While cracking several jokes about unnecessary remakes (and making quips about things we know will come to pass over the show's eight-year run), Psych turns its attention to unnecessarily remake one of the show's First Season episodes "Cloudy With a Chance of Murder." Bringing back some, but not all, of the episode's original guest-stars (including Michael Weston as the defense attorney in far over his head) while adding in Ralph Macchio, Ray Wise, and Ed Lover, Shawn (James Roday) and Gus (Dulé Hill) head into the courtroom as legal consultants intent on saving a preschool teacher (Lindsay Sloane) who is charged with the murder of a local weather man (Dana Ashbrook).
Although the show covers many of the same false leads involving Shawn and Gus investigating the studio and the victim's co-workers (Carlos Jacott, Janet Varney, Alan Ruck, Katharine Isabelle), all while acting foolish in the courtroom (even more so than the first time around in Season One), the result is a slight variation on the reveal of the original killer. The one addition that works quite well is Woody (Kurt Fuller) showing up twice as a witness for the prosecution presenting what would be his first meeting with Shawn and Gus.
Crazier than the first time around, but following roughly the same script, the episode suffers from more than a little deja vu, at least until the final act with things pick up with Gus' ridiculous stall tactics and Shawn's reveal of the killer (and public admission of his feelings for Juliet). As an exercise the remake is interesting but not any better than the First Season episode (I would actually argue it's weaker by intentionally trying to overdue the comedy to make the original script funnier), and with only a seven episodes remaining in the show's final season it feels like a wasted opportunity rather than offer fans an entirely new episode (even if you still chose to place it during the show's First Season allowing for the same opportunities to reference later episodes).
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