3x04 The Haunting

[7.4/10] This one took a bit to get going, but gained momentum as it went.

Once again, I wasn’t crazy about the girls’ story in this one, since the prospect of a haunted house, even a mistaken one, is once again too out there for my tastes. Them freaking out about curses and hauntings and other ghostly bric-a-brac was a big yawn for me. The laughs weren’t really there and everyone mugging with exaggerated screams wasn’t my jam either.

But I liked a lot of the other elements of the main story. James having an awkward conversation with the officer at the checkpoint was good for a laugh. So was the big realization that the girls’ had actually been “cleaning out” the wrong house, and had stumbled onto a stranger’s cottage rather than Sister Michael’s aunt’s place. Sister Michael getting them out of trouble by explaining that they’re from Derry and have thus suffered enough was the funniest part of the whole thing.

God help me I was downright touched by James confessing his feelings to Erin. We had hints of this when he took her to the dance, but it’s nice to see it come to fruition. There's not a lot of depth to it, but it feels lived-in and real in a way not much this season has for the girls. Orla makes a solid point about it threatening to mess up their group’s friendship, but the kiss and James’ “IIt’s okay, I can wait” is very wholesome and endearing. It even dovetails nicely with the grown-ups’ story after a fashion.

That subplot, with the adults going to a psychic to make a connection with Mary’s dead mother, is a laugh riot. Conleth Hill remains a charming screen presence (hello Game of Thrones fans!), and between him doing the “affected psychic” routine and grousing at his elderly mother, his scenes are the comic highlight of the half hour. Gerry’s skepticism, Mary and Sarah’s fervent belief in finding a conduit to the great beyond, and Joe’s focus on having his dead wife locate his old electric razor all lead to plenty of laughs too.

Yet, this one lands on some place earnest and sweet too. There's a funny poetry to this one, where in one part of the episode, the characters have some reason believe ghosts are really there, and it turns out to be one big mix-up, whereas in the other, the whole thing seems like a goofy farce, but the psychic is genuinely onto something! (Or so it seems.)

Carlos Santini seems to be applying the standard cold reading techniques, but him locating the American Air Force officer who’s apparently pestering Aunt Sarah from the great beyond, or getting a message about water and a red box from their mom seems to have some validity to it. Maybe it’s just coincidence, but I love the choice to make Joe’s silly quest to find his razor into something more genuine when he’s touched by finding the razor in a red box under the sink. Ian McEllhiny gives a great performance, showing that beyond the bluster, he really does love and miss his wife, with Derry Girls giving him a characteristically oddball reminder of hta.t

Overall, the haunted house bits, which take up a good portion o f the episode, fell flat to me, but the rest of what “The Haunting” had to offer was quite good.