Previously on Ghosts: Mahesh (the restaurant, not the person) is forced to close after a bachelorette party gone wrong kills a skydiving stripper. And Pete (Richie Moriarty) manages to exonerate his girlfriend Donna (Allegra Edwards) by identifying the real killer of the husband who predeceased her.
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Stephanie/Tad:
Of all the guest-star ghosts who conveniently spend most of their time off camera (despite “living” on the property), Stephanie (Odessa A’zion) easily has the best excuse: She is sleeping in the attic. Whereas others who spend all day in bed could easily be accused of sleeping their lives away, Stephanie has no such problem. She’s already deceased, so with nothing to do and a nice, comfy bed as an option, why shouldn’t she just stay in bed 99% of the time?
Well, on 4/20 (cleverly both the in-universe date and the season/episode number), Stephanie is finally given a reason to wake up. When we learned of Stephanie’s demise via chainsaw in Season 1, Episode 17 (“Attic Girl”), most of us likely came to the reasonable, yet unspoken, conclusion that her date was murdered as well. However, this episode proves that assumption was incorrect. In fact, Stephanie’s former boyfriend, Tad (Dakota Taylor / Justin Kirk), is now the mayor, and he’s coming to Mahesh (again, the restaurant, not the person) to launch his reelection campaign, which sets him up for an awkward one-sided reunion with Stephanie!
For those of us on the other side of high school, it can be somewhat jarring to see your “old” classmates actually “old” now. For Stephanie, who is sadly still stuck in her prom dress with an ugly corsage, it’s probably that times a thousand, which might explain why she’s in a particularly bad mood for most of this episode. Of course, as it almost always is, a bad mood from Stephanie means she’s full of well-written jabs for whoever happens to stand in her path.
While her attempt to cast her surviving boyfriend as a coward is, of course, detestable, it’s made easier by the fact that he is such an obvious blowhard. The man (who claims to be full of ideas) is seemingly capable of none, except those that involve finding credit for himself in anything, no matter how tangential or nonexistent his involvement may have been. While this can be an extremely annoying trait in a real person (Exhibit A), the clarity of Tad’s motivations makes him quite an entertaining character. In truth, one of the most enjoyable quips of the episode comes courtesy of Tad’s many attempts to politically exploit his role in Stephanie’s murder (see below for more fun lines!).
Unfortunately, the ending of Tad’s storyline doesn’t quite stick the landing. I’m no Puritan, but that Brundlefly of a lie/excuse/explanation that Sam (Rose McIver) attempts to use in order to walk back her and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar)’s awkward behavior simply wouldn’t pass muster with me. You nearly ruined my campaign because… you were high while hosting guests in your restaurant? That’s supposed to improve your situation? Sorry, even if he eats an edible (or half an edible as he suggested) before bed every night, I don’t think that’s gonna work out for you. Have fun with the permit office, folks.
Alberta/Pete:
To be quite frank, the B storyline of this week’s episode did not sit well with me at all.
After years of pining for a completely uninterested Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), it seems as if Pete has finally moved on. As Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) points out in this episode, there are actually quite a few things that have changed about him in the last two seasons. He’s slightly more assertive, and most importantly, he travels a lot more these days than he ever did as an actual travel agent, and those travels are changing him more and more each day. For crying outloud, he’s even found himself an absolutely gorgeous Caribbean girlfriend! And he solved a murder for her! It’s fair to say Pete has been living his best afterlife for a while.
Now that he’s finally happy, Alberta decides she likes him because she suddenly sees him as a “bit of a badass.” Yes, because of a slight change of perspective and a wee bit of pot, she decides Pete is the one for her after all. Honestly, if Alberta couldn’t see that Pete had plenty of admirable qualities decades ago, he shouldn’t go running back her way when she decides to see him in as shallow a manner as this.
This may be controversial among fans, but for his own sake, Pete should spend as little time back at Woodstone as possible moving forward. He should go back to the Caribbean with Donna, someone who recognized his worth almost immediately, and only return when he starts to disappear. If his power is anything remotely like Joan’s, he’ll eventually only need to return about once a year. Good on you, Pete. Shame on you, Alberta.
Rating: 7.9/10 – There are a few solid laughs to be had here, but it’s far from the show’s most creatively satisfying episode. Sam’s fake explanation of drug-induced stupidity seemed like ample reason for the mayor to ignore them, and the apparent return of the Pete and Alberta romance story is disappointing. Also, while the last scene was undeniably funny, Gabe was smoking pot a) on the job and b) in the car. Flower can call me a stick in the mud all she wants, but he should be fired immediately.
Best Quotes:
Flower: “You don’t ask someone to not do drugs on Christmas.”
Isaac: “Even while recounting a tragic tale, he must abase himself for votes. The system still works!”
Trevor: “Stephanie, you’re 17. You’re too young for me.”
Stephanie: “Technically, I’m 55 now.”
Trevor: “Then, you’re too old for me.”
Pete: “I’m not the kind of guy who smokes grass. I’m the kind of guy who cuts grass in my wife’s gardening hat while drinking a lemonade.”
Flower: “You’re not gonna jump into a tank at SeaWorld because you think the dolphins invited you to live in their underwater kingdom.”
Isaac: “It’s like Ben Franklin’s ability to sniff out a pastry. God have mercy on his belt.”
Stephanie: “This is worse than when that freak Sandra Kay beat my high score in DigDug.”
Tad: “And in many ways the city’s budget crisis is a metaphorical chainsaw killer from which I will not run!”
Sam: “You passed the test. You did not run away from this false accusation and that is the kinda leadership that this town needs! Who’s with me?!?!” (so cringe)
Thor: “He ran away like coward, leaving Stephanie to die, unlike Thor who famously protect Alberta’s backside from ricochet.”
Hetty: “I mean dishonesty is basically her defining characteristic… which I like about you.”
Stephanie: “The sportos, the motorheads, the dweebies (no offense Sam)”
Stephanie (to Pete): “Ew. I hate your knees.”
Pete: “That’s probably the grief talking.”
Thor: “No, they gross.”
Hetty: “Facepalmed by Pete… That’s a tough pill to swallow, and that’s coming from someone who’s swallowed a lot of pills.”
Isaac: “Yes, how were Utkarsh Ambudkar to know she was lying when all you’ve had to draw from was every single other experience you’ve had with her?”
Flower (reacting to Sam (and 30 seconds later, Tad) claiming that she & Jay are high): “You are, Sam? I love that.” (x2)
Flower: “Wow. The munchies are the drugs? I died too soon, man.”
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