You know how each episode of Scooby Doo follows roughly the same plot?

The gang will roll up at some house and hear stories of a supernatural terror haunting the place. After twenty minutes of chasing through caverns, tunnels and secret passageways, Fred or Velma will hit on a plan. Shaggy and Scooby will balls up that plan, but inevitably land on the ‘ghost’, stunning them enough to be apprehended. Finally the unmasking reveals a corrupt minor character who “would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids and their dumb dog”. And the episode will end with a “rooby rooby doo”!

Ghost Whisperer reminds me a lot on Scooby Doo. Each week, a gruesome soul will appear to torment Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character, Melinda. And each week, she goes through a predictable routine of sleuthing what happened to the ghost, finding out the truth about their death and then helping them cross over into the light.

I read an excellent post lampooning the Scooby Doo formula of Ghost Whisperer by Quentin B Huff on PopMatters. Watching the second series of Ghost Whisperer, I couldn’t help noticing how similar the plot was each week.

Occassionally, the writers would really mix things up and throw in a ghost that refused to be helped by Melinda and would eventually turn to the dark side.

Ghost Whisperer, Series 3

Series 3 of Ghost Whisperer looks set to shake things up. I’ve seen a couple of episodes, and from the outset, there’s a shadow of bad things to come. The ghosts are harder to help, they argue with Melinda, and it isn’t clear that she’ll be able to cross them over.

There’s a Buffy-esque suggestion of evil lurking under the town of Grandview. Melinda’s absent father is somehow involved, though it seems he’s a ghost at this stage. In addition to the regular supporting cast of Jim, Delia and Rick Payne, some malevolent ghosts return in each episode to threaten Melinda.

Because of this, each episode is no longer self-contained, but points to a climactic season finale. We’ll no doubt learn more about the presence under Grandview as the series progresses, and now each episode is genuinely nail-biting as the outcome isn’t assured.