Ghost Hunters Episode Review: Return to St. Augustine (9/4/2019)
Synopsis: Grant Wilson and his team conduct an investigation at a home in Hanover, Pennsylvania before traveling to St. Augustine, Florida to, once again, investigate the light house that has yielded paranormal evidence in the past.
Review: As I've mentioned before, when my wife and I began watching this rebooted show, I had some doubts about it, mostly because I had become pretty disillusioned by the series well before the end of its initial run. However, despite that and the fact I'm a skeptic to begin with, I have been doing my best to give the show a fair shake.
After finishing tonight's episode, however, I have to say I'm losing patience with the series. This is because this episode, quite frankly, represented pretty much everything that made me stop watching this series the first time around.
First of all, the decision to have two investigations over the course of a one-hour episode never bodes well. There's just not enough time to conduct either investigation thoroughly or at least show me proof they were. As I expected when I started watching this, both just seemed rushed.
But, it was the "evidence" they collected that just left me shaking my head.
During the first investigation, for example, which used a definition of poltergeist I've never heard and, in itself, left me wondering if Grant suffered a head injury or something, the extent of the evidence was the team having "feelings" when the homeowner was in the house. I've said this on more than one occasion and will continue to say it, FEELINGS ARE NOT EVIDENCE! I need to see physical proof. And, when I say proof, I mean more than an EMF detector going off, something that could easily be faked.
The St. Augustine investigation, which is the same tourist-trap investigation I'm already skeptical about to begin with (especially when the host of the show seems like he is trying to re-live his greatest hits), wasn't any better. There was plenty of evidence, such as motion detectors going off. But, as always seems to be the case with shows like this, the evidence was conveniently off camera.
The part of that investigation that really had me wanting to throw something at the TV, however, had to be the cabinet that supposedly opened by itself. Hey, I admit, that would be a great piece of evidence had it been on film. But, it wasn't. So, in my eyes, that's pretty much the same as it not happening.
To make matters worse, when the camera did finally pan over to show the open cabinet, Grant was standing five feet away from it. So, naturally, the first thought in my mind is he opened it himself and, since it isn't on film, there's simply no proof he didn't. For that reason alone, it should have been thrown out in an effort to show integrity but, instead, they used it as their proof of ghosts.
Then, to add a bit of insult to all of this, Grant damn near confessed to faking the evidence on camera. When his client mentioned that cabinet door was hard to open, he agreed and said it was painted shut. The only way he could have known that is if he was the one who opened it and, maybe it was just me, but I think he looked a little guilty when he realized what he said. And, that really makes me distrust any other evidence they might have collected.
Final Opinion: As I said before, I've been trying to give the show the benefit of the doubt. But, these two investigations really make me believe the series should have remained mothballed.
My Grade: F
Review: As I've mentioned before, when my wife and I began watching this rebooted show, I had some doubts about it, mostly because I had become pretty disillusioned by the series well before the end of its initial run. However, despite that and the fact I'm a skeptic to begin with, I have been doing my best to give the show a fair shake.
After finishing tonight's episode, however, I have to say I'm losing patience with the series. This is because this episode, quite frankly, represented pretty much everything that made me stop watching this series the first time around.
First of all, the decision to have two investigations over the course of a one-hour episode never bodes well. There's just not enough time to conduct either investigation thoroughly or at least show me proof they were. As I expected when I started watching this, both just seemed rushed.
But, it was the "evidence" they collected that just left me shaking my head.
During the first investigation, for example, which used a definition of poltergeist I've never heard and, in itself, left me wondering if Grant suffered a head injury or something, the extent of the evidence was the team having "feelings" when the homeowner was in the house. I've said this on more than one occasion and will continue to say it, FEELINGS ARE NOT EVIDENCE! I need to see physical proof. And, when I say proof, I mean more than an EMF detector going off, something that could easily be faked.
The St. Augustine investigation, which is the same tourist-trap investigation I'm already skeptical about to begin with (especially when the host of the show seems like he is trying to re-live his greatest hits), wasn't any better. There was plenty of evidence, such as motion detectors going off. But, as always seems to be the case with shows like this, the evidence was conveniently off camera.
The part of that investigation that really had me wanting to throw something at the TV, however, had to be the cabinet that supposedly opened by itself. Hey, I admit, that would be a great piece of evidence had it been on film. But, it wasn't. So, in my eyes, that's pretty much the same as it not happening.
To make matters worse, when the camera did finally pan over to show the open cabinet, Grant was standing five feet away from it. So, naturally, the first thought in my mind is he opened it himself and, since it isn't on film, there's simply no proof he didn't. For that reason alone, it should have been thrown out in an effort to show integrity but, instead, they used it as their proof of ghosts.
Then, to add a bit of insult to all of this, Grant damn near confessed to faking the evidence on camera. When his client mentioned that cabinet door was hard to open, he agreed and said it was painted shut. The only way he could have known that is if he was the one who opened it and, maybe it was just me, but I think he looked a little guilty when he realized what he said. And, that really makes me distrust any other evidence they might have collected.
Final Opinion: As I said before, I've been trying to give the show the benefit of the doubt. But, these two investigations really make me believe the series should have remained mothballed.
My Grade: F
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