I LOVE me some Gus-centric episodes, and this is one of the best! So much good stuff here, starting right at the beginning of the episode, when Shawn and Gus lose their ball over the fence into Old Man Fuller's yard and it turns out they were tied (and Shawn was "up")!! Classic Shawn.
This episode was co-written by Steve Franks and Saladin K. Patterson (another wonderful writer)!
So much good stuff here! This is a Christmas episode, sporting a Daisy Red Rider BB gun (he's gonna shoot his eye out; yes he is!), and once again great guest stars - Phylicia Rashad as Mrs. Guster and the man who simply refuses to age, Ernie Hudson, as Mr. Guster (that's a hundred dollahs, boy!)! We've got O'Hara family (Scottish) Christmas, an embattled Lassie (who keeps getting snow globes - thanks, Corbin!). Pepe Le Pew, Le pew? Moi? No!, Shawn & Henry's Christmas tradition ("you're so predictable"), Gus get's his, gypsy detective agencies, pet baptisms, black Jesuses, drunk old men who look forward to watching some TV while eating lobster, convertible Le Barons, Psychics who bleed blue, "first footers," slaves who deliver toys (in the Dutch version of Santa), Cliff bars, Mr. G!, bailing on the Mitchell's yard (again), lots with 360 degree unrestricted views, numerous calls and cash transfers, doing 8-hour bids in "the bucket," blackmail, protecting Gus (who does the math), making a timely exit, the Tell-tale Heart, Psycho!, Shawn & Henry's best holiday ever, suburban pot farms, bootleg DVD rings, ilicit affairs, one-hour photo filthy debauchery, illicit pictures, White Linen perfume, Sammy Floyd's treehouse shortcut ambush, nephews who think their auntie is "really fly," jerk chicken and inherited super-smellers, argyle sweaters, antique confederate battle flags and ancient pruny relics!
