I am speaking about the two television programs, THE SECRET OF SKINWALKER RANCH, airing on the History Channel, to which I am slavishly devoted, and THE MYSTERY AT BLIND FROG RANCH, which I had not ever watched until last night, when I caught a few episodes. How do they match up?
When I first heard about THE MYSTERY AT BLIND FROG RANCH, I said to myself, it’s just a ripoff of THE SECRET OF SKINWALKER RANCH, an attempt to cash-in on the latter’s notoriety. Is this accurate? Yes and no. There are similarities for sure, and doubtless the former would not exist if it hadn’t been for the success of the latter. But where SKINWALKER focuses on the study of paranormal phenomena at its titular site, the latter is more of a treasure hunt show. I’m enough of an archaeology mark for this last to snare my attention, and I daresay I’d enjoy the show more if it were *only* about the hunt for treasure. The inclusion of paranormal subject matter feels forced. It also feels fake. For example, that dead woman in the car found at the gate of Blind Frog Ranch, whose mysterious disappearance is now being investigated as a subplot of the show? If it ever happened at all, it happened years ago. That’s when Duane Ollinger began telling the story, yet the show makes it seem that this incident only recently happened. It’s disingenuous.
Bottom line: I trust that what I’m seeing when I watch THE SECRET OF SKINWALKER RANCH is mostly factual. There’s a little bit of TV magic involved, but for the most part, yeah, it’s for real. I’m not so sure about the Blind Frog folks and what they’re doing. They’re gonna have to show me the money if they expect me to stick around.
