The fourth season premiere of Psych is set to air this Friday and as the series resumes with new episodes, Shawn and Gus head off to Canada for a romantic ski weekend and a bit of crime-solving on the side.
Psych is a comedy/mystery series that follows Shawn Spencer (Roday) and his best friend Gus (Hill) as they work as private “psychic” detectives. While Gus is more of the trusted sidekick, Shawn uses his keen powers of observation to pose as a psychic as he works with the police to solve various mysteries. Shawn and Gus’ history as friends goes back to their childhood and we’re often treated to glimpses in the way of flashbacks of their earlier years. This includes Shawn being “trained” by his detective father, which resulted in his excellent observational skills.
In the fourth season opener, Shawn and Gus head off to Canada to enjoy the ski vacation Shawn booked on Gus’ credit card. While they’re there, they spot a notorious international art thief Despereux (Cary Elwes) on the slopes. Shawn quickly phones this in to Lassiter, recognizing Despereux as one of the criminals Lassiter’s been trying to track down. This brings Jules and Lassiter to the scene, reuniting most of the cast as they attempt to figure out what Despereux’s next target is and how to catch him in the act. But Despereux’s a slippery thief and he proves to be a big challenge to Shawn, who is desperate to take down this Thomas Crown-like criminal.
As I’m behind on my Psych episodes, I was unaware that Shawn was dating a woman named Abigail (played by Rachael Leigh Cook). Cook doesn’t appear in the episode but Abigail’s name is mentioned more than once and it’s established that they’re still dating. It’s evident that being in a relationship is somewhat of an adjustment for Shawn and it affects not only his friendship with Gus but also his relationship with Jules. The Abigail relationship is addressed in the premiere but I’m thinking we’re going to see more on this story development as the season resumes.
Elwes as Despereux was a brilliant casting choice. He plays the elusive art thief perfectly and it’d be great to see him back in a future episode if the writers were to manage to work a new story in for him. As for what we can expect from this season, given that Rachael Leigh Cook is set to reappear in the series this season, there should be more developments between Shawn and Abigail. In addition to Elwes’ appearance in the premiere, we’ll also be seeing guest-star appearances by James Brolin (Catch Me If You Can, Hotel), and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes).
Psych
Starring: James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson, Kirsten Nelson
Premieres: Friday, August 7 (10:00PM EST) on USA
