"Destination Truth Live From Ireland: Search for The Banshee" Review

On March 17, 2011, the paranormal investigation show, Destination Truth, broadcast a four-hour special episode from Ireland. Destination Truth seeks to find evidence to support the existence of legendary creatures from around the world, and in the case of this episode, the crew set off to find the Banshee.

The Banshee is a figure from Irish folklore. According to legend, this female spirit appears to people to foretell a death. Her trademark is a keening, wailing cry. Given her prominent position in Irish legend, the gang at Syfy’s Destination Truth decided to see if they could find any concrete evidence of the banshee’s existence. So they packed up their equipment and set off for Duckett’s Grove Castle, Ireland.

Anyone who has watched an episode of DT knows the routine. They give a little summary of the creature they’re searching for, show some footage of their trip to the investigation site, interview some locals, and then set up their gear and conduct the investigation. Afterwards, they return to the States where the ‘evidence’ is analyzed before show star, Josh Gates, gives his verdict on whether or not there’s any ‘truth’ to the legend.

That’s basically the same drill in this episode, except for the fact that it’s drawn out over four hours. Josh is joined by some guest investigators, including some of the casts of other Syfy shows such as Ghost Hunters International and Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. Not that these guest investigators do anything to change the show’s formula. To mix things up., Syfy set up live feeds from cameras placed at other locations at the site. People who logged in at Syfy to watch the broadcast were able to view these feeds and, if they saw anything out of the ordinary, Syfy gave them a ‘Banshee Button’ to click to alert the crew at the investigation site that something was up.

DT works in its standard hour format. Each standard episode has two half-hour investigations, and that’s just about the perfect length. The four-hour length of DT Live proved to be too much for the DT formula. What was promised as an exciting, engaging episode quickly became an exercise in tedium. Watching these paranormal ‘investigations in small segments is fine, but after the first hour, it became repetitive and boring.

Did they find any evidence of the Banshee? Well, that depends on what your definition of evidence is. There were no full apparitions or piercing, otherworldly shrieks to be found. The crew did find some odd shadows and strange sounds, but nothing more than the ‘Ghost Hunters’ find on their investigations. In other words, not much at all.

These paranormal ‘investigation’ shows must bring in decent ratings for Syfy, since there are so many of them on the network. But at some point, even the most diehard believer in the paranormal must wonder why, if paranormal phenomena exist, none of these ‘experts’ ever find any compelling evidence.

Destination Truth Live From Ireland: Search For The Banshee was an episode that DT’s fanbase no doubt enjoyed. It followed the show’s established routine without taking any risks. For other viewers, though, it was nothing more than a tedious infomercial for Syfy’s paranormal ‘investigation’ show slate.

Destination Truth airs on Syfy in the U.S.A. and Outdoor Living Network (OLN) in Canada.

Related Links

Destination Truth – Season 3 Episode 4 {Chernobyl/Sal’awa} Review