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Ghost Hunters 4.5: Ghostly Bounty Hunter |
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Wednesday, 02 April 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.
| This has been a rather unusual season of “Ghost Hunters”. The third season was marked by an increase in celebrity guest appearances, flashy tourist attractions, and post-production and editing controversies. While there were some good moments, I felt it was the least effective season. Since the infamous Stanley Hotel Live Halloween event, the show seems to have settled into something closer to the beginning of the second season.
While many critics point out that the percentage of sites declared “haunted” was much higher after the first season, looking back on the actual episodes and associated commentary, there was a lot of criticism for the lack of documented evidence. A lot of locations had little to no activity, and fans were getting more and more frustrated.
Personally, I find the investigations with scant evidence to be a more realistic depiction of the field as a whole. I also admit that it makes for relatively boring television. This is at the crux of the debate over the show itself. Many will point out that slower episodes (like this one) make it more reasonable to believe the “evidence” from more active sites. Critics see that as a clever psychological trick. As always, it is a matter of perspective and subjectivity.
Case #1: Trinway House
This episode came down to a set of personal experiences and some odd noises caught on tape. Nothing in terms of EVP (which is unusual lately), and most of the experiences were fairly easy to explain. As odd as it must have been to hear the door handle move on its own, it’s not impossible that someone was trying to mess with them.
Case #2: Prospect Place
The “big” evidence here appears to be the thermal footage. Setting aside the issue of temperature for a moment, I swear that silhouette looks like a cat. I’m not sure that the size is right for even a large and fat cat, but as a cat owner, it looked like a cat that was sitting in the window, saw people coming, slid off the window, and ran away. I don’t know if Jason and Grant would have arrived in time to see a cat if it really wanted to be somewhere else!
I’m not sure, based on perspective, that the size is quite right, however, and I’m intrigued by the lack of heat. Not intrigued enough to say that it’s something unexplained, but I think it would warrant closer study.
I was, however, deeply amused by Steve’s misunderstanding of the term “Underground Railroad”. Considering that he admitted that he’s not one to read books, maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise. Then again, was he really that ignorant about American history? Perhaps interpreting that scene is another matter of perspective and subjectivity. |
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