Paramount Plus Summary:
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.
FYA Summary:
I started watching the UK version of the show years ago but I never stuck with it. I was wary about the US remake, because sometimes these remakes don’t translate well (and the concept itself FEELS very British), but I’ve had a soft spot for Rose McIver since iZombie and decided to give it a try. Rose and Utkarsh as married couple Sam, a former-but-sometimes-still journalist, and Jay, a chef, are like a couple of golden retreivers; they’re goofy, sweet with good hearts, and sometimes a little dumb (especially when the plot calls for it). Having the ghosts connect with and feel possessive over Sam and Jay ups the “found family” feels, which I love, and it makes watching the show feel like cozying up on the couch with old friends.
Consequences are rarely long-term, hijinks and spats occur but are resolved quickly, and there’s plenty of character- and relationship-building alongside ongoing jokes that reward consistent viewers (I will never NOT laugh when someone discusses, with all seriousness, about a ghost getting “sucked off” AKA leaving their ghostly purgatory and ascending to their afterlife, and they add another excellent ghostly entendre in season 3 I will let you discover for yourself).
Familiar Faces:
Rose McIver as Samantha and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay
The casting directors did an excellent job finding two people who exude the exact right energy for Sam and Jay. Utkarsh is an “oh, that guy!” actor whom I last saw as Devi’s teacher in Never Have I Ever, and I was delighted to see him in a starring role, even if, as the non-ghost-seeing Jay, he often has to sit around and just not react to anything. (I wonder how often he breaks.) In season 3 they’re shooting around Rose’s pregnancy, and it’s one of my favorite TV things to watch for: how they strategically place her in big coats or have her stand behind someone’s head on the couch.
I think most of the ghost actors were unfamiliar to me (except Brandon Scott Jones, who played a larger recurring role on one of the later seasons of The Good Place), but they’ve all been in multiple bit roles on different shows, so it’s truly a great ensemble cast who know how to play off each other. I didn’t expect that I would actually laugh out loud watching Ghosts but there are times when a joke really lands, or the way they say it just tickles. The cast has really perfected the comedic timing of this rag-tag group of reluctant ghost friends.
Sexually-repressed robber-baron’s wife Hetty is my favorite ghost; her messed up 1800s views on “the poor” and “the Irish” and loose rich-person morals are SO ridiculous you can’t help but laugh at her, and Rebecca Wisocky gives the perfect snooty faces. I love that she and Isaac (a gay US Revolutionary War soldier) are catty, gossipy besties. Sass, a Native American story-teller and one of the longest-running ghosts on property, is a nosy shit-stirrer and deeply sarcastic, so it’s no surprise he also gets my BFF charm.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Keep It In House
This is the perfect show to binge alone or with your SO if you’re looking for something low commitment to leave on while you’re tired from a long week at work, and honestly that keeps it within the spirit of the show (since the ghosts can’t venture beyond the inn’s grounds).
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Low
Far be it from me to tell you when or where to drink, but this just doesn’t feel like a show that you NEED to imbibe during. In fact, it’s the perfect “I’m stuck at home recovering from a cold or a surgery and just need something to have on to keep me sane while I sit around on pain meds” show. Ask me how I know.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Perfect
I rarely watch much “live” TV week to week, so if it wasn’t for the ability to stream multiple half-hour episodes in a row, I probably wouldn’t have ever watched this series. Even as I watch Season 3, which is currently airing as I write this, I am saving it up to watch in batches to really maximize the cozy vibes (if you watch just one you can barely relax before it’s over!).
