Spoilers for Psych: The Movie below.
Ask any Psych fan about the show’s holiday reunion movie — seriously, please do, we’re a friendly bunch — and you’ll experience a wave of emotions that begins with elation and ends with pause. Mere weeks after the film was announced last spring, news broke that Timothy Omundson, who portrays the unparalleled police chief Carlton Lassiter, suffered what he called “a wee touch of the stroke†and was hospitalized, effectively putting Psych: The Movie in small-screen limbo. As a result, major rewrites were required from the film’s co-writers James Roday and Steve Franks, and although fans were promised at least “one†scene with Omundson, the seriousness of his recovery obviously and understandably took precedence. Would we really not see our beloved Lassy and his tasteful suspenders again?
Psych: The Movie finally aired on Thursday night, and it was a great 90 minutes of pineapple-y fun. (You know that’s right.) Most poignantly, Omundson indeed gets a brief appearance in perhaps the most effective way it could’ve been staged given the unfortunate circumstances. Stepping into the spotlight more than halfway through the narrative, Juliet video-chats with her old pal to get advice about someone trying to kill her due to, let’s just say, a lack of ethical police work on her part. Lassy, propped up on a chair in what appears to be his office, is more than happy to oblige his old “partner,†although he dryly notes that he’s not her “priest.†What follows is how he rationalizes how cops are “not saints,†making her feel less repentant about her past indiscretions while working for the San Francisco police department.
Lassiter: Listen to me, I took an oath to put the lives of strangers before my own. Meanwhile, I have a daughter who says a little prayer every morning asking Jesus to please let her daddy make it home for dinner. So yes, I believe in a code, but I also believe in doing whatever it takes to make sure bad people don’t hurt good people. Sometimes, that means getting creative.
It’s a moving scene, and the effect of Omundson’s stroke is evident as the camera lingers on his face. Thankfully, that signature Lassy sass is still on full, glorious display: He signs off by simultaneously imploring Jules to take out that “son of a bitch†and commanding her to “tell Spencer to keep sucking it — like, keep at it, do not stop.†Because at the end of the day, all we really wanted from Psych: The Movie was a chance to see Lassiter hate-respect the hell out of Shawn Spencer. Even if it was just for 45 seconds.