My friends, I have discovered a new show on that wacky machine we call the television. I don’t normally watch too much TV, preferring to…yes, read. However, my mother got me hooked on Ghost Hunters (which I will be blogging about some time during October - my month dedicated to Halloween topics, i.e., anything to do with the spooky) so naturally I began to catch glimpses of the Truth. Having seen the teasers, I ‘accidentally’ left the TV on just to see what the heck all this hype was about and got sucked into the fascinating world of Josh, Ryder, Casey and the rest of the Truth Crew.
Let me tell you something…those kids are crazy!
Seriously, they do things and go places I can’t even imagine fantasizing about doing or going to. At the beginning of the show, Josh, the show’s host and most intrepid of the bunch, says to us, "In my travels I’ve seen some unexplainable things and I’ve done some things I can’t quite explain." He means it. I sincerely believe he would walk a tightrope over the Grand Canyon while fending off hungry buzzards just to find a monster that may (or most likely doesn’t) exist. Oh, yeah, that’s what this show is about…chasing monsters (and yes, there is an uncanny resemblance to Scooby-Doo). On Wednesday’s episode, Josh joked that the rest of his crew was having trouble getting through customs because the officials weren’t buying their reason for being in the country…"Um, yes, we’re here to chase monsters." Can’t say I blame them.
The monsters the crew has chased after are pretty awesome - though some are kind of funny (like the three-foot tall monkey man). Just recently the crew chased after the Ahool - a giant flying bat with the face of a monkey and a 12-foot wingspan. I also saw an episode where they searched for angry spirits ‘living’ in a haunted cave in the middle of the jungle (which the crew could only visit after securing, for protection, a bottle of sacred water obtainable at the bottom of a sheer cliff - even with that great protection, their native guides abandoned them after only a short time in the cave). There was the Yowie to track - a bigfoot-like monster (I swear every country has their own version) and a wicked looking dinosaur in Australia. Two different episodes explored claims of giant water monsters - neither of them Nessie - one of which lived in mercury-infested waters (a mutant in mercury-poisoned waters? what a surprise!) in a lake in Indonesia. I’m not sure if I admire the crew’s decision to dive in deadly waters to search out the monster that was scaring the fisherfolk, or amazed at their lack of intelligence. Okay, they weren’t being stupid…they knew the risks they were taking, but wow, they went ahead and did the dive anyway because they wanted to reassure the frightened people. I hope they don’t end up growing another head from their exposure…great, another mouth to feed! Talk about no good deed going unpunished.
Ryder is the only female member of the crew (that I’ve seen so far). She’s an interesting study in contrasts. Here she is on this show choosing to do all these dangerous things, but she doesn’t seem all that thrilled to be doing them. I like this contradiction. Something else I’ve noticed: they often put this camera on her shoulder so that you get this close-up of her face (typically in the dark), which is always very expressive, especially in the green glow of night vision. If something is going to happen, you’ll see it on her face. She always looks ready to bolt at the first sound, yet she continues to go out on these adventures again and again. Why? I’m not sure. Still, I am impressed with her gumption. Though maybe she does these crazy things because she’s in love with one of the crew members. I have my guesses as to who.
After doing a little research, I just found out that Ryder has a first name…Erin. I thought it was Ryder. And Casey grew up on a farm. And Josh has a degree in Archeology and Drama (go figure). They take a medic along with them named Jarrod, who is just as involved in the adventures as everyone else. He is trained in deep sea diving and saving lives. They seem to use his services a lot. I think they also need to add a mechanic (and/or a mechanical engineer) to the crew. Things are always breaking on them.
During one episode, while in Australia, the crew drives by a sign that says, "Don’t risk your life" and Josh turns to the camera with this this querying look on his face, like what’s that all about? But does it stop him? No. Not jeeps that break down, day-long train rides, spider bites, cliffs, or lack of evidence. He is unstoppable, like a superhero, or something.
At any rate, I can’t wait to see where Josh and the Truth Crew are heading next. I haven’t even seen that many episodes yet but I’m already a convert.
But maybe that’s because I can handle the truth! Can you?
The Truth
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