Ghost Adventures "Pacific Grove Nightmare"

Pacific Grove and the investigation of a doll museum.  Which Zak says contains a lot of energy.  The Carmel Doll Shop.  Where neighbours and employees have complained of noises and snoring.  Michael, the owner says that the place is empty at night.  He says there is energy that remains with the dolls.  They've had complaints for three years of  'construction' noises.  A neighbour says he hears snoring.  Zak believes Michael has a link with the energy.  Employees tell of noises and one speaks of seeing someone watching him.  As well as a book shelf falling.  Zak feels something is missing and he gets an answer from Micheal on the death of handyman, George.  But not in the building.  He had problems in his life and that's when they noticed changes.  So the spirit could be that of George.  Michael was on the fifth step and tripped and ended up in a room like he was pulled.  Micheal doesn't feel the cold presence around him.

Chris talks of the puppets and the dark energy accompanying them.  As they played bad parts.  Zak finds the two evil puppets are still around.  Nothing unusual is found in the second floor.  There is activity on the third floor.  A knocking sound is heard after Zak asks if it's upstairs.  In the bedroom Zak feels different.  This is where the spirit who is territorial resides.  The EMF readings rise dramatically.  He uses a digital recorder and gets affected.  The room gets cold.  His name isn't George and Zak tells him he knows his real name.  The EMF goes off.  A voice says "you won't get through."

Zak wants Chris to spend the night.  Leaving behind a digital recorder.  She confirms the puppets are still there.  They pick up noises through the night.  Then "careful."  "Help me, get me out of here..." is what I hear when Billy plays back the digital recording.  Not "tell me."  Is this spirit trapped here and if it's George then he wants to not be here even though he didn't die there, in my opinion.  Perhaps he's trapped.  Especially if he had a troubled life.  Chris says she heard footsteps and saw a man by the bed in her vivid dream.  Wearing a workman's shirt.  Zak believes she had a "visitation" and not a dream.  

Zak shows redness on his neck that he woke up with and it hasn't disappeared yet.  Zak gets affected and tells the spirit to "back off."  He can't leave and his demeanour changes (as usual.) He wants the spirit to stop.  As Zak confronts the spirit and the EMF readings increase.  He's being influenced.  The feeling is human and not demonic.  Zak leaves and Billy uses the Polterpod.  In the middle of the room, the energy increases.  A voice says "let me in."  Much more high pitched than the one caught on the digital recorder EVP.  This could also be asking to be let in with the knocking they heard.

Zak says he was feeling the spirit trying to get into him and use his energy.  Jay uses some experiments on the first floor with the paranormal puck, microphone.  Aaron is affected and Zak picks up two figures on the XLS which both touch Aaron.  One touches Aaron when Zak asks it to.  The thermal device detects cold air on the table.  Aaron is still distressed.  A spirit box falls to the floor across the room as if it was thrown.  Spirit box is always Aaron's 'go to' as well.  SO that can't be a coincidence. The camera Aaron picks up is drained of batteries.  Also the Polaroid camera hasn't been used thus far anymore.

Zak goes to the second floor and Aaron and Billy to the third floor.  Something touches Aaron's hand and he smells perfume and air around him.  Billy asks it to show as a ball of light around Aaron.  When later on a ball is seen manifesting.  Billy leaves Aaron in the bedroom and sits in the sitting room.  Zak does some EVP work.  He hears sounds and a voice.  Is it "won't stop" that he picks up on the recorder.  Billy says he felt like he died and sees his own body.  Aaron experiences the same and that's where the light is seen.  When Zak plays back the second recording he did which sounds like a voice saying "call it."  It sounds a little like Billy to me??  Using the spirit portal device,  Aaron asks "who are you?"  A woman replies "I don't know" and "help us out."  Is what I hear.  Also Billy says he was touched just like Aaron was in the bedroom.  A woman's voice reinforces Aaron smelling perfume earlier on and the soft touch.  Not really much creepiness from the dolls we saw more a human presence/presences.

Ghost Adventures "Montecito Mansion of mystery"

Zak investigates why the Montecito Mansion was calling to him "psychically" and his researcher found the house is all about death.  How some people don't want to leave here and others can't stay.  The mansion was home to some of the most wealthy of Montecito, California.  Becoming a nursing home in later years.  David is the current owner and Zak tells him they've been "invited here."  He has owned it for 21 years and was built in 1885.  David ran the care facility.  In 2000 they had senior care, hospice, surgery at the place.  Many have passed there.  One of his former staff, Maria, feels the presence of spirits.  She tells of a patient who looked up at the ceiling and ignored her.  Like something was floating up there. He then passed away.

Gertrude Bains died after catching a cold and died soon after.  The wife of the man who bought the mansion.  Her daughter married a military man that she didn't approve of as she married for love.  Or could it have been more sinister.  Marguerite The Black Widow  who married rich old men who would then die.  Zak doesn't like the feeling in the place.  There are rooms they can't go into.  He sees a short man as they go into one of the rooms and the door opens by itself.  They also hear some sort of a knock or a bang from outside the room.  The door is where he saw the man there.  Van Doren, a psychic medium.  She talks of a 'gatekeeper' who sits on a chair near the door.  To take care of the house.  The EMF readings rise.  Spirits are in the ballroom, over twenty.  

When the house was a care facility, family members performed a seance and carried it out themselves.  David tells Zak that they got through to someone and they rushed out.  Thus leaving the portal open.  Did Zak close the portal after he finished their seance.  He discovers a photo taken in 1917 where he sees that the house is the same now as it was then.  He senses plenty of energy.  The residents have never left even after passing.

He was called to the building where spirits have seen and heard spirits before their death.  Zak conducts his own seance with Lauren, camera operator and James, who has worked for Zak for eight years as assistant cameraman.  A massive orb flies from James's body or from behind him.  Caught on camera.  Saw that thought it could've been a camera light in passing.  James gets nervous.  A light comes out of one of the candles and also one of the candles near James flickers whilst none of the others do.  On the stairs, knocking is heard and scratching from upstairs where Jeff is standing.  The motion active light turns on on the stairs.  Jeff appears agitated and has to leave the mansion.  

Billy captures a figure on the stairs on the XLS camera.  As though it has fallen on the stairs.  Zak uses the Polterpod.  The man's voice that comes through "did you accept?"  The light comes on the stairs and a woman's voice says "light" on the Polterpod.  He asks who is scratching the wall and the Ovilus says "fire."  Billy mentions his dream where he woke up and a voice says "burn her" three times.  The Ovilus says "coffin" and when Zak asks where it is, "ceiling" comes through.  Lauren feels like electricity is going through her body.  James feels tension.

A man's cough is heard from upstairs caught on an X cam.  Sounds so real.  Cough or sneeze.  They hear a breath upstairs and Aaron's chest hurts.  Zak wears a chest camera rig with multiple mics and they hear the voice.  A light anomaly is caught on the IR and is seen on the depth cam at the same time.  A black anomaly appears on the depth cam inside the mirror.  Zak asks for the man to speak.  He leaves Aaron in the next room by himself.  They hear noises and banging coming from the ceiling.  Zak runs and stands against the wall.  Yeah that'll protect you.  Unexplained noises and Zak uses the digital recorder.  A laugh is heard.  Aaron uses the Ovilus and asks who touched him on the back of his neck.  "Me."  Did he ask who me was?  A female voice is recorded on Zak's recorder saying "one question."

Billy uses the Polterpod: "did you take it down paper?" or "on paper"?? asks a woman's voice.  Doesn't "ready set go" sound like "the lady said go"?? and "you did this" sounds like "new business"??  Which kinda would make sense if the first voice is saying something about paper??  Her name "Brita"?  Then she says "fire."  Again fire comes up in reference to Billy's dream.  Zak finds a wire on the door and a big lock.  He says this was one of the most incredible investigations they have done.  

Some oddities for me, the phone charger was in front of the TV and the wire just slides off the table without even being touched during the start of the show.  Then when I was reviewing later in the night, a box slid forward and fell all by itself, again without being touched.  No idea what happened there!  

Here's an interesting piece:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-global-properties/2021/06/01/85-million-montecito-mansion-is-rich-in-design-history/

The Mentalist

Found this in my Drafts from 2014 like WTH!! Ha

Dismayed to hear that The Mentalist will be leaving us after seven seasons, especially since it's become such a staple diet for us fans and Simon Baker fans too.  Okay, not just him but the rest of the cast too.  It's a shame it has come to this and though I am loathed to say it, something tells me it's a lot to do with the fact the villain of the piece and the great Red John reveal was such a letdown in 6.8 Red John.  It was either you liked who it turned out to be Sheriff McAllister (Xander Berkeley) or you didn't.  My thoughts have been made clear in the review for this episode.  Yeah, it could've been better, but I guess we got what we didn't really expect when the Pilot first aired.

Seven years of Biblical proportions, just mentioned that cos seven is usually considered a Biblical number, yet I didn't really think this would be farewell and so soon, with so very few episodes, my all time horrible number of 13!.  Not enough to say a proper goodbye in this way.  Are we hoping for happy endings?  The years were a blast.

Season 1 building up on Red John and Patrick, losing his family and knowing that he contributed to that.  What else will we remember, the cat and mouse games, working people, he's not a psychic, the brown shoes, the three piece suits when first we saw our beloved Patrick Jane and that white shirt, boy that white shirt worked wonders on him, as did that waistcoat.  A shame he 'lost' it in season 6.  Let's not forget Patty's/Simon's hair to die for.  The smiley faces, Patrick's genius and so much more!

Saying goodbye will be hard, maybe we can just bid the show and cast a bon voyage instead or more likely an au revoir, we'll still them around, but not as we will no doubt remember them for months and years to come.

At least we'll get to see Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) make an appearance in the finale ever ep of the show, hate using that 'ever' word for something like this, cos it's like losing something that you've had around for years and have gotten so used to and so close to your heart!

Downton Abbey The Movie (2019)

The movie got its premiere on New Year's Day on ITV and though they've moved on in years nothing much else has changed.  All the characters are the same and there are plots reminiscent of the series.  This time round King V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) are visiting Highclare House though one really has to wonder why aside from the high drama! 

Potential to set up stories for future films, such as Branson (Allen Leech) who meets a new love in the form of Lucy (Tuppence Middleton) the maid of Lady Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton) whose father was the Earl's (Hugh Bonneville) great uncle .  But she's not really the maid, or companion as she's going to be known as later on, but her daughter.  A secret discovered by Isobel (Penelope Wilton).  She's the heir to the estate that the family were hoping the Earl would inherit as a male heir and distant cousin.  As the Dowager (Maggie Smith) was determined to have it out with her once and for all.  Changing her mind when she finds out the truth.  Again saying she would've understood as she's not that set in her ways.  Edith (Laura Carmichael) pushing for Branson and Lucy to get together just to keep the fortune in the family.  Under the guise of wanting something better for Branson.

Mary (Michelle Dockery) worries over whether Downton can sustain itself and comments on finding herself putting out the chairs for the village in the pouring rain. Anna (Joanne Froggatt) tells her to think of the staff and people all over the county who rely on the estate.  Also Mary conveying this concern to the Dowager who has her own secret to confide in with Mary.  That the doctor hasn't given her much time and Mary will really miss her "granny."  The General Strike of 1926 is alluded to only just in passing. 

Carson (Jim Carter) is brought out of retirement and can no longer tend to his weeds as Mary wants him at Downton when the Royals arrive.  Barrow (Rob Collier-Smith) doesn't want to polish the silver and wants to leave it up to the Royal's own staff/servants.  Of course he's perturbed by this and walks out.  The Earl won't be firing him as he's amazed by Barrow's sudden discovery of principles.  Barrow too finds his own potential love interest in Richard Ellis (Max Brown) the King's valet/dresser and they agree to meet in York for a drink.  Barrow gets taken in by someone else at the pub and they end up in a secret location for gay men.  Finally there's a raid and he's arrested and ? gets him out of jail by using the Royal status on his calling card.  

The staff are in uproar as they won't be able to wait on royalty or prepare food for them.  Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol) even goes out to buy food when she doesn't need to.  With the pompousness of the Royal staff party and specifically the attitude of the Back Stairs butler Mr Wilson (David Haig) and the French chef, Courbet (Philippe Spall) the Downtown staff stage a mutiny.  Deciding to have the royal staff taken away by the pretext of being needed in London and locking up Wilson in his room.  With Anna giving the Courbet a sleeping draft, double does.  Moseley (Kevin Doyle) is particularly thrilled as he gets to wait on Royalty and puts his foot in it by impertinently replying to Queen Mary.  Shocks all around then.  As Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) has to apologize on his behalf.

A sub-plot with the Irish situation is added for extra interest for Branson to get involved with.  As he's approached by a suspicious man, he thinks is spying on him, regarding his feelings towards the Irish and the royals.  But Branson's been subdued by the Crawley family in his feelings.  He gets to catch said bloke at the parade as he tries to assassinate the King.  Mary had to get in on the act too of course.   Later the ball the King reveals he knows exactly who Branson is and what he did.  

The opening follows the letter informing of the arrival of the Royals arrival at Downton from a train, to the mail van, a postman on a motorbike, until it's safely delivered to the Castle.  Until the familiar bells of the house ring out to the servants.  So you know you're in familiar territory.  You'd think the staff's actions would've got a sterner reprimand for their actions, however it's just casually laughed off except for the Earl taking exception at Moseley's actions.  A nostalgic reminiscence for fans of the original series.

Doctor Who "Eve of the Daleks" Special

Doctor Who's 'Groundhog Day' deja vu ep.  You'd think they filmed this in one spot cos they were locked down: minimal contact.  Which they were.  Lots of running around and hiding in shadows only to be exterminated by the Daleks over and over.  Time being on a loop and resetting.  The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) resets the TARDIS and they have to leave in order for this to happen.  Ending up not on the tropical beach she promised Yaz (Mandip Gill) and Dan (John Bishop) but in a storage unit.  The same storage unit where Sarah (Aisling Bea) and Nick (Adjani Salmon) meet up every New Year's.  Well they don't really meet up, Nick turns up just to see her, the owner.  He stores away items belonging to his exes just incase they turn up to get them.  This time round it's a Monopoly.  The storage unit isn't updated but boy did those containers have bags of room!  Elf Storage hiding a myriad of items akin to Santa's grotto.  All to come in handy for the Doctor.

A Dalek shows up and exterminates both Sarah and Nick.  As the Doctor finds them dead they meet the same Dalek too and the Doctor can't zap it with her Sonic.  The Sonic can be controlled by the Dalek.  The Dalek appears to be one step ahead of them as they are exterminated too.  As they return they have a sense of deja vu as the Doctor realizes time has reset and each time they come back a minute has moved on.  With additional Dalek's turning up until we get three, the Doctor finally plans to be one step ahead of them by using one of the loops as a decoy to fool the Daleks into thinking that's what they're planning.  The Dalek also reveals that they're here to destroy her.  Due to the Flux that she instigated thereby destroying millions of Daleks.  She explains it was the Sontaran plan which she then hijacked. 

The Doctor says the only way they can survive this is if they are outside when the clock strikes midnight.  Sarah also gets calls from her mother before midnight as she thinks the lines will be busy then.  As Nick destroys two of the Daleks saving himself and finally tells her he comes here cos he knows she'll be here and he has an "embarrassing crush" on her.  Same can be said of  Yaz and the Doctor as Dan encourages her to tell the Doctor how she feels.  Also letting slip that Yaz has feelings for her and the Doctor knows exactly what that means.  Ahh Rose!  Dan found out too late his feelings for Di and he doesn't want Yaz going through the same.  Though it was obvious Yaz was infatuated by the Doctor from the outset.  Their relationship has evolved when they spent all the time without the Doctor and as Yaz tells Sarah, she's the only one who can diss on her mate Dan.  

So finally the Doctor gets the idea the fireworks Jeff has been hoarding in the storage facility, as well as living there; will be their escape from the Daleks.  The fireworks will go off when Sarah's mother calls her 10 seconds before midnight.  The Dalek being fooled into thinking it's a human signature by the phone.  As they finally get out and the Dalek explodes with the fireworks,  we see Karl watching the fireworks alone from a distance. 

The Daleks were particularly calculating in this ep as they predict exactly what the Doctor will do even before she does when they return in the time loop.  Still bearing grudges and everytime Time was mentioned felt like Time from the Flux was being referred to.  The Daleks being sent by Time to rid the universe from the Doctor.  Of course the gimmick was that the Doctor didn't regenerate each time they were exterminated.  The TARDIS reset is the cause of the time loop apparently and nothing as sinister as I just mentioned here, but it was a nice thought, even if I do say so myself.    An enjoyable romp where you didn't need to follow the plot too closely or pay much attention to it.  

Two more specials to go with Doctor Thirteen, one in spring and one in Autumn!

Doctor Who 13.6 "The Vanquishers"

A bit of a tough one to write/review as we get so much jumping from time to time from the Doctor as she ends up being in three different places as three of her selves.  Sufficed to say she's still eyeing the pocketwatch whilst trying to save Earth and rid those Sontarans from a pact they're entering into for peace with the Daleks and the Cybermen to save them from the Flux.  However it's all an act to become the dominant race, in fact the only ones left aside from some rag tag humans.  To this end they've set up a dark camera in to watch every move being made.  This the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) infiltrates and then ends up there herself with Karvanista (Craige Eels).  The Sontarans want to take over the Lupari shield on their ships so they can use it to further their 'peace' treaty.  Which they manage to do as they rid the Lupari from their ships into the airlocks and into space.  Karvanista is the last of his species.  Which he wants revenge for as he howls in the cage as the Doctor is dragged away to be interrogated by the Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson).  The Sontarans use the shields to survive the Second Flux and indeed lead the Daleks and Cybermen to destruction only realizing at the last minute that it's a trap,

This destruction will lead the anti-matter from the Flux to be cancelled.  The Doctor doesn't prevent this from happening but plans to throw the Sontarans into the mix too and effectively wipe them out.  A different Doctor who is/was all about saving species no matter whether good or bad.  As seen in Journey's End.  When the Flux isn't completely destroyed it's Diane (Nadia Albina) who comes up with the solution using the Passenger.  As she also comes up with a way for Vinder (Jacob Anderson) and her to leave the planet and get back to be picked up the doctor in the TARDIS.  As she was trapped inside the Passenger she has worked out how it works and tells her to make the anti-matter enter the Passenger in deep space and it will become harmless due to the space inside the Passenger.  

Finally Vinder and Bel (Thaddea Graham) are united and the Doctor sends them on their way with Karvanista on his ship.  He probably needs the company too.  It's also Dan (John Bishop) who releases Karvinista from his cage adding he fetched his dog.  Diane keeps her distance from Dan who tells her he wasn't late but he was kind of detoured via Karvinista.  The Doctor gets Claire (Annabel Scholey) and the Professor (Kevin McNally) to infiltrate a Sontaran base ship and be used as bait so they can get information on the Flux date from using their brains.  When push comes to shove and they do get their information, the rings the Doctor has given them only work to rescue Claire as the Professor's one is destroyed as he takes it upon himself to take out some Sontarans, which wasn't really necessary at all.  Sadly there was no one ring to save them all.  He heads into the Flux too and rather accepts his twist of bad luck and fate.  A shame as he could've been used more in future eps.  He's more sad he hasn't been able to write an autobiography.

The Grand Serpent apparently underused in this ep as he doesn't even remember Vinder and doesn't carry out much torture on the Doctor.  Vinder gets his revenge by leaving him on a tiny space rock, his "exile" just as Vinder spent his 'exile' in that observation station.  He didn't even get to get any sort of dialogue with Kate (Jemma Redgrave) as he was hunting her down.  Swarm (Sam Spruell) and Azure (Rochenda Sandell) were also underused as creepy villains going back all the way to Hallowe'en they didn't get much to do here.  Not even able to exact revenge on their 'master' Time being released.  So he turns them to dust before turning into the Doctor and telling her she won't be finished off.  So obviously that should add something to the New Year Specials.  Especially as the Doctor mentions the Master too.  She gets the pocketwatch and tells the TARDIS to hide it somewhere deep down she can't find it unless she wants it of course.  Was she afraid to access her past memories and what she was or did in the past as Division operative.  Maybe this would've added some backstory into why she's so hellbent on saving, though destroying has also entered the equation on occasion (of course it was just written that way.)

Nothing said about the Flux or whether those civilizations being destroyed with few survivors will have much of an impact on the future and the planets/places the Doctor will be able to 'visit' in the TARDIS taking Yaz (Mandip Gill) and the companions with her.  She also returns for Dan to take him with them.  The Doctor also persuaded Williamson to return to his own time through the correct door of his tunnels as he had greater things to do and history needed him.  

Sontarans gorging themselves on chocolate was a fun scene to move from all this jumping around and throwing so much at the viewer.  All 'n' all we got an ending whether it's what we wanted or expected is another thing.  Many loose ends were left and you can't help wonder if it was on purpose or if any of it will be revisited and concluded.  Kate was left on Earth along with Claire who might join forces.  Is UNIT still around?