Psych - Season 1

Shawn Spencer is always moving on to the next fun thing and has never held a job for more than six months. He also has an incredible eye for detail and a near photographic memory, a skill drilled into him since he was young by his overbearing cop father. It's this ability that enables him to solve crimes just by watching the stories on the news. But as he goes in to pick up his reward check for one such helpful tip, he's hauled into questioning by Detective Lassiter for being in on the crime. No one could have that kind of information and not be on the inside. Backed into a corner, accused of being a partner in the crime, Shawn talks his way out of incarceration by claiming he got the information psychically. Since there's no way to disprove his claim, the police have to let him go.
 

Gus is a closet fan of spelling bees. He knows everything there is to know, from the major players to the winning words each year. When Shawn catches him watching the Regional Spelling Bee that he Tivo'd earlier, they see that this year's favorite, Brendan Vu, collapsed while spelling a word. Shawn doesn't think it was an accident. He notices something is wrong with Brendan's inhaler. They get a call from Interim Chief Vick to come down and investigate. This is Gus' dream come true.

Attorney General Maxwell's son Dylan is getting married. Only problem, the engagement ring, a family heirloom worth $5 million, has been stolen from the safe at the hotel where the wedding is to take place. Shawn, at the police station on another case, sneaks into the interview room where Dylan and his fiancé Bethany are waiting, along with Dylan's sister, and Bethany's maid of honor, Lacey. In the minute he has before Lassiter comes in and catches him, he's able to get all the information on the case -- along with an invitation to the wedding that weekend.

Raylene Wilcroft, the widow of notorious bank robber David Wilcroft, is brought into the police station by Lassiter and Juliet to warn her that her husband's partners are being paroled. Since the money was never found, the police figure the convicts will come after Raylene for the cash, but she insists that her husband was the only one who knew where it was hidden, and he died in a car accident before he could divulge its location. Luckily for Raylene, Shawn and Gus happen to be at the station, and, overhearing that she is a psychic enthusiast, introduce themselves to her.

Shawn and Gus crash a crime scene of an apparent suicide. One of several in the last few months. This one was an overdose of pills, or so it seems. While in the apartment, though, Shawn notices a few things that might point more toward murder. When no one believes his psychic vision of foul play, he insists he's not leaving until he talks to the witness - the victim's cat.

Head Detective Lassiter is in charge of the annual Civil War reenactment. Shawn knows watching the meltdowns at the rehearsals is more fun than the actual show, and so he and Gus, a history buff, show up to watch. This year they are reenacting the Battle of Piper's Cove, in which a nurse, played by Sally Reynolds, kills Confederate Captain Quantrill, played by Nelson Poe. Sally ends up missing her cue, so Lassiter stops rehearsal only to find Nelson dead for real.

Dr. Blinn, a Santa Barbara psychiatrist, has been murdered in his office. Shawn and Gus show up at the crime scene and are promptly removed by Lassiter, but not before Shawn gets a quick look around - blunt force trauma to the head, the weapon and a chewed toothpick next to the body.

Interim Chief Vick and Detective Lassiter are out of town on their way to a seminar on non-lethal weaponry, which leaves only Juliet to deal with a mother who comes to the station claiming her son, Malone Breyfogle, is missing. However, since her son is 18, the police can't get involved for 48 hours. Juliet believes something has happened to him, and so she enlists Shawn's help to investigate immediately.

Henry's old boss, Captain Connors, and his daughter Trish come to the Psych Agency for help. Connors, who is suffering from early onset Alzheimer's, thinks he's solved a murder but he can't remember who's been killed or who the killer is. The police don't believe him so he asks Shawn to psychically look into his head for the answers. Since Connors was always great to him as a kid, Shawn agrees to take the case.

Shawn's powers of observation work against him when he cannot help but reconcile his gorgeous Friday night date with her ex-boyfriend after solving the mystery of his series of white lies. Now alone in a bar, he spots Lassiter at a table, drinking heavily, marking a sad anniversary. Lassiter invites Shawn over and proceeds to pour his heart out, confessing that Shawn's skills astound him. While he doesn't believe he's psychic, Shawn somehow guarantees an arrest, whereas Lassiter, who used to be a great cop, now can't even solve the murder of a local astronomer. Everyone thinks Bryant Vallery died of natural causes, but the guy was relatively young and lived a healthy lifestyle. Lassiter tells Shawn that he knows there's more to it but can't prove it - then proceeds to pass out.

Vick wants Lassiter to take a case that he really doesn't want to. He looks up and sees Shawn and Gus putting on a psychic show for the other officers and gets an idea. He calls them over and says he's got a case for them. He hands Shawn the case file and tells him the victim is waiting to give a statement. As they walk into the interrogation room, they find a fully unclothed man, Fred Turk. With Lassiter happily watching through the one-way glass, Shawn and Gus proceed to give a very uncomfortable interview in which Turk claims he was abducted by aliens. As Turk tells them he woke up naked in a field with a headache, Shawn spots a faded ink mark on the guy's hand and chafe marks on the back of his heels.

Shawn's motorcycle has been impounded, so he and Gus go down to the courthouse to pay the ticket and free the bike. While there, Shawn notices a sweet woman picking up a piece of trash in the hallway. Back at the Psych office, Shawn sees the same woman, Sandra Panitch, on TV. It turns out, she's on trial for the brutal murder of a favorite local TV weatherman, Jackson Hale. She is accused of having sex with him at the studio, then bludgeoning him over the head. But from what Shawn saw of her earlier, he's immediately convinced of her innocence. And from what he sees on TV now, he knows her bumbling, insecure lawyer, Adam Hornstock, needs their help to win the case.

Shawn comes to the police station, bored, looking for a case. Gus is out of town at a retreat with his company. While at the station, Shawn sees a man, Leonard Sirtis, talking to Chief Vick. His daughter, Deanna, a highly ranked local tennis player, is missing. The prime suspect is a former stalker of hers, Felix Alvarez. Vick relents to let Shawn to locate Deanna psychically while the cops follow conventional leads.

Shawn and Gus are hanging out in the Psych office when Henry pays a visit. He criticizes everything about the place until Shawn stops him. They are waiting for an appointment. Henry says he is their appointment. A friend of his, Bill Peterson, called him and said he thinks his son Brandon is mixed up in something bad. He doesn't want to call the police and Henry inadvertently made him think Shawn could help. Henry leaves just as Peterson arrives. He tells them that Brandon used to work for him but he fired him in an attempt at tough love. He's been evicted from his apartment, had his cell phone turned off and forged a check of Peterson's for thirty thousand dollars. Now's he's missing. Shawn and Gus, deliberately against Henry's wishes, say they can help.

On Halloween night in 1985, Shawn and Gus witness a troubled girl throw herself from her window at the Wispy Sunny Pines mental institution. From that moment on, "Scary Sherry" has haunted the halls of the now abandoned facility where we find a girl, Doreen Harthan, being chased by what appears to be her ghost through the halls of Wispy Sunny Pines, falling through the same window to her death below.