PSYCH Recap: Shawn and Gus Truck Things Up

Shawn and Gus remember fond times with their favorite tacos after the food trucks owner is found murdered. They will miss Mauricio and his secret taco sauce. Lassie, however, is not so much a fan of food trucks. Seems one of his favorite pastimes is writing citations for them and just generally giving them a hard time. Surprisingly, though, he doesn’t need to be talked into hiring Shawn and Gus for this investigation, he’s all for it. He even gives them a food truck he had impounded recently. The pressure must be too much for Lassie at the moment. Aside from the fact that he is now the Chief, little baby Lassie is due any day and his wife is driving him crazy. He’s even carrying around a practice baby, which is really just a doll that looks like it’s been through hell.

Things get off to a rough start for the boys when the health inspector isn’t impressed with their unusual food or the filthy truck they are selling it from. They are getting to know the other food truck owners though, and learning the politics of the group. They even manage to find a couple of suspects. First they must bring their truck up to code before it’s shut down, though, so they go to Henry. Shawn asks for help, but Henry doesn’t have time…he’s getting the house ready to sell. Shawn doesn’t take the news well, he still thinks of his room there as his. He now has to get rid of his old toys, which won’t be easy for him. When the guys return to their food truck later in the night they are robbed at gunpoint by a masked man.

After their robbery, Shawn and Gus learn that all the food trucks used to get robbed, but they started paying protection money to a guy named Smokey. All but Mauricio paid the money, anyway. He refused. It doesn’t take them long to track down a street thug wannabe named Luther. He’s the infamous “Smokey”. He’s not nearly as scary in the light of day and without a gun. He tries to run from them, but can’t get far because of his asthma. He tells them everything, including how he heard Mauricio fighting with the health inspector the day before he died. When they confront the inspector, he has a simple explanation. Mauricio didn’t like his grade from his inspection and made a threat. He only inspected the truck because he had a tip that there were rodent droppings in it.

Shawn accepts the story, and lets it go when he hears from Henry there is an offer on the house. Even worse, he’s clearing out Shawn’s stuff at a garage sale. Shawn and Gus rush right over, and it turns out most of Shawn’s things are actually Gus’s things. Gus sets out to reclaim all his belongings Shawn secretly acquired over the years. Shawn spots a gym bag from Handles Gym and Henry tells him he used to be a member, but quit because he could never find a parking place there because of the food trucks. Shawn and Gus had an earlier run-in with the gym owner because he didn’t like the trucks selling unhealthy food to his clients and taking up parking spaces. They go to confront him, believing him to be the anonymous tipster, but find him dead under a barbell.

Shawn and Gus brief Lassiter and his poor, unfortunate practice baby, on what they have learned. When Lassie mentions a string of bank robberies in the area, the guys realize they are all in locations where they park the food trucks. They also learn from McNabb that the truck they are using once served the same type of food as Mauricio, they were in direct competition. Maybe that truck’s driver is the killer.

The driver doesn’t hold a grudge, despite his falling on hard times. He tells them that money problems are common in the food truck business. One of the other drivers was practically insolvent, his name was Vito. Shawn remembers talking to Vito and seeing an endorsement certificate from Handles gym in his vegan food truck. Shawn and Gus rush back to talk to Vito. They run into Marlowe on their way, she’s craving their weird food. When she learns Lassiter is on his way there, she wants the boys to hide her. She doesn’t want Lassie to find her there violating her doctors orders. They stash her in the truck. Henry also shows up just before Lassie. They shove him into the truck with Marlowe while they talk to Lassie, who has his fake baby in a car seat in his car.

With Lassie in charge they go to confront Vito, and he makes a run for it. He smashes Lassies beloved car in the process, and sends fake baby flying from the vehicle. Vito will have to wait, though, because Marlowe goes into labor inside the nasty food truck. Gus starts the engine and is en route to the hospital, but baby Lassiter just can’t wait. Henry delivers the baby girl in the truck and swaddles her in food wraps. Henry also admits to Shawn that Lassiter is the new owner of his house, and he overpaid for it. Sorry Lassiter, but at least you have that cute new baby to take your mind off how much you overspent.

Shawn packs up his remaining things at Henry’s place. Henry hopes Lassie’s kid will enjoy Shawn’s room as much as Shawn did. Shawn returns to his childhood once more and jumps on the bed one last time, ending up with a big hole in the wall. Something tells me Lassie’s kid won’t get in nearly as much trouble in that room as Shawn did. Later Shawn give baby Lily Nora Lassiter one of his old toys, which makes her smile for the first time. Of course, Gus then realizes the toy was another of his. He grabs the toy from the tyke and runs.

Psych airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on USA.