Juliet O'Hara

Juliet O'Hara
'Psych' character
Maggie Lawson as Juliet O'Hara
First appearance	Spellingg Bee
Created by	Steve Franks
Portrayed by	Maggie Lawson
In-universe information
Nickname	Jules, Mary Lou Baumgartner, Mrs. Tostig, Maniac
Gender	Female
Title	Miss
Occupation	Santa Barbara Junior Detective
Family	Private First Class Ewan O'Hara, US Army (brother)

Junior Detective Juliet O'Hara is a character on the American comedy Psych played by Maggie Lawson.

Fictional biography

Juliet O'Hara first appears in the show's second episode, "Spellingg Bee", as a recently-transferred junior detective from Miami Beach where she attended the University of Miami, replacing Lucinda Barry as Head Detective Carlton Lassiter's partner. She was raised in a family of brothers and is shown to be close with both her parents and her siblings. Although she is initially frustrated by her coworkers not taking her seriously enough due to her relatively young age, as the series progresses she is given more responsibility, being left in charge in the absence of Lassiter and Interim Chief Karen Vick and getting her first undercover assignment. She has grown more assertive with her partner, and actors Maggie Lawson and Timothy Omundson (who plays Lassiter) both suggest that a mutual respect has developed between their characters.

Juliet seems to present a gentle counterpoint to Lassiter's gruff, rigid style. She reminds her partner repeatedly to "be sensitive" with the media, the victims, and the witnesses of their cases. Unlike Lassiter, she is friendly with Shawn Spencer and more willing to work with him and Gus. Lawson says that, although Juliet is bemused by Shawn at first, she has slowly gained respect for him and by the second season they have a "very friendly, comfortable relationship". The actress says she thinks that, despite some skepticism, Juliet does believe that Shawn is psychic.

Her older brother Ewan, played by John Cena, is an army soldier whom she had to arrest when he attempted to murder an actual killer to protect the army. Ewan was supposed to go to prison but his high level bosses made him vanish. Juliet claims Ewan was the reason she became a cop, that him joining the military gave her enough confidence to join the police force. Despite the Irish last name, she is actually from the Falkland Islands.

Relationship with Shawn Spencer

In episode 11 of season 1, "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, Oops He's Dead", Shawn and Juliet end up on a speed date while investigating a case. Shawn asks her whom she would sleep with if they were stuck on a deserted island and the only people there are herself, Shawn, Burgess Meredith, Hume Cronyn, and Nipsey Russell. Juliet points out that everybody but Shawn is dead. In response, Shawn includes Scatman Crothers and Flip Wilson, but Juliet deadpans "dead" on both of them. Shawn names Donald Pleasence, and Juliet says, "None of the above." When their time is up, Shawn asks, "You're gonna miss me, aren't you?" Juliet just smiles coyly at him. He asks, "Just a little bit?" Juliet grins and says, "Bye, Shawn." When they matched up the compatible people Shawn and Juliet were a 100% compatible, the lady says she smells love in the air, then they excuse themselves with excuses of having to pee and needing a drink.

In the second mid-season finale, "Bounty Hunters!", Shawn tries to kiss Juliet,she does not turn away, but she refuses to kiss him back. After the incident, Juliet immediately performs a stress relieving exercise and Shawn smiles as he walks away, both implying that they may be romantically interested in each other.

At the end of the episode "Murder?... Anyone?... Anyone?... Bueller?" we see Shawn turning down an old flame and meaningfully looking in Juliet's direction.

In the episode "Talk Derby to Me", Shawn sets up a romantic dinner for himself and Juliet, with romantic music, candles, and flowers. But Juliet thought she was interrupting him and someone else. She can not stay however because she has to follow a lead. When that turns out to be a red herring, Shawn takes the blame for the mistake. Towards the end, Shawn and Juliet go on a couples skate alone at the roller rink and brush hands several times.

Although Juliet is dating Cameron Luntz in the episode "Gus Walks Into a Bank", she clearly has feelings for Shawn. After her canceled date with Luntz (he's too busy trying to get rid of the smell after Shawn sent him on a wild goose chase in the sewers), she goes to Shawn's office. The two take a stroll on the boardwalk with hot dogs.

In the holiday episode "Christmas Joy", Shawn, while discussing an old flame with Juliet, says "Don't worry, it was before I met you." Juliet insists that it's irrelevant, meaning that from her point of view there is no relationship between them. Shawn, however, does not seem convinced.

In the episode "Six Feet Under the Sea", Juliet is talking to a former aquarium worker who asks her about Shawn because she (the aquarium worker) might like to go on a date with him. Juliet's reaction implies that she has feelings for Shawn. At the end of the episode Shawn asks out the aquarium worker, but she turns him down because she likes Juliet and doesn't want to ruin it for them. She wishes Shawn "good luck," leaving him confused.

At the end of episode 13 "Any Given Friday Night at 10PM, 9PM Central", Juliet smiles widely as she sees Shawn leading a football team out onto the field, but quickly hides it when Gus sees her.

In the third season finale, "An Evening With Mr. Yang", Juliet finally asks out Shawn on a date, and owns up to the fact that she has been sending mixed signals. Unfortunately, Shawn tells her the timing is awful, as he's on a date with his old high school flame, Abigail. When Shawn explains the situation, Juliet understands. She kisses him on the cheek and leaves. Shawn is obviously affected by the kiss but rejoins Abigail and seems quite prepared to proceed with that relationship. However, Gus acts as a chaperon of sorts for Shawn and Abigail's date, which Shawn attributes to Gus' over protectiveness of the company car, but a look exchanged between Shawn and Gus suggests that Shawn may have consented to Gus' presence due to his feelings for Juliet.

In the season 4 premiere, Shawn doesn't know how to react around Juliet, since he's dating Abigail, and says, "I refuse to be uncomfortable around you. It's silly — you mean too much to me." Shawn also says that he is "perfectly capable of keeping it platonic," meaning their friendship. Juliet replies, "Well, I am too; great." As she walks away, Shawn questions, "But how?" They also take a romantic stroll, as pointed out by Juliet, on a bridge overlooking a lake.

In season 4's third episode "High Noon-ish," Juliet remarks about something Shawn says, which Shawn replies to by tipping his hat and winking at her. Juliet smiles but quickly looks down, implying she is embarrassed.

In the season 4 episode, "Bollywood Homicide", Juliet tells Shawn "that the outside forces are against them..." While saying that, Shawn moves closer to Juliet. Just as they seem to be about to kiss, she asks, "Shawn, what are you doing?" Shawn does not answer the question, instead pointing out a clue that he had been looking at while they were moving toward each other. When Raj and Juliet go on their date, Shawn, watching from a car, is clearly jealous when Raj starts to hold Juliet's hand. Also, at the end of the episode, Shawn rescues Juliet from an unstable suspect threatening her with a knife. Abigail tells Shawn that she was very impressed that he would save a random co-worker like that. Shawn replies to Abigail that she's not a random co-worker, looking at Juliet as he says it. Shawn quickly then corrects himself, saying he would do that for anyone, so Abigail doesn't get the wrong idea.

In the episode "Shawn Takes a Shot In the Dark," to help the police find out where the suspects are keeping him, Shawn tells a kidnapper that he has a girlfriend named Abigail and that he wants to call her to say goodbye before they kill him. Shawn then calls Juliet and proceeds to give her clues about where he's being held. The kidnapper tells Shawn to tell "Abigail" that he loves her. Shawn does, and Juliet responds by saying, "Shawn, I think I...", but Shawn interrupts her to say "goodbye, Abigail." Juliet is clearly confused. Later in the episode, Shawn discusses with Gus the possibility that Juliet was going to say "I love you" back. Although Gus says that she was just doing what she had to do, Juliet clearly didn't know the situation that Shawn was in when he called and might have thought he was serious.

In the episode "You Can't Handle This Episode", Juliet's brother, Ewan O'Hara, reveals that Juliet has said a lot of good things about Shawn. Later, Ewan says explicitly that Juliet "likes [Shawn] a lot", and he puts his stamp of approval on Shawn as well. Despite a great deal of tension between Shawn and Juliet in this episode, their relationship is further advanced when Abigail leaves for Uganda. Although it seems like Shawn and Abigail are going to try to make a long distance relationship work, Gus refers to Shawn as single multiple times in "Death Is In the Air", and Henry makes a similar statement in "Thrill Seekers and Hell Raisers".

In "A Very Juliet Episode" Shawn helps Juliet find her college boyfriend Scott who turns out to be in witness protection. Despite some awkwardness and jealousy, Shawn bargains with the criminal Scott put in jail to not have Scott harmed if Shawn will prove the criminal's innocence. Shawn holds up his end and though Scott was no longer in danger, he and Juliet parted ways, agreeing to meet in a year.

In the episode "Death Is In the Air" Juliet gets exposed to the Thornburg virus and Shawn rushes to the suspect's hideout to fetch the antidote. Upon returning Shawn explains to Gus that the threat of Juliet's mortality made him realize he doesn't have as much time as he thought; he has to tell her how he feels. Gus informs them both that Juliet has not contracted the virus but Shawn tries to go through with his admission. He ultimately stumbles and fails to tell Juliet how he feels, which is immediately followed by Lassiter's entry into the room, effectively killing the moment.

In the episode Mr. Yin Presents, the title serial killer kidnaps both Juliet and Abigail, who is just returning from Uganda. Yin forces Shawn to choose one of them to save but only has Juliet read him the clue to save her life. Juliet tries to tell Shawn he can save Abigail but Yin cuts her off. Shawn gets the clue to save Abigail from Yang's book and sends Gus with Lassie to save Juliet saying the only way he would be able to not be there for Jules is if he knows that Gus is. Both women are rescued but Abigail tells Shawn she can't handle the danger and breaks up with him. This gives Shawn a chance to possibly build a stronger relationship with Juliet.