Psych/WMG

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Henry told Chief Vick the truth in the first episode

Henry has been pretty firmly established as ultra-careful. In one episode he even schools Shawn on the subject of lying believably. In light of this, it seems odd that Henry would offer a verifiable fact (Shawn got his powers at eighteen), without checking with Shawn first to see if he had said anything contradictory. Even if Vick asked him directly, Henry would be experienced enough to dodge the question or offer a less concrete answer.

Plus, in the early episodes Henry is openly hostile to the psychic detective idea. That seems inconsistent with lying to the Chief of Police so Shawn can continue.

In addition, there's a fair amount of evidence against Vick believing in Shawn's powers. Despite nominally believing all his information comes from psychic visions, she usually insists on evidence before acting or putting resources towards a theory. She has also witnessed him using deductive reasoning to solve a case without commenting.

In light of this, and what we know of the characters, it seems plausible that Henry simply laid the cards on the table- Shawn is a demonstrably brilliant detective, receiving a perfect score on the detectives exam. As Shawn refuses to join the police force, and has a criminal record, she can't use his skills unless she pretends that she buys the psychic routine. By this time she has seen him in action, and is less hostile towards his interference in the course of justice, and agrees. She then tells Shawn she believes him in order to retain plausible deniability if it all blows up in her face.

    • Chances are, she asks for evidence because that's what they need to actually try the case. Yeah, Shawn may be right but that doesn't mean he can be used as evidence that a court will accept. A confession on the other hand or being caught in the act...

Juliet's uniform fetish is why she joined the police

The episode that just aired as of this writing (1/30/08) suggests she is turned on by uniforms. And now she's in a job where she can spend hours staring at cops...

Shawn was a Companion to the Tenth Doctor

They're equally silly, cursed with curiosity and wanderlust, and have a habit of saving the day. Plus, they both have a fixation with a particular type of fruit - The Doctor with bananas, and Shawn with pineapples.

Shawn is a Mirror Universe counterpart of Ned from Pushing Daisies

Other than their both being sleuths, they're almost complete opposites. Shawn solves crimes using observation but pretends to be using superhuman powers. Ned solves crimes using superhuman powers but pretends to be using observation. Shawn employs a black man as his crime-solving assistant; Ned is the crime-solving assistant to a black man. Shawn is a ladies' man; Ned has his one true love and appears incapable of attraction to anyone else. Shawn is always hyperactive and outspoken, making a big impression on everyone he meets; Ned is shy and assuming. Shawn is incredibly, even annoyingly, cocky; Ned is quietly self-confident. Shawn is reckless; Ned is always hyper-cautious. Shawn's dad was always very demanding of him; Ned's dad abandoned him. Shawn is laid-back; Ned is usually ill at ease. Shawn is cunning; Ned hasn't got a devious bone in his body. Shawn is great at deception; Ned is a terrible liar. Any more?

Shawn is psychic

His father trained him to come up with plausible reasons for the psychic intuitions he has. That's why he always looks at the tiniest clues that other people have missed. It would also explain the weird inverted light and the eerie green that the clues flash.

Shawn may not even realize he is psychic because of how well his father indoctrinated him. His mother left because, as a psychologist, she believed that a child should know the truth. Henry kept Shawn at a time when men rarely did because he seemed like the more stable parent; custody judges hate parents with 'non-traditional beliefs'.

Shawn is a Video game Protagonist

All objects useful to him light up when he looks at them. This is just to save Pixel Hunts ala Bioshock

Psych and Reaper take place in the same universe

Ray Wise plays what appears to be a vicar in an upcoming episode called "The devil is in the details and upstairs bedroom". Ray wise... "the devil" in the name of the episode... there's no other explanation!

Psych takes place in a Fantasy Kitchen Sink, complete with Psychics.

Think about it. Regardless of his record, in Real Life Shawn ought to be written off as a crackpot, and yet many people seek him out deliberately because they take his claim to be a psychic seriously. My guess is that the general populace knows that Espers, Psychics and Time Travelers exist, probably from watching the local equivalent of Superman rescue people on television.

  • I can't help but laugh at the idea that of a Psych / World of Darkness crossover fanfic.
  • Real police departments do use psychics, though. They're just rather less reliable than Shawn.

Shawn and Abigail are no longer dating.

  • Why else is she never around? Gus is supporting this pretence because he wants to see Jules and Shawn get together.
  • As of "Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers," confirmed.
  • Isn't Abigail in Africa?
  • Abigail was in Uganda for 6 months.
    • Actually, it was finalized in "Mr. Yin Presents" when Abigail knew that dating someone involved with the police would put her in a risky position. She wants to help third-world countries and can't do that if she's dead.

Lassie is a /k/ommando

Shawn has No Fourth Wall

That's why clues light up and he can hear the narrator in the commercial

  • Given how most No Fourth Wall characters act * cough* Deadpool* cough* this might explain why he acts the way he does. Given how lazy Shawn is, you'd think by now he would've given up the whole routine. He's established his credibility after all.
    • Wasn't it established in the first episode that if anyone ever proved he WASN'T a psychic, he'd be charged with interfering in police affairs, regardless of results?

Shawn is really a Chaotic Neutral Villain Protagonist.

He's only does what he finds fun, which can equally include illegal actions... in fact he typically breaks the law Once an Episode in order to solve the case, but remember he also manufactured a case by breaking into someones house in order to keep Gus on the team.

Shawn is on antidepressants

He was either on them before he started Psych (because of his obvious relationship and attachment issues, not to mention his not so happy relationship with his father) or very shortly after when he realized that he or one of his loved ones could have died because of his actions. The simple fact that Gus works for a pharmaceutical company means that he could probably get meds without a prescription or actually seeing a psychiatrist so it wouldn't show up that he's on medication in any of the police departments records (which could potientially discredit him).

Lassie has a son/Daughter

If you look over some of the more recent episodes there have been several hints that Lassiter has a child from his past that no one knows about.

  • Yes. In "The head, the tail, the whole damn episode" Lassie says to Henry something like "I'm telling you this as a father!"

Henry: "What do you know about being a father?!"

    • The Psychwrites twitter account said that that line was just a joke that didn't land.

Mr. Yang was an old girlfriend of Shawns

I'm thinking that she might have either been one of his first girlfriends. She saw some of the training from hell that Shawn got from Henry. Something caused them to separate, maybe she moved away, or Shawn broke a promise to her that caused something in her mind to break. Or maybe Henry was worried about her as a bad influence on Shawn and so lied to her and did something to drive a wedge between them. Her first killings were with the goal of getting back at Shawns father, or maybe getting Shawn himself involved (as she might have thought he'd be a cop by then). With the lack of involvement or interest from Shawn she got bored with it and stopped, only returning later because she found out about Shawns psychic detective agency aiding the police.

  • Implied by the picture at the end of 'Mr. Yin presents'
    • Good idea, but compare Yang in the picture to the young Shawn. She looks too old, so no, they can't be dating. Smart idea though.
  • Status: Jossed. She was a lonely woman who Shawn's mother allowed to take a picture with him, in a minute of spectacularly bad judgement.

The Season Finale, Mr. Yin Presents, is a dream.

There are too many 'sleep' images early on, and just after Shawn falls asleep the lightning, lines, and acting of most characters changes slightly. Just like it would in a dream episode. The entire thing is brought on by talking to Marry, the Pie, and the Movie Fest. This also explains the larger than average Plot Holes.

Henry was one of the cops challenged by Mr. Yang

During the third season finale, we are told that Mr. Yang had an initial killing spree, then went dark, only emerging to challenge a Worthy Opponent, and Henry is known to have been an amazing cop. Mr. Yang would have respected his skills and ethics. We know that the challengers failed, and the shame of an innocent's blood on Henry's hands would explain his early retirement, and his resistance to openly work on cases, since it would bring back that responsibility

Yin is Yang's twin sister

First off, in the credits, "Mr. Yin" is a male actor, but due to the rules of Cast as a Mask, that doesn't rule out anything. In the last scene of "Mr. Yin Presents", Yin is a room with kind of old-fashioned, feminine decor, like patterned tablecloths and tea kettles, and strokes a picture of young Shawn with what appears to be Yin. Plus, factor in the thematic elements of the yin and the yang between "twins". I'm almost sure of it. I will not be that surprised if it turns out that Samus Is a Girl.

    • Status: Jossed. She is his daughter.

Shawn's lack of psychic abilities is The Not-Secret, but everyone thinks they're the only one who knows.

Lassiter clearly knows Shawn isn't psychic, but has given up on trying to convince anyone else. Gus and Henry, obviously, are in on it but covering for Shawn. Juliet has figured it out but is also keeping quiet for Shawn's sake, and Chief Vick knows but plays along so she can continue to call on Shawn to help with cases. McNab... OK, McNab is probably fooled. And so is that black woman who thinks Shawn is in psychic contact with her grandmother.

    • Chief Vick also knows that Henry has been involved. To what extent, she isn't clear on, but it's possible that she knows that Shawn is simply going for help since he's stuck on a case. It also explains why nobody questions his process, where he goes, why he needs to see the crime scenes sometimes and other times he doesn't... It makes a lot of sense.

Det. Carlton Lassiter is the ancestor for the person who'll eventually invent the Lassiter, or at least own the company which sells the Lassiter.

Many guns are known colloquially by the name of their creator (e.g. Kalashnikov Rifle) or by the company which made them, and such companies are usually named after the company's founder (e.g. Winchester). So who's to say that a descendant of Lassiter wouldn't build a laser gun/make a laser gun company centuries in the future?

  • To build on this, remember the Season 2 episode where Lassiter's car is stolen? They mention sound guns a few times. Remember that crappy Alliance gun in the Firefly episode "Ariel"? Looked like it used sound to me.

Gus is the psychic one.

His "acute sense of smell" is a cover.

Mr. Yang is both Shawn's and Mr Yin mother

For this Theory to work we have to assume that Shawn was adopted. Ms Yang was a brilliant but unstable genius with twins. Deemed unfit both her son and daughter were removed and the arresting officer Henry Spencer ended up adopting Shawn. His twin sister was retrived by Ms Yang who went on the run with him. In a twisted sense of Irony storywise she trained Mr Yins deductive and logistics skills to stay ahead of the law that would take her away from her mother . She found her son again and took a picture with him but didn't retrive him. Instead starting the Gemini killings with her daughter to taunt the Police. Now running the End game in the new Season Mr Yin will begin to date Gus to get closer to her brother in a Dexter-like stand off.

Shawn got arrested when he was eighteen on purpose.

He knew that having a criminal record (with GTA on it) would keep him from ever being a police officer of FBI agent, and that taking a car for a joyride to impress a girl when he was eighteen would be a lot less likely to get him in trouble in the future than would things like robbery or arson, or any crime when he was older than barely-legal. That's why he didn't have anything more recent in his rap sheet as of the pilot episode.

    • More or less confirmed in the same episode that shows the actual arrest. One, Shawn isn't at all surprised when Henry shows up, and two, Shawn explicitly states that he'll never be able to join the police force now.

Mc Nabb is a Timelord.

Who can magically survive anything.

Mr. Yang is a former detective.

And an effective one at that explaining how she was able to effective predict their moves and allude the cops. She probably got very little credit or attention dispite her own capabilities because of her being a woman in a very male dominated field(assuming she's in her forties or fifties, if and when she was a cop could probably be around a time when such treatment was commonplace). She switched sides because she got sick of her treatment and started to challenge fresh talent and try and prove herself superior but eventually truly wanted someone to match her after the others failed to meet her expectations.

Psych takes place in the same universe as Supernatural

In the first season episode Weekend Warriors Shawn and Gus investigate a murder at a Civil War reinactment. It is the history of the battle being reinacted which gives the link. In the battle Lassiter's ancestor, Muscomb Lassiter leads an army to stop the army of Captain Quantrel. During the episode we learn the history of this individual and how the link to Supernatural comes about. He is killed during the battle by a nurse on the opposite side who lost a husband and two sons because of Quantrel. Captain Quantrel burned the town of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863. It was here that the husband and two sons of nurse Jenny Winslow died. Shawn describes him as "the evil Captain Quantrel" and this leads me to believe he was possessed by a demon or simply into some dark magic stuff. Shawn also says that when Lassiter stopped his army cold at the bridge in the battle that it was like a "noble calling". Sounds like stopping some evil supernatural stuff to me.

Now, Winslow was possibly Jenny's married name, her maiden name would have been Winchester, or perhaps later generations of the family changed it from Winslow to Winchester. She likely had at least one brother to carry on the family name. Flash forward to 1983 and the Winchesters suffer the tragedy in Lawrence, Kansas which sets them on the road hunting evil. Clearly this is some sort of off-frequency echo of the past (hence why the mother is killed this time and the father and boys survive) or a wicked twist of fate.

  • Which could mean that by WMG standards, Woody (the coroner) is actually Zachariah, since they're both played by Kurt Fuller. Zachariah could be posing as a coroner in order to get closer to something in Santa Barbara, possibly a vessel or ancient artifact.
    • I love the idea of Zachariah as a coroner. Somehow it just fits.
  • Based on his apparently rough childhood and overly suspicious mother, Lassiter was raised to a be a hunter. He has all the expert gun training, obsessive behavior and sub-par social skills to fit the profile. He could have seen what the hunting life did to others and decided to go a little more mainstream with his sense of justice.
    • Shawn's dad could have also been trying to raise him as a hunter, but not wanted to tell Shawn that monsters exist. He drilled him on survival skills, and got pretty extreme. It's true that Shawn has no real experience with guns, but his father could've decided that it wasn't worth trying to teach Shawn after a point, or that Shawn wouldn't be able to kill.

Woody the coroner is Mr. Yin

Only because he's an all-of-a-sudden new recurring character, and in these kinds of plots the killer is always a "known" quantity.

  • Or prehaps he gets killed by hir.
  • Status: Jossed.

Peters and Boone (the two old guys from Viagra Falls) will come back

I know you want them to, admit it.

Shawn is really his "uncle" Jack's son

Shawn has stated at least twice that he has some doubts that Henry Spencer is his biological father. It is unlikely that two such light blond haired parents would have a child with dark brown hair, and while shawn and Henry share few character or physical traits in common, Shawn and Jack are very alike in appearance and personality.

I suspect that Madeline and Jack had an affair shortly after meeting each other and Henry knew all along because he is sterile, but he has never told anyone. Madeline has always suspected but doesn't know for sure. Jack has no idea.

Declan is Mr. Yin.

Sounds insane doesn't it, but think for a second.

His first scene is beating Shawn in a movie trivia question and Mr. Yin was all about movies, his resume was a good enough forgery to fool Henry. He is the only confirmed person on the show so far to deduce that Shawn is not a psychic, and he went straight for Juliet. So what are the odds of another incredibly intelligent person just moving to Santa Barbra, go to the exact same coffee place as Shawn, get hired for the exact same case as Shawn, and go for the exact same girl? Declan is Yin, and is setting Shawn up for a major game sometime next season.

He also has an insane amount of cash which he could use to his own murderous gain (that makes since right? Murderous gain?)

OOH! Maybe when he was tying up Juliet to the tower he was attracted to her!

  • "Draft us a couple cold ones and let's make a toast, to you falling head over heels for me." This is a clue to Juliet from Mr. Yin. Yes, it probably was referring to the trapdoor under her, but that doesn't rule out a double meaning. Also, how about Mr. Yin's last clue in "Mr. Yin Presents...", which starts out with "I'll drop by at half past four..." Declan first appears in the eight episode of a sixteen episode Season 5, which is halfway past the fourth season.
    • Could be. The last scene in "Mr. Yin Presents" doesn't make sense, then. But then again, if it was my "sister" theory (like above), it would leave a few odd questions (like how Yin has a masculine build). Then again, wouldn't it make more sense for Juliet to break up with him and THEN have Declan try to kill both Shawn and Abigail? Then again, Yin did build the elaborate Hitchcock scenes, therefore, Yin has to have money.
      • If Declan is Yin then him dating Juliet wasn't out of attraction, it was all part of the game so the break up wouldn't particularly matter, unless Declan was planning on kidnapping Juliet on their trip. Imagine if you would, Declan and Juliet go off on a trip that is planned for a week, but suddenly Declan shows up at the Psych offices by himself, completely panicked, saying Juliet has been kidnapped and the only clue was a note "Dear Shawn, The Game has begun - Yin", and through the entire episode Yin himself is watching Shawn try to save Juliet while trying to hide his feelings so Declan would not find out about their feelings for each other. Sounds like a Yin/Yang style plot to me. - Ryuplaneswalker
        • This could still work! Juliet just derailed the whole thing, completely obliviously, by breaking it off before the trip.
          • Yes, but Yin isn't stupid, so I would say in a few episodes say...around the time of the season finale *wink wink* he will have adapted his plan to Juliet and Shawn dating.
    • OK, if Declan is Yin, the ending of "Mr. Yin Presents" just doesn't make sense, though.
            • How so? If Declan is Yin then "Declan" doesn't really exist persay and was all just a persona made up to infiltrate/screw with Team Psych.
            • Here's how: Yin is seen stroking a picture with what appears to be Yang and Shawn (both younger) in some sort of warehouse. The whole scene would make a bit more sense if the woman in the picture WAS Yin: Yang's identical twin. Unfortunately, the depiction of Yin with a muscular masculine build will be hard to write off as even Cast as a Mask. Still though, I think Declan WILL be involved somehow.
              • Declan could just be Yang's younger brother, I don't recall anything about Yang having an identical twin.
              • That was one of my WMGs, about Yin being a twin to Yang. But younger brother...that's a new one.
              • Well, truth be told we know nothing of Yin, so anything is possible. The Photo was of Yang, and it was Yang monologuing during the last scene.

Yin and Yang (the names, not the characters) an IRL reference to Shawn and Gus' relationship.

Pretty self explanatory; the whole Yin/Yang thing has been applied to Shawn and Gus several times in the show and by the creators. Shawn himself said to Gus "I am the Yin to your Yang." Coincidentally, that quote comes from the last episode before the whole Mr. Yin and Mr. Yang thing started.

  • As it turns out, the reference may be more about the relationship between Shawn and Henry.

Shawn has Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Let me quote some of the DSM-IV's guidelines for diagnosing APD: A) There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring for as long as either childhood, or in the case of many who are influenced by environmental factors, around age 15, as indicated by three or more of the following:

1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest; 2. deceitfulness, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure; 3. impulsivity or failure to plan ahead; 4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults; 5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others; 6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations; 7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another;

B) The individual is at least 18 years of age. C) There is evidence of Conduct Disorder with onset before age 15 years. D) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia or a Manic Episode.

Sound familiar? The only one of that list that is arguable is aggressiveness and physical violence. Note that the diagnostic requirement mentions only three. Out of the list, there's only one that Shawn hasn't really demonstrated. Additionally, Shawn's parenting seems like the sort of thing that would encourage the onset of this type of disorder, according to most research.

    • No he has ADHD.
    • Even if he didn't have ADHD, he has no history of Conduct Disorder.
      • Debatable, Henry states in multiple episodes that Shawn was a troublemaker as a child; and in one episode Shawn worries (in typical Shawn fashion) that Gus's family thinks Shawn was a bad influence on Gus.

Shawn doesn't have a photographic memory

  • bear with me on this Shawn forgets a lot of things so inside of having a photographic memory he has a very good memory.
    • "Eidetic memory as observed in children is typified by the ability of an individual to study an image for approximately 30 seconds, and maintain a nearly perfect photographic memory of that image for a short time once it has been removed—indeed such eidetickers claim to "see" the image on the blank canvas as vividly and in as perfect detail as if it were still there. Much like any other memory, the intensity of the recall may be subject to several factors such as duration and frequency of exposure to the stimulus, conscious observation, relevance to the person, etc. This fact stands in contrast to the general misinterpretation of the term which assumes a constant and total recall of all events." Shawn forgetting events and things he's supposed to do doesn't mean he doesn't have an eidetic memory, just that he wasn't actively thinking about it when he needed to be. Him 'not remembering' things while solving a case is usually more just not seeing the relevance just then. Once he does, he recalls it perfectly.

Shawn and Lassiter are half-brothers

This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while now, but the more it rolls around in my head, the more it makes sense. We know Lassiter's home life wasn't great, but we don't know much beyond that. We know he spent a lot of time at that Old West town with its proprietor, and considered him a father figure this suggests Lassiter and his father didn't have a great relationship...possibly because his father was never around. We also don't know what specifically led to Henry and Madeline's divorce, could it have been infidelity, or perhaps Lassiter was conceived before Henry and Madeline got together. If you look at Lassiter, he could very easily be Henry's son. He's an acerbic, workaholic, occasionally Jerkass cop who takes pride in his detective skills and his marksmanship and has an unflinching belief in the law. His marriage has fallen apart, just like his father. They both have a very keen interest in fishing. Also, even though he and Shawn are obviously unaware of this connection, Lassiter and Shawn have settled into a very natural sibling rivalry between one another. Also henry's new job as department liason would allow him to keep a closer eye on both his sons.

Yang will be a recurring character in Season 6

It's established at the end of the season 5 finale that she's innocent of all the murders (except Yin), and her personality fits in with the Psych world in a way even Despereaux's doesn't. Even if she stays in custody, she seems perfectly suited to being the Token Evil Teammate.

  • Status: Jossed. Only one episode left in the season and she hasn't even appeared.

Juliet will learn the truth about Shawn at the same time her college flame returns.

Jules still doesn't know the truth about Shawn faking being a psychic. When she finds out, she will undoubtedly be heartbroken and frustrated, and she will no longer feel like she can trust Shawn.

Meanwhile, Juliet's college flame Scott[1], who she agreed to meet at a train station in a year, will show up around the same time that she finds out Shawn's secret. She will rebound and leave with Scott, and Psych will go out with a dramatic Season Finale.

Shawn is half-Q.

At some point, Q2 (played by Corbin Bernsen) left the Q Continuum, went back in time, and became physically mortal out of sheer boredom. He wound up having a child who he thought might have inherited his Q powers, so he trained said child as a way to repress them and unconsciously give him the ability to control his powers. Shawn's eidetic memory is a result of his genetic abilities, carefully honed by his Q father—though Q2/Henry tried/tries to stop him because if he continues, more Q powers will manifest and Shawn may become a Reality Warper.

  1. ↑ from the season four episode "A Very Juliet Episode"
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