"The Devil Is in the Details... and the Upstairs Bedroom" is the fourth episode of Season Four. A priest and former teacher to Shawn and Gus calls them for help when he believes an apparent suicide was actually the work of the devil.
Plot Summary[]
It's 1989, and Henry comes rushing into a church to meet with Father Westley, who thanks him for coming in quickly. Shawn and Gus, who are sitting in the front pew, turn around while Father Westley tells Henry that Shawn has been causing trouble in Sunday School. Father Westley states that Shawn has been disruptive, because every time he starts a lesson, Shawn questions every detail with extreme scrutiny. During the lesson that morning, Father Westley had tried to teach them about Noah's Ark. Shawn stands up and apologizes to his dad stating it doesn't make sense. Father Westley asks what it is that doesn't make sense and Shawn tells him it's a lot of things.
First, if the ark was built in the Middle East, then how did animals like the koala bear get there? Gus jumps in and says that God helped them get there with His Almighty power. Shawn then asks why God didn't just create the ark for Noah, because it would've been much faster. Father Westley states that God wants people to accomplish those types of creations on their own. Shawn then points out that He didn't when it comes to the koala bear. Henry states to Shawn that he's getting too hung up on the details of the story, and Shawn says that Henry always said that the details were the most important things. Henry starts to tell Shawn he's missing the point, but Shawn suddenly questions how they managed to keep all the lions from eating the zebras. Henry turns to Father Westley and says that Shawn's got a point because lions eat 5,000 lbs. of meat a year. Henry tells Shawn to break it down and asks Shawn what he thinks Gods M.O. (modus operandi) might be. Father Westley says to Henry that it's not a detective case and goes on to try to explain what it is further but stumbles over his words. Instead of arguing anymore, he turns and asks Henry if they've ever thought of visiting the Methodist church down the street because it's quite nice.
In the present day, Agatha, a student at the Saint Attalus College Divinity School, is running away from her best friend Lucy who is trying to stop her. Agatha gets to a high balcony and jumps off before Lucy can stop her. When Lucy goes to check her, Agatha is lying in a pool of blood. Lucy goes to turn her over and Agatha's eyes open wide. Lucy lets go in fear where Agatha drops back to the pavement, dead.
Gus drags Shawn to the school to investigate as a favor to their old Sunday school teacher, Father Westley. Lassiter and Juliet are already on the scene, speaking with Westley and headmaster Father Bard. Westley and Father Bard explain that Agatha was a model student until three weeks ago when she suddenly started acting irrationally. Lassiter thinks it's murder, but Shawn thinks the death is a case of suicide. Father Westley, however, has an alternate theory: he believes Agatha was possessed. Father Westley's idea is disregarded by all but Gus. Father Bard, who also dismissed Father Westley's idea, explains to the four detectives that Westley used to perform exorcisms in the past. Father Bard also informs the group that exorcisms are a practice that the Church now looks at with skepticism. Father Westley, though, is insistent, and Gus agrees to take the case, even while Shawn objects.
Father Westley tells Shawn and Gus more about Agatha's strange behavior. He had wanted to perform an exorcism but couldn't get approval from Father Bard, as the practice was frowned upon. Shawn, still skeptical from his childhood experience with Father Westley, thinks maybe Agatha was just a disturbed girl. Father Westley gravely counters, saying he's dealt with disturbed teenagers before and that Agatha was different.
Back at the Psych office, Gus is doing research on Agatha and has logged onto her blog. He charts her mental demise by the content of her status updates. Shawn scrolls through her site and discovers that Agatha had a boyfriend named Cameron, but they broke up a a few days before her death. To Shawn, this evidence proves that an alternate theory to demonic possession is possible. This being the case, Shawn and Gus go to talk to Cameron.
Cameron says Agatha broke up with him even with his passionate plea to work the relationship out. He also has a solid alibi, as seen by Shawn, for the time of Agatha's death. Shawn and Gus discover that Agatha's best friend Lucy saw her jump, and cradled Agatha in her arms while she died. They then pose as grief counselors and head to Lucy's house, where her mother informs them that Lucy has become withdrawn and is only a shell of her former self. Shawn and Gus head up to Lucy's room to talk to her, and when they open the door to her room, they find her spider walking around her room, acting violently, and speaking in foreign tongues - common signs of possession.
Gus thinks the demon probably jumped into Lucy as Agatha died. Shawn, however, is adamantly sure that there is another explanation. Shawn then leaves Gus, telling him he's on his own because this whole thing is just too ridiculous. Shawn goes to Henry's place looking for his Xbox, finding it under a pillow on his couch. Henry tells him he's not getting the game system back until he finishes painting the house like he said he would. Shawn sits down and says he doesn't know how to deal with Gus because he's acting completely irrational. Henry tells Shawn that he needs to go back and support Gus, no matter what the situation, because that's what good partners do. If he backs up Gus now, then Gus will always back him up in the future.
Meanwhile, Gus calls in Father Westley to help with Lucy. Shawn returns to Lucy's as Father Westley and Gus are preparing to enter the room to perform the exorcism. Gus says that if it works, then the case will be closed. Shawn asks if they can go back to psychically doing things if the exorcism doesn't work. Shawn is skeptical, even during the exorcism as Lucy starts spouting out childhood information about Shawn. Father Bard then appears; Shawn and Gus are ordered out of the room. After what seems like a few minutes, Father Westley and Father Bard finish the exorcism, emerging later to claim it worked and that Lucy is now cleansed of her demonic possession.
Shawn, still unconvinced and skeptical, goes to the police station for more information. Juliet tells him the standard toxicology report came back clean, and that they could administer a more specific test if Shawn had a particular medicine or drug that he wanted to check for. Shawn looks through Gus' index of medications and gets an idea. Later, after a second toxicology report, he tells Gus that the cops found L-Dopa in Lucy's system. L-Dopa is a Parkinson's medication that, when taken by a person without Parkinson's, causes extremely emotionally erratic behavior.
The girls weren't possessed; Shawn deduces that the girls were secretly being slipped the medication. Gus asks how Lucy knew about Shawn's childhood and how to speak German. Shawn counters that Lucy viewed his internet page and that her German was a quote from the movie Run, Lola, Run. He then tells Gus that Father Westley has Parkinson's and has been on L-Dopa. It looks like Westley, wanting to return to his glory days as an exorcist, fed the girls his medicine to bring on the symptoms, but that things got out of hand when Agatha killed herself. Lassiter and Juliet arrest Father Westley. Gus visits Father Westley in jail. He proclaims his innocence, adding that he knows who the culprit is, but he can't tell Gus because he heard it in confession. Father Westley then tells Gus that a certain Proverb has been of great comfort to him lately.
Gus goes looking for Shawn, and finds him down at Henry's, telling him about Father Westley's innocence and his reference to the Proverb. Shawn and Gus find Henry's Bible and see that the Proverb mentions the unfaithful and evil desires. Shawn then puts it all together and, with Gus, Lassiter and Juliet, go to see Cameron, where they find Lucy in his room. Shawn begins with his theory by saying that Lucy wanted Cameron for herself. She drugged Agatha to make her crazy so Cameron would dump her. Unfortunately, the medication made Agatha so unstable, she jumped to her death. Shawn then goes on to say that when Lucy overheard Father Westley proclaim Agatha was possessed, she realized she had the perfect thing to throw the cops off the trail. Upon hearing this, Lucy breaks down, claiming she never meant to hurt Agatha, which leads to the cops cuffing her and taking her away.
Trivia[]
- Whilst the 'Upstairs Bedroom' rider refers purely to exorcism (and the film), the first part of the title is a quotation of uncertain origin, a variant on the concept that "God is in the details", and designed to express the need for precision and care, particularly in matters beyond human comprehension.
- Many elements and references in this episode stem from the 1973 horror film The Exorcist.
- Possessed Lucy speaks German: "Jeden Tag triffst du eine Entscheidung, die dein Leben verändern kann" ("Every day you make a decision that can change your life"). This is a reference to the tagline for the 1998 German film Lola rennt (Run Lola Run). Lola is portrayed by Franka Potente, who would later go on to appear on Psych as superspy Nadia in S5E9 "One, Maybe Two, Ways Out".
- Father Westley speaks of his first-hand knowledge of possession. This is a reference to Ray Wise's character Leland Palmer onTwin Peaks, who was possessed by BOB.
Digital Releases[]
