Comedy crime drama Psych took us on a wild ride, thanks to the incredible mind of Shawn Spencer. Hyper observant and pretending to be a psychic, he solves crimes alongside the LAPD. However, he’d be nothing without his best friend, sidekick and all round supporter Burton “Gus” Guster.
Always ready with a quip and a joke, as well as practical and intellectual help, Gus is best when locked in banter with Shawn. Over the show’s run, he’s given us so many laughs, as well as some more thoughtful moments. Here are 10 of his most relatable quotes.
“Heard about Pluto? That's messed up.”
When Gus visits the planetarium for not entirely space-related reasons, he tries this line to impress. We found this relatable because it's very true. For fans of a certain age who remember the declassification of Pluto as a planet, we all agreed when this was uttered.
How can you just downgrade a planet and remove it from solar system diagrams? How can it suddenly stop being a planet? Why is everything we learnt about 9 planets in the solar system now a lie? So many of us were thinking this that we don’t know why he didn’t get a more positive response. We’re with you Gus, it is messed up.
“What are you doing? We don't know anything about delivering warthog babies.”
While this quote may seem incredibly random we can all relate to that situation of being dragged into something we really don't want to get involved in by a friend. Gus being led into a chaotic situation which he feels ill-equipped to deal with is common in Psych.
There have likely been times when we’ve all wanted to shout “why?” at that one friend who just never ever stops to think things through. Getting pulled into someone else's chaos is something we are definitely identifying with.
“How about you play six degrees of kiss my ass?”
During this episode, Gus’ loyalty and belief in Shawn are severely tested which leads to the above response after Shawn says “I can play six degrees of dinosaur with you right now... You've never been in a movie with Kevin Bacon or a dilophosaurus, have you?”
This response is childish, snappy and absolutely perfect. How many of us wouldn’t want to think of the perfect quip like this? Gus’ breaking point shows he’s human and he’s as frustrated and confused as we all were during this episode. Luckily, it has a truly epic ending to go with this epic line.
“I’m nobody’s pawn, Shawn. I’m a Queen.”
After Shawn suggests that the duo are simply pawns in a bitter feud between Chief Vick and her sister Barbara, who is the commander of the Coast Guard, this is Gus’ reply. While Shawn is, in fact, correct, we can really relate to Gus’ response. Who doesn’t want to be queen?
Referring to a game of chess, Gus shows that he sees himself as in control and in charge of his own destiny. He’s powerful and proud at this moment and we love it and can relate. Go Queen Gus!
“Why do people say "I could care less" when they really mean "I couldn't care less"?”
Anyone who is a sucker for accuracy can surely relate to this one. The situation Gus and Shawn are in while arguing about semantics is far from ideal for arguing such a point but we admire the dedication to the cause.
Even when in trouble Gus (and earlier Shawn in this case) are willing to fight for language accuracy. Never let it be said that these pair don’t believe in the little details. That’s a sentiment all those proud members of the grammar police can get behind.
“Regular poker is too complicated. It makes it easier to get pairs.”
Gus says this in response to Lassiter asking what he and Shawn are playing while sitting in their office bored. The answer is “19-card stud” and this is Gus’ explanation. They can't figure out Poker so they simplified it meet their needs.
Haven’t we all been in a situation where we’ve tried to join in with a game and found it just too confusing? The duo simply wanted to play something easy and completely untaxing on the brain. Who hasn’t been there? They’ve adapted the rules to make life easier and more entertaining, perfect.
“I get productive when I'm nervous.”
After Gus begins checking his email in response to a crisis situation this is his response when Shawn calls him out. It’s pretty relatable for those of us who need to do something to occupy our minds when nervousness kicks in.
As Gus becomes nervous he needs to feel the pull of doing something useful and tangible to try and balance himself back out. It’s a place many of us can relate to and we feel for him as he tries to ground himself in a rough situation. We can't help but wonder though if he's one of those people with an inbox that reads 27362 unread messages.
“I can't help it, Shawn, my body craves buttery goodness.”
Hands up all those whose body doesn’t crave buttery goodness. I imagine there aren’t too many people out there who don’t but those whose tastes are different can surely at least identify with cravings.
We all get cravings from time to time and know the struggles of not giving into them. It’s so easy to just reach for the item which is tempting us and fulfill that desire. All too easy, which is why we’re feeling this quote from Gus.
“We take our hand-held entertainment very seriously.”
Every good gamer takes their hand-held entertainment very seriously. Being parted from it can be a wrench and people not recognizing its greatness is even more irritating. Hand-held entertainment is a technology the majority of us are thankful for.
We should all just take a moment to consider what we’d do without not just a hand-held games console but also that most portable and common of gaming devices, the cellphone. I’ll give you a minute.
“Man, I’m nobody’s charity case. I demand I dig my own grave!”
Even in the direst of circumstances, Gus stands up to be heard, showing that he values himself. While the situation is bleak Gus focuses on not losing sight of what he believes in. He feels that he is his own man and wants to do things his way.
Gus won’t rely on anyone, not even in his final moments. This quote shows him to be a man staying true to what he believes, even until the very end. Gus is a man of morals and a man who fights for what he thinks is right and that’s something we can all get behind.