'Psych 2: Lassie Come Home' proves that Lassiter and Shawn have been the real yin and yang all along
Spoilers for 'Psych 2: Lassie Come Home'
When the first 'Psych' movie was announced for release in 2017, fans were excited. After all, at that point, it had been three years since the USA Network show had aired its last episode after running for eight seasons. We were excited for the return of Shawn Spencer (James Roday), Burton "Gus" Guster (Dule Hill), Juliet "Jules" O'Hara (Maggie Lawson), Chief Karen Vick (Kristen Nelson), Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernson), and, of course, Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). Unfortunately, just before filming was set to commence, Omundson suffered a stroke, so Roday and 'Psych' creator, Steve Franks had to rewrite 'Psych The Movie' and relocate it to San Francisco. They still found space for an appearance by Omundson by way of a video call for his character with Jules, his partner, and who considered Lassiter as a mentor.
This time around, 'Psych 2: Lassie Come Home' serves as a homecoming for Lassiter as the writers found a way to reflect Lassiter's storyline with Omundson's real-life situation. The movie opens with Lassiter recuperating at a health center after being shot and suffering from a stroke. While he is recovering, Lassiter sees strange occurrences and even hallucinates his dead father played by Joel McHale. In a reversal of what happened in most episodes, Lassiter calls Shawn and Gus for help to figure out what is going on.
'Psych' fans will remember that Shawn's relationship with Lassiter was often testy. Lassiter never believed Shawn to be a psychic as the latter had claimed and often found Shawn to be a thorn on his side. In most investigations, Lassiter and Shawn competed to solve the case first, with Shawn almost always coming out on top. Lassiter had always had contempt for Shawn, but by the end of eight seasons, he grew to like, and even respect Shawn.
One of the main recurring themes of the show was that of yin and yang, with two of the recurring serial killers on the show being dubbed Mr Yin (Chris Turner, Peter Weller) and Mr Yang (Ally Sheedy). They often played foil to Shawn, baiting him and luring him with personalized messages. The serial killer characters served as direct antagonists to Shawn as he kept getting frustrated over being unable to catch them. Those mysteries were solved in time, of course, but with the newest 'Psych' film, we can't help but think the real yin and yang of the show were Shawn and Lassiter.
Both of them worked on the side of the good guys, of course, and both represented two very different sides to it. Shawn was goofy, unpredictable, and had a total disregard for doing things the legal way, whereas Lassiter was a stand-up detective who was meticulous in his ways. This was why Lassiter found it hard to accept Shawn for most of the series and this is why as a fan, it was great to see their relationship building to where it is now.
It's a testament to that growth that Lassiter called Shawn first when he wanted the health clinic investigated. 'Psych 2: Lassie Come Home' saw a bit of a reversal of roles when Lassie became the unreliable narrator and Shawn became the sensible one, even if only partly. The movie also served as a tribute to Omundson and it was quite classy as Shawn and Gus took a step back as Lassiter once again became the hero he always was.
'Psych 2: Lassie Come Home' is now streaming on NBC's streaming service, Peacock.