Syfy's paranormal investigation show Destination Truth returns to screens tonight (March 17) at 10/9c with an episode timed to coincide with St. Patrick's Day. The Season 3.5 opener, titled 'Ghosts of Masada / The Leprechaun' sees geographer-turned-ghost-hunter Josh Gates travel with his team to Ireland to look for evidence of those little people who reputedly dress in green and cradle pots of gold.

In the same episode Gates also jets off to Masada in Israel, the site of a mass suicide in Roman times in which about 1,000 people killed themselves. In both Masada and the Irish countryside he finds local people who are convinced that they have seen or heard supernatural phenomena and he has some strange encounters of his own.

Thanks to our friends at Syfy we can bring you a sneak preview of 'Ghosts of Masada / The Leprechaun'. You can view it in the Trailer tab above. Yours truly also had a chance to view an advance screener of the episode and I can report that the new season looks every bit as intriguing, entertaining and fun as its predecessors.

Destination Truth is one of the lesser lights in Syfy's schedule. It doesn't get the hype that is given to the channel's big guns, Stargate Universe, Sanctuary and Caprica (here in Canada, for instance, episode premieres for those shows have been broadcast at the same time on Syfy and its Canadian equivalent SPACE, whereas there is no word yet on when the new season of Destination Truth will appear). Yet, I think that Destination Truth is one of Syfy's most interesting and entertaining shows. It's quality owes much to the likeable and professional Gates, who never comes across as a patronizing American tourist.

Each episode of Destination Truth has Gates and his team visiting two international locations to search for legendary creatures or investigate supposedly haunted sites. The format is similar to that of Syfy's longer-running Ghost Hunters and is clearly successful because Destination Truth's previous seasons earned impressive ratings. Like Ghost Hunters and its spinoffs, Destination Truth is what is described as an unscripted series. Some people call it a reality show, but I think that's unfair. Either way, though, it  represents reality in a dramatic fashion for television. Hence, it is difficult to know what is real and what is edited for dramatic effect. What prevents it from becoming banal and absurd, however, is the rational, scientific approach that Gates and his team use. They often get excited by what they see (in the season opener it is a spectral figure on the walls of Masada that really gets them going), but they never get carried away with any evidence of paranormal activity that they find.

Also, Gates always attempts to debunk anything the team finds that looks supernatural. In the Masada segment, for example, he gets the stars of Ghost Hunters, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, to review the footage from that expedition. The guest appearances by these two are a recurring event in the series. They feel somewhat staged for the purposes of encouraging people to watch both shows rather than an attempt at a comprehensive investigation of strange phenomena. In fairness, though, the boys from The Atlantic Paranormal Society come across as serious about what they do and are clearly not there merely to make things look more mysterious. Rather, the opposite is true. Hawes and Wilson provide convincing explanations for some of Gates' Masada experiences. Like all good paranormal investigators, they also leave at least one event unexplained in order to maintain the mystery.

In order to get through two sites per episode, many events in Destination Truth happen at a quickfire pace (Gates, himself, once told me that he would prefer to have only one mystery per episode so that he had the time to investigate it more thoroughly). Nonetheless, there is always time along the way for humor. In the case of the Leprechaun segment there is the inevitable stop-off at an Irish pub. This turns out to be an important location in the investigation because the landlord shows the team what he believes to be the skeleton of one of the little people. Gates and his crew then imbibe numerous pints of Guinness after they are assured that it will improve their leprechaun-spotting skills (did I say I want his job?).

The breakneck pace at which each hour-long episode moves is presumably Syfy's way of exaggerating the drama. That is something that Arthur C. Clarke never felt the need to do in his marvelous Mysterious World series back in 1980 and it isn't necessary here. The mysteries have enough inherent interest and Gates' after-dark forays into creepy places have plenty of drama. Nothing would be lost by slowing things down. As it is, there is little time for Gates or the viewer to pause for thought and every commercial break is preceded by a cliffhanger intended to keep viewers glued to their TV sets. The latter are the cause of my biggest criticism of Destination Truth. They feel totally out of place in a show in which the presenters approach their work with a level head. Moreover, some cliffhangers happen with such speed and drama that they are almost laughably over-the-top.

Presentation faults aside, 'Ghosts of Masada / The Leprechaun' has all of the elements that make Destination Truth an entertaining watch. Gates and his crew approach their investigations with intelligence and respect but they never take themselves too seriously. Overall, the show  provides a good mix of geographical education, skepticism and the heebie-jeebies. Syfy may make the show more dramatic than it needs to be, but equally they should be praised for putting money into something that is presumably expensive and logistically difficult to make and that introduces people to places that they might otherwise be unaware of.

To coincide with the start of Season 3.5, the first season of Destination Truth will be released by Universal on DVD on March 23.