NCIS: Los Angeles (Sam & Callen) vs. Psych (Shawn & Gus) – Crime Dynamic Duos 2019

Welcome to CarterMatt’s Crime Dynamic Duos for 2019! The goal for this tournament is pretty easy to explain: Recognizing some of the best crimefighters in all of television. The word “crimefighter” can at times have a loose interpretation, but for the sake of this tournament we’re referring to it mostly as cops, lawyers, or investigators who do their best to take down some pretty-bad people and fight to help others. They’re the sort of characters you typically admire, and they have an aspirational quality to them along with them being entertaining.

For our second battle today, we’re looking at two shows in NCIS: Los Angeles and Psych that each have years and years of history between them. If you combined the length of both of the show’s runs, you’d have a person old enough to drive! Sam & Callen are a well-known twosome and formidable at what they do, and we kind of like the idea of two federal agents facing off against a guy who conned his way into working with the police alongside his friend. There are so many differences in tone and style here, but in the end, the two shows do have a few things in common … including locking away back guys in the end.

If you’ve been around for past editions of Crime Dynamic Duos, then you know a thing or two about how this works — at the bottom of this article is a poll to vote for who you want to see advance! One duo will, and at the end of the month, we’ll officially crown the champion in all of their glory.

How voting works – Vote however often you would like! (Technical instructions for multiple voting can be found right above the poll.) We will keep this poll open until Thursday, April 11 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. The winner here will have to take on either Bishop & Torres from NCIS or Harvey & Donna from Suits —that’s a showdown that was posted earlier today, and we’ve got a feeling it will be a fun one.

You can see the full bracket (including start dates for each individual round) in the graphic at the top of this article.

The competitors

Sam & Callen, NCIS: Los Angeles (#2 seed) – While Deeks and Kensi may be getting a lot of headlines this year because of their recent wedding, we don’t want to ever overlook the impact Sam & Callen have on this show! After all, they were the main selling point of the show from the very beginning and even now, they remain a foundation for a wide array of different cases. They’ve got prowess in the field, a great friendship, and also fantastic personal stories that keep you coming back for more.

Last year, Sam & Callen suffered a pretty stunning upset in the first round against a #7 seed in Sam & Eddie from Take Two. That show, unfortunately, has since gone to the TV graveyard, and for Sam & Callen this year, they’ve got a chance at redemption. Will they find it? That will be up to the voters, but we know from seeing years’ worth of NCIS: Los Angeles cliffhangers that it would be foolish to ever write either of these characters off.

Shawn & Gus, Psych (#7 seed) – They’re not exactly traditional cops. Heck, for most of the original series’ run, Burton Guster worked in pharmaceuticals! A part of what made them so endearing, though, was their outsider status and the fact that the Santa Barbara Police Department could bring these two in and they could figure things out that no one else could … using some of Shawn’s “psychic” powers alongside Gus’ ability to keep the two from getting killed (sometimes, a little bit of fear is a good thing) / his incredible sense of smell. We don’t know if all of the undercover nicknames helped anything, but they were at least hilarious.

The inclusion of Shawn & Gus in the tournament this year is coming in honor of Psych: The Movie 2, which is currently in production and will (hopefully) premiere on USA a little bit later this year. We know that there’s a lot of love that Psych-o’s have for this show and these two, so why not give them a little bit of love here?

Related – See more showdowns from Crime Dynamic Duos 2019

Now, we turn this over to you

Be sure to vote for who you want to see advance below!

I can’t see the poll; what do I do? – If you are on mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page and click to view the non-AMP version. If that does not work, give the poll a moment to load! On some mobile browsers, it may take a moment.

How can I vote more than once? – Just refresh the page! If you are having trouble casting multiple votes, try switching your browser, your device, or visiting the page under private browsing or incognito mode. There should be many handy guides online explaining how to do so if interested.