Synopsis: A masked vigilante called the Mantis is capturing drug dealers around Santa Barbara and Shawn is trying to figure out his identity.
What I liked about this episode: I absolutely loved how they managed to turn this episode into something you would expect to see from a comic book, starting with a pretty clever introduction and including not-so-subtle references to the campy 1960s Batman series.
I also liked the mystery surrounding the Mantis, both about his identity and his real intentions. The show did a good job bringing in a relatively well known guest star (Joey McIntyre) to serve as a red herring and the twist that was thrown in at the end about why the Mantis was really fighting crime was pretty clever.
When I first saw the previews of this episode with Shawn and Gus dressed up as super heroes, I rolled my eyes a bit. But, the writers managed to keep it funny without crossing into the too stupid to be funny category. I think this is because they managed to put the dressing up into a context that did make some sense (and was done on a very limited basis).
What I didn’t like about this episode: I don’t think the episode does a good enough job explaining how exactly the Mantis managed to get his inside information. It shows a flashback to one instance but it would have been better if there was a clarification about the other times.
Final Opinion: From the previews, I didn’t think this was going to be an episode I would enjoy. But, it was definitely better than expected and I’m glad I got a chance to watch it last night.