Miracles - E08

The Battle at Shadow Ridge
First Aired: Friday November 21, 2003 (Canada)

While investigating will-o-the-wisps in Virginia, Alva and Paul are tipped off about a strange occurrence in a neighboring town. Turns out that the Civil War is still happening.

The episode begins with two children taking a short cut through the woods and encountering an apparition of a Civil War soldier. The children run home to their mother to tell about the ghost they saw while, seemingly at the same time, the soldier returns to his camp to tell the same thing to his fellow soldiers. Elsewhere, Alva talks Paul into heading to Virginia to check out some swamp lights. They are tipped off by a police officer about the kids experience. Meeting and speaking with the children, the two decide to check out the spot themselves. While there, they encounter two young people who tell them there had been some strange occurrences at the nearby quickie store. They decide to pay the place a visit and witness some strange phenomenon. Alva believes that time is being revealed to itself in different intervals. Apparently, the one soldier who is witnessing this as well is Henry Tucker, in the company of the South who are about to take on a dangerous mission. After Paul is shot when during an ambush when the times coalesce into one, he is able to pick Henry out of some old pictures. It seems that Henry's spirit can't rest without knowing what happened to his wife and child. Paul and Alva find this out. They set up speakers, hoping the sound will punch through the time barrier so that Henry can hear Paul telling him what the fate of his family was. It works and the spirits of the soldiers are at peace.

This was a very interesting concept to use. The first twist is when you believe this might be a typical ghost story, but the ingenious method that Alva relates to Paul is very believable. It is a fresh take on "ghosts". It kind of made me wonder, were they really ghosts or was it just time bending? What would have happened if Henry died without knowing? Would his spirit have been trapped forever or had it been all along? This episode made me ask questions, but in a good way. I find it funny how the last episode how great acting but a flat storyline and then this one has a great storyline and decent acting.

Score: 8.9 / 10