While reality TV generally gets a thumbs down from me, Destination: Truth [Syfy, Wednesday, 10 p.m.] is not your average reality. Sure, they investigate legendary and mythological creatures, but they do so by actually traveling to the homes of these creatures – and the travel part of the series can a lot of fun and just as often, genuinely breathtaking. Take this week’s season three premiere, Haunted Forest/Alux [uh-loosh´] as an example.
For the episode’s second investigation, Host Josh Gates and his team travel to the Yucatan Peninsula in search of the Alux – a kind of mini-Sasquatch: a bipedal, furry humanoid under four feet tall and believed in by 95% of the region’s mostly Mayan people to such an extent that they build mini-pyramid houses for them under highway overpasses.
Sure there are the usual jungle encounters – a big snake, flying ants, scorpions, puppy-sized spiders – but as the investigation progresses, there are also shots of spectacular Mayan ruins and encounters with the people that are as colorful as the region they inhabit.
It’s the first investigation, though, that offers the real meat of the ep. In the Hoia-Bacio Forest outside Cluj, Romania, there is a circular clearing where nothing grows. Prior to Gates & Co.’s arrival, there had been forty-five ghostly sighting in sixteen months. The area is known for the strange lights that frequently appear in the night; for voices, temperature changes and for creating physical illness out of the clear blue. The Destination: Truth team is warned – if they enter the clearing, they won’t come back! [Too bad the warning comes after an attempt to fly over the site in an ancient local airplane!]
What follows is some of the strangest and spookiest footage the show has ever produced. In fact, this episode was slated to be the third ep aired until the team actually went through the experience of filming it – and the filmed evidence convinced them it should moved up to the premiere slot.
It’s hard to review a series like Destination: Truth. The on-the-spot shooting can be quiet one moment and frenetic the next [see Haunted forest for a perfect example]; the sound is frequently less perfect than one might want because the team are usually in the outdoors and allowances must be made. Then, there’s the editing – the series is always edited for maximum impact, which means that sometimes, something truly remarkable might be overplayed.
Here, though, although the one major bit of unexplained weirdness is replayed a few times, it is pretty much untouched. The result is a genuinely terrifying moment – and a very shaken team member. It is this particular sequence that convinces Gates to share the team’s evidence with Ghost Hunters Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes – and that’s without the ironic sudden illness that momentary befalls another team member.
I’ve seen an occasional ep of Destination: Truth and an equally occasional ep of Ghost Hunters [I have to watch ‘em to review ‘em], but I’ve never seen something like this outside The Blair Witch Project! Only this is real.
Through the combination of on-the-spot filming; the judicious use of Ghost Hunters-type equipment, and the nature of the evidentiary events, Destination: Truth is of to one helluva good start!
Final Grade: A-