Psychic Challenge: Finding and Diagnosing

Psychic Challenge: Finding and Diagnosing by Roxanne McDonald

In a weird “Fear Factor” plus holistic medicinal approach, “America’s Psychic Challenge” quarter-finals makes for an intriguing episode.

Of course it helps that the most interesting of characters make up the role call for the week. Lynn is quasi-kooky; Zenobia is uncannily accurate; Sylvana brings a cockiness

unparalleled by proven psychics; and Jackie smack-talks and nails almost every challenge or detail.
They all get emotionally altered, save Jackie, who just bluntly snaps she doesn’t, for example, give out hugs.

First Challenge of the Day: Who’s Just Straight-up Afraid?

Four tent-like constructions each house a person—three of whom are relaxed and one of whom is n a state of fear: in #1 is a person getting a massage; in #2 is a woman painting her nails; in #3 is a guy painting on canvas; and in #4 is the woman with her hands inserted through a transparent plastic bin full of giant cockroaches.

Lynne chooses #4.
Sylvana feels it is either #2 or #3 and goes for #2.
Zenobia feels “something creepy crawly, like spiders or something,” she says, but goes to door #1.
And Jackie chooses #4.

Second Challenge of the Day: What’s My Problem?

Tina has Crohn’s Disease. Clint has Diabetes. Dr. Susan Jewell will sit behind the scenes and judge which psychic comes closest to “diagnosing” each.

Zenobia finds Clint has a tendency to be feverish and has something going on with his back (a sensory issue). She finds Tina is cold, tired, hurts, and has had three surgeries.

Lynn says Clint has some issues with feet, ankle, and heart, and deals with aching. She says Tina is pregnant. She’s pretty much way off.

Sylvana determines Clint to have Hepatitis, has to take at least one medication daily, and eating well is involved. She then says that it is either Hepatitis or Diabetes—something she says he will have to live with for the rest of his life. She determines Tna has some pain from upper to lower arm and in chest, has Cancer r a cyst, and is taking one

medication a day. She is pissed when Dr. Jewell discounts most of her readings.
Jackie also decides Clint has fever, and then claims that he has Diabetes in his family. She adds mention of something to do with kidney, urine, and the wrong meds, and points out exercise as important (?). She then decides Tina has a problem with her uterus, heavy breathing, and acid in the esophagus.

Third Challenge of the Day: Name That Tragedy

Roger Gillis is/was a firefighter who answered the call at the Palomar Hotel, when an arsonist set the third floor ablaze; a young woman had her two children rescued when she dropped them out the window to waiting firefighters down below; and the same woman, unable to be rescued in time, fell to her death.

The psychics each have thirty minutes to discover as many facts as they can—and cannot ask what Roger’s career is or anything about his background.

Sylvana begins, saying it was a crime planned; one person was very greedy and involved somehow in gambling; and then says Roger’s brother keeps trying to tell her something. But Roger says he has no brother. Sylvana also sees someone falling; and then begins to choke, saying she can’t breathe.

Zenobia determines there was a double tragedy—such as a suiced/death. She says that Roger saw it and tried to help. She also picks up on hw very sad it was, how there was a young woman with kids, and adds that the initials ‘L’ and ‘M’ come up. (‘L’ and ‘M’ are actually the first letters of the children’s first names.) After saying it was very loud, Zenobia reiterates that there was something Rger could have done, but it was too late.

Jackie starts her reading of the past scene by kind of circling Roger like a stalking huntress and telling him she is White Serpent who walks the line between the living and the dead. She then gets in his face and says, “Rog, you smell like a cop…in law enforcement.” Jackie adds there was a fire, says somebody went off the roof, a young girl, maybe, and drugs were involved.

Lynn senses “disaster” there; and determines the place has been re-built. She says somebody was trapped; and there was a child screaming and crying and calling out, “…Miss you, Mommy.” Lynn then identifies that there was a fire, as she grabs her own right shoulder over and over and begins to cry. (She, too, was in a devastating fire when she was a kid.)

The scores are tallied:

Lynn has earned 25, 7, and 36 points, giving her 68 points and making her eligible for the semi-finals.

Jackie (yay) has earned 25, 15, and 7 points, giving her 47 points and making her eligible for the semi-finals.

Zenobia has earned 0, 19, and 26 points, giving her 45 points and making her score too low to go on.

And Sylvana has earned 0, 12, and 15 points, giving her a total of 27 and also making her psychic journey on the show end there.

Not only is the show “America’s Psychic Challenge” comprised of fascinating historical data and intriguing challenges, but I find that most interesting is how each psychic, with his or her specialty in a specific paranormal category, has strength in some areas and not so much in others…, so that the scores reflect or contribute to a leveling out by the end of the episode.

That makes for much more engaging television than if each were to come in with the same or same kinds of gifts. Kind of like a game show where each contestant has exponents of skills to bring to the challenges.

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