By the time the season finale of Psych rolled around last night, I was a couple of weeks behind on my viewing. (Have I mentioned how much I really hate my work schedule?) But, seeing as how it’s a fairly stand-alone type of show rather than sweeping story arcs, I decided to live dangerously and watch the finale live and then catch up on the other eps. Besides, I’d been following along enough to know that Juliet was dating someone new that still wasn’t Shawn, and that’s really all the info needed to fall right into the finale, “One, Maybe Two, Ways Out”.
The caper of the week—a Bourne-like deal involving an apparently rogue agent on the run, mayhem in Bolivia, and various and sundry federal agents—is as goofy and fun as most episodes of Psych. And I’ll pause to note that Jon Gries was wonderfully kooky as the erased spy, Strabinsky; his scenes slayed me.
However, the real highlights of the ep revolved around Shawn’s ongoing and unrequited affection for Juliet. She’s dating Declan Rand, the guy we met previously in “Shawn 2.0”. Now, I will say that I’ve already seen some grumbling on various boards that she seems too attached to a guy she just met a week ago and that the writers are just trying to create a conflict to keep her apart from Shawn. I’ve got a few thoughts on that subject.
First, I’m pretty sure those two episodes don’t happen in real-time. Maybe it’s because I watched them in reverse order, but at the beginning of the finale, when Shawn and Gus are talking about relationships, it sounded to me like some time had passed with Juliet and Declan becoming more of a couple. I never once thought it was an overnight sort of thing.
Second, in many, many ways Declan really is like Shawn, so why wouldn’t Juliet be attracted to him fairly quickly? If I’d been flirting on-again/off-again with a guy for years, and suddenly a slightly more mature version of that same guy showed up and actually made his interest in me known, I’d certainly pay attention back. And if the guy was also exceptionally rich? And cute? And did I mention that he’s making it clear that he’s interested? Please. Cut Juliet some slack.
And, third, of course the writers are trying to create conflict. I’m pretty sure that’s a major part of their job description.
At any rate, that’s where we are: Shawn still pining, and Juliet still being mostly clueless. But at least half of that equation is about to change. During the Bourne-like shenanigans, Shawn ends up wearing a wire to help catch the rogue spy and Juliet ends up—for no apparent reason, but I can forgive that—alone in the surveillance van. So we have the set-up. After the spy is led away in handcuffs, Shawn and Gus share a serious moment that they believe is private, even though Shawn is still wearing the wire. And that’s when Juliet overhears Shawn professing his love for her, as well as the very noble sentiment that he really wants her to be happy and knows he can’t stand in the way of her relationship with Declan. Voila! Ms. Juliet O’Hara, I present to you one much-delayed ticket to the clue bus.
Then, after the case is finally wrapped up for good (I liked the way the baddie didn’t turn out to be the spy girl after all, but, rather, one of the men in suits), Shawn and Gus go by Declan’s mansion for a visit. Why? I honestly don’t recall, but it doesn’t matter. Because that’s where Shawn comes face to face with his own clue bus admission: what he has assumed to be a weekend getaway for Juliet and Declan is actually a two-week vacation. Even he recognizes that for the commitment it is, and he has a decision to make: come clean now about his feelings, or be the man he said he was and not interfere with his lady love’s happiness. But this is Shawn, and underneath all the patter, we know he’s a truly good guy, so it’s no surprise when he opts for Juliet’s happiness over his own.
His decision does seem to surprise Juliet, though; she seems genuinely touched by the idea that he would do something so noble for her and suddenly pulls him into a kiss. But, that’s all we get, as Gus and Declan breeze back into the room to interrupt the moment. Now it’s a moment of truth for both of them: deal with what just happened, or go back to the status quo? Well, it’s a (mid) season finale, so of course we know the answer, and Shawn takes his leave with Gus, leaving Juliet all cozy with Declan. Or is she?
Fortunately, Psych returns for the final half of the season in November, so we won’t have long to wait, but I’ll be very surprised if we see a quick and easy wrap-up to this situation. After all, this whole Shawn-Juliet thing has been off-again/off-again for five years now, and it seems to be working. I’m not sure you can mess around too much with a good thing and still have it be a good thing. (Moonlighting, anyone?) Still, you can bet my DVR will be set to capture the return, whatever happens.
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