Paranormal State Knickerbocker - Ryan Buell
Paranormal state really needs to figure out what it’s going to be. The most recent episode is evident that there is a conflict between religious faith in the belief of the paranormal and science and research.
Ryan and his team need to figure out who they are trying to help and what their goal is. Are you trying to help the client feel better, or is your priority rock solid evidence? For most groups these bounce back and forth, for some they prioritize evidence over the client. It’s really up to the group to decide and go forth with that decision. In the most recent episode there was in my opinion a very “intense” woman. Colleagues mentioned “bonkers”, but I don’t think that is true, perhaps a bit eccentric.
She obviously felt that there was something going on in the house and given the gap in communication or something it proved for an odd moment with Ryan coming in on a supposive cleansing of the evil spirit by her. She exclaimed “That’s it, woosh it’s gone” referring to the common electrical surges. Ryan tried his hardest to react well, given his age, and his attitude it was probably his first instinct to bash this woman.
It’s evident that he felt tremendous guilt for his reaction. I think this goes to show some of his interactions with people of different cultures, experiences, abilities to be quite limited. I wouldn’t be surprised if all he has every been around is his Penn state people and haven’t ventured much farther. Good experience over all for the cast, I still don’t think this show will last though. I don’t feel there is enough people willing to watch this type of gray-area between science and religion, it’s too tight of a rope and you really don’t have the maturity of cast to do it.
Popularity: 71%
March 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I have to disagree heavily with this review and in turn I have to ask if the reviewer has actually seen the entire series before this episode? I think the investigators show a great level of maturity. They don’t bicker and argue amongst themselves like other ghost shows. They don’t run out of buildings screaming.
The emotions seen by the team on this episode clearly show that they genuinely care about their clients. It’s clear that this show and the PRS are here to help clients. Just what was so different about this episode that made you question this motive? The client and location was different, and therefore, the investigation will always be different.
I believe Paranormal State challenges not only the field but regular people to look at paranormal phenomena in a different way. And that’s refreshing. I’m tired of the whole “get in, get out, debunk” method that several groups are copying.
The fact that Ryan showed his struggle between religion and science on national TV is brave. What other television program shows the journey of the investigators? It’s so easy for us to sit on our computers and critique them, but all I can say is that his team are brave individuals and they have my respect for how hard they try to help people.
Not enough people watching? I hate to say it, but that’s an ignorant assumption. There are articles online that cover the ratings success of PS. The cast and show have popped up on other TV talk shows and magazines, and to me that suggests popularity. Paranormal State is all the talk here in Cali, at least with my circle of friends. There’s a whole world out there beyond paranormal investigators who have TV sets. Like them or hate ‘em, I think Paranormal State is here to stay.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Here is Alexa, see alexa run
Alexa is basically been around since 1996/8 and is consider #1 in keeping track of internet sites.
Here is the competition
www.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com
Rank 205,339
Penn State Paranormal Research Society
Rank 335,919
and for comparison, here is a site that I worked on for 2 months unreleated.
www.hawkenterprises.org
Rank 299,909
So a site that doesn’t even have the backing of a major television production beats out PRS. Not to mention TAPS stomps everyone.
Now you might say that this is just internet that means nothing. Well let’s check Neilsen TV ratings on TV.com
Ghost Hunters 10 Average
Paranormal State 4.3 Average.
Lastly if you read the of the site you would understand that I’m a supporter of paranormal state, I just don’t believe the team to have th e proper chemistry and goals in motivation to continue to compete with the larger groups.
It’s evident that A&E is trying desperately to catch an audience by changing up their goals left and right. It appears Ryan has some control over the situation but for the most part is at the whim of A&E producers.