TV-Reviewed

After seeing the promotional photos of James Roday dressed as a cowboy, I became immediately interested in seeing this episode. I’m a big fan of westerns so this was something I knew I was going to enjoy.

Shawn and Gus got roped into an unusual assignment thanks to Lassiter. Lassiter asked them to help find who was responsible for the destruction of an old west town which is really just a tourist attraction. The owner of the town is one of Lassiter’s best friends, really a surrogate father. It wasn’t clear who was responsible for the destruction of the town at the start of the episode and I was somewhat surprised when it was all revealed.

James Brolin as Sheriff Hank Mendel

The insights into Lassiter’s childhood were interesting, even if much of the information will be long forgotten soon, as far as the show’s plot is concerned, anyway.

As Shawn and Gus looked into the people who worked there, Lassiter and Juliet tried to do a little digging on their own, despite explicit instructions from Chief Karen Vick to steer clear of the case because it was a county case and they weren’t to have anything to do with it.

The fact that Lassiter disobeyed Chief Vick wasn’t surprising, but seeing him in trouble is out of the ordinary and is something I wouldn’t mind seeing again. Lassiter is rarely on the wrong side of things.

One of the big turning points in the case came when Lassiter and Juliet found out that someone was trying to buy the property. The buyer turned up dead in the old western town and Lassiter’s best friend was accused of the man’s murder.

As dumb luck would have it, Shawn and Gus quite literally fell into an old mining shaft and began to put two and two together to point the finger at one of the gunhands, who had found gold on the property.

While the gold story isn’t the most original idea, it wasn’t too bad. I couldn’t figure out who was responsible on my own, which is admittedly sad for me, but great for the writers.

I wish we would see more of Juliet. We’re three episodes in and she hasn’t been featured as prominently as I figured she would be now. It’s just been Shawn, Gus, and Lassiter so far this season.

In case I didn’t mention it before, I love the way the show looks this year. The lack of grain makes me think they ditched the Super16 film and went to video. If this is the case, I whole-heartedly approve. I hate the grain of some of USA’s show, namely Burn Notice. But PSYCH looks great in the new season. Everything is so crisp and clear now.

Rating: 8