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Ghost Hunters

A Shot In The Dark

Season 6, Episode 14, Aired Sep 15, 2010

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5.4

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TAPS investigates the Colonial Inn in Concord, Mass, where wounded and dying soldiers were brought during the Revolutionary War.

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Cast & Crew

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Amy Bruni

Investigator
Britt Griffith

Investigator/Acting Tech Manager
Jason Hawes

Lead Investigator
Grant Wilson (II)

Lead Investigator
Kris Williams

Investigator

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Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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A classic episode that shows what happens when you use too much atmospheric and faked scenes.

1.5

"Abysmal"

By greatbigmass, Dec 16, 2010

*sighs*
It's the start of the end.

1). The door closing - faked rubbish.
Did you notice they didn't test the door to see if it closed on its own? They jumped up and down a bit, but not once did they (like normal) grab the door and push it gently to see if it would close on its own after a certain while.

Also, did you see the scene when Jason and Grant walked through the same door and it closed on them as they walked through it?

Well that's because the door catches on a furry carpet when it opens wide and a few footsteps into it, dents it and loosens the door, triggering it to close on its own.

I don't like Brit and the other guy. They are just trying their best to create interesting moments for the audience when its obvious they are acting and playing on things that are't ghostly happenings.

2). Getting really annoyed with the flashlight thing. They ask a ghost stupid questions, never verify what "YES" and "NO" means and don't ever seem interested in the fact they're actually talking to a ghost. Shouldn't that be the most brilliant moment ever?? to be able to ask a ghost questions?

Instead, they hear a bang and walk off and never go back to the flashlight. It's almost like they are bored talking to ghosts. Just drop the whole thing please, it's crappy and it cant be used as valid evidence because we all know someone could be just pressing a button to turn it on and off!!!

3). Atmospheric background noise - "Did you hear that bang?" - No, we (the audience) didn't because your producers keep playing loud annoying noise all the time right over any sounds you are hearing. Stop it right now.

4). Jason and Grant are so scripted. They don't seem to give a crap about the show and are just puppets. Jason almost falls asleep at the end. "Well you know what we came here to do.. yarda yarda yarda zzzzzzz"...."Come on, let's get outta here"... then just before the end he always ends it with "Good job.. brutha", and he say's brother like he's from the Ghetto.

Please, just stop the crap!
Go to a house, be quiet, don't play loud music, don't play on things and if the show goes by for 45 minuts with nothing happening, fine! Just let us feel like we are there listening.. not bombarded with clashing symbols, stupid sound effects and camera angles that are ALWAYS pointing at the faces of the ghost hunters intstead of in the direction they are looking!!moreless
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The footage of the door: fact or faked?

5.0

"Mediocre"

By entil2001, Sep 27, 2010

Unlike previous reviews, I'm going to focus as much as possible on the "evidence" that was presented. I'm not particularly inspired to get overly philosophical this week, and I'm still buried in data and recordings from a Labor Day investigation of Fort Mifflin (which is turning out to be producing a lot more interesting data than we originally anticipated).

So, without further ado, a "real time" commentary on the episode, since it's probably the best way to cover the footage as presented!

Jason and Grant begin by investigating the Merchant's Row, and immediately dismiss the notion of debunking the claims of an apparition sighting. I'm not sure how they can do so; after all, one of the drawbacks of investigating a historical site is the tendency for stories to evolve and exaggerate over time. True events become legend.

Of course, it seemingly takes no time at all for them to see a shadow along the back wall and hear the sound of footsteps. They do a nice job of tracing back what they apparently saw, but as it is nothing that can be supported by actual footage, it's hard to take seriously as anything but a personal experience. (They do catch sounds on audio, but I suspect there could have been ambient sounds of the kitchen equipment that might have made those noises.) How they came to the conclusion that there was an entity, and that it was responding on cue, is hard to fathom.

Next, Amy and Kris investigate the Liberty Room. With all the reflecting surfaces, as they themselves said, it's hard to substantiate a claim of shadows. There was the sound of a door opening and closing, but again, this was not caught by any of the cameras. (And I would point out that this sort of thing is becoming a trend, much as the constant footsteps were beginning to appear in every episode for a while there.)

Brit and KJ investigate Room 24, where apparently the door shuts by itself and bloody soldiers appear to those who sleep overnight. Logically speaking, wouldn't it be best to have someone lay down in the bed for a while, even sleep there, to simulate the conditions under which the activity was reported?

Of course, they could be a moot point, considering that the door actually closed, seemingly by itself! Now, based on the footage, there was no room behind the door for someone to have pushed it. And the door closed at the same time that there was additional anomalous audio (movement, etc.).

However, it is worth noting that both times the door closed by itself, the door was not completely open and resting against the wall. It was positioned slightly away from the wall. And both times, Brit was shuffling his feet in roughly the same spot. When he jumped around to test the effect of his movement, the door was fully open and resting against the wall. While they have the datalogging equipment running, I can't help but note that there are some oddities about the situation. And why in the world would you leave an area with apparent activity, especially physical activity, regardless of what silly promises you made to leave? (Especially given how often they try to provoke!)

Jason and Grant move on to the Liberty Room, and start by using the K-II the way it was actually intended: checking EMF exposure levels. And sure enough, they are relatively elevated, suggesting that it may be the reason why people feel uneasy in the room. There's no issue with that interpretation; they are certainly correct.

They move on to Room 27, and they hear footsteps. They immediately move to the apparent location where the footsteps would have been made, and they supposedly hear whining or moaning. I didn't hear anything close to what they described, at least not in the presented footage. That takes them to Room 24, and they immediately start provoking. (Which really makes me skeptical of the reasoning for Brit and KJ's earlier departure.)

Amy and Kris are the next team to move into Room 24, and Kris promptly reiterates the same information that was previously discussed during the tour and during Brit and KJ's vigil. (The constant repetition, while a minor gripe, is increasingly silly.) The "knock" was a bit random to generate that much excitement. Any scientist would happily dismiss a single data point as meaningful!

Brit and KJ investigate the front lobby area (with the gift shop, naturally), and they decide to use the now-infamous (and thoroughly debunked) "flashlight test". Once again, it is a textbook example of confirmation bias. There's really not much more to say about it anymore. No member of TAPS, or any other paranormal investigator, has been able to explain how the results of this "test" can be demonstrated as anything other than the result of a simple scientific principle!

In Merchant's Row, Brit and KJ appear to hear the same kind of noises from the kitchen that Jason and Grant captured. Once again, it is centered on the kitchen area. While they speculate that it might be caused by the waiters' doors, it's still odd that they didn't spend more time in there to determine whether or not those noises were normal for the kitchen. The sounds were so similar that it seems hard to fathom that there wasn't a common source.

While I realize that it's entirely possible that the team attempted to debunk the noises from the kitchen, it wasn't covered in the footage that made it to air. So there's no way to verify that it happened. As such, it's hard to argue that this "evidence" should have been presented. There's no justification to suggest that it was paranormal in nature. At this point, I find it very hard to reconcile why TAPS continues to use the "flashlight test", when there is a perfectly sound scientific explanation for how it turns on and off according to the laws of physics. Presenting it to the client as something potentially paranormal is irresponsible, and certainly feeds into the suspicions that knowingly normal (if unusual) events are being labeled as noteworthy to ensure there is activity to discuss.

As for the door, the client himself mentions that if the door is fully open, it gets stuck on the carpet and will not move. Which suggests that if the door is not held open by the carpet, it does move! So what if it is positioned slightly away from the wall, so it is just barely caught on the carpet, and then someone steps on the right floorboard? Logically, this would result in the door closing "by itself". Based on the footage in the episode, that is a reasonable explanation. The question, of course, is whether or not Brit positioned the door with that in mind. I think it's safe to say there will be many who make that accusation. (It is also worth nothing that the datalogger/camera setup did not provide any unusual environmental factors that would add anything to the discussion.)

So, even with the door to consider, there wasn't much substantial evidence to support the conclusion that the location had verified activity. Contrary to Jason and Grant's claims, the footage did not back up the conclusion; it only backed up the sketchy "evidence" upon which the conclusions were based. In the end, that's more than a little disappointing, but at this point, hardly surprising.moreless
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TRIVIA (1)
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- Also Appearing: Investigation: Colonial Inn - Concord, Massachusetts Arthur Martin - Employee Diane Gould - Employee Kristin Damon - Front Desk Agent
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NOTES (2)
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- Original International Air Dates: United Kingdom: April 6, 2011 on Sky LIVINGit
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- Britt fills in as Tech Manager for Steve, who is away with Dave filming Ghost Hunters Academy.
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