Saturday, July 18, 2020

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home


The follow-up to Psych: The Movie brings all the characters back to Santa Barbera to help the injured Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) recuperating, after being shot, in a luxurious hospital where odd things keep happening. It's good to see Omundson back as he was only able to manage a cameo in Psych: The Movie while recovering from a stroke. The script writes in a stroke as part of his character's recovery, and even if this Lassiter is more mellow than usual (at least one the Lassiter abrasiveness scale), his addition helps make Psych 2: Lassie Come Home feel like a more complete experience.

Shawn (James Roday) and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) are both working the case while attempting (badly) to hide the fact from the other in a bit of convoluted plot that involves them wanting to help Lassiter and protect each other from harm. Gus (Dulé Hill) is back, tied to the hip with Shawn, and even Henry (Corbin Bernsen) shows up to act grouchy and offer some sage advice. Jazmyn Simon reprises her role as Selene from Psych: The Movie as Gus' jealous girlfriend who ends up tagging along with Juliet for much of the movie. We're also introduced to Lassiter's father played by Joel McHale and Sarah Chalke guest-stars as Lassiter's nurse who has a little thing for Gus (providing one of the movie's running gags).

The made-for-TV movie features plenty of callbacks to the show including Shawn's introductions, other regular Psych bits and goofiness, and working as many characters as possible into the plot. The only one I felt got away from Steve Franks is the hallucinatory sequence featuring Mary Lightly (Jimmi Simpson) which (like Gus molesting a man's foot) goes on too long. Like Psych: The Movie, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home is for the fans who should be happy to see everyone back, a little older but none the wiser.

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