Ghosts Season 2 Episode 1 Review: Spies

This Ghosts review contains spoilers.

Ghosts Season 2 Episode 1

CBS’s Ghosts kicks off its second season of supernatural comedic shenanigans right where the series left off in May. Woodstone Manor is finally open as a bed and breakfast but the floor collapse has left a bad impression on the first guests. Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) now have to balance guest relations with accommodating the building’s ghostly inhabitants.

The episode begins right after the structural collapse with Jay recovering from the fall. He’s hoping his accident will help him see the ghosts. He can sort of see and hear Pete (Ritchie Moriarty) briefly but cannot hear the ghosts talking to each other. Are the powers tied to concussion-related trauma?

After the floor collapse, the B&B has only 1 star on Yelp. Sam is eager to prevent ghost shenanigans or any mistakes from ruining their stay. Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky ) cannot grasp the concept of “the customer is always right” and thinks the bad old days of no safety or consumer rights should return. Flower (Sheila Carrasco)  and Sas (Román Zaragoza) claim that spying on the living guests is their only source of fun. Pete uses his travel agent experience to claim that spying on the guests will fix any problems before a bad review is written. Jay believes the ghosts are creepy and unethical, but Sam gives them the nudge to do it anyway. After all, Woodstone Manor needs a better guest satisfaction rating. 

Debbie and Thomas arrive at Woodstone and Sam pull out all of the stops to impress them on their first night. Trevor (Asher Grodman), Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), and Pete observe them and it turns out the supposedly nice Midwesterners are really a Karen and Chad duo. They complain about Jay’s cookies, the quality of the sheets, and many other nitpicks. At first, Sam is able to quickly swap some items but the ghosts keep overhearing their complaints. The ghost spies also end up revealing that Jay’s cooking isn’t all they’re complaining about. They think Sam hovers too much and they don’t like her perfume which was her mom’s favorite scent. Swapping butter dishes and changing sheets does little to solve their issues.   

Alongside the persnickety guests, there is an emerging interpersonal conflict between some of the ghosts. Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) has invited Nigel (John Hartman) to hang out with the other ghosts to watch TV. Thor’s (Devin Chandler Long) over-the-top reactions to the 1990’s pop culture documentary are rubbing the stiff upper-lipped Nigel the wrong way. Isaac is having trouble trying to balance his new relationship with his existing friendships. He ends up telling Thor that he should consider skipping the reality TV/documentary screenings. Thor has a fit and ends up going down to the basement to hang out with the Cholera ghosts. Can the rift be healed?

Jay is now incensed that the guests are throwing so much secret shade and he decides to confront Debbie and Thomas face to face. He defends the perfume, his baking, and everything else. Sam also manages to deliver her own clapbacks to the complaints. Of course, the couple questions how they were overheard in the first place. Sam and Jay claim the walls are thin to hide their supernatural helpers. In addition, they admit to finding their previous Yelp review history. Debbie and Thomas realize that they were indeed overly critical. It also turns out their profile was hacked.

The 1990’s documentary ends up not only educating the ghosts on the pop culture they missed since their deaths but also offers life advice. The documentary features a clip of the Spice Girls singing “Wannabe” and the lyrics “if you wanna be my lover ya gotta get with my friends” hits a little too close to home for Issac. Issac tells Nigel that their budding relationship won’t work unless he can get along with Thor. He agrees and they go together to apologize to Thor for icing him out. Thor accepts the apology and also realizes Nigel and he shares a hobby: staring at ants moving around their colony. The guilty TV-watching squad is back together again!

Debbie and Thomas atone for their Karen and Chad sins by leaving a five-star review on Woodstone Manor. Who will the next guests be? Will the plot revisit the question of if Jay can see the ghosts? We’ll find out next week on Ghosts. 

Ghosts airs Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS.