Paranormal State “The Ladder” Report Card
We here at Spectral Review are not paranormal investigators, demonologists, or drama critics. We don’t even play any of those on TV! But we do watch most paranormal shows and can tell the good ones from the bad.
Paranormal State episode report card.
“The Ladder”
The team heads to Shrewsbury, MA where a family has been for the past 40 years. Most believe the spirit is evil, but Sandy has a different view. A dream of a ladder may have shaded her view.
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Paranormal State looks for a ghost named Edward. |
Client Credibility
At the beginning of the show we are told of the client by the name of Sandy who has an emotional attachment to some entity named Edward. Right away we are thinking that Ryan and PRS maybe exploring territory where a client is obsessed with the paranormal.
As Sandy greets the team and starts showing them the home she says she has seen the “entity” as a solid figure and compared it to looking like Abraham Lincoln.
Her Father tells us of a similar sight in the living room. Her sister Lisa also tells us she has had experiences for years. She feared the entity because she heard a sinister voice in her ear on at least one occasion. Another sister Cindy had a coin thrown at her and was cursed at.
So it comes down to Sandy likes Edward and her siblings do not. Why does Sandy like Edward?
Investigation
When Sandy was younger she had a dream that Edward told her to tell her Father not to go up on the roof. A sibling Debbie also tells us of this story.
Ryan brings in Psychic/Mediums Michael Parry and Marti Baker. Mr Parry picks up a male entity that says he lives in the home. Then he says “1885″ and says a “P” name. Sandy tries to say it’s not that as she believes it’s Edward but Mr Parry quickly states it could be a last name.
Then he says “he fell off the roof”.
Eilfie is off researching the home and finds that a former owner is “Edwards W. Pond” who was 61 years old when he died on January 7, 1888. Eilfie tells us she learned that Edward died by falling off his roof while putting up some shingles on the home.
They bring in a sketch artist to try to get a picture of Edward. Not sure why as they don’t show us a picture of him to compare. It ended up illustrating how obsessed Sandy is with the entity. It’s very weird to listen to her say it’s bittersweet if he passes on.
Ryan brings in a Roman Catholic Priest Bob Bailey to help Edward move on.
Evidence
No captured evidence really. Other than some noises during “dead time”, nothing really happened evidence-wise.
Conclusion
It was a terrific episode. Very entertaining and the research made for a thought provoking episode.
One thing that seemed odd (other than Sandy’s obsession) was that she never investigated who owned the property. One would think that since she was so obsessed that she would have looked up the deed records. We think most people would have investigated.
So far season two has been terrific.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Amazing how accurate the “psychic” was. Truly amazing, well, amazing but suspicious. Well, just suspicious.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:49 am
It always amazes me that when a psychic or medium is a bit less than exactly right people say it’s vague and cold reading. But then, when they are right on accurate it has to be suspicious!
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:15 am
Didn’t believe it when David Copperfield made a 747 disappear on TV a number of years back either.
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 am
Waiting for the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery!”
September 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Astrophysicist Phil Plait recently noted that ” . . . the universe is cool enough without making up crap about it.” Apparently Buell and company dont agree.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:05 am
Hello…Just wanted you to know I have been doing research on the Pond family for twenty years…it was not mentioned in the episode.
March 31st, 2009 at 8:23 pm
this episode was on again last night. of course I had to watch it since I live in Worcester and have worked in Shrewsbury. very interesting!
I thought it was strange Sandy knew his (the entity’s) name before they looked up the history..well now we know why if that’s you Sandy!
i am not entirely sure of the credibility of every member of Ryan’s team, nor some of the methods used, but I definitely believe in the paranormal (have had experiences myself) and I think overall they do a good job with what they’ve got to work with. And the psychics & mediums they bring in are usually fantastic.
one of the better paranormal shows out there.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
A lot of people don’t think about researching a person. They believe it is private and not available to someone other than family. I don’t find it hard to believe Sandy didn’t research Edward W. Pond. The show to me is always highly suspicious and not credible.
March 6th, 2010 at 3:06 am
My wife Sandy, has been doing research on the Pond Family for over twenty odd years. The A & E crew and the PRS Group all knew about Edward and his brother Franklin even before coming to her parents home. The research you see Elifie looking up is actually one of my wife’s many notebooks of information she has on this family. Yes, the death certificate you see on Edward Pond was one my wife had gotten from The Shrewsbury Town Clerk in the 1990’s. I think whoever tried to make it look like Elifie looked it up. Why I don’t know. Sandy has two very large tubs of stuff to which the PRS people were surprised to see. She has researched this family so much.The Psychics were spot on with many things I was told by my wife, that were not seen. Plus, they contacted Franklin Pond not Edward much to the delight of Sandy, who just wasn’t sure if he was there. There’s much more to this story. The PRS group and the crew that came to her parents house were all very nice and helpful to them.To me, the show was edited so badly.There was a nice story line here, but I guess it’s on the cutting room floor .
March 7th, 2010 at 11:37 am
I lived across the street from that house as a kid for many years. It is amazing to find out that a spirit resided there! We never knew………