This show is my most favorite show of all time. But it gets 3/5.
The show is good, yes. Watching the full show start to finish makes it a hell of a lot easier to enjoy. The antics of the main characters are never addressed in full so the jokes somewhat fall flat near the end of the show. But the development of the characters and the world building is, although repetitive, still enjoyable.
I will touch on certain aspects of the show that REALLY bring it down, but for now let’s just talk about plot.
The plot of “psych” is as follows, Shawn Spencer, an observant person who tricks the police into thinking he is psychic, followed along with his best friend, Burton Guster, the duo goes on baffling cases with the help of some other main-characters, but definitely a bit more on the side. Henry Spencer, Shawn’s father for those unaware, Carlton Lassiter, head detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department, and Juliet O’hara, Carlton Lassiter’s partner.
Where the plot falls flat is really in speed. Some major events occur that we don’t learn about for over 95 episodes. Oh yeah, this show has over 120 episodes. Although Gus (Burton Guster) is Shawn’s best friend, he is most often portrayed as the “Shawn, don’t do that. I can’t do this with you right now. Or, Let’s call the police.” Kind of character. He is really just a character that Shawn bounces thoughts off of to progress the show. Lassie (Carlton Lassiter) is a self-absorbed patriot to “Sweet Lady Justice” as he says. It takes over 70 episodes for there to be even a slight change in the behavior of these characters and most of their arcs last 1-2 episodes. Jules (Juliet O’Hara) is another one of those “Bounce” characters. Shawn bounces ideas off of him, to Gus, to Lassie, and then to Jules. Finally, the thought makes its way to Karen Vick, the interim police chief, who would later become permanent.
Something this show has that brings it down the most is racism and homophobia, even some xenophobia here and there.
Shawn calls Gus, “Django Unchained” in an episode, and other racist remarks happen throughout the show. Most parts that include gay people are awkward on purpose, almost like the gay characters are portrayed as weirdos. The xenophobia comes from an arc in the show where Shawn needs an employee for Psych and Ken steps up to do it. Ken is an Asian, and soon after he is hired, many jokes about Asians are made, most involving stereotypes.
This show is not a must watch, but it is still good generally with its flaws in mind.