Ghosts 3×04 “Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” Spoilers Ahead
Written by Josh Malmuth and directed by Pete Chatmon, Ghosts Season 3, Episode 4, “Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave,” is one of the show’s boldest episodes to date, marking an unforgettable special that’s bound to change the trajectory of the series.
What begins as yet another hilarious episode pitches a curveball and ends with a massive bombshell that makes waiting for the next installment nearly impossible. Where do we go from here? How much will any of this truly change the show’s course, and how are we to work through all new revelations while Jay and Sam continue trying to improve their reputation as B&B owners?
Ghosts 3×04 Upholds Its Séance Tradition With a Twist
Dun dun dun…Flower is alive? Trapped in a well where she fell and hasn’t been able to get out since? On a show like Ghosts, dead or alive, anything is possible with the characters. They can come and go in various ways, and this revelation about Flower divulges that there’s still a bigger picture here that we’ve yet to uncover. Did another ghost, perhaps nearby that they weren’t aware of, get sucked off while she simultaneously disappeared? Could it have still been her, but she thought of the well and thereby landed there instead? We don’t have the answers to any of these questions at the moment, but we do have killer performances from Devan Chandler Long, who continues to show Thor’s vulnerability and longing emotions with plenty of heart.
There’s no way he’s getting over Flower anytime soon, especially when there wasn’t a proper goodbye between them. They weren’t preparing for it. They weren’t expecting it. They didn’t want it. It wasn’t meant to be this way with the progress the two of them had made as a couple, so what’s that going to like going forward when he wasn’t even able to see her with the séance?
Further, as much as the show leans toward convenient manners of addressing scenarios, it often does so organically, which begs the question of how we’d end up near the well to hear Flower screaming for them. Will we see it with the return of the owl? At the same time, Ghosts 3×04 “Halloween 3: The Guest Wouldn’t Leave” proposes that they could start to question séances and their existential demons further, digging deeper into what it means to exist outside the confines of their purgatory. (I do keep wondering about Sam and her thoughts on the matter of death, particularly since last week’s “He Sees Dead People.“
“Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” in Question
Caroline Aaron returns as Pete’s ex-wife, Carol, and she’s here to stay? What ultimately works best with Ghosts 3×04 “Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave” is this detail that two shocking revelations feel like they should land in a finale episode. It’s a bold, risky, and admirable move to bring this along so close to the season premiere because it gives the writers plenty of material to work with.
It’s the kind of scenario that prompts one enormous jaw-dropping moment after another because it’s easy to spend the entire episode with your mouth agape, wondering how on earth Sam will realize she is talking to a ghost. The mechanics of how they drew out the reveal to the very end made the episode far more hilarious, grueling, and intricately paced. To then bring it all around with Pete—then cut? It’s an absolute marvel that we get a show that takes this many chances because nothing about it feels drawn out for shock value. It’s all part of a larger story, which frankly scares me a little because I don’t want Pete to have his big epiphany too soon and get sucked off.
Ultimately, though, Hetty is indeed quoting a dog commercial (featuring a fantastic line delivery from Rebecca Wisocky), she makes an excellent point, which Ghosts 3×04 “Halloween 3: The Ghost Who Wouldn’t Leave” plays on. Sam means the world to the ghosts—she’s everything to them and has been from the moment she saw them. She’s pushed them in ways they would’ve never had the chance otherwise, and she’s helped them grow as people despite their metamorphosis being concentrated in a single spot. Still, everything is about to change, no matter how big or small the outcome is, with Pete’s wife joining the ranks. And it’s so apparent that the big picture will not only thoroughly shock viewers, but it’ll be the kind of outcome that’s undoubtedly earned.
Stray Thoughts
- “I’m going to excavate the sight of a bear mauling because my wife fell down some stairs once.” Jay continues to be husband goals, competing only with The Gilded Age’s George Russell at this point.
- “That’s it, Samantha—they want to see your back teeth.” No one is delivering lines like Hetty. No one.
- “What about his loins? I hate that I asked that.” Same, but I need Thor to be happy.
- “Is that what this is, God? Is this about the deck?” Is it the deck!???
Now streaming on Paramount Plus: What are your thoughts on Ghosts 3×04 “Halloween 3: The Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: Photo: Bertrand Calmeau/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc.