Alright, talk about strong starts. Now, even before seeing the episode, I knew this episode would not disappoint, because Canada is a veritable gold mine for comedy shows. Americans, being the uncouth monocultural hicks that we are, are fascinated by the strange and mystical beliefs of the fabled Canadians: Maple Syrup, Mounties, and the all-holy Hockey. Okay, so Canada really is not too different from the United States, but this episode manages to walk a fine line between not being a stereotyping douche and still using the humor appparent in Canadian mystique. But then, considering they film in Vancouver, I guess they had to be careful. I mean, anger those Canadians and th-Oh, right, whoops.

So, the episode. Starting off with a discovery that Shaun and Gus are taking a “Man Trip” (quotes neccessary because they tend to run about as far from being typical men as sparrows are from a hand-held vacumn cleaner. However, they’re a little short on funds. As such, they try to hit up the Chief for money, which of course fails, introducing a convienent plot point. We then cut to Canada, (disconcerting, isn’t it? Canada can be that way the first time you try it.) where Shaun and Gus are about to hit the slopes after one ski lesson. Shaun, however, is distracted by sighting someone who tugs at his memory. It turns out it is Pierre Desperaux, a premier art thief who has been Lassiter’s obsession for 6 months. Shaun and Gus then attempt to follow Desperaux in what results as the best live action scene done in the show to date. It’s a definite improvement over the bluescreening of past seasons.

Shaun and Gus head to the local police department to enlist help in catching Desperaux, but find that the skeptics are…skeptical of him. He indulges in some creepily accurate profiling, which ends with Lassiter and Juliet heading up to help out “Detective Spencer” with the case. Juliet and Lassiter arrive to find that Desperaux has already hit a target, and that Shaun and co. are playing catchup. They arrive at the scene, Shaun makes some failures in predictions, and Lassiter takes over. Shaun attempts to pull the attention back on to himself when he realizes that Desperaux is on the roof, resulting in Shaun and Gus confronting Desperaux on the roof alone. Everyone else arrives just in time to miss Desperaux’s impressive exit, hardly boosting the RCP’s confidence in Shaun.

Shaun and Gus attempt to regroup by heading out to dinner. Gus notes that the restaraunt is suprisingly romantic, when Shaun interrupts him with a spotting of Desperaux. After Desperaux spots them, that is. They engage in some verbal sparring in which Desperaux shows the cultured suaveness that Carry Elwes wears so well, and Shaun retaliates with randomness. Desperaux revels his plans for the next few days, or so he says, and Shaun and Gus bite big time, relaying the info to the police.

We next find ourselves in a stakeout, giving Shaun and Juliet plenty of time to exercise the awkwardness that now exists before them, while Lassiter laments the loss of his weapon. This ends with Desperaux turning the whole group into fools, with a rather over-the-top clown picture gag. Still, effective for its purposes.

The commercial break returns with Shaun trying to puzzle out the case while Gus finally comes to the realization that he was a last-minute addition to the trip, when Abagail couldn’t go. Gus forces Shaun out of the carriage, leaving him with the silence of the forest and his fear of racoons. As he attempts to keep the deadly mammals out of his entrails, he comes to a mental mountaintop and heads off to the now-obvious hideout of Desperaux. We are now treated to Shaun’s wonderful combination of verbal information gathering and panicked humor which never seems to fail when he explains to the hotel lobby clerk that his Golden Retriever secretary must have made a mistake in the booking of his room.

Shaun starts to search Desperaux’s room while talking to Gus, (making a Miller’s Crossing reference that made me very happy) only to find out that Desperaux has been sitting in the room the entire time. Desperaux then rattles off a wonderful “I’ve got you beat at every turn” speech, while Shaun makes a small realization about his dry cleaning that will turn out to be a major part of the case. However, this is not enough to convince Lassiter and O’Hara, and they head off on what seems like a perfect lead far, far away from Desperaux’s real target.

So Shaun heads back to his contact at the RCP Station (not the Red Chili Peppers Station, the Royal Canadian Police). They review the evidence, and Shaun realizes Desperaux’s next move. However, it will require some lawbreaking to beat Desperaux. Never one to let that stop him, he enlists his RCP friend Macintosh’s help in stealing an item before Desperaux can.

When breaking into the bank, we are treated to a wonderful interlude of Dule Hill’s incredible ability to physically express himself. While the laser scene was comically unneccessary, Dule’s facial expression as he moves farther and farther through the field will make you smile no matter what, along with James’ snarky comments to “help” him. Shaun’s plan does not go off without a hitch, however, and the one alarm that was not disabled turns out to be the one on the case that holds the crown Shaun and Gus are after. Shaun and Gus are, unsurprisingly, soon caught and arrested. However, the real surprise is when they manage to bring in Corbin Benson’s character by having him come all the way up to post bail for Shaun and Gus, explaining with his patent bluntness that Shaun is letting himself be lead around by the nose.

Shaun and Gus get out to find out that Macintosh has now been fired, because the crown they were after actually turned up missing. Shaun realizes Desperaux could not have stolen the item, and rushes off to, of course, confront him on his own.

As Shaun and Desperaux engage in the neccessary explanation of the crime, we find out that Desperaux is not in actuality an art thief, but instead the greatest insurance fraud in the business.  Lassiter and Juliet show up just in time to save Shaun from being shot, like always, and Desperaux is marched off to do his time, but not without giving Shaun hope that they may spar wits again sometime.

The episode closes with Shaun and Juliet alone. Turns out Gus wouldn’t take any more of the romantic sightseeing, and sent Juliet in his place on their trip to a beautiful wooded area. We see the incredible tension between Shaun and Juliet after the failed date attempt at the end of third season. The episode ends with us thinking that Shaun might be staying with Abigail for a while, but somehow I doubt it.

Overall, a very good episode, chock-filled with bits of humor and a properly star-studded cast. Still, it’s really not as much fun when you keep pausing the video to write down notes, you know? :\