10. Island Castaway
Location: Pea Patch Island, Delaware
*** WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***
The five remaining cadets take a boat to Fort Delaware, a Civil War fort-turned-prison. Eric is psyched to be group leader, but the other cadets, especially Adam, are ready to meet his challenge. The academy meets Laura Lee, the park historian, but before she can dig in, Eric gets off to a rough start by interrupting her presentation. Everyone is taken aback, but soon Laura is back on track, telling the team about apparitions, intimidating noises and moving objects. Then the cadets rush to get center command set up, because out here, it's lights out when the sun goes down.
Vera takes a more active role in setting up, and Steve and Tango are pleased with the camera angles Eric has chosen. Eric then leads Vera and Michelle away as one team to the powder magazine, with Adam and Rosalyn a team unto themselves.
Vera hears steps in one of the powder tunnels, but the team is unable to explain the sound. Adam, investigating the officer's quarters with Rosalyn, comes up with some really creative dialogue with the spirits. They also hear a mysterious noise, and upon closer inspection, they discover a rattling window.
When Eric and team move to the kitchen, Vera busts the form right open by getting the group to sing a song to the ghost, and she pulls out a chair for someone to sit. Steve and Tango, from afar, are duly impressed. Michelle thinks she sees a strange heat signature coming off of the stove, but upon closer inspection, it's a trick of the angle of the thermometer.
Adam and Rosalyn move to the mess hall, and Adam is hit with inspiration: He calls the ghost of a man named Lee who used to work with Laura at Fort Delaware - Steve and Tango are blown away at his inventiveness. Rosalyn feels a static electricity build on her shoulder, and they hear some strange noises, but the source remains unexplained.
Eric then explores the powder magazine with Rosalyn and Adam, but takes a brash tack by testing them on their technical knowledge and claims of the facility, which not only rubs Rosalyn and Adam the wrong way, but also displeases Steve and Tango. Eric has no idea that he made any missteps, however.
In analysis, Michelle finds an out-of-place voice, but her skepticism keeps her from making the call that it's paranormal. Then Rosalyn presents some evidence, but stumbles over which file it was, and when she finally finds the clip, no one else can hear what she tries to point out.
In presenting evidence, Michelle has two catches, both of which impress Jason, but Rosalyn doesn't do as well - she missed evidence in this and past analyses. The TAPS team critiques her on this, and then moves to Eric's team leader style, and although he defends himself, they show him that his style was too commandeering. Vera earns high praise for her creativity, as does Adam, and Vera is nominated team leader. Then the guys discuss who to send home. Though Eric's style rankled, Rosalyn's weak technical knowledge is a greater liability, and she is dismissed.
