Buzz McNab

Officer Buzz McNab is a fictional character in the American criminal dramedy television series Psych, portrayed by Canadian actor Sage Brocklebank.

Fictional biography

McNab is an officer of the Santa Barbara Police Department. He is married to a woman named Francine, and took dance lessons to prepare for the wedding; he was also anxious about his wedding-night performance, and asked Detective Lassiter for advice on the subject. Because of Lassiter's own marital history, the detective reacted strongly and negatively to the question, and McNab dropped the issue.

Due to Lassiter's reaction, McNab resorted to calling a 1-800 stress-line instead, which resulted in him becoming a target for serial killer Wes Hildenbach. Hildenbach's position as a telephone company technician gave him access to the phone lines leading to the stress-line center, and he intercepted McNab's call, choosing the officer as his next victim. Hildenbach took McNab hostage in his apartment and was about to force McNab to hang himself at gunpoint, but the officer was rescued by Lassiter on a tip from Shawn Spencer. McNab received a cat from Shawn (formerly the pet of Mortimer Tilden, Hildenbach's third victim) as a wedding present.

He first met Shawn when Shawn was called in for questioning regarding his knowledge of several crimes for which he had called in tips. Shawn deduced that McNab was taking dancing lessons and that he was getting married, and McNab accepted the deduction as evidence of Shawn's psychic abilities. He and Shawn have a genuinely friendly rapport that allows Shawn to get to scenes he otherwise wouldn't be able to access.

In the season four episode "Shawn Gets the Yips" (4.05), McNab was critically wounded when a bomb went off in his mailbox, sending him to the Emergency Room. He managed to survive the explosion, losing his left eyebrow and parts of three toes, and returned to work later on, with a severe concussion and crutches.

According to Shawn, Buzz had a Baha Men tattoo that has since been removed.

In the season 4 finale, "Mr. Yin Presents" (4.16), McNab was drugged by Mr. Yang's partner, Yin, who attacked him from behind with a syringe in a parking garage while he was trying to escort Shawn's girlfriend, Abigail Lytar (Rachel Leigh Cook), to the safety of the police station, because he was worried that she might be the next victim. In season 5, he made his last appearance in the episode "Yang 3 in 2D" (5.16), which aired on December 22, 2010.