"Remake A.K.A. Cloudy... With a Chance of Improvement" is the third episode of Season Eight. Shawn and Gus once again try to solve the murder of local weatherman Jackson Hale in this remake of S1E12 "Cloudy... With a Chance of Murder".
Plot Summary[]
We begin the episode with a flashback to 1981. Henry has been summoned by the court to testify in a case he was an officer on. Before he takes the stand, we see him talking to Shawn as a baby, telling him how important the jury is to a case and why.
We then flash forward to the year 2006. Shawn and Gus are still newbies trying to prove to the SBPD that they're worthy of being hired to help solve cases. Shawn's motorcycle was recently impounded, so he and Gus arrive at the courthouse to pay the ticket. As they do so, they argue about how remakes can never capture the magic of the originals. Soon, Shawn spots an attractive woman seated in the hallway. Gus and the woman hit it off due to their shared knowledge of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He then asks her where the parking ticket counter is, and she kindly points them in the right direction.
Back at the Psych office, Shawn and Gus catch an episode of "Sun Up Santa Barbara" hosted by husband and wife team Connie (Janet Varney) and Mortimer Camp (Carlos Jacott). Connie and Morty present a story outlining the murder of their own weatherman Jackson Hale (Dana Ashbrook), who was attacked at the station and killed. They show a clip of the prosecutor talking to the press about the accused attacker, a woman named Sandra Panitch (Lindsay Sloane). Sandra was with Hale at the news station at the time of his death. When Sandra's picture is displayed on TV, Shawn and Gus are shocked to see that she's the same nice woman they met in the courthouse earlier that day. In the same clip, they see Sandra's attorney Adam Hornstock (Michael Weston) telling the press that she is a preschool teacher with no priors and that she couldn't possibly have been capable of committing murder. Shawn notices that Hornstock is nervous, discombobulated, and perhaps in need of some help. After watching the clip, Shawn believes Sandra is innocent and worries her lawyer may not be capable of proving her innocence. So, Shawn and Gus convince Hornstock to hire them on the case as legal consultants.
While in court, Shawn notices that Juror 5 (Allie Bertram), a young lady, doesn't like Hornstock. Shawn thinks it's Hornstock's tie that is putting her off. Knowing how important the jury is on a case, Shawn gives Hornstock Gus's tie to wear, and sure enough, when Hornstock puts it on, Juror 5 appears pleased. Hornstock is impressed with Shawn's insight and lets them stay on the case to help out. After court is adjourned for the day, Shawn and Gus head to the news station to investigate Hale's death. They first meet with Connie and Morty and are interviewed on air, where the husband and wife duo make fun of Shawn's psychic schtick, Sandra's presumed guilt, and Hornstock's shortcomings. During the break, Shawn admires a bejeweled ring on Morty's pinky. Connie asks for a psychic reading, and Shawn is able to find a clue that tells him Connie and Morty are lying about their relationship; they aren't even together anymore. Morty responds by trying to strangle Shawn, but then admits that his revelation is the truth; they've been advised by the station to keep their problems under wraps while on camera in order to keep their viewership alive.
Shortly after speaking with Connie and Morty, one of the production assistants, Priscilla Morgenstern (Katharine Isabelle), gives Shawn and Gus a tour of the studio. She shows them where the murder took place: in front of the green screen Hale used when reporting the weather. Apparently, Hale was a womanizer who liked to bring his ladies to the studio to seduce them and tape them while they made love. Priscilla then shows them the office of Ruben Leonard (Alan Ruck), their roving reporter. Ruben has since taken over as temporary weatherman, which leads Shawn to believe Ruben could have murdered Hale because he wanted his job.
Back in the courtroom, Hornstock has Ruben on the stand. Shawn guides Hornstock during questioning, trying to get Ruben to admit that he hated Hale. Hornstock gets Ruben worked up enough that he admits his hatred of Hale. Shawn and Gus are convinced that Ruben is the killer, but they need hard evidence to prove it, so they head back to the news station.
They search Ruben's office, and Shawn finds the murder weapon hiding above the ceiling tiles. He then calls in Lassiter and Juliet to investigate his findings. They immediately go to question Ruben, who is currently on-air doing the weather. Ruben begins sweating profusely and has trouble producing cohesive thoughts. When he spots the cops, he says that he didn't kill Hale and neither did Sandra, but that he knows who did. But, before he can say the killer's name, he drops dead. Shawn says that it couldn't have been Sandra who poisoned Ruben because she is currently in police custody, but Lassiter reminds Shawn that they still need to do an autopsy to confirm it was murder and not natural causes.
Shawn comes up with another theory. He knows Hale was a womanizer, so Shawn goes to question Priscilla, who admitted earlier to having a crush on Hale, but Hale failed to notice her. Shawn thinks Priscilla could have killed him out of jealousy when she saw Hale and Sandra kissing in front of the green screen. Hornstock brings her in for questioning. While on the stand, Hornstock gets her to admit her jealousy, but when prosecutor Logan Phelps (Ralph Macchio) cross-examines her, he gets her to admit that she was at a bar with Woody the night of Hale's death so it couldn't possibly have been her who killed him. Woody, who was then an independent expert pathologist in Los Angeles, is then called to the stand and confirms that Priscilla was with him all night. Just then, the prosecution enters a new piece of evidence - a video tape. The tape is a backup copy of video footage from the night of the murder; the original tape was never found. The video shows Hale and Sandra kissing, but the murder isn't shown on the tape because it happened when they were out of frame. It looks and sounds like it was Sandra who did it, but it does not prove that it was in fact her. Because the murder took place out of frame on the video, the murderer could have been someone else entirely. But, the fact remains that things aren't looking good for Sandra, so Shawn tells Hornstock to buy him some more time in court so he can find some evidence that will exonerate Sandra.
Back at the Psych office, Shawn watches the tape over and over again until he notices a clue that points to the real killer and proves Sandra is innocent. Gus goes to the courthouse ahead of him and stalls by reciting lines from legal movies until he's taken away by a bailiff (Ed Lover). When Shawn arrives in the courtroom, he takes the lead and calls Morty to the stand. He questions Morty about his and Connie's separation. Connie wanted a divorce, but Morty did not. Shawn presents evidence that paints the story of what really happened: Morty was convinced that the reason why Connie wanted a divorce was because she was having an affair with Hale. Morty knew that Hale liked to take ladies to the station after hours to seduce them and film his trysts. Morty wanted to catch Hale and Connie in the act, so he hid in the station and readied himself to murder Hale when the moment was right. Morty thought Hale was kissing Connie, so he killed Hale. But, soon after, he realized Hale wasn't kissing Connie; Hale was kissing Sandra. So, Morty covered his tracks by pinning the murder on Sandra.
Shawn shows the court the tape again and explains that Morty knew he could kill Hale and get away with it by wearing a green suit that would conceal his identity when in front of the green screen. Shawn points out that the hand part of Morty's green suit ripped during the stabbing, revealing the shiny ring on Morty's pinky finger. Shawn pauses the video at the exact second the ring is visible on screen. Shawn grabs Morty's pinky finger, holds it up to the screen and proves that the ring he is wearing is the same ring seen in the video, and that Morty was indeed the true killer. Morty admits that he would've done anything to keep his marriage intact and that he had to kill Ruben because he knew the truth. Morty is convicted, Sandra is a free woman, and Juliet and Lassiter are impressed with Shawn's work on the case, which gives Shawn confidence that the SBPD will hire Psych to consult on future cases.
Trivia[]
- Psych is one of the first shows in the history of television to remake one of their own episodes.
- Practically every guest character in this episode is played by an actor that has previously guest-starred on Psych. Amongst the more noticeable ones (in alphabetical order by last name of the actor/actress):
- Dana Ashbrook (Jackson Hale) originally appeared in S5E12 "Dual Spires" as Robert Barker, owner of the Sawmill diner and father to Paula Merral.
- Andy Berman appears as one of the courtroom members applauding for Shawn after the case has been resolved. Apart from being a frequent writer and director of several Psych episodes, he originally appeared in S1E11 "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, Oops He's Dead!" as Guy, an attendee of the speed dating event, and in S6E14 "Autopsy Turvy" as Singh, a waiter at an Afro-Thai restaurant.
- Allie Bertram (Juror 5) originally appeared in S7E11 "Office Space" as Helen Blaine, assistant to Gus's boss Dorian Creech.
- Serge Houde (Hornstock's Dad) originally appeared in S6E9 "Neil Simon's Lover's Retreat" as Gunner Goldberg, owner of De Palma Vineyards.
- Katharine Isabelle (Priscilla Morgenstern) originally appeared in S2E15 "Black and Tan: A Crime of Fashion" as Sigrid, a model at the Ciao! fashion company who was having an affair with the company chairman and founder Gregor Uwe-Steeb.
- Carlos Jacott (Mortimer Camp) originally appeared in S1E5 "9 Lives" as Terrance, boss of the stress hotline, and S6E8 "The Tao of Gus" as Geoffrey, a member of the Box Canyon Commune. Jacott is also a frequent writer of Psych episodes.
- Ed Lover (Comonsat) originally appeared in S6E2 "Last Night Gus" as himself, coming to the police station to claim the gold chain that Shawn had stolen from him.
- Ralph Macchio (Logan Phelps) originally appeared in S5E13 "We'd Like to Thank the Academy" as Nick Conforth, head instructor of the police academy.
- Alan Ruck (Ruben Leonard) originally appeared in S3E8 "Gus Walks into a Bank" as Phillip Stubbins, a man coerced into a bank robbery.
- Lindsay Sloane (Sandra Panitch) originally appeared in S6E12 "Shawn and the Real Girl" as Melinda, the bachelorette on the TV show Paths of Love.
- Janet Varney (Connie Camp) originally appeared in S3E2 "Murder? ... Anyone? ... Anyone? ... Bueller?" as Mindy Howland, Lassiter's date to Shawn and Gus's high school reunion.
- Michael Weston (Adam Hornstock) reprises his role from his first appearance in S1E12 "Cloudy... With a Chance of Murder".
- Ray Wise (Horace Leland) originally appeared in S4E4 "The Devil Is in the Details... and the Upstairs Bedroom" and S5E12 "Dual Spires" as Peter Westley. Leland was also the first name of Wise's character in the series Twin Peaks.
- In the first scene in the Psych office, the Psych logo on the window is blue for the first shot. This is a nod to it being blue for the first eight episodes of season one (the green logo is first seen in S1E9 "Forget Me Not"). After the first scene, it changes to green.
- Shawn makes a reference to Suits, another program that airs on USA Network, when arguing with Henry at the TV station. Dulé Hill, who plays Gus, would later appear on Suits seasons 7-9.
- Shawn and Gus discuss the unnecessary sub plot of the race car driver in the 2005 movie remake of The Dukes of Hazzard. James Roday Rodriguez plays the part of race car driver Billy Prickett in the film.
- After Hornstock comments that My Cousin Vinny is a terrific film, the prosecutor (played by Ralph Macchio) objects, saying "It's okay, decent at best." Ralph Macchio co-starred in that film as the cousin that Vinny is trying to get cleared of murder charges.
- James Roday Rodriguez revealed in an interview that "Cloudy... With a Chance of Murder" was chosen to be remade in part because the cast and crew considered it to be the weakest episode of the series. They said that it lacked any of the humor that made the rest of the series wonderful and felt "procedural". As a result, the episode was completely redone to fix all those errors.
- When Shawn and Gus meet Ruben Leonard, played by Alan Ruck, Sean introduces Gus as "my black Cameron". This is a reference to Cameron Frye, a character Ruck played in the 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Digital Releases[]
