America's Psychic Challenge

In episode 2 of the quarterfinals of America's Psychic Challenge, four more psychics squared off against each other in challenges designed to test their psychic abilities. At the end of this episode, two advanced to the semifinals, while two were sent home.

For their first challenge, Jeff, Michelle, MW, and Joseph were to find a young boy (Austin, 13) hiding on a 17-acre ranch. Mark Mireles, a licensed Private Investigator, helped judge this challenge. Each psychic met Erin, Austin's mother. They were given a shirt of Austin's (unwashed), and 30 minutes to find him. They could earn anywhere from zero to 25 points.

Joseph went first. He said that he felt a connection to Austin's energy right away when he touched Austin's shirt. He found Austin in an impressive four minutes and 12 seconds. He said that Austin looked exactly like he thought he'd look. Joseph got 23/25 points for this challenge. He pretty much made a beeline for Austin's hiding place except for one right turn.

Michelle went next, and she had a much harder time. It was about 110 degrees out, and she said she didn't work well in the heat. She never did find Austin, but she got 8/25 points for at least getting in the general area.

Jeff, like Joseph, picked up Austin's energy from touching his shirt right away. He said that Austin had a bright energy. I thought it was impressive when Joseph found Austin in four minutes and 12 seconds, but Jeff topped that. He found Austin in one minute and 24 seconds! Austin said that in his head he was trying to think of directions. When he said what he was thinking, we learn that Jeff picked up on exactly what he was thinking. Jeff got 25/25 points on this challenge.

MW said she thought the shirt helped her a little, but she didn't seem to pick up on Austin's energy the way the men so clearly had. She didn't find Austin either, but got 6/25 points for being in the general area.

I guess if I were lost or had a lost child, I'd want Jeff or Joseph to be the ones looking. Though honestly, 30 minutes isn't much time, and given just a little more time, I think MW and Michelle also would have found him. Still, it was impressive to see how quickly Jeff and Joseph found Austin. In the van when they were all traveling to the next challenge, they both indicated that they thought both Austin and his mother had psychic abilities.

As in previous episodes, doing well in one challenge didn't necessarily mean one would do well in the next. For the next challenge, the psychics were presented with five rooms, one of which was empty. The other four all had people experiencing some type of emotion. The psychics were to guess which one had no human emotion. Michelle, who had only earned 8/25 points in the first challenge, picked the correct room without hesitating. She said she had gotten the room number through prayer and meditation before doing the challenge, and that her first instincts had always served her well. That turned out to be the case in this challenge as well.

In fact, Michelle was the only one to get any points in this challenge. It was an all-or-nothing deal for 25 points. MW said she was just looking for a physical form in each room in her mind. She said that she didn't work with emotions like an empath. She said that she didn't sense a form in room #3, but that room wasn't empty. She actually thought it was room #1 (the correct room) first but changed her mind. I guess she should have stuck with her first instincts as Michelle had.

Jeff said he was an empath, but he said he didn't feel any real emotions in any of the rooms. He picked door #2, behind which a person was meditating. The host asked if maybe he confused tranquility with a lack of emotion, and Jeff agreed that that was probably the case.

Joseph tried a technique he called "remote viewing." He got the #1 through this method, which wasn't explained well. It sounded like he was just trying to picture each room in his mind. I guess he should have trusted this method, because he ended up picking door #5.

In challenge #3, the psychics were to intuit the true relationship between two women. One had been the kidney donor for the other one. They had met through a living donor website. The women themselves were the judges for this challenge.

No one guessed the exact connection. In fact, I didn't think anyone except Michelle did well on this challenge. Michelle asked for their zodiac signs for some reason. I didn't see how that helped her, but she did guess that there was an illness involved. She also said that they both had to watch their abdominal area. She guessed incorrectly that it was due to female issues, but she did get the general area right. She said that both were connected through an important cause, and since both are donor advocates, that is certainly true. She also picked up on the names of the father and brother of one of the men. She got 30 out of a possible 40 points, the highest score of the evening. This earned her a spot in the semifinals.

The women felt that MW was way off, but gave her five points for saying that she sensed a mutual love for a higher cause. Joseph also didn't do well, saying he saw a mother-daughter connection. However, he did hone in on the commitment aspect of this relationship, though he didn't understand what it was exactly. He got ten points for this.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to beat Jeff, who had been ahead of him by only two points. Jeff got 20 points in this last challenge. He didn't get the connection between the two women, but he was very accurate in intuiting their individual personalities.

So next week Michelle and Jeff will square off against Lynn and Jackie in the semifinals. It should be fascinating to watch. I have my own prediction about the semifinals. I think Jackie, the scary voodoo priestess, will be one of the top two. My guess is that Michelle will be the other winner in next week's episode. Tune in next week to see if I'm right.