Psych Episode Review: “From the Earth to the Starbucks”

I was getting a little burned out on Gilligan’s Island re-runs and decided to change things up a bit by watching this series on Netflix. I ended up picking this particular episode because it was one I didn’t remember watching before (though I’m sure I did) and, because of that, I didn’t know, in advance, who the bad guy was. And, as it turns out, it was very entertaining.

I think the thing that really impressed me about this episode was the complexity of the murder. For one, when Shawn first started his investigation, it still wasn’t clear whether or not the astronomer had been murdered or if it really was a death by natural causes. The fact Shawn had to start from scratch definitely made things interesting.

Another thing I liked about this episode was the fact there were multiple suspects ranging from the astronomer’s partner, Hugo (Richard Kind) to the woman (Nicole Lyn) Gus (Dule Hill) was dating. Even though I had my suspicions, I honestly wasn’t completely sure who the bad guy was until the official reveal, especially since the janitor (Ryan Robbins) was looking a bit guilty. Since mysteries just aren’t that fun to watch once you know who the criminal is, that was something I definitely enjoyed and appreciated.

I think my favorite part of this episode was the clever way Shawn set up Gus with his date, especially when he inferred Gus preferred to use a motorcycle but would drive his much safer (and less cool) car to pick her up.  I think the part of that I found most interesting was I was never completely sure if he was really trying to help out his friend or was just trying to keep the woman occupied until he knew, for certain, she wasn’t the murderer. It was a very clever thing and definitely added something to this episode.

This series, in general, was always a bit hit or miss when it came to the episodes. But, this mystery was actually very entertaining to watch and I would recommend this episode as a result.

My Grade: A