In
episode #1, folk lore myths and standard psychic myths were
thrown together and so jumbled up that any focus on any one
thing that could have been interesting or entertaining, from
my perspective, was lost. There is no substantial psychic educational
value in the show. Just the same old stuff, and we've all seen
it done better. Episode #2, while highly exaggerated, was a
good example of 4D (i.e.: spritual entity) to 3D (i.e.: human)
interaction, it was however not a good example of astral rescue;
which was obviously what they meant to do but unfortunately
missed the mark. I have to add here, on this note, that the
characters in the show are not scripted as being psychic and
only because of this detail did I feel the means by which they
handled the haunting story plot was acceptable. I hope the writers
and research dept. doesn't get lazy-- as many shows in this
genre do after establishing themselves. The creators of this
show should not assume that because they are aiming at a younger
viewership demographic, that they can count on said young viewers
to be stupid regarding the psychic field topics, therefore sloppy
writing would not do.
Following is a short recap of the first two episodes with my
professional opinion regarding what was accurate (and there
are some good points to be made), wrong and/or just plain irresponsible.
Pilot:
Adam had a web site regarding occult novelties. It wasn't very
popular until he after he commits suicide and his twin brother
Derrick revamps it (and renames it "Freakylinks") as a memorial
to Adam's memory.
Adam is discovered to have killed himself because he knew of
the existence of Shapeshifters. In this story the only way to
keep the shapeshifting monsters at bey is by burying the fear
of them so deep within one's self that the Shapeshifters can't
detect them because the Shapeshifters feed on the fear of their
targets/victims and so haunt them in order to create the fear.
It is indicated that the character Adam killed himself because
he couldn't keep the fear of the Shapeshifters buried deep enough.
I really found this distasteful. Adam discovered the existence
of the Shapeshifters but couldn't control his fear of them and
so killed himself. Why wouldn't he at least tell someone about
them or fight them instead of just leaving twinspeak clues and
cryptic glyphs all over the place? I found myself thinking that
Adam was a coward and a drop out in which case I felt nothing
for the character the writers were obviously trying to elicit
sympathy for. If he had at least been depicted as suffering
manic depression or other brain diseases that would indicate
suicidal tendencies, I could have had a completely different
perspective, but the show did not indicate this. And really,
let's be frank here, suicide is not a weapon to fight fear with,
suicide is no solution at all. For a show directed at a younger
viewership I felt this was irresponsible.
For Psychics who do work with spiritual entities professionally,
the act of "show no fear because some entities feed on it" is
standard practice; but not for the reasons they portray in this
show. So, they did some research but misinterpreted it. If the
script had at least explained why the Shapeshifters could identify
and distinguish deep fear from other less intense emotional
energies then perhaps I would have taken the show more seriously.
But I just couldn't.
What was supposed to be scary, such as Derrick revisiting the
bathroom that Adam died in, was not. Simple everyday events
such as: knowing who is on the other end of the telephone wire
before it rings (which isn't a psychic experience, it's just
intuitive), and common twin telepathy are presented as wildly
spooky events. The cheesy effects such as jiggling cameras (right
out of their "Blair Witch Project") will hopefully improve with
each show, as they are quite juvenile at this point.
Episode 2:
Tom is concerned that an evil spirit possesses his pregnant
wife Vicki. He feels the spirit (entity) is also trying to kill
her and the baby. He discovers the web site "Freakylinks" and
asks Derrick and his freaky-team for help. Derrick thinks it
is possible that Tom and Vicki are just nuts and asks Chloe
(psychology student) to assess Vicki. Chloe does just that and
diagnoses Vicki as suffering from chemical disorder related
to pregnancy and states that Tom is experiencing a byproduct
hysterical delusion. This is a common psychology major's biased
answer to most anything psychic and I was happy to see it portrayed
on air. Soon thereafter it is established that Tom and Vicki
are in fact being haunted by an entity and they discover whom
in particular it is. Please note that in real psychic investigative
cases such as this it is often not discovered who the entity
was when in flesh (human) form, in fact they often don't remember
and so cannot give the name they were known by at all. And Charlatans
take advantage of this all the time.
I liked how the show tied in all the standard details and a
few of the complexities of events that tie together in a case
of entity interaction (hauntings and otherwise). This episode
was a fairly good portrayal of the details associated with an
astral rescue case involving an entity who was indeed manipulating
people and events to make it's message clear - though highly
exaggerated. I particularly liked the detailing of how this
couple discovered and made contact with Derrick. The entity
told them how to contact Derrick and manipulated them into making
contact. This is so very common in my office that I had almost
let this excellent detail of the writer's script to go unnoticed.
I must admit that the writers didn't impress me with their first
episode (pilot) and I actually forced myself to watch episode
2. I'm glad I did. It showed that while the writers are obviously
inexperienced they have indeed done some research.
If I have any advice for viewers it is that: if you think you
are experiencing any form of communication with a 4D entity
contact a professional psychic who is reputed to be well versed
in 4D/3D relations rather than one who simply writes a website
designed to bring you scary stories such as "Freakylinks". Remember
too that not all psychics are versed or experienced in astral
rescue or entity to human interaction. Diplomacy is important
and the job of a 3D ambassador is a highly skilled talent and
responsibility. |
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