Screenshot from the episode.
In Plain Fright is a Halloween-themed episode of the dramedy Psych. It was originally aired in the US on November 17, 2010. The name is a play on words, based on the phrase "In Plain Sight".
Created by Steve Franks and broadcast on the USA Network, Psych is an American detective comedy-drama (also known as a "dramedy") which follows Shawn Spencer (played by Jame Roday), a young crime consultant who pretends to have psychic powers, when instead he is simply using a heightened sense of observational skills and detective instincts above the rest of the Santa Barbara Police Department. He chose to pretend to be a psychic after numerous tips he called in to the police department made them suspicious as to his overt knowledge of the crimes. Shawn is followed around by his best friend and reluctant partner, Burton "Gus" Guster (played by Dulé Hill), as well as his father, Henry Spencer (played by Corbin Bernsen) who is a retired member of the police force, who also taught Spencer to be a super sleuth.
Plot[]
Shawn Spencer and police detective Juliet O'Hara have recently started dating, They decide to keep their relationship a secret. Juliet shows Shawn that she got tickets for scare fest, a Halloween carnival held in a park. This carnival used to be held annually but ended fifteen years earlier. The park decided to restart the tradition that year. Shawn tells Juliet that he already has tickets to go with his best friend Gus. Juliet tells him that he should tell Gus about their relationship but Shawn tells her it is better to be kept a secret.
Shawn and Gus arrive at scare fest and go onto a haunted house ride. On the ride, Gus is terrified and puts his head down. Suddenly, Shawn sees a man getting murdered and put into a coffin. When Shawn and Gus get out of the ride, Shawn tells the ride operator, Carol, about what he witnessed. Carol does not believe him and tells him that what he saw was probably part of the ride.
Despite what Carol said, Shawn is still convinced that a man was murdered. He finds his former assistant, Ken, who now has a job at the park. Shawn and Gus ask him if he could let them sneak into the haunted house ride. Ken reluctantly agrees and they go in. They open the coffin, into which Shawn saw the body being put, but it is gone. Suddenly, the park's security arrives and bring them into the administration office. There, they meet Eve, one of the park's officials. Suddenly, Shawn notices a picture of a man on the wall and recognizes him as the man who was killed. Shawn tells Eve, who says that the man is the park president, named Wayland, and he has been missing for a few hours. They decide to investigate the haunted house and find that the president indeed had been murdered on the ride.
The park's vice president, Frank Holloway, tells Shawn that he knows who the murderer is. His name is Johnny Rickets. Shawn is excited to have a suspect, but Holloway reveals that Johnny was a boy who died by falling off scare fest's ferris wheel, fifteen years ago, the last year scare fest was held until the current year. Holloway says that he has been seeing Johnny lately, so his ghost must be haunting the park and he must have killed Wayland.
Juliet tells Shawn and Gus that she looked into Johnny Ricket's death. She discovered that the park ruled it as accidental, on Johnny's part, and the state did not look into it. Shawn, using his "psychic" powers, comes to the conclusion that Holloway is the murderer and he made up the ghost as a cover up. He killed Wayland, because he wanted to become the new president. They go to the park to confront Holloway but find that he has been murdered on the log ride. They check the footage of the ride's photo-cam and see Johnny Rickets was on the ride.
Following Hollowat's death, the park is shut down and the police department is investigating the two deaths. Shawn and Gus decide to check the archives about Johnny Rickets' death, believing that has something to do with the two deaths. Shawn discovers that Wayland, Holloway, and Eve were working the night of Johnny's death. They made Eve testify that it was not their fault that he died. Shawn also discovers that the park paid off Ricket's family, as well as a person named Jamie Emerson.
Back at the police department, they discover that there is no death certificate for Jamie Emerson. Shawn realizes that Jamie is the murderer and has been murdering everyone who was working that night and lied about Johnny's death. Suddenly, Shawn realizes that Eve will probably be the next victim to be murdered.
Shawn and Gus go to the park and find Eve there, hiding. She admits that she has also been haunted by Johnny's ghost, and suddenly, a figure appears. It is Carol, the ride operator of the haunted house ride. Shawn figures everything out. Carol's real name is Jamie Emerson. She was on the ferris wheel with Johnny the night he fell off but, unlike what was reported, it was the park's fault. The latch belt was not properly locked. Both she and Johnny fell off but Jamie miraculously survived. She was angry that the park did not take responsibility for what happened and instead paid the families off to say that it was unavoidable. Jamie dressed up as Johnny Rickets and killed Wayland and Holloway to take revenge.
Jamie suddenly takes out a knife and chases Eve, Shawn, and Gus. Shawn, however, manages to hit Jamie with a dart, making her drop the knife. Soon, the police arrive and arrest Jamie and her boyfriend, who also helped with the murders.
At the end, Shawn tells Gus about his relationship with Juliet. He is shocked to hear, that Gus already knew.