I have only one comment on this episode (and by extension, this show).

Why only one? Because:

A: I, quite frankly, don't even know where to begin tearing it apart; and,
B: You've done a great job of it for me already!

So, all I will say is that it appears we finally have a show that makes Most Haunted seem Professional, Full of Integrity, and Steeped in the Scientific Process.

I only watched this show because i had heard on another board that it was going to be an extension of the 'I Am Six' episode (the one that caused me to stop watching PS altogether). I kept thinking "they wouldn't dare!"
Well, they did.
Sad. Really, really sad!

It really pains me to read your review. People are actually getting harmed in and by this show. I stopped watching PS after a similar episode where a guy had threatened to kill his family and of course was deemed possessed by the all-knowing Ryan and subjected to some nasty mumbo-jumbo including exorcisms. I really can't take that it makes me too sad when unstable people with problems are exploited to serve someone's agenda for fame and recognition and not least, their wallet. It is downright criminal and I almost want to go old testament on Ryan and his consorts. I almost hope there is a catholic God out there that will judge Ryan severely for his hybris, narcissism and exploitation of his fellow man.

Ryan, you are not a prophet, or a disciple you are a nasty kid who bullies and exploit people. Get off the air and enroll in a monastery where your ego can't hurt anyone and furthermore hopefully will be subdued and you will be a humble man before your God and your fellow man.

Damn, I get so angry and sad by all this PS-nonsense, it really gets to me. Maybe I care too much for my fellow man, but I can't take it when people get hurt, intentionally and probably for life. It even makes me hope that somekind of divine justice comes down like a ton of bricks on the whole circus one day.

Notice in the helmet/ping pong ball experiment Ryan is wearing a striped shirt…He hears a scream in the white-noise headphones, racing upstairs to help. Now in the room with Laura, Ryan is now wearing a black shirt and jacket! Bad bad editing room!

Wow. I was waiting for what you'd say about this episode. After this complete pile of paranormal hype, I'm just so done with PS. I wanted it to be a good show, but this was total rubbish. I've been on several paranormal investigations and I believe paranormal research can be for real. Unfortunately PS is giving honest investigators a horrible name. Thanks for the great analysis.

@Bauer488: I'm glad you mentioned that, I saw _some_ change and something just didn't look right about the two scenes but I couldn't put my finger on it…and I did not bother to record it to do any review of it. At least Ryan has managed to do this process without the requirement of Post-Obeisance to the Porcelain Deities (or was that cut out, too)

Is it not a requirement that a Bishop or higher (I should know this!) authorize a priest to do an exorcism? Maybe this was done, who knows.

Well done Obuliette! The saddest thing I can say, as I hope that Laura doesn't try for a third appearance on PS.

I'm glad fellow posters liked my review. The sheer daring of this show and what it is doing to impressionable minds has gotten way out of hand. I had to get it out of my system. Next stop for me is writing A & E and, perhaps more importantly, the advertisers that appeared during this show.

For anyone who is a glutton for punishment, the episode can be watched online at:

http://www.aetv.com/paranormal-state/

Kudos to Bauer488 for catching the shirt change. I was still trying to get over the ping pong balls and didn't notice that important detail. Not surprisingly, this show is as heavily edited, and probably scripted, as any other of its kind.

For those of you who want to know about the Catholic church and the Rite of Exorcism:

Nosfer brought up a good point. It does have to be sanctioned by a bishop. I can't believe the church would allow its rituals to be used this way, maybe unless it received a good-sized "donation". This fact made my husband question the validity of Father Bob and what he was doing. So we dug a little deeper.

Besides the need of obtaining a bishop's OK, all avenues including an intense psychiatric evaluation must be done to rule out any mental disorder. This latter is a modern stipulation, as one can imagine. After all, the Church had to finally acknowledge the progress made in the mental health field since the medieval ages. Was this fully done in Laura's case?

I don't think so. If it was, any good mental health practitioner, at least IMO, would not have allowed her to be used in such a fashion, though if she is judged to be of sound mind she has the option to go ahead with the show against medical advice. I'll not go further with this but I believe someone with any sense would have cautioned against her partaking in a show of this kind and the non-medical people associated with it.

Getting back to the Rite of Exorcism, there are two versions. The older and longer one is done in Latin. However, in 1999 the Church has allowed a more streamlined, user friendly form. Even so, PS gets it wrong.

You know the chant "The Power of Christ Compels You" which is uttered over and over by the group during their exorcism? Anyone who has seen The Exorcist is familiar with this scene. It is not correct and to me indicates PS is trying to bring even more drama into the mix.

The actual line is: "For it is the power of Christ that compels you, who brought you low by His cross" and is not repeated as a chant but is part of a larger paragraph that is said over the possessed during the ritual. So much for Hollywood.

As for Father Bob, we toyed with the idea that he is simply an actor. One reason was his apparent difficulty in reading Latin. He does not have the fluency of someone acquainted with that language. Also, the fact about getting permission from a higher ranking authority–if he didn't, he'd be in big trouble.

Further research has found that he is indeed Rev. Robert L. Bailey of St. Maria Goretti Church in Pawtucket, R.I.

http://www.stmariagoretti-ri.org/

Although that site does not mention his interest in the paranormal, his MySpace certainly does:

http://www.myspace.com/frbob

Remembering my Catholic upbringing (of which I only reluctantly took part) and considering that the church seems to condemn belief in the paranormal per se, it begs the question as to how Fr. Bob gets away with what he does. I don't have the answer, unless the church has agreed to look the other way in his case.

Here I go, getting caught up in this episode again. But one last fact. I would have thought that contemporary religion would be distancing itself from belief in demon possession and demonic forces. Not so. I found this disturbing website from Australia, where the church there is actively recruiting exorcists. From the blog:

"The Catholic Church in Australia is facing a massive shortage of exorcists – and hundreds of priests are to be trained to help plug the deficit. Church leaders are blaming a rise in Satanism for the increasing demand for exorcisms."

http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/02/catholic-church-calls-for-more.html

Are we as rational human beings devolving backwards in our thinking? I shudder to think this is the case. Actually, as my husband said to me, the goings-on in this episode of PS cannot be that much different from the activity performed over some of the supposed witches during the infamous Salem witch trials. Very sad-and disturbing.

Forgot to give the link to the Exorcism ritual:

http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english/p01975b.htm

Are we even sure this show depicts "real" cases? I mean, like those "A Haunting in __________" shows that were on TLC for a while, and that were obviously staged, fabricated, and used actors. I just think this show is straddling the line somewhere between the X Files and GH.

Do not think Laura an actress, if she is. . .she is a bad one. I think she has mental health issues.
A blog site had a post from someone whose sister had gone to high school with her. "A few weeks ago I received a call from my sister who told me that some girl she went to high school with was on the show Paranormal State because she was possessed. Of course I was interested because a possession had occurred in my hometown, Quincy Illinois. I found the episode called "I am Six" on youtube and watched it. After viewing, I was not sure what to think. According to my sister, the girl has always been strange. Part of me thinks that the girl was just crazy and seeking attention." http://www.iamhaunted.com/blog/view/id_9687/title_possession-on-paranormal-state-in-my-hometown/

Commonwealth Paranormal referred Lara's case to PRS. Interesting letter to the editor (Nov. 5, 2008) concerning this. http://www.journal-times.com/letters/local_story_310154249.html

Hannah wrote: "According to my sister, the girl has always been strange. Part of me thinks that the girl was just crazy and seeking attention."

I think that sort of sums it up, except maybe "crazy" can be replaced with "mental problems". In the thread here on the original episode, it has been noted that some believe she has Peter Pan Syndrome or perhaps a severe Borderline Personality Disorder.

In my mind, the parents involved refuse to accept the actual situation, preferring to believe that Laura's behavior is the result of demon possession. That way, the source of the problem cannot come from the family unit or Laura, but some unknown entity. The family seems dysfunctional, as have others which have been featured in this series. This show just keeps getting scarier and more out of line.

After reading the article you provided, the Commonwealth Paranormal Society seems IMO just as culpable, asking in this supposedly demon obsessed group of performers. If they really wanted to help Laura, try to get her into some mental health and social service agencies, not contact PS. What did they expect? PS is basically a TV show, and was originally pitched to A & E as a "docu-drama".

The need to believe in PS and their methods, as well as the charismatic personality of Ryan Buell, apparently is very strong, indeed. A fact I'm sure he is proud of. I doubt very much if Laura is cured in any way. That is the saddest fact of all.

I made mention above of the Salem Witch Trials. They began with some young girls acting much the same way as Laura. Today we still don't know what actually went on, but demon possession is not one of the theories. I wish these paranormal groups and their medieval mindsets would recognize that cases like this belong to the realm of psychiatry and not "demons". The only demons that exist are those who take shameless advantage of the suffering, and then plaster it all over the airwaves.

Having grown up in an environment full of people who could correctly be described as religious zealots, I can say from experience that trying to unravel the motives behind the actions of these people or how in the hell they justify their actions using logic and ethics will probably result in us banging our heads against the biggest and hardest tree we can find.

I know people who would honestly and deeply believe that this family did the right thing. That Ryan did the right thing. And that the statue of Rocky in Philadelphia should be placed by one of Chip Coffee pointing into the darkness as he shouts "Margaret!" I'm not taking their side–they are batshit craZy as far as I'm concerned. But they think the exact same thing about me and everyone else on the other side of the fence (so to speak).

As sad as it might be as far as the ethics of this situation are concerned, at the end of the day it's a TV show and this isn't even the most outrageous, unethical, despicable thing I've witnessed people do to get in front of a camera (and here I speak of all parties involved – the family, PRS, the network, the production company, the people that do Kraft Service for Paranormal State…)

Bottom line…

One of these days we're going to have to get together and do our own show. And do it right. I think that's the only way we'll ever be satisfied and have a show on TV that we are compelled to watch but doesn't make us pull our hair out.

I'd watch it.

I hope that this is the last we hear of Laura and her ‘possession’. I have worked in the psychiatric field. IMO she is sick and there is no hope because she doesn’t want to be helped and because of the constant feeding of her illness by her parents.

The two people that are in charge of Laura are in their own wonderland. They can’t except that their daughter is a woman and not their baby anymore. They have created this demanding child-woman and when the situation gets too much do they seek the services of a good psychiatrist that can furnish the medication and counseling that their daughter needs? No, they go to their religion.

Now religion can be a great comfort to some people, but Laura’s parents are the nuttiest Catholics that I have ever seen and I was bought up in a family of nutty Catholics. I mean Laura even has a Chi Rho – early symbol of Christ – on the laundry chute. Now that is just plain looney!

I could go on and on about this show but I think that it has been covered enough. Are we going back to the 18th century when people paid money to go through places like Bedlam just to see and laugh at the funny people? Those that the shadow of mental illness has touched will tell you it is not funny-it is hell. Even Laura and her family are going through their own Gethsemane.

No one has the right – not PS, Not Ryan, not Chip Coffee, not A&E – to exploit this type of suffering for numbers in a ratings box.

Oubliette wrote: "I made mention above of the Salem Witch Trials. They began with some young girls acting much the same way as Laura. Today we still don't know what actually went on, but demon possession is not one of the theories."

PBS did an interesting special on it and one of the theories was a fungus in the grain that caused hallucinations from Ergot poisioning. Ergot Poisoning – the cause of the Salem Witch Trials http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/history/ergot.htm

Jef wrote: "I know people who would honestly and deeply believe that this family did the right thing. That Ryan did the right thing. And that the statue of Rocky in Philadelphia should be placed by one of Chip Coffee pointing into the darkness as he shouts "Margaret!" I'm not taking their side–they are batshit craZy as far as I'm concerned. But they think the exact same thing about me and everyone else on the other side of the fence (so to speak)."

Reminded me of the saying: "Everyone is strange but me and Thee and sometimes I wonder about Thee."

After reading up on the subject, I had believed that ergot poisoning probably accounted for the girls' behavior, but that theory has since been falling out of favor. It seems that a combination of a terribly restrictive religious environment, coupled with the girls being preteen and teenagers who, like most normal people their age, were bored and seeking attention, accounted for some of the behavior, found this attention getting outlet. It cannot be denied some adults seem to be encouraging them; again that is another similarity that can't be dismissed entirely where Laura is involved.

The best book that I have read on the subject is Frances Hill's "A Delusion of Satan-The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials", in which she also postulates that some of the girls had been traumatized by Indian attacks that resulted in them witnessing their parents killed and mutilated before their very eyes. Some of the behavior may have its roots in having gone through such traumatic experiences.

Many years later one of the girls confessed that she and some others were faking the whole affair and she was very contrite about the whole matter and the people who were wrongfully executed. Unbelievably, she was "forgiven" by most of the community.

But back to Laura- It seems we might have a poor woman who has been overly protected by her parents and has learned to act out and manipulate those around her. The parallels between her actions and the young girls of Salem are to me quite interesting.

We will never really know the motivations behind Laura's behavior. It suddenly dawned on me-and I have no proof other than it was something that jumped into my head-that maybe this is all being done in hopes of maybe a book and movie in mind. Why not? The profit motive can never be ruled out.

Oubliette- "We will never really know the motivations behind Laura's behavior. It suddenly dawned on me-and I have no proof other than it was something that jumped into my head-that maybe this is all being done in hopes of maybe a book and movie in mind. Why not? The profit motive can never be ruled out."

It's odd to say, but I really hope that this is the case. A hidden agenda would show reason, forethought, and intelligence. I would much more perfer a planned hoax that they can profit from rather than other explanations of their actions. Unforunately, I do not believe that profit is the motive.

It's taken me a good week to post under this topic. Any earlier and it would have been just a profanity-filled rant. And to prevent that, I'll only say a couple of things.

Oubliette, as always, you did a masterful job on a review that was very difficult to watch, much less understand. Many layers of psychosis and subterfuge to filter through.

In the thread "The Latest Fiasco Called 'I am Six.'" on the forums, I still stand by my statements that I emailed to A&E. And that was "before" I knew a Part 2 was coming. If this girl and her family doesn't get some serious professional and medical help immediately, then prepare yourselves for the inevitable. The girl has already begun harming herself. Without proper intervention, this is going to spiral out of control.

The sickest aspect of all of this? If she does commit suicide, which is the obvious path that she is on…PS can do a one hour special on her and Chip Coffey can communicate with her from the beyond. And this isn't a sarcastic joke. You KNOW they would. There will be tears, talk of exorcism, and the obligatory speech by Chip saying "She finally won in her struggles and she's in a good place now." You KNOW this would happen…

I've never seen a "fluff" TV series show such blantant disregard for a mentally unstable person before. It's moving beyond bad taste and venturing into the criminal. Yes, there is evil in this world…but it isn't from unseen demons, it's from TV personalities and producers preying on and profitting from the weak. Pathetic…

Oubliette: "Why not? The profit motive can never be ruled out."
Hmm… that had not occurred to me. Possible, but do not really think was prime motivator. It may evolve though. I certainly do not discount it. Oh, thanks for the update on the Salem Witch trial theories…ergot, one possiblity, but the postulation of Frances Hill is very intriguing.

Revenant: "I've never seen a "fluff" TV series show such blantant disregard for a mentally unstable person before. It's moving beyond bad taste and venturing into the criminal. Yes, there is evil in this world…but it isn't from unseen demons, it's from TV personalities and producers preying on and profitting from the weak. Pathetic…"
I have wondered often what her therapist thinks of Laura and her family after presumably viewing both shows.

I feel it is only a matter of time before "Paranormal State" and A&E are sued by the family of one of the mentally disturbed people they now routinely exploit.

The pre-trial depositions and discovery will be fascinating.