The eight-season run of the USA Network's Psych may have ended back in 2014, but the franchise is still going to this day through spinoff films and intense fan discussion about these beloved characters. Even though Psych is heavily serialized in a case-of-the-week format, characters like Shawn, Gus, Juliet, and Lassiter all go through impressive character arcs across eight seasons - and three films to date.
With its tongue-in-cheek humor full of 1980s references and countless catchphrases, Psych also boasts some of the most memorable dialogue for characters in recent television history. But regardless of whether all the characters' first and last lines are particularly memorable, it's still impossible to not notice the way their journeys can be seen in the difference between where they started and where they ended.
Buzz McNab
First: "One, Two, Three. One, Two, Three. One, Two, Three."
Last: "Thank You, Sir. Yes, Sir."
Buzz McNab isn't a character that goes through an awful lot of character development across Psych's eight-season run, but that doesn't make him any less lovable. When he first appears in the pilot episode, absentmindedly practicing his dance instructions ahead of his wedding, it quickly becomes clear that he is a true himbo
Over the seasons that follow, Buzz is consistently sweet but not always the most helpful member of the Santa Barbara Police Department. But by the series' end, he finally earns a promotion to Junior Detective, but he's still as shy and subservient as ever, with his final lines being deferent to now-Chief Lassiter.
Woody Strode
First: "Hey There. Yeah, I Just Transferred Over. But Don't Worry, I've Been Playing With Dead Things Since I Was A Toddler."
Last: "You Know I Will, Shawn. ... Shawn? Shawn? This Is The Weirdest Skype Call I've Ever Been On."
There are many quirky characters in the Psych universe, but none of them are as weird and outright hilarious as coroner Woody Strode. From his first appearance in the series, Woody quickly makes a name for himself through his hilarious one-liners, including his opening remark that he might be new here, but he's "been playing with dead things since [he] was a toddler."
Woody doesn't appear in the series until the fourth season, but he's one of the series' most enduring and memorable characters, purely for how weird and out of it he always is. True to his nature through the series' end, Woody's final moments involve him mistaking a pre-recorded video message from Shawn for "the weirdest Skype call [he's] ever been on."
Karen Vick
First: "Not So Fast, Mr. Spencer."
Last: "Okay, Mr. Spencer, You're Now Standing On The Dead Body."
SBPD Chief Karen Vick begins the series as an interim Chief, but quickly takes on the unwieldy duty of babysitting the Psych team as they interfere with - but ultimately help solve - every case they take on alongside the SBPD detectives. In her first scene, she already adopts a stern, maternal tone with Shawn, down to calling him "Mr. Spencer."
This continues throughout the entire series, even until her final line in the series finale. When Shawn and Gus move to San Francisco to re-team up with the relocated Chief Vick and Juliet, Karen once again takes on the mother duck role she likely thought she had left behind, scolding "Mr. Spencer" for "now standing on [a] dead body" as he gleefully hugs her at a crime scene.
Juliet O'Hara
First: "Am I? Are You One Of Those Weirdo Compulsives Who Come To The Same Restaurant, Sit In The Same Chair, And Eat The Same Food Every Day?"
Last: "What Is This Car, And Why Is The Window Broken? ... Ooh, Labradoodle!"
Juliet O'Hara might not appear in Psych's memorable pilot episode, but she nevertheless becomes one of the series' most important characters from the moment she first appears in episode two, "Spellingg Bee." Juliet is introduced right away as a potential romantic interest for Shawn, but also a verbal sparring partner.
Her initial refusal to indulge Shawn in his seemingly childish behavior is something that changes over the years, as she winds up getting caught up in Shawn and Gus's schemes more than almost anyone else in the series. This holds true through the series finale, which concludes with her questioning Shawn and Gus about the car they have acquired with a broken window as they speed off on a desperate chase together.
Henry Spencer
First: "Did You Do Your Homework?"
Last: "I'm Sure Somebody Will Figure Out What To Do With It. See You Around."
The father-son relationship between Henry and Shawn Spencer is one of the most well-written storylines in the Psych series. When the series begins, Shawn and Henry's relationship is incredibly strained, due to Shawn blaming his father for the failure of his parents' marriage, and also resentment for how his father raised him with the ultimate goal of becoming a detective, as seen in their first flashback scene together.
Over the eight seasons that follow, Henry and Shawn come to repair their broken bond, even if they sometimes struggle to put their love for each other into words. When the series ends, Henry gets left behind in Santa Barbara as the action moves to San Francisco, but he's already got plans in mind for what to do with the abandoned Psych office, promising Gus that "somebody will figure out what to do with it." Even in Shawn's absence, he's still cleaning up after him.
Carlton Lassiter
First: "Why Don't You Let Us Ask The Questions For A While?"
Last: "Hello, Lily. This Is Your Daddy!"
Out of all the main characters in Psych, Timothy Omundson's Carlton Lassiter arguably undergoes the biggest transformation. In the pilot episode, and for many seasons thereafter, Lassie is a gruff, almost robotic detective, determined to put his job first and focused on solving cases above all else, even if it means losing out on important personal connections in the process.
Through his years of exposure to the Psych team, however, Lassie learns to let his guard down and experience all of what life has to offer - including falling in love and having a baby. In the closing moments of the series, Lassiter might finally be Police Chief, but it's his adorable baby talk voice as he says "Hello, Lily. This is your daddy!" that reveals his true growth.
Burton Guster
First: "I Already Have A Job."
Last: "You Let Go Of The Wheel. I Have The Gas. ... Where?!"
Poor Gus. From the very beginning of the series, Burton Guster is constantly getting pulled into one dangerous situation after another due to his lifelong friendship with Shawn Spencer. Even though he tells Shawn from the beginning that he "already ha[s] a job," Gus somehow winds up being the essential second employee of Psych.
This perfect crime-solving duo thankfully stays together for the entire run of the series, and while Gus's life does change somewhat in of leaving his pharmaceutical sales job and having one failed relationship after another, the series ends with him and Shawn squabbling over who is in charge of driving a getaway car is entirely too perfect.
Shawn Spencer
First: "Uh-Huh. Can I Have The Fudge Cake?"
Last: "Do Not Make Me Slam The Brakes. ... Where?!"
It makes all the sense in the world that Shawn Spencer's first appearance in Psych occurs in a flashback to when he is a child asking if he can have a piece of cake. For eight seasons, Shawn is about as childish as any character could be, dealing with a pretty serious case of Peter Pan syndrome all while he pretends to be a psychic detective.
He does grow up in some ways, most notably through proposing to Juliet in the very final moments of the series finale. But even that proposal shows his childish nature, as his gleeful demeanor in these final moments results in a chaotic, series-ending chase as Shawn, Gus, and Juliet go off in search of the stranger who stole the engagement ring right out of his hands.