Summary
- Psych's unique blend of genres shines through in its holiday-themed episodes, providing a delightful mix of comedy, drama, mystery, and parody.
- Halloween episodes like "Who Ya Gonna Call?" and "Scary Sherry, Bianca's Toast" offer spooky mysteries, nostalgic references, and unexpected twists, showcasing the show's versatility.
- Christmas episodes, such as "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy" and "The Polarizing Express," feature heartwarming moments, tense investigations, and surprise revelations, making them memorable additions to the series.
As one of the most unique television shows in recent history, the USA Network cult series Psych has a knack for blending genres like comedy, drama, mystery, parody, and holiday-themed fare. Psych follows Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez), a man with exceptional observation skills, who convinces the police department to hire him as a psychic consultant. Shawn and his best friend Burton Guster (Dulé Hill) start their own private detective agency and race to solve crimes before the police and earn their consulting fees.
The zany buddy comedy series covers a variety of holidays during its eight seasons, one musical special, and multiple Psych movies. While not every holiday featured in the series receives the same amount of focus and loving tribute, Psych never shies away from exploring each holiday in its unique way, serving up generous amounts of its signature "delicious flavor" in the process.
Halloween: "Who Ya Gonna Call?"
Season 1, Episode 7
Not strictly a Halloween episode, but one that certainly features all the hallmarks of a great Halloween caper, the first season episode "Who Ya Gonna Call?" finds Shawn and Gus dealing with a client who thinks they're being haunted and possessed. The episode features plenty of throwbacks to Ghostbusters for the pop culture fans who enjoy Psych's numerous movie references and Easter eggs throughout the series.
Typical Halloween antics ensue, including a pretend exorcism, threatening messages on mirrors, and more. But as it turns out, the client is merely dealing with undiagnosed multiple personalities, or Dissociative Identity Disorder. If early fans of the show thought that this would be the only Halloween-themed episode of the season, however, they were wrong. Eight episodes later, Psych offered another, scarier, Halloween-themed episode.
Halloween: "Scary Sherry, Bianca's Toast"
Season 1, Episode 15
"Scary Sherry, Bianca's Toast" is one of the more genuinely scary episodes in the otherwise lighthearted series. The episode begins with a flashback to Halloween 1987, when Shawn (dressed as a police officer) and Gus (dressed as Lando Calrissian) are trick-or-treating in Henry's squad car.
As the episode progresses, it focuses on the mystery of sorority girl deaths suspiciously reminiscent of an old Santa Barbara urban legend about Scary Sherry, a patient who supposedly died by suicide at a mental health facility. Part of the fun of the episode is that it changed up some of the dynamics the audience had only just started to get used to. Juliet had to go undercover in a sorority and Lassiter ended up with a new (temporary) partner in her absence, allowing the audience to see these characters in a new way.
Christmas: "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy"
Season 2, Episode 10
In the world of Psych, nothing says Christmas quite like Gus's parents being accused of potentially murdering a neighbor. In fact, a lot of the Christmas episodes of the series tend to feature Gus and his family more heavily than some of the other holiday episodes of the series.
Of course, neither of Gus's parents had anything to do with the murder at the center of the episode "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy," but the tension of proving their innocence elevates the stress and stakes of the holiday season for the Guster and Spencer families. This episode gives Shawn the long-awaited chance to prove that he's not a bad influence on his friend too. The episode also finds Lassie intruding on the O'Hara family holiday celebration, to great comedic effect.
Halloween: "Ghosts"
Season 3, Episode 1
Shawn and Gus certainly seem to have a knack for getting caught up in potentially supernaturally tinged mysteries. The third season premiere "Ghosts" finds them having to prove whether Gus's boss's house is haunted, as his wife fears.
As it turns out, there's nothing to the haunting story, but that doesn't mean Shawn can't have plenty of fun with it at Gus's expense, going all out to ensure that the mystery of the potential ghosts remains unsolved and believable for as long as possible. Each piece of the "haunting" is revealed with perfectly logical explanations by Shawn eventually, and they're very creative.
Christmas: "Christmas Joy"
Season 3, Episode 9
Gus's family takes a more prominent role than ever in the series during the holidays. The third season episode, "Christmas Joy," introduces the character of Gus's never before (and never again) mentioned sister, Joy, while working with a little girl to free Santa from jail.
Of course, the plot takes twists and turns, including the fact that Santa is the little girl's father, and they are both con artists, and that Shawn and Joy have been hiding the fact that they once had a fling from the rest of the Guster family. But the episode is perhaps best ed for the gift-giving games between Shawn and his father.
Halloween/Friday the 13th: "Tuesday the 17th"
Season 3, Episode 15
The greatest of all of Psych's holiday-themed or holiday-inspired episodes also happens to be an episode considered among the series' best overall. Landing right in the middle of the show's run on USA, "Tuesday the 17th" is as spooky as it is hilarious.
"Tuesday the 17th" is a total homage to horror movies, including the obvious Friday the 13th, and finds Shawn and Gus returning to their long-condemned childhood summer camp to solve a murder. It's an episode full of jump scares, revenge plots, horror parodies and homages, and so much more, making for the perfect Halloween viewing.
Valentine's Day: "Bollywood Homicide"
Season 4, Episode 6
Psych's fourth season tribute to the world of Bollywood, "Bollywood Homicide," also happens to be the series' only episode to feature a storyline revolving around Valentine's Day. On top of that, the Valentine's Day story only happens in the episode's introductory flashback.
The opening scene finds a young Shawn working hard on a homemade Valentine, which impresses his father, Henry - until he learns Shawn is making the card for his teacher, Mrs. Phillips. Beyond that introduction, however, the episode is a great tribute to Bollywood movies in the same way that other episodes of the series offer homages to pop culture milestones like the Indiana Jones franchise.
Halloween: "In Plain Fright"
Season 5, Episode 11
In yet another caper that might not be strictly Halloween-focused but certainly Halloween-inspired, the season five episode "In Plain Fright" finds Shawn and Gus dealing with the mystery of a murder at Scare Fest, the town's spooky festival complete with a Haunted House ride.
The episode is filled with mystery and spooky thrills from the very beginning, as Scare Fest hasn't been held for nearly 20 years as it is. Matters take a turn for the darker, spookier, and worse when Shawn and Gus witness a murder within the Haunted House, and have to prove that it actually happened and wasn't just part of the ride.
Christmas: "The Polarizing Express"
Season 5, Episode 14
Just like so many other television shows before it, Psych features an episode that is essentially its own version of It's A Wonderful Life. The season five episode "The Polarizing Express" finds Shawn wondering what Santa Barbara would be like if he never came back and became the SBPD's psychic detective.
In true Psych fashion, Shawn is visited not by a guardian angel, but by a snarky elf played by Tony Cox. Each alternate reality they visit also resembles a different genre of entertainment, with Gus's life a 90s sitcom, Juliet's life a cop drama, and the Chief and Lassiter in a 40s German war drama. It's a very creative way to use the holiday trope and makes for one of the best holiday episodes during Psych's run.
Christmas: "Psych: The Movie"
2017
Though not a conventional holiday episode at all, and really, not even a conventional episode either, Psych: The Movie was billed as a Christmas movie in its promotion. In reality, the movie has very little to do with the holiday, other than that it was released in and set during December and some decorations can occasionally be glimpsed in the background of the action-packed movie's scenery.
Despite that, the movie is a welcome return to the characters for fans of Psych. The success of the movie helped to usher in two more sequels streamed on Peacock. There's still the possibility of three more movies featuring the original Psych cast as well.
