Carlton Lassiter

Detective Carlton Jebediah Lassiter MCJ (born February 22, 1969), is a fictitious character in the American dramedy Psych played by Timothy Omundson.

Fictional biography

Lassiter is a ten-year veteran of the Santa Barbara Police Department, and the youngest Head Detective ever named to the force. He also has a Masters Degree in Criminology. He has a tense relationship with Shawn Spencer that often leads to hilarious situations. According to Lassiter's blog, which is written by actor Timothy Omundson, he was a close friend of the former Santa Barbara police chief, who led him to enroll in the police academy during a "dangerous point" in Lassiter's youth.^[1]

Upon his first appearance in the series pilot, Lassiter is said to be five months into a trial separation from his wife, Victoria, although he later, when drunk, confesses that they have in fact been separated for two years.^[2] Part of their marriage troubles appears to stem from a disagreement over the matter of children. Lassiter says his wife believes that he does not want children, although this is not the case.^[3] Omundson says that, despite Lassiter's long estrangement from his wife, it would likely be very hard for him to admit that the marriage is over because "that means admitting failure, and Lassiter will never admit to failure."^[4] During the pilot, Lassiter is involved in a secret romance with his partner, Detective Lucinda Barry (Anne Dudek); however, soon after Shawn Spencer publicly exposes the nature of their relationship, Barry is transferred and the affair appears to have ended. She is replaced by Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara.

Eventually, Lassiter's wife asks him to dinner, something he thinks points to a reconciliation for them, but in truth she simply wants to give him divorce papers. Saddened but resigned, he signs them, telling her he's going to let go of the past and think of the future without her. She tells him she will never stop loving him, even though they are divorced.^[5]

It is revealed in Lassiter's blog that he has a sister, and he has a younger sister named Lauren, who appears in season 5 episode "Dead Bear Walking", played by April Bowlby. Lauren visits Lassiter to film a documentary about police work. After meeting Shawn and Gus, she is impressed by their methods and decides to film them instead, which irritates Lassiter. After seeing Lassiter one-upped by Shawn and Gus again, Lauren shares with them that she looked up to Lassiter when she was growing up, and says that he may not be the man she thought he was after all. With a little help from Shawn, Lassiter is able to solve the case which restores his view in Lauren's eyes. She tells Lassiter that she is proud of him. Other family members include a missing brother who may or may not be in South America, a brother-in-law named Raul, a nephew named Peter, and an overbearing mother who is involved in a lesbian relationship with a black woman named Althea. It has not been revealed if his father is alive or not. In the episode "High Noon(ish)" it is said that Lassiter's mother never had time to take care of him and dropped him off at Old Sonora, a tourist Western town, every weekend. Additionally, it is revealed in the episode "Weekend Warriors" that Lassiter is an avid Civil War buff who actively participates in reenactments.

In the fifth season episode "Not Even Close... Encounters" it is shown that Lassiter has a physical "crap list" from which he removes Shawn's dad Henry. People on the list include Hillary Clinton (twice), Carley Simon [sic], Chris Tucker, Olympia Dukakis, Shawn Spencer, Tyne Daly (with whom Omundson costarred in Judging Amy), Rick Sanchez, Marco Sanchez, Mark Sanchez, and many other names including his mother and the "Check out Girl @ the A+P" (may be an old grudge as there are no A+Ps in California anymore). Along with Henry's, some other names are crossed out, which may include Hilary Swank. Henry's name is immediately put back on the list after he is shown it and says Lassiter list "disturbs" him.

Lassiter is a Republican, having punched Shawn in the face when he said that Ronald Reagan was a terrible president (after he refused when Shawn asked him to punch him because he was undercover). He also reveals this by referring to residents of a local commune as "flag burners." He has the theme song of the show Cops as his ringtone.

In the sixth season episode "This Episode Sucks", Lassiter meets a woman at a local bar named Marlowe Viccellio. The two actually hit it off, and begin dating soon after. Marlowe is wrapped up in the criminal plot of the episode, and is sent to jail; however, Lassiter touchingly gives her a note stating that he will wait for her for the six to eighteen months that she is in prison. In "Heeeeere's Lassie", he buys a condo for Marlowe and him, since she is almost finished with her prison time. In "Let's Doo-Wop It Again", Marlowe assists him in a case by befriending an incarcerated gang leader, though to win her trust, Marlowe publicly punches Lassiter in the face.

During the 7th season Marlowe gets paroled. Her parole officer is an officer whom Lassiter didn't call back after sleeping with her. She implements rules designed to keep the two apart, including a no non-spousal cohabitation rule. Marlowe moves in with Juliet and Shawn, who are trying to start a life as a couple. The separation (and the strain on Marlowe's roommates) becomes insufferable and the two announce their intent to marry, which they do in the next episode. In Season 8 Episode 2, S.E.I.Z.E. the Day, Marlowe reveals to Lassiter that they are expecting their first child. Lassiter tells a suspect about this, and Shawn, Gus and Juliet overhears. In the episode 'Shawn and Gus Truck Things Up', Marlowe goes into labor and has a baby girl. In the series finale, Shawn is about to confess on a video farewell to not being psychic but Lassiter destroys the disc first, showing that while he always knew the truth about Shawn, he has come to accept Spencer as a friend; it may also have been a way to "keep the mystery alive" in a way that Shawn would approve.

Characterization

He generally distrusts Shawn and does not believe that he is psychic as he claims to be, but has come to have a grudging respect for his investigation skills, something he admits in one episode while drunk.^[6] Omundson describes his character's animosity towards Shawn as stemming from the fact that Lassiter has worked hard to climb the chain of command and become good at his job. However, Lassiter is rarely seen to solve cases (though he obviously does frequently, otherwise he would never have achieved his status as head detective), and tends to draw obvious conclusions, when Shawn seeks for a stranger explanation (while also withholding evidence and committing various acts of fraud, aside from outright lying and stealing during investigations), which turns out to be right, though this is almost always only after Shawn accuses various other innocent people of the crime in question. Lassiter can be rather self-involved and thinking he is far more respected than he truly is. In "Extradition: British Columbia," he is on the bust of a master thief he has spent years tracking down but when he gloats, the thief responds he has no idea who Lassiter is. Lassiter is very protective of his partner, Juliet O'Hara, and sees her as a little sister, and even promising during a polygraph (lie detector) examination to physically hurt Shawn if he emotionally hurts O'Hara. Omundson says that while Shawn and Gus' increasing presence in police investigations is a great annoyance to Lassiter, "I think, secretly, he doesn't mind them too much because it always gives him a nice challenge."^[7] Overall his entire life seems to revolve around work. Even his casual outfit is what he wears to work, just wearing different shoes.

Timothy Omundson (who plays Carlton) at Comic-Con in California.

References