only thing that got me through today: Ben Folds and WASO rockin' this bitch orchestrally

[luciazephyr]

My day has been long. Woke up at 7, went to work with Mum, canvased for jobs three times, filled out the applications, then returned them. It was fuckin' hot outside too. Came home, had a big ol' headache, took a nap, and now I am here. :D

I have a good chance to get a job at Stage since they need a morning person and I am looking for a morning to afternoon job. Whoo! \o/


In fannish news, shoemoney2night managed to sum up the one thing I really don't like about Psych.

SM2N: Sometimes it feels as though the PTB are just trying to play up Lassiter's ineptitude because for there to be a competent cop on the force might detract from Shawn's awesomeness.

Me: I absolutely agree. I mean, I literally could not have said it myself. I keep hoping to someday go to a con where Steve Franks and co. are so I may ask them about their process and characterization. Because, um, when you set up a character's backstory as if he's a brilliant detective (youngest head detective, omg), you should not constantly undercut him because that doesn't just make him look bad- it makes all policemen and women look like fools. THAT is not kosher.

I love Psych. I really do. But sometimes it is hard to like.

-Luce

Comments

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

play up Lassiter's ineptitude because for there to be a competent cop on the force might detract from Shawn's awesomeness

Agreed 100%

Shawn can still be awesome AND work with competent cops.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

And it could be a great story line!

See, if I worked ont he writing staff, here's what I'd do: Lassiter is flustered by psychic abilities. That is very easy to set up- give him a backstory that make it clear he is a skeptic. Maybe he had an experience in his past to make it so. VERY easy to do.

So, with Lassiter flustered, Shawn can get more mobility with cases. Now, an important thing here is to also make it clear that Shawn is only brought on for exceptionally difficult cases. Make it clear that 9 times out of 10, Lassiter and the SBPD can use old fashioned detective work to save the day. Why this hasn't been established already, I have no idea. It makes both Shawn and the SBPD look good.

(Think of it like this: Dr. House being fricken awesome doesn't not detract from everyone else. He's just more specialized. He still has to go to Jimmy and others for help.)

So, Shawn works on tough cases, Lassie's usually fine on his own. At the same time, to make things tense and awesome, have Lassiter be constantly getting closer to figuring out Shawn's secret. Also easy to do. When Shawn is scoping out a crime scene for clues, Lassie watches with a significant frown on his face.

You build on that for a season or so, then have a blow-out season finale with a high profile case, Lassiter figuring it all out, them having to work together, and developing an agreement about the whole thing.

TA DAH! There you have smart cops, smart Shawn, and a shiny new subplot.

I come up with that off the top of my head. Why can't paid TV writers do better?

[fanvoid.livejournal.com]

You build on that for a season or so, then have a blow-out season finale with a high profile case, Lassiter figuring it all out, them having to work together, and developing an agreement about the whole thing.

YES PLEASE!!!! I've been dreaming of this epic finale since Season One. I WANT Carlton to figure it out. I mean, he's a detective! Detectives aren't stupid, they collect clues and piece them together into coherent fact. I like that he doesn't believe Shawn is a Psychic but why the writers haven't built on that yet I haven't a clue! XD

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

I've been wanting to write that for ages now. I have, like, a list of fics to do. (one- scissor sisters/psych crack I'm doing now, two- my batshit epic lassiter backstory fic with the crazy art-obsessed serial killer who re-enacts important artwork/plays/etc with the corpses of his victims, three- lassie figures it all out fic)

My problem is that I am so used to team-writing from my RPF collaborations with flakygoddess in my last fandom, I can't get anything working. So... yeah. :fail:

You know who should write it? You. :D

[fanvoid.livejournal.com]

Ahhh you tempt!!! I've got some plans indeed for the future of those boys. It is entirely a possibility but at the speed I write it may actually be realized on TV before I ever get to it.

Well, one could only hope. Still, writing it is always an option. ^_~

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

At this rate, I don't think the TPTB are going to make any huge steps towards 'fixing' Lassie. (WOW, what a weird turn of phrase. :3) Which annoys me. Last season, Gus got some character development, now Shawn's getting it by bucketloads. Even Jules is getting some (especially with the subplot a while back with befriending the other woman cop? that was GREAT). Share the love, writers!

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Yes!!! Why can't we have this?? That would be fantastic.

[fanvoid.livejournal.com]

Wow I really couldn't have said it better myself! It didn't seem that obvious at first (I think they wrote Carlton more competent in the earlier episodes of Season One) but it's getting more and more apparent as the show progresses.

I still love him to death, and I love that he's smiling more... but I want to see him actually solve cases. Not just one either. He's got to be head detective for a reason.

I hope the writers and such find an acceptable balance between Shawn's Psychic sleuthing and Carlton's own. It's funny watching him bumble up to a point and after it just gets painful. Poor Lassie.

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

Hey, welcome to my LJ! Enjoy your stay!


Wordy, word. I mean, I picked him out as my favorite character in the very first episodes. I think his hilarious interest in Shawn's dancing in "9 Lives" just won me over. His 'this shit I gotta see' expression was so totally lovable.

Yes. We need to make a "Save Our Lassiter" campaign and send postcards to Steve Franks. Tim O deserves better.

[fanvoid.livejournal.com]

Yes! That scene was adorable! Carlton's rating went sky high in my books. I like to re-watch it once in a while and make googly eyes at him. ♥

And thankies! I'm trying to make a point of getting out and about. Test the waters so-to-speak. I will surely enjoy my stay! ^-^

[chi1013.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I can explain this exactly the way I want too.

I do agree with your take on things. I do feel like they intentionally "dumb down" lassie when Shawn's around. But my thing is this: this is first and foremost a comedy show. Now Lassie isn't the showrunner. Nor is he meant to be the bumbling cop who can't get anything right. but I think the writers play up on his eccentricities. A lot. They like to go very far with things.

Does it make for funny tv? I think so.

Is Lassie dumb? I never thought that for a second. Any man who is head detective in a big city like Santa Barbara is by no means, dumb. And it's not like we see every case that the SBPD works on. Obviously, Lassiter and O'Hara have a full caseload.

I think that they play on Lassie's distraction when Shawn is around. He kinda becomes focused on trying to prove Shawn's fake. Or just trying to do his job when Shawn's around.

It feels like Lassie has mellowed a lot tho. At the start of the show, if Lassie had been swindled by that hooker like in the last eppie, he woulda arrested her. I feel like he's not such a hardass anymore.

I don't think they make all policemen and women look bad. I think that Psych is really from Shawn's pov, and that pov is a bit skewed. Shawn can put everything together and see a crime scene and the world around him clearly but puts his own slant/spin to it. he makes everything and everyone's eccentricities larger. What we're seeing is Shawn's perceptions of people with a bit more of a ... larger than life slant?

... That last paragraph was what I was trying to say the whole time. Talk about tl;dr

[lucia-tanaka.livejournal.com]

Okay, last season and first season, you could so go with the "comedy show" slant, but more and more, it's taking up the Monk route: start with teh funneh, then go dramedy. I mean, come on, the last ep? Dramedy.

See, maybe you don't see Lassie as dumb but if I were someone who didn't know he was head detective and hadn't seen early S1 eps, I know I would think he was a moron. The only evidence that he's a smart bastard is passing hints in a few episodes that he's this brilliant detective. I just don't see much canon evidence that he's good at his job. In fact, there is a fucking mountain to say he's not.

I will agree that Lassie's mellowed out. The school reunion episode is tantamount to that.

I disagree on the Shawn POV too. I think, if anything, it is omniscient. We see everything done by all the characters. We follow Shawn, but we also see Gus's work problems and Jules and Lassie's work. The POV is everywhere. I think we see the show from a, well, viewer's perspective.

[xiilnek.livejournal.com]

I know it's been a while since you wrote this - I found your journal, I'm fairly sure, from shawn_lassiter and started going through your psych tags.

I agree with the above. I realize that's the style of humor the show has, but it's just not my style and after a while I got tired of seeing my favorite character being treated like a bumbling moron. Because of that, I stopped watching the show quite a while ago.

So, yeah. You make a very real point. I would *so* be onboard were some kind of "save Lassiter" campaign be organized.