Wellington Paranormal Review: 70’s Ghost (Season 1 Episode 3)
Wellington Paranormal Season 1 Episode 3, “70’s Ghost,” easily surpasses its predecessors in humor alone. All three of the leads are firing on all cylinders while playing off of each other like seasoned pros. It’s comedy magic.
Notably, Mike Minogue stands out as the dull but lovable Officer Minogue. He doesn’t portray Minogue in a way that pokes fun at the character for being a bit dense, but rather, his love for Minogue shines through. He injects a contagious joy into Minogue that’s a delight to watch.
In addition, Karen O’Leary plays the straitlaced character to perfection.
Her reactions to Minogue’s mispronunciations and blunders are priceless. Maaka Pohatu amps up Sergeant Maaka’s feigned expertise regarding the paranormal, and imbues a smattering of self-indulgence that should be irritating; however, it’s actually endearing.
Wellington Paranormal even takes the slapstick comedy up a notch, particularly the scene wherein Minogue and Maaka inadvertently tase each other instead of the poltergeist. While that bit is funny on its own, O’Leary’s nonchalant reaction to it is even funnier.
Minogue: Well, if you were sitting on the toilet, you’d be sitting on my head right now because my head’s in the toilet.
There’s something about dry humor that elevates the supernatural genre as a whole.
You’d think the two wouldn’t mesh. However, they come together for the unholiest of matrimonies like butter on bread. O’Leary, Maaka, and Minogue do an excellent job of remaining grounded in reality amid the kooky antics of Wellington Paranormal.
It would be so easy to embellish or overact the dialogue. But it’s so hysterical all on its own that these actors don’t need to be over the top. They can just be.
Some of the running gags from the first two episodes make a return for “70’s Ghost.”
For starters, Minogue incessantly using his walkie-talkie to communicate with O’Leary when she’s standing right beside him. Any character delivering a speech to the camera while some paranormal shenanigans unfurl behind them.
These gags are highly effective, and this team knocks it out of the park. Seldom can a TV show really make one laugh out loud, but this series is capable of eliciting those belly laughs, and then some.
Wellington Paranormal isn’t trying to deliver a heavy-handed message or address a hot-button topic: it’s here to make you laugh, and it excels at this with flying colors. It’s good old-fashioned paranormal escapism.
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Wellington Paranormal airs Sundays at 9/8c on The CW.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.