As Psych‘s fifth season opens, business has been slow for our heroes since the SBPD officially hired Henry to oversee Shawn and Gus. That’s the excuse Shawn gives to fire a Chinese assistant he hired four days earlier but never actually paid. Shortly after that, a Chinese businessman’s daughter is apparently kidnapped by a mysterious black-clad figure. Henry refuses to let Shawn work the case, but Shawn goes out on his own.
The businessman, Mr. Chang, turned out to be the leader of the Golden triad. His daughter’s “kidnapper” turned out to be her boyfriend, the son of a rival triad leader. The episode title gave away this romantic twist, but it was fairly well hidden in the episode itself. Just as Shawn put things together, Chang’s daughter and her boyfriend were genuinely kidnapped by someone else. This was the real twist to me.
The one element that concerns me heading into Season 5 is Henry’s official position with the SBPD. I liked when he turned down the job last season. I thought he took the job in the season finale just so he’d be allowed to help rescue Shawn. I don’t know how Henry will fit in at the station. Writers sometimes make changes like this to expand an actor’s role, but I don’t think Henry’s role needs expanding.
I don’t know how realistic it was for Shawn and Gus to bumble their way past two rival triads, but this is a comedy, after all. It was good to see the characters back in fine, bantering form. I also liked that O’Hara needed time to recover from her kidnapping at the hands of Mr. Yin. She worked out of City Hall this episode, but Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, and Chief Vick all checked on her. I look forward to another fun season.
