All Rise...

Judge David Johnson lives in a paranormal state: New Hampshire!

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Paranormal State: Season Five (published September 10th, 2011), Paranormal State: Demonic Investigations (published October 24th, 2009), Paranormal State: Season One (published May 8th, 2008), and Paranormal State: Season Two (published January 30th, 2009) are also available.

The Charge

It's not your imagination.

The Case

Are you ready for more puke-green night vision and dudes pouring over hours of video and audio tape; geeking out in a big way if they hear a strange sound or see a potted plant shift an indiscernible millimeter? Lucky for you, the supernatural snoops of A&E's Paranormal State are ready to ladle on their close encounters in their fourth go-around of creepy investigations and over-eager ghost-busting.

Here's the lowdown: There's this guy named Ryan Buell who had a terrifying experience with the paranormal when he was a child. What precisely happened is a mystery and he refuses to let his team members know what freaked him out so much. Whatever it was propelled him into a career as an investigator and pretty much stripped his sense of humor. While a student at Penn State, he teamed up with some like-minded ghost trackers and together they formed the Paranormal Research Society (PRS). Now, they head out to visit clients besieged by things-that-go-bump-in-the-night and Paranormal State tracks their exploits.

Season Four brings 12 episodes, which play out like this…Ryan meets the desperate clients, then consults with his team. Later, they head to the house and do a walk-through. That night, they set up a bunch of recording equipment in the most diabolical hot spots. Occasionally, a noise pops up or something moves and everyone goes nuts. Then, after the evidence is analyzed and a prescription to eradicate the poltergeist is used, a psychic is brought in or an exorcism is performed to bust the ghosts. And to wrap up the show, Ryan provides a recap and a post-script.

You know, if this kind of show is your thing, then full speed ahead. Grab this set and ensconce yourself in the goings-on of a group of young adults who get super-excited over the sound of a floorboard creaking. I just don't know if I can ever latch onto something like this. While I don't doubt their earnestness, it's tough to get around the fact that the Paranormal Research Society is sort of dorky. Like they were constantly harangued at Penn State because of their goofy logo and funny instruments that supposedly read ghost energy. Then again, it's obvious they're helping folks out, despite the veracity of their claims or diagnoses, so I can't be too dismissive, right? On second thought, one of their cases ended with a family planting a tree to assuage the concerns of the forest spirits for using lumber to build their log cabin…so, yeah, this stuff can be dumb at times.

It doesn't help that these guys are so self-serious. Ryan Buell is particularly humorless, exhibited in awkward fashion when he scolds his team for laughing in a haunted prison. Because of the levity, he opts to not tell them (and us, natch) the specifics of his childhood paranormal encounter. Fine. Be like that.

A&E spits out a lame two-disc set, complete with annoying "fake" widescreen (full frame, really), poor image quality, an adequate stereo mix, and bonus footage as extras.

The Verdict

I'm uninterested, but I recognize there's a market for this. So, go and do some community service exorcising demons from the haunted YMCAs of the world.

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