PSYCH: DUAL SPIRES (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy/mystery series about a man whose acute observational skills convince others that he has psychic powers, allowing him to run a "psychic detective agency" in Santa Barbara with his best friend from childhood.
In this episode, a tribute to the cult television show “Twin Peaks,” Shawn and Gus receive a mysterious e-mail from someone pleading for help in a tiny, virtually unknown town called Dual Spires. They travel to the remote Dual Spires -- in the midst of its annual “Cinnamon Festival” -- and immediately notice that the all the citizens seem odd.
As the entire town gathers to crown the “Cinnamon King,” Shawn notices that three chairs in the audience are empty. He discusses the missing persons with Bob Barker, owner of the local diner, and his wife Michelle, who inform him that their niece, Paula Merral, hasn't communicated with them for 36 hours. Just as Randy Jackson, a local teenager, is to be crowned “Cinnamon King,” Paula’s friend Jack Smith interrupts to say that he just found Paula's body by the nearby lake. Randy’s father, Sheriff Andrew Jackson, investigates and declares Paula's death to be an accidental drowning.
At the lake, Shawn receives another e-mail asking: "Who killed Paula Merral?" He tells the Barkers that he's going to investigate Paula's demise. Upon learning that Paula once lived in Santa Barbara, he calls Jules and asks her to run the name through the police database. Shawn and Gus then seek out Donna Gooden, Dual Spires’ only doctor. She says that the autopsy has yet to be performed and refuses to offer details. Shawn notices an earring in one of Donna’s evidence jars and recalls that Randy removed a similar earring from his ear during the “Cinnamon King” ceremony.
Next, Shawn and Gus visit Randy and Andrew, passing themselves off as grief counselors. Randy privately confesses that he and Paula had been seeing each other but denies having murdered her, claiming he was at the library when she died. Shawn and Gus subsequently meet librarian Maudette Hornsby, who confirms Randy’s alibi, noting that she’s become close to him since his mother passed away.
Shawn notices that the mysterious numbers he received in a third e-mail correspond to the Dewey Decimal System, matching up to a book entitled “Reincarnation and Rebirth” -- though disguised as a golf manual. Jules calls back and informs Shawn that records show that Paula died seven years ago in Santa Barbara. He and Gus briefly contemplate the possibility suggested by the book: that Paula was reincarnated.
Jules and Carlton then arrive in Dual Spires. Carlton tells Shawn that, seven years ago, Paula’s belongings were found near a pile of sunflower seeds. Shawn suddenly recalls that Bob was snacking on sunflower seeds during the “Cinnamon King” ceremony. When Shawn, Gus, Juliet, and Carlton visit Bob, he reveals that Paula's unstable mother, Lucy, took Paula and ran away from Dual Spires years ago, settling in Santa Barbara. To rescue their niece from the abusive Lucy, the Barkers faked Paula’s death and brought her back to Dual Spires. After voicing disgust at the Barkers' illegal actions, Carlton and Jules return to Santa Barbara to re-open Paula’s case.
Shawn and Gus inspect Paula’s room and find her diary, noticing that one page is written in Latin. Father Peter Westley, a friend from Shawn's youth in Santa Barbara, translates the text and determines that Paula was seeing someone besides Randy. Back at the Dual Spires library, Shawn and Gus look through high school yearbooks and figure out that Jack was Paula’s other boyfriend.
Once confronted, Jack reveals that Paula left him for Randy, but they remained close friends. Jack admits that he was with Paula on the night she died. He says she told him that she wanted to leave Dual Spires. Jack recounts how he was knocked unconscious, having awoken to find Paula gone. Upon inspecting Jack’s photographs of Paula, Shawn and Gus notice Randy in the background of one shot. Elsewhere, Jules returns to Dual Spires to question Andrew but runs into a menacing Randy. As Shawn and Gus arrive on the scene, Randy confesses to jealously knocking out Jack. When Randy casually mentions his ex-girlfriend, Shawn deduces that he's referring to Maudette.
Shawn, Gus, and Jules return to the library and find Maudette hanging from a noose. As her body is taken away, Shawn discovers a phone line connected to her computer. He realizes that she sent him the emails, since everyone else in town refuses to use the Internet. When exiting the library, the two find the door locked. As smoke fills the library's computer room, Shawn and Gus realize that the library has been set on fire. Peter arrives in the nick of time and saves Shawn and Gus. Having seen the flames, Bob drives to the blaze and insists on taking Shawn, Gus, and Peter to his cabin. There, Bob relates how his great-grandfather and two other families created Dual Spires after returning from World War I, intending it as a haven from outside "evil." Eventually, Dual Spires became a completely isolated community. After Bob finishes his tale, Shawn realizes that Bob was Paula's father, though Michelle never knew about his affair with Lucy.
Just then, Donna and Andrew enter and hold Shawn, Gus, and Peter, announcing their plans to kill them. Shawn realizes that Bob, Donna, and Andrew are the descendents of Dual Spires' three founding families. As Bob listens in horror, Shawn tells how Andrew and Donna killed Paula when learning that she planned to leave town with Randy, as he would be the only resident to continue the founders' lineage. They then disposed of Maudette when she uncovered the goings-on and became troublesome.
Following up on Peter's earlier distress call, Carlton and Juliet break in and save Shawn, Gus and Peter before arresting Andrew and Donna. The next day in the diner, Gus and Peter relish their slices of cinnamon pie while Shawn and Juliet make a quick exit, noting that the Dual Spires denizens are too eccentric for their tastes. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: USA
- DATE: December 1, 2010 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:18
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 104624
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama, police/private detective
- SERIES RUN: USA - TV series, 2006-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Steve Franks … Executive Producer, Created by, Theme Music by
- Bill Callahan … Executive Producer, Writer
- Mel Damski … Executive Producer
- Kelly Kulchak … Executive Producer
- Chris Henze … Executive Producer
- Andy Berman … Co-Executive Producer
- Saladin K. Patterson … Co-Executive Producer
- James Roday … Producer, Writer
- Dulé Hill … Producer
- Gordon Mark … Producer
- Chris Cheramie … Associate Producer
- Todd Harthan … Consulting Producer
- Kell Cahoon … Consulting Producer
- Matt Shakman … Director
- Adam Cohen … Music by
- John Robert Wood … Music by
- Julee Cruise … Theme Music Interpreted by
- James Roday … Cast, Shawn Spencer
- Dulé Hill … Cast, Burton "Gus" Guster
- Timothy Omundson … Cast, Carlton Lassiter
- Maggie Lawson … Cast, Juliet "Jules" O'Hara
- Kirsten Nelson … Cast, Karen Vick
- Corbin Bernsen … Cast, Henry Spencer
- Dana Ashbrook … Cast, Bob Barker
- Catherine E. Coulson … Cast, Woman with Wood
- Sherilyn Fenn … Cast, Maudette Hornsby
- Sheryl Lee … Cast, Donna "Doc" Gooden
- Robyn Lively … Cast, Michelle Barker
- Ryan McDonald … Cast, Jack Smith
- Lenny Von Dohlen … Cast, Andrew Jackson
- Ray Wise … Cast, Peter Westley
- Scott Lyster … Cast, Randy Jackson
- Sheldon Yamkovy … Cast, Deputy Frost
- Olivia Steele-Falconer … Cast, Twelve-Year-Old Girl
- Claire Smithies … Cast, Waitress
- Kiara LeBlanc … Cast, Paula Merral
- John DeSantis … Cast, Seven-Foot-Tall Man
- Peter Macrae … Cast, Wood Woman's Child