Ghosts season 3 review: So which specters were “sucked off”?
After last year's cliffhanger, the CBS sitcom returns to answer some big questions
TV Reviews Ghosts
When Ghosts viewers last visited Woodstone B&B, they were faced with a terrifying question: Which of the ghosts had been “sucked off”? (That is the show’s official term for a ghost who makes the transition from an endless purgatory to the afterlife, but we still marvel at how the writers managed to get around broadcast television’s strict standards and practices with this double entendre.)
The season-three premiere, which airs February 15 on CBS, a full nine months after the season-two finale due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, picks up in the immediate aftermath of that nail-biting cliffhanger. A frantic Sam (Rose McIver) and a hilariously clueless Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar)—he still can’t see the ghosts, much to his own chagrin—run back into their quaint mansion and do a head count to make sure all of their usual spirited specters are accounted for, only to discover that one of them has sadly disappeared into the light. (No spoilers here, but the writers have cleverly incorporated some real-life circumstances to make this plot twist work.)
With this reveal, the first two episodes of Ghosts’ third season become a surprisingly somber affair, showing just how close the “livings” and the ghosts have gotten in the brief time they’ve spent commingling as a kind of found family. Sure, the actors know their characters inside and out at this point, and the jokes are still coming thick and fast in an already truncated season. But even with this large of an ensemble, it is difficult to not feel the gaping hole that is left when one of them leaves the premises (albeit, hopefully, temporarily).
No matter how many times the writers attempt to write around this departure by reintroducing old ghosts, that character’s absence is still deeply felt and raises the simple question of whether Ghosts could survive with the departure of anyone from the main cast. (The answer is “probably not,” only because the individual performances have been so strong and it would feel like a stretch to simply introduce a new ghost on the property who Sam has not already met. We don’t envy the challenge of having to introduce a new ghost if one of the supporting actors does decide to move on from the show.)
Although this is obviously not the first time that the ghosts have enviously watched one of their counterparts ascend to heaven—or, in the case of Hetty’s awful husband/cousin, descend to hell—the remaining ghosts are each forced to contemplate existential questions that haven’t really been asked since the pilot, including just how far they are willing to go in order to get “sucked off” and how their departures would affect the other residents of the mansion. Let us be clear: The show is still as broadly comedic as ever and hasn’t lost the charm that made the first two seasons so successful, but there is an extra undercurrent of loss that rises to the surface this season that gives the actors something new to play with.
After two seasons of sustaining this high-concept premise, the writers have found surprising ways to add new layers to the characters without wading into overly familiar territory. Devan Chandler Long delivers a surprising standout performance as the amiable (if loud) Thorfinn, lending depth to the man behind the Viking. As the Victorian-era lady of the manor Hetty Woodstone, Rebecca Wisocky continues to set the standard for all of her fellow actors, consistently delivering some of the funniest lines on the show.
One of them comes early in the premiere when Hetty, the wife of a robber baron, offers some hilariously out-of-touch perspective about life and loss: “Loss is never easy but as I once told the grieving parents of a child factory worker who’d been pulled into a loom … there’s a job opening for your other child and this time be sure to cut their hair! They cried for joy.” In a bit of a departure from past seasons, Wisocky seems to be intentionally incorporating some more modern intonations in her way of speaking this season, a sign of how interacting with the living world has changed the ghosts in some profound way. (Hetty, of course, would be loathe to admit that she has changed in any way.) It remains to be seen, however, if the writers will be able to serve all of the ghosts in an effective way this season.
But it’s not all doom and gloom inside the walls of Woodstone B&B. The motley crew of remaining ghosts, once they are able to overcome some of their initial sadness about one of their own seemingly moving on, are up to even more hijinks this season. When they discover one of them has a track record of “losing” their romantic partners to the afterlife, multiple ghosts attempt to cozy up to that poor specter in a thinly veiled attempt to move on. That ghost, however, recommends a séance to bring the departed ghost back to their indefinite purgatory. (We would normally advocate against disturbing the peace of a ghost, but in this case, we’ll allow it.)
Meanwhile, another ghost reveals that they have a special power that can be manipulated for good or for evil—and this storyline actually gives poor old Jay an opportunity to interact with a ghost in a way that doesn’t require a TV set or steam over a bathroom mirror. It also grants the show an opportunity to finally address how Jay feels left out as well as another way to connect the land of the living with the deceased.
Ghosts, at the end of the day, possesses all the virtues and benefits of a classic ensemble sitcom—only with the added benefit of being able to weave in flashbacks and recurring characters in a way that doesn’t feel contrived. And yet, in the current TV ecosystem, where traditional network comedies now must compete with streaming “dramedies” that run twice as long (we’re looking right at you, Ted Lasso), Ghosts has been criminally overlooked in the awards conversation. For some reason, Academy voters believe that Abbott Elementary is the only network sitcom deserving of recognition. But they don’t need to look far to discover that Ghosts is equally deserving of that kind of praise. Let’s just hope they come to their senses before it’s too late.
Ghosts season three premieres February 15 on CBS, and seasons one through two are available to stream on Paramount+.
36 Comments
Ah. This continues the great tradition of American bastardisations of foreign TV shows because American execs think that if American audiences hear a non-American accent on their TV they’ll unload a full mag from their AR-15 at it, right?
I’d say we’re all Abed, but really, network execs just want a full schedule that brings copious ad dollars, and a series that runs for 3.27 episodes across 19 years isn’t compatible with that.
Christ, I hate those two.
I’ve watched both and the American version is waaaaaaayyyy funnier.
You sound waaaaaaay more illiterate than a UK viewer. Is that riiiiiiiiight? Have you never heard of italics to express emphasis? You poor shit.
Truly and some of the UK cast have been exec. producers for the US version. They must have found our version funnier too.
To be fair, US Ghosts is better than UK Ghosts.
Let’s not get carried away now! I suspect it’s more a matter of taste, but for me Ghosts US is one of the better UK to US translations, but the original is still the best (and was wrapped up beautifully in the Christmas episode). One particular example of the difference is how the obnoxious Trevor turns out to be a secret good guy, while the equivalent character in the UK version, Julian the philandering politician, had no redeeming features and was all the funnier for it.
US – better ghosts.UK – better livings.
Sorry – that’s a hard no. The US version is an 8/10 show but the original is a 9. Although I like Thorfinn’s obsession with Danes.
So a “hard” no is one number different? Pretty, pretty, pretty close. : )The livings in US show are a bit too sunny/bright. Better on UK show where the livings are more frustrated and Mike seems barely interested in them like Jay. Ghosts on UK version don’t have the heart as the Ghosts in US. At least we can agree we both like both versions! We’re looking forward to the season premiere.
Nigel Tufnell will tell you how much of a difference going one higher is.
Ha! I just got sucked into that movie on IFC the other day. First I’d seen it on cable in a looooong time!
You need the DVD in your life with the deleted scenes, plus the in-character commentary track. It’s the only DVD I own where I feel that the extras significantly enhance the movie.
I have it but such a pain to get that going. We use one of the gaming consoles for DVDs. I’m not even sure I know which one. Mrs. F. would probably hafta set it up for me.
Worth it.
That’s actually kind of why I like the US version better. My main issue is with the main couple, since the couple in the UK version are kinda idiots while the US couple are much more likeable because they’re actually competent. But in general, pretty much all the US characters are just less repellent than their UK counterparts.
That may be the UK dry wit, but I just don’t enjoy it as much when everyone just seems incredibly frustrating and unlikeable.
I wouldn’t say he had no redeeming features. They humanised him a bit going forward, especially when he began to realise just how much of his family life he actually missed.
I meant more his features in life. Trevor was clearly designed to be his equivalent, and then you find out that he was a closeted good guy.
This may all be connected to the contrast in episode counts between UK and US sitcoms. Unsympathetic characters seem to work better in smaller doses.
umm what
I love both Ghosts, but the UK one has so many British-specific references (like the pantsless MP) that it was never going to be huge in the US.
Oh, no! Americans may have to learn about other cultures! LOAD UP TIME AR-15, BOY! THERE’S FOREIGNERS ABOUT!TOM COTTON ASSURED US THIS WOULDN’T HAPPEN!
Might be becuase I’m not American , but the US version has about a 10th the warmth and humour of the original one (which did the sucked off joke a few years back) also Fanny is a thousand times better than racist 1800s era redhead (her US equivilent)
The Frighteners was a pretty good movie. I had forgotten about it until just now.
I love Abbott Elementary, but I think Ghosts is way funnier and the ensemble is a lot stronger; but because Abbott deals with Big Issues, the Academy likes it better, I guess.Or maybe they’re mad that a show has found a way to say that someone has been “sucked off” (or, conversely, that someone “went down on [us]”) without it getting censored.At any rate, Ghosts is so damned good. Just an absolute gem of a show and a tremendous cast, and also another example of a US version of a British show that has greatly outshined its source material.
I like the livings on both the US and UK Ghosts but the ghosts on the US version are much funnier & just better characters
So the clue that one of the ghosts has a history of their romantic partners going to heaven makes it seem like Flower or Isaac is the one that got sucked offSheila Carraso just had a baby so it could be herhttps://www.instagram.com/sheilatabasco/reel/CyjmARuPAGz/
Based on this review, I’m guessing it has to be Flower as well. And it would have to be Thor that’s losing romantic partners and people are cozying up to which makes sense that the review calls him out. I don’t LOVE the idea of a ghost being brought back permanently after they get a chance to move on, but I also don’t want to lose any of the main cast! I just don’t like setting that precedent
Definitely don’t want to lose any of the main characters/ ghosts but it seems somewhat important to the show’s premise that Sam is helping the ghosts become better people and eventually move on. So I am conflicted
And if it’s Flower and the showrunners want to bring her back for later seasons, the writers don’t even have to try that hard. They could literally just say she got lost and ended up back in Purgatory and we’d 100% buy that explanation.
Or she got lost on the property, which has happened before.
And I’m popping back in to say I was right! She’s fell down a well.
From the comments on here I see I am in the minority, but while I like both shows, I do significantly prefer the UK version. That is a comedy group that has been together for a while and play off of each other much better (and I think it is kind of fun that the same actors who play the main house ghosts in the UK version are also the ones who play the basement plague ghosts, just very different characters). While Thor is one of my favorites in the US version, I like the UK character of Robin (the caveman who you expect to be stereotypical, but it turns out that since he has been around the longest as a ghost, he is also probably the wisest, and has developed a skill for chess). There are fewer episodes per season and seem better written (they start the same but diverge a LOT story-wise just a few episodes in). And I do prefer the livings in the UK cast.
Ew, I didn’t know there was a seppo remake of the UK show. Really weird how you guys do that.
“Sucked off.”He. He he. He he he.
I can’t imagine that any of the main ghosts were “sucked off.” For it to have any impact, though, it does need to be someone who we’ve met before. Therefore, I think that it is one of the following:1) 80’s prom ghost, sucked off because she found contentment with the basement ghost she kissed2) Nigel, because he is finally happy to be in love and engaged to a man, which could have never happened in his time3) The basement ghost that the 80’s prom girl kissed, because she was either his first kiss ever or first kiss in over a hundred years4) The ghost that Nigel dumped for Isaac, because after Nigel got engaged, he made peace with the fact that they would never get back togetherAny other peripheral ghost would be a stretch.