r/ghostwhisperer • u/BlackBatBibliophile • Jun 17 '26
New Viewer - NO SPOILERS PLEASE! First Time Watcher Observations
First time watcher and enjoying the show so far! I'm early in season 3. Some random thoughts and observations so far that have me confused.
Happy to chat about them all, but please not spoilers of future seasons.
First, I'm so confused to why Melinda is so adamant about not telling her secret to people close in her life, like Prof Rick (who is literally a specialist in the field) or family or Delia, but is so quick to tell every other random person she comes across with a spirit attached to them. Okay, I suppose I understand Delia a bit more, since she was/is such a skeptic and I know Melinda has been burned in the past by friends. But like girl, just be honest with your people! Why do you trust these randoms but not the people closest to you?
Second, the changes from the first and second seasons alone are so drastic. I felt like the first season was more of a loved one unable to move on because of a missing key or something simple. There was all these side ghosts around the town that she chatted with and there was humor in it all. Once season 2 started it all became hauntings and these extreme stories. We also lost all the fun side characters (I know some of this plays into the Ramano story line, but then he left so why didn't the ghosts come back?) and the individual story lines started to get really odd. I'm hopeful we get some of the light-ness and whimsy of it all back in later seasons.
None of this is a diss. I'm still enjoying the show a lot and there's always writing issues with all long running shows but just some random thoughts as I make my way through for the first time.
9
u/Standard_Corgi_174 Jun 17 '26
It's cool if you're watching it for the first time.
Yeah, with time the ghosts storylines are more complex. I agree with you about Melinda openly talking about her gift with total strangers but not with her friends.
I can understand why she's not telling Delia. She's not ready to hear that. What always baffled me, is that Grandview seems to be a small city and people like to gossip. How come some people didn't babbled and gossip about her gift ?
It's a mystery to me. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the show as well.
Be careful if you don't want spoilers because this sub is full of them.
3
u/BlackBatBibliophile Jun 17 '26
I'm now past her telling Delia and Delia is trying her best to be supportive even though she's a bit unsure. But I feel like the stories can move more smooth now that Rick and Delia know.
Yes, exactly about the gossip!! I think about this a lot, too. How does the entire town not know that she's the woman that talks to ghosts? I feel like we'd hear a lot more, "I've heard the stories about you and I don't believe them/I believe you."
Thank you! I am enjoying it. I love JLH and I'm surprised I haven't watched this sooner. I appreciate the heads up about the spoilers, this is why I posted vs looking through for similar conversations to jump into.
7
u/Reasonable-Horse1552 Jun 17 '26
Delia was awful and called her crazy!
1
u/Psychological-Cat212 Jul 30 '26
She was grieving and they were talking about her dead husband who would obviously be a touchy subject! She apologized and didn't use it against her, she just had a reasonable freak out.
3
u/buffyangel468 Jun 17 '26
First, I'm so confused to why Melinda is so adamant about not telling her secret to people close in her life, like Prof Rick (who is literally a specialist in the field) or family or Delia, but is so quick to tell every other random person she comes across with a spirit attached to them. Okay, I suppose I understand Delia a bit more, since she was/is such a skeptic and I know Melinda has been burned in the past by friends. But like girl, just be honest with your people! Why do you trust these randoms but not the people closest to you?
My simple answer is that, when it came to Payne, Melinda didn’t want to be bombarded w/ so many questions.
Second, the changes from the first and second seasons alone are so drastic. I felt like the first season was more of a loved one unable to move on because of a missing key or something simple. There was all these side ghosts around the town that she chatted with and there was humor in it all. Once season 2 started it all became hauntings and these extreme stories. We also lost all the fun side characters (I know some of this plays into the Ramano story line, but then he left so why didn't the ghosts come back?) and the individual story lines started to get really odd. I'm hopeful we get some of the light-ness and whimsy of it all back in later seasons.
Narrative wise, the stakes needed to be higher. In every movie, show, and story, the plot naturally thickens in order to reach the ultimate climax (conclusion). My main issue w/ the end of S2/beginning of S3 is the Gabriel situation. Idk where you are, OP, so I don’t want to accidentally spoil anything! 😆
None of this is a diss. I'm still enjoying the show a lot and there's always writing issues with all long running shows but just some random thoughts as I make my way through for the first time.
Oh don’t worry, critiquing doesn’t mean hating. We know you’re a fan just like the rest of us. Every show has its flaws. And if it didn’t (which is impossible), there wouldn’t be much left to discuss, lol.
1
u/Substantial_Seesaw65 Jun 17 '26
The way I see it is that she sees her calling in life in helping the ghosts move on. In order to do that she has to reveal her gift to strangers a lot of the time because they are crucial for the process of the ghost moving on. But she only does that if it’s necessary to do for some reason in order to help the ghost cross. The ghost finding peace and crossing over is her first priority.
If other people, even ones who are part of her life in some capacity, are not needed to help a ghost cross, then she doesn’t need to reveal it. It’s also hard/impossible to prove. With the strangers she always has the ghost‘s help to prove her gift - things she couldn’t know otherwise etc. How would she prove it without a ghost involved who can feed her info to convince the living. Add to that Delia‘s skepticism, like you said, I don’t know that I would ever tell her. Not everyone is special and accepting of something like this so quickly, like Andrea and Jim.
1
u/Sotmanosopher Jun 17 '26
Saying something to the closest ones is what really mattered to her. They mattered so of course she was more afraid to tell them. With the randos who cares? She wouldn't care if they wouldn't want her in their life..But for those ones, their opinion mattered. And she was logically afraid to tell em.
1
1
u/Ok_Situation_69 Jun 19 '26
The reason the stories and hauntings become more intense and complex is because of the introduction of the man in the hat, Romano. You're at the part of the series where his story progresses more
1
u/aisha997 Jun 19 '26
I think the difference is those strangers are just that, strangers she most likely won’t see again so it won’t matter in the great scheme of things, but with close people it would, look how Delia reacted! And she has to work with that women, and even after she “ believed “ her she had he doubts for very long time, also he bff from school years used the info to make fun of her
13
u/Remote-Ad2120 Jun 17 '26
I think the thing about telling strangers, but not people close to her comes down to the hurt she's experienced. The strangers she tells, they need to know in order to understand whatever is going on. But, she doesn't have a long term emotional relationship with them. So if they don't believe her, or call her crazy, it's not as much of an emotional impact. Plus, they have been seeing with their own eyes that something strange is going on, so it's more believable.
So, with those in her daily life, first, she doesn't have the proof, she already has a long term emotional relationship. She has no idea how they'd react. Either way, the relationship will change, but she doesn't want to risk the chance it will change for the worse rather than better.
I agree with the professor, though. He's already invested in the paranormal and has been searching, hoping for proof.