Ghosts – Episode 4.16 – St. Hetty’s Day

Previously on Ghosts: Samantha (Rose McIver) hosts a bachelorette party for Alberta’s (Danielle Pinnock) niece and orders the “It’s Raining Men” male stripper package. However, she and Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) get a little more than they bargained for when Chris (Deniz Akdeniz), the dinosaur-loving, Australian stripper from last season, crash lands into Mahesh (the restaurant, thankfully, not the person) and joins the ghosts in the afterlife.

Also, Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), who often muses about how much she hates the Irish, discovers that she herself is cursed with the very ancestry she’s spent an afterlife scorning.

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Hetty:
Many times, the special sauce of a “Ghosts” episode can be found in the show’s irreverent quirkiness. While there are plenty of things quirky about the show, nothing else stands out as quite so substantively quirky as the ghosts’ mundane, yet special abilities. Although there are some cool powers, most of the time, these “powers” provide the dead with an opportunity to do something barely useful, often extremely specifically so, in an ultra-limited capacity.

While some of their powers have been known since the first episode, Hetty’s power has remained a mystery until now. Of course, with a mystery as long-running as this one, we all knew it had to be something special. After the recent reveal that Hetty is actually Irish, Hetty’s one day of visibility per year on St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect resolution to one of the show’s biggest questions.

We’ve known since the first season that Hetty’s marriage was an unhappy one, and of course, last season’s reveal that Hetty died by suicide put quite an exclamation point on that subject. For this reason, it’s charming to see her finally have a decent day at Woodstone Mansion with another real, living person who can see her, even if it is someone who doesn’t initially realize she’s a ghost (he let out quite a scream when he couldn’t hold her hands!). Wisocky’s performance mixes the perfect amount of Hetty’s usual confidence with an undertone of sorrow at the life she clearly wishes she could have lived.

In addition to this ghost power having a real sense of irony given the fact that Hetty was barely visible to those around her during her life, this new annual, 24-hour power gives the show the perfect excuse to revisit these specific story elements next season. Maybe next year she’ll discover a new power on Saint Patrick’s Day. It could be quite fun to have a ghost with a rotating power!

Hetty’s Best Lines:
“Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Today my people celebrate by getting very drunk, instead of just the normal amount.”
“Listen to the virgin. He is an expert on pain and rejection.”
“She [Mamie Fish] was a two-bit ankle whore. There wasn’t a gentleman in Newport who hadn’t seen those sock puppies. I read that on the internet which is something that a lot of people who are currently alive do.”
“I am the most powerful ghost in the world! Tier 1! Tier-” (Hetty seconds before disappearing from sight)

Isaac:
16 episodes after leaving Nigel (John Hartman) at the altar, Isaac (or Ice/Iceman, as he apparently prefers to be called in this episode) has been on quite the roller coaster of journeys this season. While he’s putting in extra effort these days to be a good person, the sheer magnitude of Isaac’s growth as an individual hasn’t been fully evident until this episode. After their “chair interaction” last season, Isaac had probably dreamed about Chris expiring within the grounds of Woodstone, but he surely didn’t imagine it going quite like this…

Although Trevor (Asher Grodman) wisely advises Isaac against any grand pronouncements for his love, he proceeds with it anyway after he notices Chris and Nigel starting to bond. Chris is predictably bothered by Isaac’s one-sided infatuation with him (actually more bothered than he appeared after dying), and it isn’t long before Chris is parachuting off to Melbourne, quickly abandoning Nigel and the rest of Woodstone. Seriously, what a bummer that the guy with the coolest power yet (flying via parachute) is leaving so soon!

Although “St. Hetty’s Day” is clearly a quintessential Hetty episode, it’s also a character-defining moment for Isaac, who opts to tell Nigel a kind lie in order to spare the feelings of a loved one. This is quite a moment for Isaac, given how much he has often struggled to keep his big bazoo shut in the past (how many times has Mark been forced to order a different set of tiles because he isn’t exactly pleased?). Luckily, when it really matters, it would seem that Isaac is making some genuine progress.

Isaac’s Best Lines:
“We exchanged a series of sensual and erotic Dilophosaurus clicks!”
“Fortune has shined upon us in the form of your untimely death.”
“That’s next year’s problem…”
“I’m cool… As my name would suggest.”

Rating: 9.4/10 — Last week’s episode wasn’t the strongest of the season, but it set this episode up splendidly to deliver two compelling storylines with just the right amount of quirky.

Other Notes:
-Flower’s detailed reenactment of the desecration of her corpse by a mama bear and her cubs was even better the second time!

-“Who’s the guy dressed like Frasier?” – It’s good to have some insight into what Alberta has been watching on television. At least one of the ghosts isn’t watching 100% reality TV.

-“I was gonna make a joke about how bad things are when a 500-year-old virgin is feeling sorry for you, but then I restrained myself.” – The jokes about Sas being a virgin are kinda like the ghosts. They’re not getting old or “sucked off” anytime soon.

-Sam and Jay’s fake shock at Hetty’s ghostliness was great. Acting takes skill, but deliberately acting badly—while making it believable—takes even more.

-“We’re gonna miss you, Hetty. I can’t believe you’re turning into a leprechaun. It’s so sad.” I think we’d all probably be a lot happier if we could see the world through Flower’s eyes for just one day.

“Ghosts” Season 4, Episode 16 airs Thursday, March 13 at 8:00 pm ET on CBS. Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode with us here at SpoilerTV!