The trapped in the asylum episode of Expedition X chose to overly dramatize the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum location, which was a missed opportunity, especially given the institution’s history.
Expedition X embarked on a two-episode mission to investigate the (in)famous Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia.
The Wednesday, August 21, 2024 episode marked the conclusion of the two-part investigation. The episode held some promise that Expedition X team would uncover untold and paranormal mysteries of the over 150-year old institution.
Instead, what we got was a never-ending slapstick of comical takes, an unfocused investigation, overacting and outrageous findings.
Findings that spat in the face of all the history and context of this notorious institution and this dark part of America’s mental healthcare history.
The findings narrated by Josh Gates at the end the second episode make it sound as if a proper investigation was done at the institution. And without a shadow of irony and awareness, Gates declared that:
“We were told that the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was perhaps the most haunted building in America. From the moment our investigation began, it did not disappoint.
One of the most extraordinary moments came when Heather was overwhelmed with sickness in the criminally insane building. And at the exact same time, Phil swore he heard the impossible. His name called out by Heather.
We analyzed the audio. And chillingly, Phil does appear to be correct. Isolating and enhancing the audio from Phil’s personal mic, we identified this.
With Phil being a quarter mile away from the criminally insane building, we know this cannot be Heather’s voice. But it also seems more than an audio glitch.
But some of the things we heard do seem to have a rational explanation. The terrifying scream while investigating the medical building was recorded by the microphone Heather left behind.
After analyzing the high-fidelity recording, Phil is confident he identified the culprit. A barn owl. Perhaps the very same one that left the pellets we found in the attic.
But not all the evidence gathered on our second night of the investigation could be so easily explained. After we set up our lasers in D ward, we left cameras running and captured this anomaly. Appearing like a shadow figure. The figure did not appear when we said, “Bodies in the door” as hoped. But its timing is actually unsettling.
The anomaly appeared at the very same moment that Phil and Heather said “David Mason” during our experiment. Heather believes the brutal murderer was walking the asylum halls one last time.
So, is Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, one of the most haunted buildings in America? After the horrifying history we uncovered and the terror we personally experienced, it’s hard to say anything other than yes.”
Except, despite the rosy depiction by Josh Gates above, the Expedition X team actually uncovered no history about the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. We only saw a few splices of historical archives, and three interviews.
Two from the two owners of the property (with one of them playing the dual role of the property’s resident Historian), and one gentleman who did guard duty at the institution at the near end of existence in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
No interviews with people worked in either the medical and medical experimentation wings of the institution.
No word from people who were committed, their families, former nurses at institution, or even contemporary views and insights from the medical and mental health fraternity, or academia.
Especially given the blight that such an institution was to medicine, medical ethics, mental healthcare and patient rehabilitation. Nothing.
Just Josh gates reading what sounded like Wikipedia entries of the place. With the occasional cut to archival photos and dramatic footage of the hallways taken during Expedition X’s so-called investigation.
Which is a shame, especially for those who will likely never set foot at Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. The Expedition X show, given its resources, missed a golden opportunity to genuinely delve into intricacies of such an ill-famed location.
What we got instead was the technology-induced theatrics and overacting we’ve come to expect from Expedition X. Yet another REM pod, a sprit box, thermal cameras, laser planes, and EMF tripwires.
All types of gibberish, gadgets and gimmicks. Theatrics that led the team to conclude the terror they “personally experienced”, means that the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is one of the most haunted buildings in America.
Amid the oohing and aahing delivered with D-list acting gasps, especially by Josh Gates and Heather Amaro at every sound and noise (real or imagined), the history of this infamous place, the gravity of the moment, and indeed a true investigation into its paranormal possibilities, was missed by the Expedition X team. And us, as the viewers, are poorer because of it.
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