With NBCUniversal debuting the brand new, free streaming service Peacock, fans finally were able to watch the premiere of Psych 2: Lassie Come Home. The crew returns to Santa Barbara to help out Lassiter (Timothy Omundson), who is taken down while pursuing a suspect. Psych is never complete without a case and a little mystery, but it gets deeply personal with Lassie entangled in it all.
Wait for it… There will be spoilers beyond this point.
With Psych, we can always expect laughter. The second movie doesn’t disappoint in those regards, bringing the same hijinks, jokes, and nicknames that has had us laughing for over a decade. However, it was clear very early on that the movie would be emotional, too. Fans are no stranger to childhood flashbacks, following the adventures of a young Shawn and Gus. This time, we see a young Carlton Lassiter and his dad, played by Joel McHale (who continues to pop up as a “ghost” throughout the movie). The flashback twists and turns, quite literally, into the tragic moment Lassiter begs the unknown suspect not to shoot him. Of course, we are never left sad for too long, and Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) and Gus (Dulé Hill) popping up will change that mood incredibly quick!
Shawn and Gus’s arrival come with a familiar character, Morrissey the dog. Morrissey was introduced in the first movie, and given as a gift to Chief Karen Vick (Kirsten Nelson). Now Shawn and Gus are giving Morrissey to Lassie as a therapy dog to help him recover. They’re also there to help solve the case, especially since it seems Lassie is seeing ghosts. The duo are resigned to believe Lassie is just high on medication, until Morrissey brings back a hand from the nearby forest. Looks like Morrissey will prove to be a helping hand in Lassie’s mysterious case.
With the hand on route to Woody (Kurt Fuller), the case leads Shawn and Gus back to the Psych office, and something I didn’t know I needed until I heard it – Dulé doing a Chewbacca impression. Of course, the Psych office is no longer an office, and that’s apparent as soon as they walk in. It has been turned into a pop-up cat restaurant, or catfe, or catfeteria. You will notice the first shoutout to James’ other project, A Million Little Things, in the form of the cat restaurant owner, played by Allison Miller.
Of course, before Shawn and Gus start tearing up the place in search of the things Shawn hid to help them solve the case, they need to talk to the landlord. Enter Henry Spencer (Corbin Bernsen). Shawn, ever the responsible one, left the Psych office a little open-ended. Henry took up the mantle, and now rents the space out to hipsters. During their conversation, we get the second A Million Little Things reference. When Henry references This Is Us, Shawn responds with “Dad, why are you watching that show? They have the same show on ABC, but newer.”
Meanwhile, Juliet (Maggie Lawson) jeopardizes her career as she tries to find the person who shot her old partner. In many ways, Juliet takes a page out of Shawn’s playbook. She becomes very sneaky in her pursuit, but she is a clever detective, and quickly finds the missing bullet from the crime scene. She also finds a surprising partner in Selene (Jazmyn Simon), who tags along with Juliet to Santa Barbara after Gus stops responding to her calls. Finding out about Lassie’s nurse, Dolores (Sarah Chalke), flirting with Gus didn’t help matters. Regardless, she is such a humorous addition to Juliet’s investigation.
We find more changes among the characters. It looks like Chief Vick is up for police commissioner. She gets all the way to the interview process, but Lassie’s case interrupts. She always did care about her detectives! We also get to see Buzz (Sage Brocklebank) again, who shows up as a detective on the case. He also proves some things never change when Shawn and Gus confuse him entirely on what’s going on. Woody makes a return as well, going undercover for Shawn and Gus. Silliness should be expected!
Without giving the entire movie away, you will continue to be surprised as the movie progresses – like a pregnancy test, and the reappearance of Mary (Jimmi Simpson) in an unusual way (which, let’s face it, is par for the course). You’ll get the answer to the last movie’s cliffhanger, when Shawn mentions going to Norway once with his brother-in-law. And fun fact: fans may have recognized Christopher Heyerdahl who played the ice bar owner, Ova. He also made an appearance in the pilot episode of Psych as the thrift store owner!
On one hand (sorry, Devon Tileback), we see so many changes for the group. They’ve all come a long way personally and professionally since the series finally. On the other, the movie felt familiar as always. These are the characters we’ve loved for fourteen years. Give Gus a few nicknames, call him a sympathetic pooper, and we’re right back home again. And, of course, throw in a pineapple for us to spot!
It was also incredibly moving to watch Omundson’s stroke written into the script. Throughout the movie, we watch Lassiter grapple with his new reality, ultimately leading him to keep fighting. I think we all can agree, that both Omundson and Lassiter are two of the most intelligent, strongest, and bravest people. It’s that reason that Lassiter will always be such an iconic role for Omundson. I think it’s also easy to say that we’re all excited to see him once again on our screens!
Psych 2: Lassie Come Home is the perfect movie to watch this summer, especially if you’re a fan of the show. It’s funny, exciting, and extremely heartfelt. It’s a movie made for the fans, as much as the cast and crew. Psych 2: Lassie Come Home is now streaming on Peacock, and I highly recommend it! You can watch the trailer below.