Recap: ‘Dead Air’
The host of Shawn and Gus’s favourite radio show, the popular DJ Crock Daniels, is murdered live on the air. The two best friends go undercover to find out who the culprit was. The owner of the station, Miranda Sherrod, has more than professional interest in Gus and after Shawn’s debacle on the air, she offers him his own radio show. When Crock’s biggest fan Laura takes an interest in Gus, her stalker ‘Bob’ comes into action and tries to shoot the new radio personality. He misses and wounds the Blueberrie instead.
Rachael’s visa has expired, which means she will have to return to London for six months in order to reapply. It also means that the relationship between Gus and Rachael will be a long distance one until she will return back to Santa Barbara. That is, if she does at all.
A crock and a dino tried to cross the road. Why didn’t they get to the other side? Because they couldn’t find solid ground! cue laughter You probably think this is the lamest joke you’ve heard in a while, quite possibly ever, and you’d be right. I’m not a popular DJ on Santa Barbara’s KJAD Radio though, just a simple review writer with an overload of opinion.
Saladin Patterson’s directorial debut felt like a roller-coaster of fun. From the 2008 flashback opening in the radio studio, to the ending in the Psych office where Shawn is playing with the sound effect keyboard, Patterson was able to keep up the humor with a steady pace, using it as a welcome buoy when scenes became too serious. That didn’t mean he didn’t allow for things to get real though! There seemed to be a careful balance between the drama and the comedy, which is of course also a credit to Patterson’s co-writer of this episode, Kell Cahoon.
We entered this episode at a rather intriguing scene; Shawn, Juliet, Gus and Rachael just finished up their (no doubt delicious!) grill dinner with Henry. It seemed so cosy and so familiar. What’s better than family dinner with the people you love? But wait. Weren’t Shawn and Juliet still broken up? Did the “it’s just one night” turn into “we’re dating again” without anyone mentioning this? I don’t mind Psych moving the plot along, it’s their prerogative, but when something is not clear to me, I feel left out and I cannot be the only one. If the writers don’t want to linger on the romantic drama anymore, that’s easy to solve. Throw in one simple sentence like “I’m glad we had that deep talk a few days ago, Jules, I missed you.” MWAH. (yes, that’s supposed to be the sound of a kiss–not a hug). The way we are shown that Shawn and Juliet might indeed be back together, but then again, maybe they are not.. it comes across like the writers were getting bored and tired of the Shules shenanigans and decided to ignore common sense and adult relationship rules, thinking the fans would buy a scene where the former couple were having a family dinner, because their beloved Shules were back together. Case closed. Well, no. That’s not how it works. You don’t open up a can of worms, let them crawl out all swormy wormy and then close the can back up, pretending all is well in the salad of life you were about to serve your guests. There are worms. If you don’t want to throw the salad out (which, in life, I’d advise you to do!), you’re going to have to pick out every single pesky one of those worms, or your guests won’t have the meal you planned for them… and you can bet they will think twice about coming over for dinner again.
I can’t deny though that I liked seeing the two (happy?) couples around the table, possibly for the very last time ever. With Rachael’s temporary visa being expired, and her going back to London for six months, who knows what will become of Gus and Rachael. The episode didn’t give me much to lean on though, and that saddens me.
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I think that when you’re in a loving relationship, and your partner leaves the country for half a year, you go to the airport with her and have a passionate goodbye scene there. You do not choose to have a sweet little kiss goodbye in your apartment. Now, of course I understand that story-wise Gus needed to be at home to get the visit from Bob, but C’mon Son! Bob could have knocked on the door right after Gus came back from the airport too. To not even wave her goodbye as she leaves in the taxi? That makes me worried, very worried about their future. The awkward phone call they had after she landed didn’t spark much hope in me either. I’m afraid Gus will soon be single again, and I wish that wasn’t the case. He’s not a playa, he’s a ‘staya’ (in a relationship)!
And then there was the vision we called Miranda Sherrod, played by the delightful Garcelle Beauvais.
Thank you guys, for writing a strong, powerful and successful woman at the head of a company. Her candor was refreshing! On the downside, her character showed an off-putting aggression (the word ‘desperate’ also springs to mind), and not only in her pursuit for ‘A Playa Named Gus’. It is sad to say that the character of a this business woman was written accurately. It seems that a woman these days needs to be ruthless in order to climb the corporate ladder. I rather enjoyed Sherrod’s accomplishment of making Lassiter walk off with his tail between his legs though, which is something I’d never thought I’d see happening after an interaction with a civilian.
However, and this needs to be said, there’s a difference between flirting and crossing a line when interacting with people, and if a man would talk to a woman the way Miss Sherrod talked to Gus (“Looks like someone here is more than just a pretty face.”), he’d be called a sexist. A man would, without a shadow of doubt, be filed with a sexual harassment case if he showed up at an employees house to get it on. Sure, I realize that Psych is a comedy and that everything that happens should be taken lightly. I can’t help being cautious though when sensitive matters are brushed off like they’re nothing, because people who experience this in real life are watching too, and they’re told that their nightmare is ‘not the bad news.’
The scenes were funny and well-written, and I understand that technically Gus wasn’t on her pay role, but the fact remains that this double standard is a very serious matter which isn’t funny in the least. A lot of the time, men don’t feel comfortable reporting sexual harassment (or worse–sexual assault), because the popular public opinion is that men can’t possibly be victims when it comes to sex; they love it too much. However, being a victim of sexual assault, harassment or even sexist jokes isn’t simply a matter of ‘sex’, it is about power. Unlike Gus, who had no problem sharing with his best friend that he endured some serious sexual harassment, due to the social embarrassment men tend to feel in these particular cases, the percentage of male harassment at the work place is 16.3% (the actual number is believed to be closer to 23%). Gus may not have had trouble putting his finger on what happened, but neither he nor Shawn acknowledged the sexual harassment to be an actual problem. It is though. Not only does it result in unemployment, studies show that many victims suffer from severe psychological problems, from eating disorders to depression. So, next time your co-worker gets complimented on his or her nice, round tush, think twice about laughing it off, and help raise awareness. It only takes one person to change the world.
Back to the seducer of this episode: I was pleasantly surprised by her sense of humor, first telling Shawn off for his introduction of Gus as Django Unchained, followed by her telling him off for giving up on the nickname game so easily. Her jabs completely fazed Shawn, and he’s not one that happens to easily! All this being said, Garcelle Beauvais’ portrayal of the character was sophisticated and thoroughly entertaining. I would not object to seeing more of her!
(Which I’m sure was a sentiment leading up to the Graduate homage.)
The Graduate is one of those absolute classics you never forget, and ever since its release in 1967, many movies and tv shows have made their appreciative nods to it, with their version of the famous Anne Bancroft leg shot scene. Psych did one in Andy Berman’s Season Five episode “Chivalry Is Not Dead… But Someone Is”, in which Lassiter interrogating Jean Smart’s character, Gillian Tucker, was the catalyst for the shot. Saladin gave a second nod to the classic with the same scene in this episode. What made me love this little homage, was the surprise on Gus’s face. The poor man was in such shock to see such a well developed female leg, that he even dropped his jerk chicken! Now that achievement is worth a straight A!
My absolute favourite detail of all time in Psych was that we got a character by the name of Redd Herring. WHAT! The term is often used in literature to describe something or someone who is a distraction from the plot–the killer if you may–putting someone into view to put all suspicion on. The best thing was: We actually had a red herring in this episode too!
I wasn’t pleased at all with the conclusion that Laura was the culprit. Mostly because we already had a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)–or as many people refer to it ‘multiple personality disorder’–in Season 1’s “Who Ya Gonna Call”! Thank Pineapples though that Bob was an actual person, so I could let go of that and just have an insane giggle attack about the awesomeness of the red(d) herring plot.
I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror though if I didn’t raise my concern. I believe that, especially in a time where a lot of people seem to get most of their information from tv, it is important to do research and don’t give out false information. Where in “Who Ya Gonna Call” the disease was handled with respect and care, in this episode it wasn’t handled properly at all. Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schizophrenia are two very different diseases, the first being a psychological condition that people can get after enduring traumatic events, the latter being a chronic brain disorder, “causing disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions.” According to the entire cast of characters, Laura suffered from DID. That is not possible though, because the drugs Shawn noticed on Laura’s desk were Olanzapine and Risperidone, both of which are used to treat Schizophrenia, not DID.
Laura, and other people suffering from mental illnesses, should be treated with the respect they deserve, not be called ‘crazy’ just because they are different, and helped, instead of laughed at. As an example of how it should not be, I approve of Shawn-like ridicules like “isn’t that like a bird eating another bird”, but I strongly implore writers, producers, and directors to at least have another character explaining what is right. Because, isn’t educating your audience the best legacy you can leave?
What made this episode for me, were the scenes when Shawn and Gus were on the air. I would listen to SpenceAir, oh yes I would! If not for the fun sound effects (…), then for the suspense and intrigue. And Winky Cutto. Yes, I know you can’t actually see that cute little frog on the air, but knowing it’s there makes all the difference.
We don’t see Shawn blanking out that often, he’s always got something to say. Except for when it comes to talking about himself on the spot, so it seems. That was some pretty good insight, and I’m glad Mr. Patterson & Cahoon brought that in. So where does Shawn turn the spotlight towards when he doesn’t want it on himself? Why, on Burton Guster of course! What a way for Gus to find out about Rachael leaving him for six months–live, on KJAD Radio!
Personally I would rather shower with a bear than listen to ‘A Playa Named Gus’; smooth-voiced DJ’s aiming their charm on the female part of the population are just not my thing (not to mention that I can’t get over the fact that it’s ‘creepy Gus’), but that doesn’t mean I didn’t adore the scenes. The details of his radio show, from his ‘Moments In Love’ by Art of Noise theme music, to the reggae beads curtain.. this radio set was designed by people who knew what they were doing!
Awwww Yeeeaaah.
