I saw the 4 hour special.  Just a few quick observations:

- Kris brought up a pretty good question.  If one truly believes in the Banshee…then going after it is quite unwise since it involves curses and death not only to you, but members of your family as well.  So…it begs to be asked…if you don't believe in the Banshee and its curse…what are you chasing again?

- I want to see Jael paired up with Susan from GHI for an investigation.  It would be an awesome display of one-up-manship.  "I feel sick."  "I feel really sick."  "I just felt a hand on me."  "I felt two hands on me."  "I just saw a ghost."  "I just saw a Banshee and two ghosts."

- "The Banshee Button" rates right up there with the "Bat-phone" in both usefulness and coolness.

- I like Ryder's new hair style.  The long bangs help to…"soften" her.  When I say "she's more manly than I am"…I mean it as a compliment…yet…it just doesn't sound like one, does it?  But it does seem to capture her.  Hopefully the new "do" will, like I said, soften her.

- I have a 52" HD wide-screen…and I couldn't see the mist/half person image in the photo that they kept showing.  Could anyone else?  I mean really…52 inches of HD…I should see something.  Then again…I rarely ever see anything in these photo's or hear the EVP's.  Never sure if that would make me a good or a bad paranormal investigator…  

Nosfer said:  

A few thoughts on the Banshee-chasing.  Some of it would depend upon which legend you were following.  Is the Banshee the cause of or a reaction to a death.  If it foretells the death, then one could say that it was going to happen anyway and whether or not you were chasing it wouldn't matter.  But then there was that whole "comb" thing which seemed to indicate a vengeful Banshee that made it's own choices. 

Oh right…just having a bit of fun.  To me, the Banshee lies somewhere in between old Irish tradition of "keeners (women singing a lament at funerals, thus singing or loud sounds signifying death)" and that of the Celtic war deity Morrigan.  If anyone is into mythology, please add Morrigan (or Mor-Rioghain) to your reading list.  A very colorful and complex character.  In fact, recently some scholars have been trying to attribute her to the Arthurian character of Morgan le Fay.  I have a few friends who both study and teach mythology and oddly enough all are against this new notion. 

In any event Nosfer, you did a nice job in trying to explain what a Banshee is…which, is actually a bit difficult to narrow down.  I mean throw in the three different forms (attributed to "triple aspects" of that godess of war and death; Badhbh, Macha and Morrigan…I told you it was interesting…) and start tossing in aspects from the "Dames Blanches" from France and the "Washer women" from Germany and then just add in typical ghost type elements…it becomes a mess.

It's a shame that they didn't delve a bit more into that aspect.  It would have been nice to really seperate the myths and legends, find what is uniquely Irish and then possibly propose some idea of how some of those things got started.  The information is out there.  I mean I knew this stuff just off the top of my head (I did check for spelling on names though)…just think of what an expert can tell them.

Nosfer said:

When you consider both the lamentor aspect and the vengeful aspect, there are a lot of parallels in many other cultures around the world.

Absolutely.  That's why I really wanted an expert…a REAL expert to talk about it.  Not some "ghost story guy"….but perhaps a professor of mythology.  It would have been nice.  Sometimes Wiki doesn't have all the answers…

Back to the special itself…I didn't think it was bad.  I think they learned a thing or two from both GH and actually GA.  The GH live specials…they do tend to stand around a lot and "feel" a room or whatever.  Even though they have many teams, there is little sense of movement.

GA came along a changed that.  Say what you will about them or their special (like the guest throwing his recorder down the hallway…  ) but they did move around a great deal.  They gave you a sense of exploration.

I think this is what DT learned.  Keep moving.  Give a sense that the place is HUGE, there is a TON of activity, and they probably can't get everything in the four hour time limit.  Of course, that's an illusion, but still…it's a good one.  They may not have been finding a lot, but at least they had that sense of exploration.  For what they do…in all honesty, I'm not sure if the show could have gone better.  They had good timing, switched around enough to avoid teams "in route" to locations, people "kind of got hurt," they came up with some evidence…I don't think that you can ask for more.

If I were to change only one aspect…it would be to get a stronger leader for the second squad.  I don't know that guy's name….but he was kind of annoying and really jumpy.  He certainly heard more and saw more than anyone else…which, of course, raises all kinds of red flags.  I would dump him in a heartbeat.

OK, I'm going to start off by saying I enjoyed the show.  Maybe because without having any expectations except entertainment, there was nothing to disappoint.

I was very glad to see Ryder back (and yes, Rev, her new hairdo is nice; almost didn't recognize her at first).  She's really tough, more so than Jael, and is more of an adventuress.  Not that I minded Jael being there.  She's a bit harder to take after seeing her on F or F, knowing the silliness that goes on with that show.  She did climb up that tower and seemed genuinely frightened up there, although she still pressed on when hearing noises.  More about that later.

My husband and I both burst out laughing when Kris W. asked "Why are we looking for the banshee" given her association with death.  My own thoughts had been running along those lines also.

At least the whole show wasn't devoted to the banshee, but was a paranormal investigation as well.  That place, even after the fire, still was very interesting to see.  And it looked just plain creepy, like it SHOULD be haunted.  Agree again with Revenant, the way the show was done, they were able to fill up the four hours using a technique that kept them moving.

Josh (and probably the rest as well) definitely are city folk.  The noises they were hearing could easily have been put down to any of the curious animals that inhabit the countryside after dark.  Most of us are not familar with them since they are rarely seen.  And I have heard many a strange, human like cry that would definitely startle anyone, esp. coming from the woods.  One night outside there was a weird call that seemed to be everywhere.  I could not pinpoint its location except that it sounded all around me.  Thinking back, it may have been a bird flying around my position, which would explain why its source could not be pinpointed.  Don't know why the DT team didn't think of that but, again, they seem to be city folk despite their outdoor adventures.

We didn't see the "figure" until it was actually pointed out to the audience.  Did look like a mist of some kind but I couldn't really make out a human shape.

About Jael being sent alone on that awful climb to the tower–first off, a big no-no in such a situation.  Too easy to take a missed step and get injured.  Does anyone else get the impression she was a bit pissed during a good part of the show, and especially the solo tower part?  She was very believable about the noises going on just under her position and anyone would be somewhat freaked out by the whole situation.

But have to admit-I think some of that was, well, not faked, but there was more to it than was shown.  I don't think she made her way down by herself, or even maybe up as well.  IMO there was someone there, unseen, who was with her both during her trek up and then back down whatever one can call that staircase/ladder.  She did get down quickly in order to make it to the final group shot. 

In fact, there was an interview with Josh about two years ago during a SyFy event in NYC.  It sticks in my mind because of what he said.  After stating that he was thinking of how to answer the question (about the dangerous aspects of an investigation) without rattling the legal department, he did say something to the effect that things weren't as scary as they looked and they are rarely in any actual danger.  How to interpret that–well, I take it that matters are more under control and that there may be people who are never seen on camera monitoring their progress.

To sum up this overly windy post, the entire four hours was, to me, worth watching.  It was good to see Josh and also Ryder, Jael (really) and even Gabe.  Rex is OK, I'm glad he's there to led a medical hand and I've sort of gotten used to him being around. The woman from Warehouse 13 (oh how I hate these crossover guests) somehow gets on my nerves.  It's a personality thing.

There is no way I could stomach 4 hours of GH.  DT again outdoes them in the entertainment department, and they do tackle many a challenging place that GH wouldn't have the guts, or the ability, to take on.

Final Oubliette rating: A