Stream It Or Skip It?
When we left the gang at the Woodstone Estate at the end of Season 4 of Ghosts, Jay had just found out that he sold his soul to a representative of the devil, and now he has to be careful not to do anything that might get him killed. Does he end up in hell or will he stay with his wife and the ghosts he’s buddies with but can’t see?
GHOSTS SEASON 5: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: In the lobby of the Woodstone Estate, Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), Flower (Sheila Carrasco) and Pete (Richie Moriarty) talk to Sam (Rose McIver) about the situation Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) is in.
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The Gist: What situation is that? Well, when Jay made a deal with Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh), whom he thought was a publicist, to promote his new restaurant, he found out that Elias is an agent of the Devil and that Jay traded his soul for the publicity. Elias, who can be in demon form (that Jay can see) or ghost form (that Jay can’t see), is now actively trying to kill Jay in order to bring him to his boss… down there.
First, though, Elias decides that he should actually do his publicity job, so he books Jay on Good Hang With Amy Poehler, after which Elias will kill him. “Make it a good hang, for it shall be your last hang,” he says with a chuckle.
Of course, Sam and the ghosts won’t let that happen, but there doesn’t seem to be a cohesive plan to get Jay out of the deal. Jay figures he can set up an old ghost catcher, activate it right as before he goes to Hell, and live out his days on the tiny recliner he put in there. But the others have a better plan: Have Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), whom Elias is attracted to, hit on him. He has to turn into a ghost in order for her to touch him, which is when they’ll get him in the ghost catcher.
In the meantime, Pete and Alberta are trying to figure out when to take their new relationship public, but the Jay-going-to-hell thing seems to be sucking up a lot of the energy at the estate. But them not going public also means that everyone still thinks that Pete blew off Bertie’s advances, which doesn’t sit right with her.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Ghosts is an American remake of the 2019-2023 UK original version of Ghosts (which aired on CBS as Ghosts UK during the writers and actors strikes).
Our Take: At this point, Ghosts showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman have leaned into the idea that it’s Sam and Jay and the ghosts against the world, or at least for spirits like Elias, that hope to do people harm.
What they’ve also done is open the door for other ghosts to pop in and out, like the less-than-saintly Carol (Caroline Aaron) and the trying-to-be-saintly Patience (Mary Holland). Of course, basement dweller Nancy (Betsy Sodaro) is also floating around, just to make things interesting.
It really has gotten to the point where, if you didn’t see their costumes or hear Sam describe what was going on to Jay, you wouldn’t realize all of these people were ghosts. They like modern things — Sassapis (Román Zaragoza), for instance, says that Good Hang is a “really popular podcast” — and they all seem to be having some interesting interactions at the mansion while waiting to get “sucked off” to the other side.
It’s a conceit that probably doesn’t have much of a remaining shelf life; there’s a reason why the UK original ended after 5 seasons, and they produced far fewer episodes than the American version did. But we’re still enjoying the gang living together at the mansion, so that’s all that really matters.
Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Jay gets a gift from Sam.
Sleeper Star: This is a good place to mention the other two regular ghosts we didn’t mention above: Thorfinn (Devan Long), who is trying to take advantage of his word-a-day calendar but is stuck using the same word, and Trevor (Asher Grodman), who still doesn’t have pants.
Most Pilot-y Line: This isn’t really a bad line, but it’s a good place to cite an interesting in-joke for those in the know: Matt Walsh and Amy Poehler are two of the co-founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade, so when Elias mentions that he booked Jay on Good Hang through “connections,” we chuckled to ourselves.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Ghosts is still fun, but we’re just not sure how many good stories this Sam, Jay and the ghostly gang have left in them.
How To Watch Ghosts
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Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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