TV-Reviewed

The episode title for this week’s episode was taken straight out of the movie There Will Be Blood, a twisted thriller about greed, family, greed, oil, and did I mention greed? It was rather fitting to have an episode about oil have the name that it did. Whoever is responsible for naming each episode does a good job. I know episode titles don’t get mentioned much in reviews, but PSYCH has some pretty creative episode names.

One of the reasons I like PSYCH so much is the terrific on-screen chemistry between James Roday and Dule Hill. Good chemistry can’t be faked very well; it’s either there or it isn’t. And these guys have something special. The funny (and sometimes serious) situations their characters manage to find themselves in just seems to show how versatile and fun they are to watch.

This week’s episode showed Shawn doing something he doesn’t normally do: help Chief Vick with a personal issue. We don’t know a whole lot about Vick, so it was a little surprising to learn that she has an older sister, who happens to be in a similar line of work. The irony is clear, but I thought the sibling rivalry was a great change. We didn’t have to see the typical squabbling between Shawn, Gus, and/or Henry.

The boys investigated what they thought was a murder case involving a safety expert, but eventually realized it was a much larger deal and involved the missing persons case Lassiter and O’Hara were working.

The twist at the end of the episode could be seen a mile away. Everything wrapped up a little too neatly to be believed. It was clear Shawn and Gus were being duped. I was rather surprised Shawn was fooled by the culprit like that - he’s usually on top of things.

While Shawn was helping Chief Vick, he was very kind to her, pointing out the fact that she has a nice smile. He’s usually paying compliments to Juliet, but I think it’s worth noting that Kirsten Nelson, the actress who plays Chief Vick has a terrific smile.

PSYCH has a fair amount of “average” episodes, and I’d have to say this one was just a bit better than some of the past ones, but I would by no means say that this was a great episode. The mystery wasn’t that interesting, nor was there much involving Henry. He was there for a 30-second scene at the docks and the quick flashback scene in the beginning of the episode. Corbin Bernsen deserves more airtime than that.

Rating: 7.3