OK, so I have a more than passing interest in the paranormal. So a new television show like Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files is going to, in the least, pique my interest for a few episodes. But can it hold it beyond that?
In my experience, paranormal TV runs the gamut from something very scientific and research-based like MonsterQuest (featuring actual tenured academics) to something more akin to a couple of guys running around in the dark without flashlights cursing and swearing to appear cool—like Extreme Paranormal. (For Extreme Paranormal, picture the Jackass franchise done with ghosts.) Somewhere in the middle, is a balanced show like Ghost Hunters, one of the original and most successful series in this genre. A show in which two plumbers and a rag-tag group of other investigators set out to use what they deem to be scientific tools to track and record ghosts. They’ve been doing it for a long time, seven years now, and they’re honest in their pursuit whether or not the “science” they use is altogether scientific.
But enter Fact or Faked.
The premise of this new some from the SyFy Network is that a former FBI Special Agent and his team of investigators set out to debunk popular paranormal videos gleaned from around the Internet. Now I don’t know about you but when I hear about a former FBI agent investigating the paranormal I’m getting set for a long-awaited sequel to the X-Files series. Sadly, that is not the case, and agent Ben Hansen is no Fox Mulder. Barely thirty years old, if Hansen really was an FBI agent (which I’m not sure they could necessarily lie about) then he must’ve been kicked out of the bureau after only a few months of service, presumably for being so emo. A veteran, seasoned FBI agent ready to tackle the paranormal he is not.
But surely his crack team of investigators bring some scientific background to the show, a serious research-based approach? Well, again, not so much. The team is comprised of a special effects technician, a journalist, a photography expert (who knows nothing of post-production methods), some other guy, and a gentleman who is credited only as an “investigator” but who also seems to have recently completed a degree in Biology, and shops exclusively at American Eagle. This crack team gathers every episode in what looks like somebody’s den and reviews a series of videos, each presented by a different member, before deciding which two they’d like to investigate.
The show’s investigative portion isn’t so bad—it’s awful. I mean, let’s be honest, despite the appearance of a scientific, investigative approach, these team members really don’t know what they’re doing. In the first two episodes they’ve actually hit on some good ideas, and debunked a couple of the videos they set out to investigate but it was really only by mistake. The fun part is if they can’t immediately debunk something, like a UFO sighting or the famous stick alien, they run around at night with infrared cameras scouring the area for clues, adopting a research method that is so mind-bogglingly absurd you worry about potential mental illness amongst the production staff.
In the end, Fact or Faked is a confusing show that leaves you wondering what its producers at the SyFy Network were really thinking. In a market already saturated with paranormal shows—few managing to survive passed their first season—it’s hard to believe that anyone thought this new entrant into the genre would last.
Ben Hansen is a former FBI Agent? I kinda doubt that, but i’m not sure they can lie about it. If Hansen was indeed an FBI agent, I’m assuming he was removed by termination or had to resign. No one that young would remove themself from an 1811 Criminal Investigator position that pays over 100 K a year. Something smells fishy…
Frank, you’re absolutely right. This claim, by Syfy, that he’s a former FBI agent seems pretty implausible considering how young he is.
If there’s any glimmer of truth in there, it might’ve been revealed when they introduced him on the Ghost Hunters Hallowe’en Special as someone who had “worked with” the FBI before.
Not sure if SyFy grasp the difference between someone who worked “with” the FBI to solve a case — this could be someone as mundane as a WITNESS to a crime — and an actual FBI agent.
In either case, my guess is that the network is stretching the truth a great deal to claim that Hansen is former FBI.
I believe that this Ben Hansen is well into his 30s, so you’re guessing a little low on the age range. His bio states that he worked in SVU, and then moved to the FBI. But nowhere does it state that he was a Special Agent, only that he was a former agent, presumably called upon for expertise in SVU investigation. And you don’t have to be an old man to be good at what you do, so I’m not sure that age matters much anyway. Clearly the FBI must have seen something in him if they hired him in the first place. If he was a Special Agent, then he would have had to graduate from Quantico, and that’s not too unbelievable either, considering he’s already into his 30s and most begin their training just out of college, in their early 20s.
And working for the FBI is no picnic. I looked into it. It’s crappy pay and right out of Quantico you don’t get to choose where you end up in the US or what cases you get to work on. And sorry, but no agent or investigator makes 100k in the FBI, unless you’ve been there for years and you’re all the way up to GS pay grade 15, Step 4. Most agents and investigators get somewhere in the $45k range, on average. In other words- for the long hours, hideous cases (especially SVU) and inflexibility of the FBI, you really, really have to love your job to stick around. It’s not the slightest bit questionable to me that someone working in the Special Victims Unit would want to take a break for a while. That’s some seriously heinous stuff.
As for the show- this season is much better and they’ve seemingly gotten much better at their investigative techniques and still maintain a dose of healthy skepticism. I think that growing pains are allowed, if you ask me. The rest of this season will be a better tell than the first season will.