Season 5, Episode 4
Chivalry Is Not Dead… But Someone Is
"Look at you. You're like a scared chicken at a slaughterhouse, and I've just rattled your cage." "You're right about the cage... but I'm a rabid hamster, and I'm just getting started, Jack."
Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Written by Andy Berman
After a young man named Lance Tolkin falls three stories to his death during a fancy party, the toxicology report reveals he had been poisoned before he hit the ground. His date – a much older and wealthier widow named Gillian Tucker – was there with her roommate and best friend, Eugenia, and her date, Gabe McKinley. Shawn and Gus look over Lance’s apartment, and discover he and Gabe were graduates of a class in the “art of gentlemanly seduction”, led by one Clive Prescott. Lassiter believes that Gillian secretly killed her husband, and then killed Lance when he got too close to the truth, but Shawn thinks Prescott killed him over a recent falling-out. As Psych and the police uncover every possible clue, they discover a world of wealthy older women and a number of younger pickup artists out for their hearts and/or money…Tropes:
- Cool Old Lady: Gillian is an example, though Lassiter fears she may also be a Black Widow. She’s not.
- Department of Redundancy Department: Lassiter's so disturbing it bears repeating.Juliet: You disturb me. And your theory on this murder disturbs me. And you disturb me.
Lassiter: You said that twice.
Juliet: Yes. - Double Standard: While they investigate the case, Juliet calls this out.Juliet: Why is it that a wealthy older man can date a younger woman and he's a hero, yet an older woman chooses to empower herself and date a younger man, and she's considered some sort of social pariah?Lassiter: Because it’s gross! Ugh…
- Femme Fatale: Lassiter seems to see Gillian as this. Especially when he interrogates her in the police station.
- I Can't Feel My Legs!: Shawn spends some time in Lance’s apartment hanging upside down from a piece of exercise equipment. When he comes down, his face is bright red, and his walking skills are... sub-par.Shawn: Wait, Gus, I need you to be my legs!
- Insistent Terminology: Shawn was “barely” poisoned during his dinner with Gillian. It put him in the hospital, but Henry has No Sympathy for him lying in the hospital bed, and decides to Pull the I.V., showing that Shawn still Screams Like a Little Girl.
- Ladykiller in Love: Prescott legitimately fell for Gillian. This was the wedge that came between him and Lance, since Lance just wanted to woo her for her money.
- Likes Older Women: While Shawn takes Gillian on a date to subtly interrogate her, Gus seems legitimately interested in her friend Eugenia. He’s saddened when it turns out the feeling is decidedly not mutual.
- The Nose Knows: Gus notes that Eugenia smells like mothballs. This is because she uses naphthalene – the main ingredient in mothballs – to poison her victims.
- Psycho Lesbian: Eugenia. She was secretly in love with Gillian, and was perfectly happy with them living together forever. She poisoned Gillian’s husband, and then went after any other man that Gillian seemed seriously interested in.
- Romancing the Widow: Gillian has a few people interested in her after her husband’s death. Some are interested in her, some are more interested in her money.
- Sensei for Scoundrels: Prescott is a more refined and successful version than most, presenting himself as something more akin to a Gentleman and a Scholar. He holds official classes for “gentlemanly behavior”, though it’s clear a lot of his students are wannabe-pickup artists.
- Shout-Out: Quite a few (though it’s not quite a Whole-Plot Reference) to the 1988 comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: The killer has a predilection for poisoning their victims.
- Wig, Dress, Accent: Shawn uses worn clothes, a fake beard, and a raspy accent to briefly disguise himself as “Soupcan Sam” while tailing Prescott.
