Legend Quest - Coda

My review of Legend Quest was brief mostly because it's a bit outside what I usually review in these spaces -- that is, "true supernatural" TV shows.  (Though I have been known to review movies and/or theater productions, too.)  Longtime readers know that my hope in doing most reviews is to separate the wheat from the chaff, allowing me and the readers to track the science of the supernatural, and whether shows are giving good, scientific info, or merely repeating dogma and legends (which is what most do, most of the time).  We can't hope to find out, for instance, if bigfoot is real without actual, scientific evidence -- as opposed to (often unreliable) hearsay and witness testimony.  I want to know whether monsters are real; I praise shows that work toward that end and damn those that (often deliberately) repeat myths and otherwise obfuscate.

Legend Quest doesn't really fall into that realm.  It is a show that attempts to draw connections between pieces of actual evidence associated with mythical objects and places.  I may not agree with those connections -- so far, I think a lot are big stretches -- but, at least as far as I can tell, Ashley Cowie and his crew aren't deliberately ignoring or cutting their show to conceal facts that don't fit with their presuppositions.  Instead, they're following thin threads of evidence and, hopefully in so doing, making viewers think in new directions.  They're also highly entertaining when they do it.  That's the true value in the DaVinci Code and for this show, too.  I think that's worth doing.  And I hope Legend Quest encourages others to think rather than merely believe.  (Thus, my admonition to not take it too seriously.)

It's also worth mentioning (and maybe not obvious from my review) that I enjoyed both of the episodes I've seen so far.  They have that adventurous, headlong quality that I admire so much in Destination Truth -- a quality that makes going out and searching for legends look like a lot of fun.  That, too, is worthwhile, and hopefully it will encourage others to get the training needed to go into the field, find out new things, and do good work.

Be like Cowie.  Be adventurous.  Ask questions.  (Even about "reality" TV shows.)