‘Ghosts’ Season 3 Is Veering Too Far Away From Its Origins

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Ghosts Season 3.

When Ghosts first appeared on CBS, the adaptation of the BBC original brought something different to the “living person can see ghosts” genre that has long been a staple of American television and film. Its premise allowed for a host of spirits across multiple generations to appear, from Nordic Viking Thor (Devan Chandler Long), the oldest of the ghosts in the house, to stockbroker Trevor (Asher Grodman), the most recent addition, having passed away in 2000. The interactions between the spirits were funny, and often heartwarming, while Sam (Rose McIver), who can interact with the ghosts, and her loving husband Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) grounded the series with a rock-solid couple dealing with their strange, new circumstances.

The first season of Ghosts was unique, a TV series without a hint of mean-spiritedness, featuring a group of characters that made a makeshift family of sorts. Flash forward to Season 3, and that feeling of family has disappeared in favor of a casual disregard for one another and a carnality that is far removed from the crew who didn’t understand how the phrase “sucked off” could be seen as a double entendre. And the series is suffering as a result.

Ghosts (US)

A young couple, Sam and Jay, inherit a haunted mansion and, unaware of their invisible housemates, plan to turn it into a B&B. Their lives become much more complicated after a fall causes Sam to see the ghosts. Based on the UK series.

Release Date

October 7, 2021

Creator

Joe Port, Joe Wiseman

Main Genre

Comedy

Season 1 of ‘Ghosts’ Kept Viewers in Good Spirits

The premiere of Ghosts promised something different from the very beginning. The concept of ghosts having to interact with families that have moved into their home has been seen in short-lived TV series like the 1989 sitcom Nearly Departed, a vehicle for Monty Python alum Eric Idle, and 1983’s Jennifer Slept Here, and soon-to-be revisited on movie screens with the upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. But Ghosts had eight spirits, each from different eras over a 1,000-year span, that had died on the property of an old country house. They couldn’t be more different from one another: the aggressive Viking, Thor; hard-partying stockbroker, Trevor; the cynical Lenape man, Sasappis aka “Sass” (Román Zaragoza); closeted Continental Army officer Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones); the uptight and wealthy Henrietta, aka “Hetty” (Rebecca Wisocky); theatrical Prohibition Era lounge singer Alberta (Danielle Pinnock); “Flower” (Sheila Carrasco), the sweet, naive hippie; and Pete (Richie Moriarty), the socially awkward travel agent and one-time Pinecone Trooper leader.

Despite their differences, by the time we meet them, they are working together on a common goal: scare off the new owners of the home, Sam and Jay, who hope to turn the property into a bed and breakfast. Their efforts inadvertently lead to Sam experiencing a near-death experience, after which she can see and hear the ghosts. Sam’s newfound ability changes the status quo, but in an unexpected fashion. The big-hearted and kind Sam is genuine in her desire to help the ghosts however she can, and the ghosts come to care deeply for the couple. It works because McIver sells Sam’s optimism and considerate nature fully. It works because Ambudkar’s Jay supports and loves Sam completely and without question. Even in the face of absurdity, he has to take on faith, without eye-rolling, sarcastic remarks, or snarky cynicism. It works because the ghosts do truly care for one another.

‘Ghosts’ Started to Pivot in Season 2

The living and the dead of Ghosts all share a level of familial connection that is rarely seen in these types of shows. In “Viking Funeral,” the recovery of Thor’s remains poses a dilemma for Sam and Jay. The sale of a Viking skeleton would easily fund the renovations the dilapidated house needs desperately, but instead, they give Thor a proper Viking funeral because it’s the right thing to do. In “Attic Girl,” when teen ghost Stephanie (Odessa A’zion) pulls a mean prank on Sam, one that preys on a scarring event from her past, the ghosts all turn away from her, each finding her act an attack on their own. It’s only because of Sam’s good heart that the ghosts welcome Stephanie back in for the prom she never had.

These are all good, decent people, with even horndog party man Trevor confessing that his lack of pants in the afterlife is due to a kind act on his part, not from dying as he was womanizing. There’s a tangible innocence about it all, so when the ghosts talk about being “sucked off” it is legitimately laugh-out-loud funny, an unexpected comment from a source completely unaware of the innuendo behind it.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Ghosts started to pivot away from its beginnings. Arguably, it’s when Trevor and Hetty start their secret sexual relationship, but it could be Thor and Flower pairing off, the rift between Hetty and Alberta over Hetty’s knowledge that her son murdered Alberta, or Trevor excluding Isaac from the fraternity he starts. Besides the fact some of these things make no sense (these ghosts have been together literally for decades, yet only now realize they can have sex, for starters), the secret affairs, exclusions, and high emotions begin chipping away at the sense of family and innocence that was so engaging in its first season. Nevertheless, Season 2 ends on a positive note, with apologies made all around, and Sam and Jay reflecting on how the ghosts have made their lives fuller.

‘Ghosts’ Season 3 Is Unfortunately Getting Sidetracked

This is why the direction that Ghosts Season 3 has taken is so frustrating. “Sucked off” has been used so often that it’s lost what made it funny the first time around, and the recent use of the phrase “jerked off” in the episode “The Polterguest” seems a desperate grab for a cheap laugh. Flower’s apparent ascent to the next life seemed to be what would drive the first set of episodes, but apart from performing a single seance to try and get her back, she has rarely been mentioned since. The spirits of Season 1 would have been either desperate to try and get her back, or at least say goodbye, but the casual disregard of her absence is a blow to the feeling of family, and with us knowing that she’s alive… dead, and well, in a well, makes it that much more disappointing.

Thorfinn sleeping with Pete’s wife Carol (Caroline Aaron), to somehow prove that she’s still unfaithful may have made sense once upon a time, but the growth he had made over the course of the series makes it out of character, an oblivious and hurtful act to do to someone so close (and one that has riled the fanbase). Again, these are people that have been together for a significant period of time, yet don’t seem to know how to treat one another anymore. “The Polterguest” brought things down to a new low with lap dances being a significant plot element. Yes, lap dances. The innocence and charm that made Season 1 unique is getting lost, replaced by plot devices that turn the show into a carbon copy of any other sitcom.

It would be naive to think that Ghosts could, or should, have remained in a single gear — it’s not Seinfeld with its “no hugging, no learning” motto — but it still shouldn’t lose sight of what it was. The good news is that, despite its departure from its beginnings on many fronts, it still has those come-together moments that remind you how special Ghosts can be. Sass forging a friendship with Jay through his dreams, the group working together to help Jay beat Trevor’s brother at a football video game, Isaac’s new-found obsession with dinosaurs — these are the reasons why we fell in love with Ghosts in the first place, and while there may be no turning back, those things are still there, and so long as they continue to be, then perhaps not all is lost.

Ghosts is available to stream in the U.S. on Paramount+.

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