In an opening flashback to 1990, SBPD Chief Herb Wilkins takes Henry off a case in favor of the department’s best team, Don Peters and Floyd Boone. Flashing forward to the present day, Wilkins is chased down by a pair of killers. When his body is found, Chief Vick brings in as many teams as she can to solve his murder, including the retired Peters (William Devane) and Boone (Carl Weathers).
At first, Shawn and Gus didn’t work well with Peters and Boone. In fact, Peters and Boone stole Shawn’s usual thunder, making several important deductions that Shawn would have claimed as psychic revelations.
The fun of this episode was in the investigation of Wilkins’s life after retirement. Early clues pointed to his involvement with drugs and a much younger woman. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Shawn and Gus had uncovered a dark side to the respected Wilkins. Along the same lines, I thought Peters and Boone might have had shady dealings with Wilkins and killed him as a result. With each new clue, I became less confident in my guesses. The best plots don’t let viewers guess anything too accurately.
The episode went to some lengths to establish that Peters and Boone were future versions of Shawn and Gus. Their banter was similar, and James Roday and Dulé Hill did excellent impressions of Devane and Weathers. Still, I saw some key differences. Peters and Boone weren’t all-around great guys. Not used to female detectives, they treated Juliet badly for most of the episode.
I hope the writers don’t rely on this episode as an exact blueprint of Shawn and Gus’s future. They have been working closely with the police, but I wouldn’t want to see them join the force themselves. In past reviews, I’ve questioned whether anyone still believes Shawn’s act, but if anyone besides Lassiter said, “Come clean, Shawn. We know you’re not psychic,” the fun would be over.
problem: where’s the pair of killers. They only found one killer at the end. Those old detectives are up to something
@george the dead club owner was the other killer
William Devane is a treasure and I was delighted to see him in action again! I hope these two veterans return; I laughed through the entire episode. Best one I’ve seen in a long time.
@george, I thought the same thing, in fact I was so convinced that I googled the episode and ended here.
@coleen Thanks you cleared it up, the club owner was the other killer.