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Dry Rub. Review: Psych – “Lassie Jerky”

Season 7, Episode 3

Air Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 10/9c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

“You know I’m allergic to pine needles and most types of dirt.” – Gus

If you’re reading this, it’s already too late. RUN!

The other day, I was tweeting that I’m not a fan of episodes directed by James Roday (who plays Shawn Spencer). It prompted a reply from Terry Goldman, Director of Social Media for USA Network, who asked, “Why in particular? His directing always pays great homage to classic films.” I told Mr. Goldman those episodes reminded me of the Sesame Street song, “One of These Things is Not Like the Other.” This made me realize my least favorite Psych episodes weren’t just the Roday episodes but homage episodes like “Dual Spires.” It’s like when a show decides to do a musical episode; unless your show is Glee, stick with what you know. And yes, I’m painfully aware Psych has a musical episode coming. Making matters worse, Roday is a huge horror fan so just to make things interesting, he decided to make this a “found footage” style episode much like the Blair Witch Project, neither of which I’m a fan of. With all that said, I was fully prepared to hate “Lassie Jerky.” There was only one problem: I absolutely loved it.

For once Gus is eating something that’s ok to eat

Not only did Roday direct and star in “Lassie Jerky,” he also wrote it. One of the things I enjoyed was in using the found footage format, Shawn is able to do play-by-plays of what’s going on along with his thoughts, which lulls you into a false sense of security. So many misdirects and they all work; there is no Bigfoot; it has to be Kate (Kate Rogal) or Chavo (Alex Enriquez) but then, suddenly, there’s Bigfoot. There’s also some great dialogue in this episode, like Gus (Dule Hill) explaining to Kate why he and Shawn are in the woods.

Gus’s unusual habits, which I have found annoying at times, have slowly grown on me and I now welcome them. I love the trouble his eating gets him into during “Lassie Jerky,” including one very awkward moment from which this episode gets its name. It’s one of those moments where you pause and think, Did he seriously just eat that despite knowing what they thought it was at the time?

Using Big Ed like a chest of drawers

I am not a big WWE fan but I really enjoyed the Big Ed Dixion (The Big Show) character. I would love to see him return in a future episode. His dialogue was so well written and funny. I laughed when he explains that he isn’t armed. OK, he is, but he isn’t dangerous; OK, he is but, well, you get the point. Big Ed is in the episode long enough to where it was hard to get a read on what his intentions were until the end.

It was fun to see Juliet (Maggie Lawson) take charge in a way we really haven’t seen before. Sure, she’s been tough before but in “Lassie Jerky,” she turns into Rambo and kicks some ass. In many ways, it felt like Juliet and Lassiter (Tim Omundson) switched roles and Juliet became the more dominant character. Speaking of Lassiter, he goes through hell in this episode, not only as a character, but based on the river scene, as an actor as well. While the majority of the river scene most likely uses a stunt double, there are a few close-up shots where it is clearly Omundson. “This really hasn’t been my day, O’Hara,” Lassiter tells Juliet after getting injured again.

All in all, “Lassie Jerky” is a very enjoyable episode. I went into it with a negative mindset and found myself liking it more than I expected. The only thing missing is no flashbacks yet in any of the first three episodes of season seven. Did young Shawn get to be too old again or have they simply dropped the use of flashback scenes?  One thing I do know: I have to reevaluate how I view not only Roday-directed episodes, but homage episodes as well.

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All photos © 2013 USA Network, a division of NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.

Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.