Synopsis: The TAPS team investigates a 40,000 square foot mansion in Rhode Island that was once a boarding school and was also used in the cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows.
What I liked about this episode: I absolutely loved the location in this investigation. First, even though I don’t remember much of the show Dark Shadows, my mom used to watch re-runs of it when I was a kid and it was kind of neat seeing one of the locations it was filmed at. Even without that, that mansion was both huge and somewhat creepy.
I especially feel that way about the organ room. Those faces staring down from the ceiling would make me nervous. In fact, I’m not sure I would even want to go into that room after dark (or even in the daylight).
Since it is now a private home (and I imagine the upkeep of that house isn’t cheap) rather than a tourist trap, I also felt the claims the homeowners were making were a bit more credible.
What I didn’t like about this episode: Once again, I was left unimpressed by the evidence they collected. I don’t count footsteps from above or below without any sort of visual evidence proving there isn’t anyone up there and the “voices” they recorded weren’t very clear and could have easily been regular background noise.
I probably would have been more interested in the thermal imaging camera tipping over or the door opening and closing behind Grant had either one of them actually been caught on camera (or, as my wife mentioned about the former, if we would have seen a ghostly hand reaching out from in front of the thermal camera).
Also, has anyone else noticed the TAPS team just doesn’t seem to have as much fun as they used to during these investigations? There was a time, in the earlier seasons, when Jason would take advantage of a location like this and pop out from a dark room to scare someone. You just don’t see that any more.
Final Opinion: This episode was slightly better than the two before it but was still lacking something in my opinion.