When Shawn and Gus receive the call to assist on an Interpol investigation the guys spring into action across the pond in England. With Shawn narrating in his best cockney accent, we discover that it is none other than Pierre Despereaux that has infiltrated the crime stopping organization. Under the guise of Roylston Cornwallace Staley, Despereaux is his usual smooth self trying to work what appears to be a long con with some well placed English criminals. However, the reason that Shawn and Gus are there is a little muddled making you wonder just what exactly they are doing there. Shawn is his usual schoolgirl self when around Despereaux and I normally love the episodes where he is featured. But this time around is the weakest effort to date with Pierre trying to compensate for a weak and boring plot. Gus steals the show dressed as a student of Hogwarts in full Gryffindor attire. All he cares about is going to the “Pottercon” convention and he will do anything he can to expedite the case so that he can get to the magical event. Seeing Gus run around with a wand is a testament to the goofy “I don’t want to grow up” attitude that Shawn and Gus have cultivated over the years. There are a lot of zingers and one-liners that keep the otherwise regular episode above water. My main gripe is that I was just not sure what the heck the guys were doing in England and why I should invest my time. Setting up an episode of PSYCH with a murder frames each installment but the lack of a cohesive narrative in this particular episode does not serve the series well. It was basically just the guys overseas in a confusing and convoluted plot that never quite gets off the ground. Lassie is back in Santa Barbara and back in a regular police uniform which makes me wonder if I missed something from last season’s finale. And Jules is not even in the episode presumably because actress Maggie Lawson is working double duty between Psych and ABC’s Back in the Game. The glaring absences of the supporting cast definitely hurts the show. Cary Elwes plays Despereaux with his usual vigor and the character could easily have a spinoff at this point. He is perfect for the role and manages to make the character very interesting even after all these years. I guess my main complaint is that things are not the same and if there was a time that the guys needed to stay in Santa Barbara it is now. There is a new chief and new rules and I would have loved to see Shawn and Gus deal with that on their home turf. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
