Quick Take: Ghost Hunters, “Ghostly Evidence”
Our hunters seem obsessed with making ghosts play with their flash lights.
Review: Ghost Hunters, “Ghostly Evidence”
(S0714) I've been complaining a lot about Ghost Hunters lately, so this week I'm going to hone my criticisms to certain aspects of the show. “Ghostly Evidence” provides some examples of what I abhor about the series. This episode focuses on two different investigations -- one takes place in Townsend, Mass. and the other takes place in Mechanicsville, Md.
One of the many annoyances about Ghost Hunters comes from how the cast acts and reacts to phenomenon. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson have both been accused of acting in certain segments of the program; I understand why after watching a number of episodes. First off, the amount of screen time the two monopolize gives ample time for reaction. We as the audience never see what they are reacting to. This means that the cast must somehow gives us the impression what they are seeing. For example, there is a scene in this episode where Hawes and Wilson investigate the lower part of the historical society with Maddie. The two react to voices; these voices are not heard by the audience. I've explained before that this is a ridiculous position to place an audience in, but look in how they are reacting. It is very controlled and it is almost as if they know they are on camera. The very fact that you can notice their awareness makes them lack credibility.
The acting really is only one problem of the equation. The other thing I'd like to criticize is the evidence itself. The investigators are fairly inconsistent on how they handle ghosts. Amy Bruni asks the ghost of Summerseat Farm (the location in Maryland) to turn on their flashlights. Furthermore, she calls the lights “torches.” The investigators rarely express concern over the ghost's age. Most of the time they just ask the ghost to turn on the flash light without thinking about whether or not the ghost knows what a flash light is. In other episodes, these scenes are either cut or don't exist. If ghosts were real, I wonder whether or not they would understand out technology. In one other scene in the episode, an investigator asks if the ghost would move “it's energy.” As if a ghost would really be thinking in these terms. Scenes like this disgrace science and any credibility these guys have. By the way, a shadow is apparently an apparition. I'm serious, just watch one of the analysis from this episode and cringe a bit. Not from the apparition, but from the lack of debunking.
I hope this review helps tune people in on why my criticism for the show runs so deep. I also hope I've adequately analyzed why the show fails to impress anyone. It only provides an illusion of ghost science and nothing more.
Flashlight ghosts, look out !