The actual name of this episode is The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap-Man, Issue #2, but the wiki does not allow for the inclusion of pound signs in article names.
"The Amazing Psych-Man & Tap-Man, Issue #2" is the fourth episode of Season Six. When a local drug syndicate are attacked by a masked vigilante called The Mantis, Shawn and Gus assume their own superhero identities to catch what they believe to be a new SBPD officer gone rogue.
Plot Summary[]
In 1991, Shawn is getting ready to go to a comic book convention with Gus. While Shawn is dressed in a classic superhero getup with a cape and mask, Gus arrives in plain clothes. He explains that he's going as "Tap Man" and lays out the character's strengths and archnemesis. Shawn, now embarrassed, asks his father if anyone can determine his true identity under the mask. Henry tells Shawn that, for his sake, he hopes no one can recognize him.
In the present day, a report on TV tells us that a regional drug trafficking gang, The Camino Drug Syndicate, has been successfully moving thousands of kilos of product through the streets of Santa Barbara.
Shawn and Gus are in hot pursuit of four criminals. Gus pulls a hamstring, forcing Shawn to trip over him. As the two argue over who tripped who, a masked assailant is seen taking out the criminals. When Gus finally recovers, they approach the criminals to see the results of the masked assailant's work. Shawn approaches the now tied-up criminals and sees that the shadowy figure left a note in one of their jacket pockets that simply says: "The Mantis". Later, the SBPD arrive to get some answers. Just when they think they have no solid leads on who accosted the bad guys, they all look up and see a man, wearing a neoprene bodysuit, run and leap off the rear of the building. From this, Shawn and Gus are convinced this was the work of a real life super hero.
Back at SBPD, a reporter, Reginald Parker, from the Santa Barbara Sentinel is questioning Lassiter and Chief Vick about the vigilante/super hero called The Mantis that took down the drug ring criminals. Lassiter is soured by this line of questioning because this vigilante has made more progress in taking down the drug ring than SBPD has.
Later, Juliet presents information regarding The Mantis's recent criminal takedowns. Shawn is visibly jealous of The Mantis, as Juliet appears to be impressed by his brave efforts.
Desperate to find out who The Mantis is, Shawn has a "vision" that clues in the SBPD that lead him to believe Camino's drug shipments are clocked by certain phases of the moon. Shawn then "psychically" relays this information to Juliet and Lassiter. They are willing to entertain Shawn's vision and decide to obtain a warrant to check out the docks.
They arrive at the docks and are shocked to see the bad guys have already been taken out by The Mantis. From this, Shawn concludes that there is no way that The Mantis could have known that the bad guys would be at this location, on the same night and time as Shawn "divined", unless The Mantis was someone on the inside... someone who works for the SBPD.
Back at the SBPD, Shawn and Gus seek out possible options for who could be The Mantis. They predict that he may be the new officer named Scott Reynolds just transferred to the SBPD — a man who is particularly fit. Furthermore, Officer Reynolds just transferred from the Ventura Police Department, and Shawn recalls that the same department just notified the SBPD about the most recent bust.
Shawn "psychically envisions" a clue from a text on Juliet's phone regarding the Camino's next drug shipment. From this, Shawn is able to arrive on the scene before the SBPD does. However, this scenario backfires for Shawn when they rip the mask off the supposed real Mantis and discover that it's Shawn... in the Mantis's mask and outfit. Shawn tells the truth about what happened: The Mantis knocked Shawn out, dressed in his clothes, and fled. Shawn was only able to fight back by biting The Mantis's arm.
Shawn shares his "inside job" theory to the group. Lassiter tells Shawn to prove it, and Shawn runs up to Officer Reynolds telling him that he should reveal his true identity — that he is The Mantis. However, after Shawn discovers that Reynold's has no marks on his body that would indicate he was in a fight (including a bite mark), this theory is quickly dismissed.
Later, Juliet shows Shawn a picture of the one the bad guys The Mantis knocked out. Next to him is a bag of drugs. Shawn flashbacks to the moment he saw this same guy on the ground and immediately remembers that there wasn't a bag of drugs next to the body. He puts it together that The Mantis was the one who planted the bag of drugs next to the criminal. From this, Shawn theorizes that The Mantis was creating this crime scene, but the SBPD isn't quick to buy into Shawn's theory.
The Mantis sends Shawn the clothes he stole off Shawn's body when he took him down the other night, pressed and dry cleaned, along with a note apologizing for their altercation. Just then, Juliet gets a tip from The Mantis: to run DNA on the perp and therefore get led to an unsolved murder from last year. He also mentions Camino's next meeting time.
They arrive at the supposed syndicate meeting location and see The Mantis standing over a dead body with blood on his hands; the victim was shot in the back twice. The Mantis then flees the scene. They immediately think Mantis was the one who murdered him.
As much as Shawn dislikes this Mantis guy, he doesn't believe he's a murderer, telling Gus that the if the victim was shot in the back, he would have fallen forward. Instead, when they found The Mantis with the body, the victim was lying on his back, as if The Mantis was trying to save him. Armed with this theory, Shawn remembers that the Mantis sent the clothes he stole from Shawn back to him from the cleaners. Inside the shirt, Shawn sees a tag that leads them to the Dry Cleaners that The Mantis used. There, they get a number that leads them to an address: the Mantis's apartment downtown.
At the apartment, they discover The Mantis's true identity... he is Reginald Parker — the reporter that was questioning Lassiter at the SBPD earlier. The Mantis explains his reasoning for vigilantism and that he was set up for murder by the syndicate. The murder victim was Reginald's inside man. When the syndicate found out, they killed the victim and pinned the murder on The Mantis. Shawn and Gus believe him, as his story checks out. Reginald says he is going to retire his Mantis character in light of this murder accusation.
However, Shawn convinces him that there is still time to catch the bad guys and absolve The Mantis's tarnished name. But, Reginald says he could never fully take down the Syndicate because he had no idea how the drugs were actually getting to them. Right then, Shawn flashbacks to an open cargo container containing panes of glass he saw at the docks. From this, Shawn makes the determination that the syndicate had been moving their product by melting it down and mixing it in glass. Armed with this new theory, The Mantis suits back up and is able to convince Gus and Shawn to suit up with him, as "super hero decoys" and to go catch the bad guys. Shawn wears a baseball catcher's outfit, and Gus is dressed as his "Tap Man" super hero character from childhood.
At the warehouse, the three "super heroes" — The Mantis, The Catch & Tap Man — work fast to try to take down the syndicate. The Mantis is able to take down a bunch of the bad guys before the SWAT team arrives and is able to take care of the rest. However, in the midst of all of this, The Mantis somehow gets away undetected, leaving Shawn, Gus, and the rest of the SBPD confused as to why he would flee.
Later, Shawn stops by Reginald's apartment but is shocked to see that the entire place has been cleared out, and Reginald is nowhere to be found. Just then, Shawn realizes something — that Reginald's goal wasn't to take down the syndicate, but rather to steal the syndicate's millions of dollars in drug money once he had taken them out. Shawn realizes what he must do: suit up as The Catch again and try to find Mantis in the midst of fleeing the city.
The Catch and The Mantis face off. Shawn isn't doing too great against Mantis, and Mantis escapes. Just then, Juliet and Lassiter show up as back up. After a chase, Shawn "The Catch" Spencer takes down The Mantis once and for all. And with that, The Mantis is finally arrested, and the Camino Drug Syndicate case is laid to rest at last.
Trivia[]
- When confronted by Juliet after Shawn is outed as not being The Mantis, Shawn says some of the lyrics to the theme song, I Know, You Know by The Friendly Indians. He says "I know, you know, I wasn't telling the truth, I know you know..."
- Reginald Parker's inside man with the Caminos that he is falsely accused of killing is named after Psych producer, writer, and guest actor Carlos Jacott.
- The Mantis' actual identity being a newspaper reporter is a nod to Clark Kent and Superman.
- When interviewing Lassiter for the newspaper, Reginald mentions the unfortunate "Detective Dipstick" moniker Lassiter gained previously. This occurred in S4E15 "The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Episode".
Digital Releases[]
