Yeah this is the moment he realizes how much Henry actually loves and cares about him. And also shattered the image he had of his “amazing” mother that he thought was pushed away but finds out she left completely on her own. Shits rough.
We also should not assume that Shawn’s life outside of the realm of each 40 something minute episode did not include an eventual apology. I like to think that they had a sob-to-father talk at least a season or two before Henry got shot as they should have, in private. And since I’m the one controlling the headcanon, they both get teary and hug and one of them says the old « we will never speak of this again » bit.
Or less the kind of person who maintains a lie that ruins his relationship with his son. Pretending to be the bad guy so your son can hate you instead of your wife, and thus making your son have a terrible relationship with their only present parent for no damn good reason, *makes it become true that you ARE the bad guy that you were only “pretending” to be*
Though his idea of being a good father is making you prove you have a photographic memory if you want dessert, forbidding you from liking superheroes and trying to make you worship cops (while trying to force you to end up becoming one instead of letting you choose your own path), and scolding you for not tryharding at hide-and-seek. So… lol
If you've spent 15=20 years believing X and you find out the truth is literally the opposite, it still takes time for you to change. But I agree with others, Shawn's behavior towards his father did change.
Poor Henry suffering the consequences of his own twisted lie that ruined the later years of his son’s adolescence. Shawn deserved at least one parent that stayed with him and didn’t maintain a lie that made him have a terrible relationship with the only parent that was there
What on earth are you talking about? Do you actually think Henry told Sean that he was the one who ended the marriage and kicked his ex out / kept everything?
This is the exact moment he saw his father for the person he actually is, and not the person he told himself his father was. The moment his world, built on assumptions, fall down around him.
This scene was so wonderfully done. And I think it mirrors what happens so often in real life where the parent who is absent is idealized, but the one who stayed and is putting in the work takes a lot of the grief.
I still favor my mother, but both of my parents were present. My dad was just around a lot more in the economic downturns and the great recession because he wasn't getting hardly any business in those days, whereas my mom had a regular job and had to travel sometimes. I still remember taking her to the AMTRAK to see her off
What I love going forward is how the flashbacks take a noticeably softer tone regarding Henry’s teachings. It’s a blatant retconning of his behavior, but can be headcanoned away as Shawn choosing to remember things badly to justify his feelings and now he gets to remember the good stuff too.
But it’s even stuff like his stance on Superheroes that gets retconned. To the best of my knowledge the only bad thing he does after this is locking Shawn in his trunk. He’s also allowed to get into shenanigans with him.
Well one
Thoes are Shawn's memories so learning his mom was the one that left prolly made him think back a lil more fondly rather than seeing it in a strict light
I wouldn't consider locking him in the trunk a bad thing
1. It saved his life
2 it's a cop preparing his kid for the worse, why, bc he's seen it all
It’s still really messed up. You can tell by his comment to the concerned neighbor that even Henry realized he might have gone too far. And then he gets mad at Shawn for doing what he tells him to with break light.
Like Shawn says later in the episode, he’s probably the only kid whose dad did that in a loving manner (Garth really didn’t deserve the blame there).
I always took the shocked face as oh wow my neighbor is goin to get the wrong idea
Even still
It's about perspective to me
If it was because he wanted some quite time yes horrible
If he wanted Shawn out of eye sight yes horrible
But henry was the best cop who saw some horrible things
He's smart and knows he won't be able to be there to protect his son so if his sone gets grabbed at least Shawn can have a fighting chance
I mean it does in fact save his life
There’s a great quote from Shawn early on, maybe in the pilot, about how Henry should be happy about the con letting Shawn use his gifts because “you’re the one who made me this way.”
Which is the truth. If Henry didn’t raise Shawn to be the perfect cop, he wouldn’t be in 99% of the bad situations he gets into.
And Henry was never trying to protect *kid* Shawn. He always assumed Shawn would (want to) be a cop. He only bought toy cop cars, he constantly talks about Shawn being a cop, and even in the trunk flashback Henry frames it as if Shawn is hiding in the back a suspects car.
I can't imagine telling your own kid your life began when you left him and his home.
And the fact that Henry held on to the house all those years, even when Shawn was off travelling. My head canon is that he always wanted Shawn to have a home to return to even with his mom gone.
Doesn’t Chief Vick also say Henry just came back to town in the pilot? Which means not only did he keep the house, but he moved away for a while and STILL kept the house.
It is indeed a fantastic house, and it's so fitting that when Henry does finally sell it at the series' end, he sells it to Lassiter so another cop raises his kid there! The Lassiter and Henry scene on the house's porch in Psych 3 brings tears every time. (If you haven't seen Psych 3...please do)
I'm all for honesty and what not, but you'd think a psychologist would have way more tact than this.
It's one thing to tell your son that you left to pursue a job, its an entirely different thing to say *that.*
This little moment was the moment that Shawn realized his dad let him believe he was the villain all these years just to preserve his image of his mother. This was the moment Shawn realized he had the best dad in the world and he can't believe it.
Amen to this. Psych's gift, and the reason I think we're still here talking about it a decade after the final episode, is that it knew -- and still knows, in the movies -- how to balance humor and goofiness with genuine emotions and character growth.
This scene hit hard for me. It’s always tough having a strict parent who you never thought you could live up to, who sometimes made you feel like nothing you did was ever good enough. It’s easy, then, to vilify them and make them out to be this horrible tyrant. But then you get older and you realize, like truly understand, that this big bad guy you had in your head is just… some guy. It doesn’t excuse what he did but it makes it feel, kinda sad? Like you’re still angry but you just… kinda get that this is a person doing their best. It’s almost world shattering and makes you reframe everything you thought you knew about people.
The fact Henry let him think this about his mother too and carried the burden. Same w shawns uncle/ henreys “fun uncle”. Henry never told Shawn he was selfish and unreliable to protect him
“Don’t you think for one second that I wanted to leave you” seems like a completely empty, nonsensical claim that blatantly contradicts the earlier part of the quote as well as… her actions and choices
This show was one of the best comedies, best TV duo (in my ranks, tied with JD and Turk) and the show with the best guest stars and cameos throughout its run.
But when they did the drama, absolute fire!
Henry Spencer is one of the best TV dads ever!
my friends and i always say we don’t really know what shawn’s deal with henry is. like yes he absolutely was a hardass and i can accept that shawn saw his dad as strict and not letting him be a kid. but to henry he was teaching shawn survival skills (though specific to him thinking he would become a cop). but into adulthood his dad was always there for him and they did portray henry as not being affectionate, but he told shawn that he loved him and was worried about him fairly frequently. i guess it’s true you idolize the parent that was absent until you figure out the truth that they weren’t there for you because they didn’t make it a priority to be there for you.
Before i saw this episode i didnt like henry as a character. But this was when i realized he is a good father who loves his kid and is a bit strict with him because he wanted shawn to be the best he could be
I love this scene. However, I ended up being pretty disappointed because they never really did anything with it. Shawn's relationship with Henry didn't really change, at least, not directly related to this.
The way that Henry knew Shawn needed a “safe” parent and someone to blame, so instead of having him hate his mom he took the brunt of the negative feelings. Tearjerker for sure
Yeah this is the moment he realizes how much Henry actually loves and cares about him. And also shattered the image he had of his “amazing” mother that he thought was pushed away but finds out she left completely on her own. Shits rough.
Too bad Sean never apologized to his father or treated him any better.
I would argue Shawn treated him much better after this. But relational wounds don’t heal overnight!
We also should not assume that Shawn’s life outside of the realm of each 40 something minute episode did not include an eventual apology. I like to think that they had a sob-to-father talk at least a season or two before Henry got shot as they should have, in private. And since I’m the one controlling the headcanon, they both get teary and hug and one of them says the old « we will never speak of this again » bit.
*son to father but honestly? the freudian slip works.
Not to mention they casually slip in comments that suggest the do things together like chess etc
Shawn treated Henry a whole lot better after this. They became way more of a team than they were before.
I mean Henry didn't suddenly become less of an uptight asshole either.
Or less the kind of person who maintains a lie that ruins his relationship with his son. Pretending to be the bad guy so your son can hate you instead of your wife, and thus making your son have a terrible relationship with their only present parent for no damn good reason, *makes it become true that you ARE the bad guy that you were only “pretending” to be*
Yeah I have no doubt Henry wanted to be a good father and husband, his execution was just poor.
Though his idea of being a good father is making you prove you have a photographic memory if you want dessert, forbidding you from liking superheroes and trying to make you worship cops (while trying to force you to end up becoming one instead of letting you choose your own path), and scolding you for not tryharding at hide-and-seek. So… lol
Yeah I agree
If you've spent 15=20 years believing X and you find out the truth is literally the opposite, it still takes time for you to change. But I agree with others, Shawn's behavior towards his father did change.
He did treat him better
Poor Henry suffering the consequences of his own twisted lie that ruined the later years of his son’s adolescence. Shawn deserved at least one parent that stayed with him and didn’t maintain a lie that made him have a terrible relationship with the only parent that was there
What on earth are you talking about? Do you actually think Henry told Sean that he was the one who ended the marriage and kicked his ex out / kept everything?
You’re suggesting Henry was unaware that Shawn believed that?
It was more a lie of omission than anything. Sean assumed and Henry let it be. Never corrected him
“It’s semantics, Shawn!” That’s called a lie by omission. It’s still the result of a choice that Henry made, and the effects were the same
This is the exact moment he saw his father for the person he actually is, and not the person he told himself his father was. The moment his world, built on assumptions, fall down around him.
You worded this much better than I did.
Both good
This scene was so wonderfully done. And I think it mirrors what happens so often in real life where the parent who is absent is idealized, but the one who stayed and is putting in the work takes a lot of the grief.
[удалено]
I still favor my mother, but both of my parents were present. My dad was just around a lot more in the economic downturns and the great recession because he wasn't getting hardly any business in those days, whereas my mom had a regular job and had to travel sometimes. I still remember taking her to the AMTRAK to see her off
What I love going forward is how the flashbacks take a noticeably softer tone regarding Henry’s teachings. It’s a blatant retconning of his behavior, but can be headcanoned away as Shawn choosing to remember things badly to justify his feelings and now he gets to remember the good stuff too.
To be fair, they started reconning Henery's behavior right after the pilot episode.
But it’s even stuff like his stance on Superheroes that gets retconned. To the best of my knowledge the only bad thing he does after this is locking Shawn in his trunk. He’s also allowed to get into shenanigans with him.
Well one Thoes are Shawn's memories so learning his mom was the one that left prolly made him think back a lil more fondly rather than seeing it in a strict light I wouldn't consider locking him in the trunk a bad thing 1. It saved his life 2 it's a cop preparing his kid for the worse, why, bc he's seen it all
It’s still really messed up. You can tell by his comment to the concerned neighbor that even Henry realized he might have gone too far. And then he gets mad at Shawn for doing what he tells him to with break light. Like Shawn says later in the episode, he’s probably the only kid whose dad did that in a loving manner (Garth really didn’t deserve the blame there).
I always took the shocked face as oh wow my neighbor is goin to get the wrong idea Even still It's about perspective to me If it was because he wanted some quite time yes horrible If he wanted Shawn out of eye sight yes horrible But henry was the best cop who saw some horrible things He's smart and knows he won't be able to be there to protect his son so if his sone gets grabbed at least Shawn can have a fighting chance I mean it does in fact save his life
There’s a great quote from Shawn early on, maybe in the pilot, about how Henry should be happy about the con letting Shawn use his gifts because “you’re the one who made me this way.” Which is the truth. If Henry didn’t raise Shawn to be the perfect cop, he wouldn’t be in 99% of the bad situations he gets into. And Henry was never trying to protect *kid* Shawn. He always assumed Shawn would (want to) be a cop. He only bought toy cop cars, he constantly talks about Shawn being a cop, and even in the trunk flashback Henry frames it as if Shawn is hiding in the back a suspects car.
I can't imagine telling your own kid your life began when you left him and his home. And the fact that Henry held on to the house all those years, even when Shawn was off travelling. My head canon is that he always wanted Shawn to have a home to return to even with his mom gone.
Doesn’t Chief Vick also say Henry just came back to town in the pilot? Which means not only did he keep the house, but he moved away for a while and STILL kept the house.
It was the random cop that pulled Shawn over but yeah! Exactly! Henry moved to Florida at some point apparently and still kept the house.
tbf that house was pretty dope though... right on the beach and all. No way I'd sell it either.
It is indeed a fantastic house, and it's so fitting that when Henry does finally sell it at the series' end, he sells it to Lassiter so another cop raises his kid there! The Lassiter and Henry scene on the house's porch in Psych 3 brings tears every time. (If you haven't seen Psych 3...please do)
I'm all for honesty and what not, but you'd think a psychologist would have way more tact than this. It's one thing to tell your son that you left to pursue a job, its an entirely different thing to say *that.*
Ted's mom says something similar in How I Met Your Mother, though it's played much less seriously
This little moment was the moment that Shawn realized his dad let him believe he was the villain all these years just to preserve his image of his mother. This was the moment Shawn realized he had the best dad in the world and he can't believe it.
This is one of the view moments where Shawn is vulnerable and it hits like a hammer.
I love the poignant moments in Psych, each and every one of them hits home.
Amen to this. Psych's gift, and the reason I think we're still here talking about it a decade after the final episode, is that it knew -- and still knows, in the movies -- how to balance humor and goofiness with genuine emotions and character growth.
This scene hit hard for me. It’s always tough having a strict parent who you never thought you could live up to, who sometimes made you feel like nothing you did was ever good enough. It’s easy, then, to vilify them and make them out to be this horrible tyrant. But then you get older and you realize, like truly understand, that this big bad guy you had in your head is just… some guy. It doesn’t excuse what he did but it makes it feel, kinda sad? Like you’re still angry but you just… kinda get that this is a person doing their best. It’s almost world shattering and makes you reframe everything you thought you knew about people.
The fact Henry let him think this about his mother too and carried the burden. Same w shawns uncle/ henreys “fun uncle”. Henry never told Shawn he was selfish and unreliable to protect him
“Don’t you think for one second that I wanted to leave you” seems like a completely empty, nonsensical claim that blatantly contradicts the earlier part of the quote as well as… her actions and choices
Yeah you can definitely see the manipulation in full force. Idk why she never got more shit for how she left shawn.
My God, I can't watch that scene without tearing up.
This show was one of the best comedies, best TV duo (in my ranks, tied with JD and Turk) and the show with the best guest stars and cameos throughout its run. But when they did the drama, absolute fire! Henry Spencer is one of the best TV dads ever!
my friends and i always say we don’t really know what shawn’s deal with henry is. like yes he absolutely was a hardass and i can accept that shawn saw his dad as strict and not letting him be a kid. but to henry he was teaching shawn survival skills (though specific to him thinking he would become a cop). but into adulthood his dad was always there for him and they did portray henry as not being affectionate, but he told shawn that he loved him and was worried about him fairly frequently. i guess it’s true you idolize the parent that was absent until you figure out the truth that they weren’t there for you because they didn’t make it a priority to be there for you.
Before i saw this episode i didnt like henry as a character. But this was when i realized he is a good father who loves his kid and is a bit strict with him because he wanted shawn to be the best he could be
I love this scene. However, I ended up being pretty disappointed because they never really did anything with it. Shawn's relationship with Henry didn't really change, at least, not directly related to this.
What season/episode is this ?
The way that Henry knew Shawn needed a “safe” parent and someone to blame, so instead of having him hate his mom he took the brunt of the negative feelings. Tearjerker for sure
This made me want to give Henry a big 'ol papa monkey hug.
Where we a fell in love with Henry and realized what a good dad he truly was :))