TV-Reviewed

PSYCH has had its share of episodes which break up the typical format of the show, but “Talk Derby to Me” returns us to a fairly typical set-up, Shawn and Gus working a regular case, as opposed to the fellas just stumbling into a case. Here, they work with O’Hara and Lassiter to crack a number of robbery cases. It initially looks like a group of former soldiers has been responsible for a number of jewelry heists, but things aren’t always as they seem.

Shawn immediately picks up on some clues thanks to the security footage and then notices some peculiar marks on the floor. It’s clearly a team of female rollerskaters… yeah, that’s right, not exactly your typical group of suspects, but I thought it worked out just fine in this episode.

I remember when the rollerderby was a big hit on basic cable a few years ago (well, it may be more like 10 years, now that I think about it), but it was quite popular, but interest eventually faded after a few years and now, there’s no mention of it anywhere. This brought back nice memories of scantily-clad women beating the snot out of one another that I enjoyed when rollerderby was televised on cable tv.

Maggie Lawson as Juliet O’Hara

Juliet O’Hara ended up being important (for a change) in this episode, as she was able to infiltrate the group, something none of the men could have done. Lassiter was more of his usual self, staying in the background. The same for Henry, actually. Corbin Bernsen’s character is rarely shown in more than two scenes these days.

Speaking of being underused, Mickie James didn’t get as much time on camera as I would have thought she would. She’s quite popular with the young crowd thanks to her being a member of WWE, so I thought she would end up having a more significant role here.

Once we figured out who was responsible, it took a while to put all of the clues together to figure out why they were stealing the jewelry. It ended up being a somewhat clever plot for the show.

I liked the last scene with Juliet and Shawn skating together around the rink. It was cute, but I still don’t like their real-life relationship being thrown in my face. Juliet would normally skate with Shawn, so it’s hard to believe she would now. Things are going to be awkward if/when their relationship doesn’t work out, but that’s one of the perils of co-star romances.

Rating: 7.1