#WhatWouldGusDo. Retrospective: Psych - “S.E.I.Z.E the Day”

Season 8, Episode 2

Air Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 9/8c on USA

Rating: ★★★★★

Carlton Lassiter, skilled marksman, Civil War re-enactor… father?

When an assassin tries to kill interim police chief Harris Trout (Anthony Michael Hall), Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) vows he will catch whoever is behind it, even if it means going down in a hailstorm of bullets. But, when Marlowe (Kristy Swanson) gives Lassiter some unexpected news, his world is turned upside down, leaving his new life coach to pick up the pieces.

While “Lock, Stock, Some Smoking Barrels and Burton Guster’s Goblet of Fire” was the season premiere, it never really felt like one. That’s because “S.E.I.Z.E the Day” picks up following the events of the season seven finale where Juliet (Maggie Lawson) was promoted to Head Detective and Lassiter demoted to beat cop. With Chief Vick serving her eight-month suspension, Trout continues his reign of terror by making everyone miserable.

With the Santa Barbara Police Department no longer using Psych to consult, Shawn decides to take on the role of Life Coach and teaching his S.E.I.Z.E program to his clients. S.E.I.Z.E is an acronym for Seize Eggs I don’t know Zebra Eighties. Against his better judgment, Lassiter agrees to be Shawn’s first client because he is unsure he still has what it takes to bring the shooter in.

Needless to say, Shawn makes a horrible life coach by often encouraging people to do things that either backfire, or worse, get them arrested. Hopefully, Vick will return soon and Shawn can stop being a fake life coach and go back to being a fake psychic.

Trout isn’t the only person the assassin goes after. A pattern starts to emerge hinting that the killer is going after A-holes, which prompts Shawn to call and warn his father Henry (Corbin Bernsen).

What makes “S.E.I.Z.E the Day” enjoyable is we get to see a side of Lassiter we really haven’t seen before…scared, which leads everyone else to assume he is dying. I especially enjoyed how Lassiter keeps trying to talk himself up.

“You will get your head back in the game and you will get back to dodging bullets.”

It’s nice that Swanson is back reprising her role as Lassiter’s wife. Her character is one I felt was never treated very seriously and often seemed forgotten by the writers. Hopefully, with the pregnancy, we will see more of Marlowe this season.

While it’s interesting to have a chief who is the total opposite of Vick in every way, I am not a big fan of the Trout character. I think his being an ass bit gets old fast. One of the things I think makes Psych work is that Shawn is the odd quirky one and for the most part, everyone else plays it straight. Trout’s antics and other oddities in some way diminish Shawn’s. It’s Shawn you would expect to find walking around the station blindfolded or making outrageous statements. Instead, he is starting to appear almost normal when compared to Trout.

“S.E.I.Z.E the Day” is a fairly straightforward episode about a topic we have seen dozens of times on TV, only with the Psych writers putting their own twist to it, making it fun and a slightly above average episode to watch. It’s entertaining to watch the transformation of Lassiter back into a man we all know and love, and Omundson does a wonderful job of pulling off a range of emotions.

What really touched me is the final scene between Lassiter and Henry. Henry knows all too well the ramifications of putting the badge before family and it makes for a very touching way to close out the episode. Hopefully, fans will get a chance to see what kind of father Lassiter will be.

Funny moments:

Gus looking constipated as he tries to shed tears over Lassiter.

Lassiter having a back-up pen in an ankle holster where cops usually keep a back-up weapon.

Lassiter looking totally bad ass in the slow motion terminator shot as he takes down a bad guy.

Shawn taking on Gus’ mom as a client.

Trout interrogating his mother.

Sadly, Psych is in its final stretch with only eight episodes remaining. USA Network should be making the official announcement in the coming days.

On a side note, if you have the Psych season one DVD, you might want to watch “Cloudy… With a chance of Murder.” It is being remade for the January 22, 2014 episode, which is titled “Remake A.K.A Cloudy…. With a Chance of Improvement.” According to the people behind Psych, it is the first time a show has made a remake of one of its own episodes.

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “S.E.I.Z.E the Day.”

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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.