Haunted Collector – House of Pain and Antique Spirits – S03E12

After a bit of a hiatus, Haunted Collector is back for the final episode of the season. For this one they spend time down in Florida at the Odom Residence and Palmer House Antiques.

Odom Residence

The owner has had experiences of apparitions moving around the house in multiple locations. This has taken the form of a figure heading toward the bathroom area and a woman in a flowing dress.

The team starts off the investigation with some Polaroids where one of them appears to be burned. The picture had been of the Spanish breastplate over the fireplace. Oddly, the fireplace poker falls when they try to take the second picture.

There is the capture of an EVP with the word "Win". It doesn’t seem to make much sense but they tie this to Earl Winfield Spencer Jr, who went by the name Win. They feel this is the voice of Wallis Simpson who married Spencer. It also comes to light that Win may been a bit of a bastard. It’s said he used to get drunk regularly and abuse his wife. There are reports that he would tie her up then leave the house for a bender. It’s also claimed he would burn family photos in the fireplace. The same fireplace with the breastplate and the burned Polaroid.

A final part of the investigation has Jesslyn dealing with all the meters going off while she’s the command center. There is a slew of noises and multiple bangs. Even the attic style door comes flying open during the ruckus. They can’t quite pin a source for that one.

In the end John binds the fireplace with salt to try and appease the spirit of Wallis. They don’t really have any tangible evidence, but feel the fireplace is the source of the problem since Win would get drunk and destroy the photos there. The activity seems to stop, but there are still footsteps in the attic. Due to the age of the house, I still keep saying that’s an animal roaming around.

Palmer House Antiques

For the second part, John goes out to visit and antique store that has shut down because of the activity. People see apparitions, things move around, people experience a tightness in the chest and they hear footsteps.

The team discovers that two doctor Palmer’s lived in the house. It was built by Thomas Palmer who died in the house when he shot himself in the head after the war. Dabney Palmer also died in the house when he fell down the stairs and hit his head on a spittoon. He died a couple of days later.

Second doctor Palmer is a bit of an odd bird it appears. He was also the mortician with his operating room upstairs in the house. He would drain the body of blood then poor that into the earth once the body had been buried. There are also claims he performed experiments in the cadavers he worked on. It’s not specifically said what he was up to with the bodies.

The team sets up bells on string in the doorways, on the doll that keeps moving and other objects. They hear the bells repeatedly, but can’t find why they keep going off. When asked if someone performed experiments, they get the answer of "yes".

As they search the house, a trepanning tool is shown as glowing hot orange in the thermal imager. This would have been used to bore into the skull. Why bore into the skull? It was a cure to mental illness, depression and even headaches. It would have also been used to study the brain.

While using the voice box, John and the team are startled when they hear breathing behind them. Coincidentally their meters have all lost power. Is someone there? Unfortunately, they’re not able to grab anything concrete during that moment.

There is another mysterious event. There is a body of 555 Marlarial medicine in a bottle. One moment that bottle is full, the next it’s empty. The bottle isn’t broken, nor is it wet. What happened to contents? Oddly, a bucket in another room holding medical equipment mysteriously has liquid in it. Turns out the liquid in the bucket was plain water, but an odd event none the less.

John concludes the trepanning tool is the cause of the problems and that Dabney Palmer needs to be removed from the home. His unusual experiments have no place in an antique shop. John takes the skull drill and things seem to calm down. There is no direct evidence that links Palmer to the tool, but it was showing some odd behavior with a temperature so much higher than everything else.

Again, lots of leap in logic and very little concrete evidence to support the conclusions they draw. I can only assume parts are left out for the sake of time. The ease at which the find the items and uncover this information always bugs me. Brian make two swings at the ground and poof, he finds exactly what he’s looking for. We’ll leave it as the magic of television.

But even still, the links they form still come across as weak. I don’t always buy how they put it together. Their story could make sense, but there are always a ton of assumptions.

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Bates Motel – The Season Finale – S01E10

I just finished watching the last episode of the season and this is one mixed up family. They are so out of control there is no way they put the “fun” in dysfunctional. If you haven’t watched the season or the episode then you better look away now.

This episode was strange, awkward and a wee bit shocking. Not to mention the sexual elements that may or may not be hanging there. It’s the night of the Winter Formal and Emma has all but asked Norman to take her to the dance. We all know he really wants to take Bradley, but more than likely she’ll do something quite naughty with Norman’s brother Dillon before too much longer.

The night is off to a truly bad start as Norma decides to unload her life’s story and discuss her early days of being molested. On the night of the Winter Formal? Gadzooks mom!!!

But as soon as Emma appears, looking quite lovely by the way, Mom is all smiles and rainbows and says they need to go have a good time. Not only does mom interject herself into the night she all but destroys any chance of high school romance between these two. But of course, that was the plan all along.

The night goes poorly as Norman gets dumped by Emma because he can’t stop looking at Bradley and Norman takes a shot to the head by Bradley’s boyfriend because he can’t stop looking at Bradley. Norman isn’t subtle that’s for damn sure.

Walking home from the dance in the rain, Norman is picked up by his English teacher in her sassy Fiat 500. Oddly, she is wearing quite the revealing red dress and he makes no qualms about staring at her cleavage. Things are heading toward a newspaper headline of sexual scandal when Norman’s mother appears and shames him for staring at his teacher in the mirror of her bedroom as she undresses.

Next thing we know, Norman is running home and everything seems to be fine. Or is it?

This show is so uncomfortable it’s damn near funny. Norman has a thing for his mom as well as for Bradley. I think he’s actually torn over which one of them he wants to sleep with more. Emma is looking to have some experiences in her life and have some good times despite her condition. Too bad Norman won’t play along. Bradley felt sorry for Norman, or at least that’s the story she tells for why she slept with him, but oh there is so much more to that story. She plays coy, but she’s pulling strings to no end. And Norma can’t seem to have a decent relationship. The men she has sex with all end up dead. And it’s pretty obvious her relationship with Norman is a Psychological field day!

Honestly, I’m not sure what more they could throw into this show. We have Asian sex slaves, Oedipus complex, corrupt cops, a mysterious broker of human cargo, a massive drug cartel right in the middle of the city, a teacher who is perhaps one step away from becoming indecent with her student, several counts of murder and a hotel that people simply refuse to check into.

This show has it all! It’s creepy and it’s kooky. I think for something on A&E, this is pretty damn good back story. I hope there is another season coming. They really have the makings of something deliciously creepy here. Between this and Hannibal, I’m having fun.

Anyone else? Been watching Bates Motel? How do you think it went? Where do you think we’ll go from here?

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Hannibal – S01E08

NBC is staying the course and each episode of Hannibal is darker than the last. The visuals are especially taking on a darker and more grisly tone. This last episode of the exposed vocal chords of a human instrument drives that point home. And the intestines drying in the sinks. The jars of who knows what down in the cellar.

It’s interesting to see NBC keeping with the dark atmosphere of the show and not shying away from some of the shocking imagery (especially after episode 4 seemed to rub people the wrong way). This is after all the story of a serial killer. I don’t know how long they will keep this up or if it will alienate the viewing public. People are easily offended these days and since this is broadcast TV they are taking a pretty big risk. I checked and Hannibal hasn’t been renewed for a second season yet.

I’m not sure where we’re headed with this story, but I’m quite willing to play along. I feel we’re still at the stage of defining characters and their relationship with each other. Even within the story, Hannibal is "considering" having Will as a friend. It’s an unusual thing to hear someone say they have to consider making someone their friend. Unfortunately, this slow pace is why shows get cancelled. They don’t get a chance to build and create depth any more.

We’ve now seen Hannibal commit two murders and we know he’s done several others. What is the motive? What drives him? Is it quite literally a hunger? That seems too simple and shallow for this type of character. Is he experimenting? Like Tobias, is he just trying to see how far he can go before he gets caught? Is it the game of staying ahead of the police that he wants to play? Is he trying to see how far he can push Will before he breaks? We know he has tragic events in his past, how do those fit in. Was he responsible?

With Dexter, we know he’s a serial killer, but that’s not what he wants to be. He channels the Dark Passenger into something "good" and tries to be normal in other aspects. This makes him likable and we accept people being brought to justice. We’re willing to overlook this slight character flaw…

Hannibal is a serial killer and blends in to society with his psychiatric practice (which is just a way to find victims by the look of it), his dinners (a vicarious thrill to know what everyone is eating and thus make them a part of the crime) and high society cultural events. So is he with the high elite because they are so boring and daft they’ll never catch on to who he is? Does he regret the way he is? Does he embrace it? Is there something greater that Hannibal wants from life? The sympathetic part hasn’t come out yet. Will it? Can Hannibal be likable or will this turn to cat and mouse and we watch Hannibal do his best to keep the police at bay until the ultimately fails?

I had hoped for more an interaction between Hannibal and Tobias. There is so much we could have learned about Hannibal. He was certainly forthcoming who he was, but did he want to be friends with Tobias up to the point where Tobias revealed he’d seen Hannibal out on the lonely road doing what he does so well? Since Hannibal didn’t have the upper hand did he have to get rid of Tobias? Is Hannibal a teacher perhaps? Can he give shelter and guidance to others like him?

I guess that is where we go from here, to learn about Hannibal and how he views people. He seems quite taken with Will and how Will can assume his point of view, which is then followed up with Will can see the point of view of a psychopath.

I’m intrigued by this show and when the tipping point will come. There is so much to explain and reveal. When does the house of cards come tumbling down? When does the mask of Hannibal come off?

Were to go from here, that is indeed the question.

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Deep South Paranormal – Dead on the Bayou – S01E06 – Season Finale

Keith and the rest of the Deep South Paranormal team investigate the Southdown Plantation in Houma Louisiana which is reputed to have a sketchy past. It was previously a 10,000 acre plantation stolen from the Houma Indians. It’s believed the original owners weren’t too kind anyone and not only did they steal from and exile the Houma Indians they abused and perhaps murdered their own slaves. The spirit activity includes the apparition of a little girl, footsteps and a voice saying "get out". Considering the time period and the fact that both Indians and Slaves were mistreated to forge this plantation, the reports of the paranormal seems oddly few and vague. This doesn’t really seem like enough events to warrant bringing someone out.

The investigation is relatively quiet, with very little tangible evidence. Even in the slave quarters the activity is rather light and they only walk away with "Houma" on an EVP. You have to ask yourself, why would the slaves say, "Houma"?

Jonathan and Keith both think they see something crossing the grounds, but the investigation yields pretty much nothing and they abandon the house and start looking to the Bayou Sale area where the Indians would have retreated to. They are brought out to investigate the house, but there doesn’t to be activity in it. Instead of digging deeper or letting the caretaker know everything is quiet, they ditch the place and start looking somewhere else.

There are some events during this period, notably the figure that seems to be walking along the road. It does appear to be a figure, but it mysteriously flies off the screen as Benny wanders down to try and find it.It’s quite literally there one second, then whisking off the screen.

Randy and Hart happen to be in a swamp boat doing their own investigation and capture something long and thin jumping up into a tree. Randy states no animal could be long and thin like that. The first thing that comes to mind is a squirrel jumping into a tree to get away from the noise. At first glance it looks quite mysterious, but I think there are plenty of normal explanations for it.

Out of the very few pieces of evidence they got the figure on the road is pretty noteworthy. What the heck is that? Is that really a figure? And I’ll be damned if it didn’t fly off into the woods. That is actually pretty bizarre.

Putting that once piece of evidence aside I don’t think this place contains any paranormal activity and the stories and legends of the place conjure up images for people. Maybe more time is needed to find this little girl, but none of the original claims that brought them out there were substantiated.

This happens to be the end of the season for Deep South Paranormal and to be honest, I’m glad. This has not been an impressive show and it’s this sort of tomfoolery and lunacy that prevents anyone from taking paranormal investigations seriously. They aren’t elevating the spirit world to something socially acceptable. If anything, their behavior and mannerisms make me cringe. I’m not keen on the idea of a second season for this show.

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