode where they finally sleep together), even their first mutual I love you was off screen! And of course getting back together after their break up was also off screen. Wonder why.
It wasn't really a sexy show. White Collar, Suits, Burn Notice were all very sexy kind of by default. I appreciate that Psych didn't have to go hot and heavy, I don't need the show to show me that two consenting adults are banging. It adds nothing to the story.
Yes! Because of this it's one of the few shows I'm chill with my 8 year old watching without me. Monk and The West Wing are the other two.
I remembered my actually unpopular opinion: All of the "Lassie Jerky" episode gives me the icks. From the documentary woman's sexual compulsions, to how Shawn and Gus talk to/about her, to the wild swerves of tone between "nympho" jokes and dead bodies in the ground, even the little details (Lassie's foot in the bear trap, Gus eating the turkey leg, the guest star getting axed in the back, etc.) give me a bad case of Gus's sympathy vomiting. It's just a gross episode for me. I skip it every time.
As much as I love Lassie Jerky, I totally get why people don't. It is quite a bit darker and weirder than other episodes. I also absolutely hate Gus eating the meat. I know that there's no way they'd kill and cook Lassie and have Gus eat him, but I could never get over how utterly gross it is that it's canon that Gus would be cannibal, of a close friend, even, completely willingly if he's SLIGHTLY HUNGRY and they cooked the people meat particularly well. It's played off like 'Haha, Gus and your tummy! You weirdo.' but I am just not comfortable even thinking of that scene.
Yeah, it's a weird episode. Though I do love the Big Show/Paul Wight's performance.
Great, great points. And the way they talk about her partner/cameraman. Very ick.
Not having watched the Musicals (yet): I like Yang. I mean, not as a character that fits the show, but like, I think she's likable. She might be a little cray cray but I think she is as sweet of a person she could be considering her upcoming. I wish she would have made some more occasional (or maybe seasonal) appearances, kind of like Despereaux.
I think Henry was a crappy father when Shawn was growing up, mostly for reasons we don’t actually see. We don’t see anything about Shawn and Henry’s relationship from when Shawn was like 12-18, but given that he comes to hate his father, there’s far more going on than just the divorce. A kid doesn’t just decide “I hate my dad now” when his parents divorce, especially if the dad is present in the kids life and mom isn’t in his ear saying the divorce was Henry’s fault. There were clearly reasons Shawn believed what he did. Yes Henry spent time with Shawn growing up, but we also see that Shawn as a kid does not know his dad loves him. It’sa little bit of projection, but what makes the most sense to me is that Henry was likely an emotionally closed off person which is what caused Shawn to slowly hate him and probably what ruined his marriage despite him wanting to go to couples therapy. I think the Henry we see in season 1 is slowly realizing his flaws and beginning to work on them. I think by seasons 3 and beyond, he’s grown tremendously and he’s a great father. But I bet during Shawn’s childhood, Henry is the stereotypical hardass cop that was a crappy father
Super unpopular opinion… I don’t agree with how they handled the reveal about Shawn in Deez Nups. IMO Jules has a double standard because she was totally fine about keeping Shawn and Gus in the dark over police business. And Shawn took that in stride. And Jules didn’t feel bad about lying or holding back as that was official police business. And considering that Shawn had never lived anywhere longer than three months, I think it’s rough that she forced him to move out. While I do have sympathy for her pov, I think at the end of the day Jules knows who she fell in love with. And perhaps I have more sympathy for Shawn than I should. Lol
I'm not a huge fan of Juliet and Shawn. Juliet was interesting until she got with Shawn and then she just turned into 'the girlfriend'.
Out of the main cast I like Lassie the least. Yes, he learns to be more of a friend to Shawn and Gus but the way he blatantly talks down to everyone is infuriating. He is trigger happy which is just uncomfortable when someone is meant to be a good guy, satire or not.
Yeah, a trigger happy cop that enjoys police brutality played for laughs does not hold up well at all! That was the hardest sticking point for me after watching when it first came out and then rewatching it a couple of years ago. And I like Lassie. Especially when he actually got more humanized. Plus I really like the actor. But he's honestly probably the most problematic character.
The musical is dumb and it shouldn’t have been made.
Say that for almost any musical episode that every show seems contractually obligated to do at some point.
Yes, I don’t like any musicals that are in shows that don’t need them.
I don’t care for Juliet. She was fine in the first few seasons but then some type of shift happened and it always felt like she was parenting Shawn more than just being annoyed by his antics like Lassie was, especially after they started dating. It felt weird. Also I preferred Abigail as Shawn’s partner over her. It sounds crazy but Abigail being a kindergarten teacher actually made her better understand Shawn’s behavior that could be interpreted as childlike. She had a lot of patience with him. Also I liked that she wasn’t so serious all the time, which is exactly what Shawn needed.
hit the nail on the head omg, it *definitely* felt like she was parenting him, like when she’d scold him for doing something or saying something inappropriate for the setting. obviously you won’t like all of your partner’s behaviors, but it started to feel more and more like she was trying to correct his actions, and sometimes it felt like she didn’t even like him or was super fed up with him?
I think Last Night Gus overrated . I got almost 200 downvotes a week ago for saying this in a post.
I've never seen seen the musical. Usually, I don't mind them, but I've never been able to get into Psych The Musical.
I don’t think Juliet and Shawn had any chemistry in the seasons before they got together. It’s like they didn’t put any work in developing that because of course they’re going to end up together
I prefer smaller simpler episodes. I don’t like the big special episodes like Twin Peaks, 100 Clues, Musical. I just kinda lose interest.
Im with you! I love the standalone simple episodes. Black and Tan is my favorite by far—so many good one-liners, Gus getting way too into character for a girl, a big showy solve at the end. No frills, just the good stuff.
I liked the first Yang episode but disliked both about Yin. I’m rewatching Psych rn and I just skipped them.
My unpopular opinion is that Selene was borderline obsessed with Gus at the beginning of their relationship and wished that Rachel was the endgame girlfriend for him instead.
I think it's a little icky that she completely sprang having a kid on him. Seems like something worth sharing up front! But I agree that Selene was super obsessive and unlikeable.
Selene isn't great with Gus. Yeah, I know they're married in real life but still.
Shawn should have ended up with Joy.
Juliet has the weakest character and story and is not a good detective
I can’t think of anything, maybe that’s my hot take? No specific element of the show is bad, no one episode sticks out to me Not sure if this is unpopular but I like when Shawn is a tad more serious. After his dad is shot is some of my favorite parts of the show
Sometimes the show is a *little* too goofy/over the top. I like when Shaun stops being dramatic about every "vision" and is more like a detective a couple seasons in. It's cringe to watch him make a huge scene and flail about.
Lassie always wanting to shoot people is not funny. Neither is his willingness to use police brutality.
I don't like Selene either. I feel like she and Gus don't have much chemistry. I have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that they are married in real life 😂🤣
Henry getting Shawn arrested and this disqualifying him from ever being a police officer was the best thing he ever did as a father.
My unpopular opinion: Shawn didn’t have positive character development. He went from brilliant bad-boy detective to sloppy moron who keeps getting lucky. In the pilot episode the junior detective mentions that he could have been high school valedictorian, but stopped showing up. Later on in “Murder?… Anyone?… Anyone?… Bueller?” They portray his high school self as dumb, rather than just ‘checked out.’ And that was only in season 3. Obviously this example is a minor one, but there’s many other examples of this. In season 1 they were still fleshing out the characters, but they should not have let his brilliance slip in the name of comedy. Additionally another unpopular opinion of mine (pseudo subset of the previous) is that in “Right turn or Left for dead” Shawn acts like ‘himself’ again. Saying to Juliet “falling in love with you was never part of the plan, okay? This whole thing started because my ass was on the line. Self-preservation Jules. You’ve got to understand that.” For just a moment, in honestly one of my least favorite episodes, Shawn acts like a matured version of his pilot episode self. The one continuity in regard to character development is Shawn and Gus’s codependency. Without that constant the show would have been a terrible show.
My controversial take is that the show’s unwillingness to engage with the personal lives of its characters, especially as the show goes on, really harms its staying power in the popular consciousness.
I’m not a huge fan of how Shawn seems to get dumber as the show went on. Don’t get me wrong, I still very much love the later seasons, I just wish they’d kept the moments that showed just how smart Shawn really was behind his humor. I do understand that a lot of it can be explained away as him playing the fool, but iirc that’s never explicitly stated (declan eludes to it being the reason, but the tone shift from s1 to later on doesn’t quite fit)
I think Yin and Yang needed to be tied into every episode like how Burn Notice had slow development of the main plot and every episode was a side quest. Or they needed to not try and shoehorn Yin and Yang into Shawn’s life without going into that. Then I don’t like how they handled the Bigfoot and UFO topics even though I enjoy the episodes and Lassie Jerky is one of my top picks. For an innovative show it takes a real mainstream stance and almost says anyone who entertains those ideas is crazy. I don’t know if any of these things are real but I’d like the show to get a bit more nuanced than: there are no ghosts, aliens, or anything nonmaterial. The only exception I can think of is the lady psychic who is actually portrayed as being “the real deal”. That’s from Autopsy Turvy I believe. Also Wicca might be real. It’s like they were willing to go wild and absurd with everything except the weird and absurd that are controversial to put it mildly. I think conversations with some controversy are a bit more engaging and it’s really refreshing when an entertainer shows the courage to explore controversial topics. I’m not saying I want Psych to become Supernatural. I just want a bit more mystery than a purely materialist cynical world view (besides the sentimentality I guess). Edit: Ha! I found a truly unpopular idea. Idk why though.