While it’s a show with few weaknesses, Ghosts can sometimes fall into the classic sitcom trope of being so episodic that side characters can come and go inconsistently. Luckily, one of Ghost season 4’s best new characters, Joan, is confirmed to be returning for season 5, as well as the less popular Elias Woodstone and Patience the Puritan.
Hopefully, Patience, one of Woodstone Manor’s more annoying spirits, quickly helps save Jay’s soul and then is gone from the show. With an already crowded main cast of Ghosts, there are quite a few side characters who are better off not returning to the screen for the sake of giving the right Livings and spirits their time to shine, especially now that it seems we’ll meet the Others in Ghosts season 5.
7
Carol Martino
Pete’s Wife Has Not Learned Anything, Even After Dying
Carol was an unsavory character even before her death – cheating on someone as sweet as Pete – but she served a purpose in allowing Pete to move on from their marriage. However, when she died on the property at a Halloween party, she became a permanent fixture at Woodstone Manor.
In life, Carol was selfish and ungrateful, but in paranormal shows, death is often a second chance to become better. Yet ghostly Carol is just as self-serving, not caring at all when her living family was threatening Jay’s restaurant in Ghosts season 4, episode 13.
Ghosts has quietly written off side characters before, and with her marriage to Baxter, one of the British ghosts, maybe that is a natural exit for Carol. Pete’s relationship with Alberta is going to be complicated enough without the interference of his former wife.
6
Henry & Margaret Farnsby
Ghosts Is Strongest Without An Overt Villain
The show’s best conflicts arise from good intentions going wrong – like when Trevor tried to help Bela in Ghosts season 4, episode 11 – but Woodstone Manor’s neighbors represent a simplistic villain who only wants to antagonize Jay and Sam. Their plans are always so trite and topical – like wanting to install pickleball courts.
Ghosts approaches the Farnsbys’ swinger lifestyle as a quirky punchline, which is an old-fashioned way to view an alternative lifestyle. The show treats the Farnsbys as deviant rather than Sam and Jay as prudish. Jay is awfully judgmental for someone who will later facilitate a date between his sister and a spirit.
With a two-season renewal, Ghosts has more room to take bigger creative swings. If Sam and Jay were able to buy the Farnsbys’ property, Thor could reunite with his son. Alternatively, if the show wants to keep some conflict, perhaps new neighbors with an interest in the paranormal could move in next door.
5
Micah
Jay Has A Better Option For Friends Than This 742-Year-Old Cult Leader
Jay’s frustration at feeling perpetually left out was beautifully highlighted in Ghosts season 4, episode 21. Jay definitely needs more Living friends, but not the ones he made in season 2, episode 3, “Jay’s Friends.” His new friend Micah seemed charismatic on the basketball court, but Flower helps Sam quickly realize he’s actually a cult leader.
Jay takes a little longer to realize Micah is more than just quirky, finally putting all the clues together when Micah claims to be “742 years young“. So far, we haven’t seen Micah or his cult since season 2, but with Elias’ contract returning in season 4, Micah’s contract could haunt Jay as well.
We have some ideas on how Ghosts season 5 can use Jay better moving forward without him being able to see the spirits. While Jay could benefit from a friend group, he has a much more narratively convenient group built in: the kitchen staff of his restaurant, Mahesh.
4
Shiki
Sass Unquestionably Made The Right Choice When He Picked Joan
Joan had an immediate verve that was entirely her own while meshing well with the main spirits at Woodstone Manor, so it was exciting news that Joan is confirmed to be returning for Ghosts season 5. Ghosts season 4 overly relied on tired jokes about Sass’s virginity, finally put to rest after a love triangle involving Joan and Shiki.
Shiki is the spirit of a woman Sass loved from afar during his lifetime, making his grand gesture anonymously then dying before Shiki learned it was from him. In the afterlife, Shiki barely remembers who Sass is, until Pete lets it slip that Sass left the deer body at her home, which changes everything for Shiki.
Shiki’s abrupt shift from ambivalence to desire was an unsettling turn in the Ghosts season 4 finale, but luckily Sass makes the right choice in picking Joan, who admired Sass’s qualities that Shiki couldn’t see. While I hope Shiki isn’t left in eternal limbo, it would be fine if we never returned to her at the newspaper office.
3
Sunil
Hetty Is Ready For A Real Romance (But Needs Someone Who Can See Her All The Time)
Hetty’s brief but meaningful romance with Jay’s cousin Sunil in Ghost season 4, episode 16 proves that Hetty is ready for a relationship built on spiritual connection. She wasn’t ready when she and Trevor previously had their torrid, strictly physical affair, but Hetty had grown in the intervening seasons.
While Hetty is ready for a relationship, it can’t be with Sunil. Even with Hetty’s power finally revealed, Sunil would only be able to communicate directly with Hetty one day a year. Also, while Hetty and Sunil bonded over their respect for manners, Sunil seemed a bit too boring to keep up with Hetty’s more adventurous side.
Ghosts season 4 was potentially laying the groundwork for Hetty and Trevor to get back together in a more mature way when they became “power friends”. While Ghosts season 5 will be leaning away from its reliance on romance, Hetty is much more interesting paired with Trevor than Sunil.
2
Chris The Australian Stripper
Chris’s Spirit Had A Wild Ride At Woodstone Manor, And No Return Could Top His Exit
Chris’s return in Ghosts season 4, episode 16 as a spirit was a delightful twist after he unknowingly caused Isaac to call off his wedding to Nigel in season 3. Chris’s death meant that all of Isaac’s dreams could come true, but Ghosts instead created a painful paranormal love triangle when Chris hit it off with Nigel.
Isaac started off as one of the more dislikeable characters, but has had some of the most growth over the first four seasons. He is finally starting to put others first, proven when he gave Nigel a gentle white lie over a hard truth about Chris’s unceremonious exit.
Chris is a tertiary character who is funniest because we know so little about his interiority. His three-episode arc is perfect – surprising, funny, and gives Isaac some closure with Nigel. However, given the rules of roamers, Chris might have to return to Woodstone Manor – which would blow Isaac’s lie to Nigel.
1
Stephanie
Woodstone Manor’s Annoying Ghost Already Had The Perfect Goodbye Episode
Ghosts has such a large ensemble cast that even the main cast sometimes doesn’t make an appearance in episodes, so tertiary characters can be a little flat or arch. Stephanie – the mean teenage prom ghost – is one of the worst offenders, popping up once a season more as a plot device of mischief than a real character.
However, Ghosts season 4, episode 20 gave Stephanie a perfect exit, since what she was most bitter about is revealed to have a sweet core: she was hurt that her boyfriend moved on with her best friend, but they share it was their grief that brought them together. This would have been the perfect time to suck off Stephanie.
Stephanie is manipulative if not outright lying every time we see her. She is antagonistic to everyone but Trevor, who she is borderline sexually harassing, although luckily Trevor does the right thing, for once. To give our favorite main characters more time to shine, it would be fine if we never saw Stephanie in Ghosts season 5.
Ghosts (US)
8/10
- Release Date
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October 7, 2021
- Directors
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Christine Gernon, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Katie Locke O’Brien, Nick Wong, Jude Weng, Pete Chatmon, Richie Keen, Alex Hardcastle, Kimmy Gatewood, Matthew A. Cherry, Cortney Carrillo
- Writers
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Emily Schmidt, John Timothy, Lauren Bridges, Sophia Lear, Guy Endore-Kaiser, Rishi Chitkara, Julia Harter, Skander Halim, Zora Bikangaga
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Rose McIver
Samantha Arondekar
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Utkarsh Ambudkar
Jay Arondekar
