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Ghost Hunters 4.2: "Two to Tango" |
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Wednesday, 12 March 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| In the previous review, I mentioned that I’d had a few opportunities to investigate Fort Mifflin, but the timing was never right. This episode presented me with a slightly different situation. Burlington County Prison is a well-known site in New Jersey, with a widely documented history, and groups regularly get intriguing evidence at that location. I’ll personally be investigating the location with some team members in May. So I was quite excited to see what TAPS would encounter; it would be the perfect chance to follow-up on one of their investigations first-hand.
It was fun to watch that part of the episode because it’s so close to home. Marisa, the client in this case, is a member of Garden State Ghost Hunters Society. The group I work with has had a working relationship with GSGH for quite some time; we refer cases to each other on a regular basis. I don’t know Marisa personally, but it was amusing to know that this particular investigation was right in our perceptual backyard. (I felt the same way about the Domani’s investigation in the second season, because it’s right down the road from where I live.)
Ironically, this is one of those situations where the evidence was somewhat lacking, so there won’t be very much to follow up on. The personal experiences are at best situational; even accounting for differences in interpretation, the observer effect comes into play in terms of perception. Any kind of personal experience I might have in the same location will also be tempered by the awareness that I came into the location with prior knowledge. Would I be experiencing something because it’s there, or because watching this episode has made me more susceptible to similar experience?
This is not an idle question, because it was addressed to some extent in the second case. How much of the little girl’s story was based on information that had filtered into her awareness, directly or indirectly? As Grant said, the girl knew who they were and what they were there for, so the seed of an idea was planted a long time ago. Under the right conditions, with the right psychological triggers, the mundane and ordinary can seem awfully disturbing.
Case #1: Burlington County Prison Museum
The thermal footage is interesting, but I’m not entirely sure what it’s supposed to be. I couldn’t get a sense of the scale in terms of the temperature differences at play, and it would have been easier to understand the interpretations if the editors had spliced in a few shots of the spot in question to clarify where the walls, doors, and other features were. It looks vaguely like someone bending down to step into a room with a low door frame, but it’s hard to say if that’s a meaningful observation. Needless to say, when I investigate the site, that’s one spot I’ll want to see for myself.
Case #2: McArthur House
Perception works both ways. If a location feels “creepy”, then “evidence” and experiences tend to be interpreted more liberally in the paranormal vein. The opposite is also true; if a location feels mundane, it’s often easier to dismiss the little things. Personally, I don’t agree with Jason and Grant about the potential EVP, at least in terms of their explanations. How exactly does Kris talk over her own voice, sounding like a man in the process?
That said, would it necessarily be paranormal? Not at all. Several other explanations come to mind, and most of them would have been valid. Considering those options would have been more comprehensive, however. After all, if the rule is “if in doubt, throw it out”, they’ve been far less doubtful with very similar potential evidence in the past.
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