Psych ramblings

[wednesday_whimsy]

This may end up just a incoherent mass of problems I have with Psych right now, but I feel like I need to get it down somewhere.

This time last year I had never seen an episode of Psych. I watched four seasons between January and March of this year, and I adored the first three so much I flung myself into it whole-heartedly. Reading fic, writing fic, rp; my phone and laptop desktops are Psych related. I dragged ditchwitchbitch to Psych related places while we were in Santa Barbara and I named my rabbits Shawn and Gus.

So it makes me sad that I might end the year hating it. I really don't want to. I wish I could watch it and enjoy it and not care about things that other people don't seem to care about, i.e. plot, writing, characterisation. But I can't do that.

1. It's not smart anymore. Correct me if I'm wrong, but season one was hilarious and intelligent. It was about crimes and detective work and Shawn's weird genius. He was funny and clever at the same time. The show was funny and clever at the same time. Now it's week after week of themed episodes. And not themed around a crime either. It's like they pick a theme and shoehorn a crime into that world. Maybe they did that all along, but it never felt it before. The first few years never seemed to rely on gimmicks and guest stars.

2. There's no B-plot. I can't express how much I think this show has suffered from the removal of a B-plot. When Shawn and Gus were off doing something, Lassiter and Juliet got to do something else. This meant more time for all the characters, everyone got to do something interesting, and relationships developed, as they should. Now there is no B-plot, which means less Lassiter, Juliet being stuffed into the "girlfriend" role, and tons of "guest stars" to fill up the "non-Shawn&Gus" time. Leading nicely on to....

3. They're ruining Lassiter. No really, what the actual fuck are they doing to him? I was prompted to write this post by the new stills from this season which they've released on Facebook. There's Shawn and Gus, Shawn and Juliet, Shawn and Gus and Juliet... but no Lassiter. Nowhere. Nada. And that just adds to the feeling I have that the character they're writing now is not the character they created. I thought that he was supposed to be there to compete with Shawn, but he was never an idiot, and they were never really that mean to each other. Now it's like they really hate each other. Last week Lassie even called into question that Shawn was helpful. Really? After five years? After everything you've been through together? That's not character progression. That's creating a fall guy to make your hero look more heroic. And it's pissing me off.

4. They're ruining Lassiter & Juliet. I was going to say they're ruining Juliet first, but so far I don't think they're doing too badly. I love Juliet. I seriously adore her. I have from the moment she arrived. I think she's kickass and if they do ruin her character I think it'll be a crying shame. I'd like to state here that this isn't about "shipping" any particular couples. It was obvious from the second episode that Shawn and Juliet were "meant to be". I guess that's why I don't particularly want them as a couple. I don't like being told who to ship. But I always thought as long as it doesn't spoil the core relationships, I don't really care. I never thought that Shawn/Juliet would impact upon Shawn/Gus, but I was always worried about what it would do to Lassiter/Juliet. Again, not in a romantic way, but to me, Juliet is Lassiter's Gus. She's there to rein him in, help him out, back him up. And that amazing relationship they had - you can't tell me they're not best friends, they love each other so much - is just gone now. And I'm worried that it's going to become Shawn+Gus+Juliet against Lassiter and that's just not right.

5. They've ruined Shawn. Do I even have to go into everything that's wrong with Shawn this year?

6. Henry should not be working at the station. Mainly because it means there's nothing for the Chief to do and the Chief is awesome. Henry needs to be a dad again and the Chief needs to take charge of the station.

I really want it to go back to being good. I really want to believe this is a blip and it'll get better again. I'll watch to the end of the year, because I do want to see the end of the Yin/Yang storyline, but then... I don't know. I do like seeing Tim on my screen every week, but I'm not sure I can bear watching them wreck my show for that.