A show’s return after industry strikes often feels different and incomplete, yet that’s thankfully not the case with Ghosts Season 3. The season instead delivers multiple bombshells and revelations that feel earned, rewarding to the audience, and, most importantly, catering to the characters.
Creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, along with their team of excellent writers and directors continue to produce hilarious haunts while simultaneously juggling us through questions and answers that seldom feel tiring. The thoughtful narratives instead make it easy to stay inside Woodstone Mansion, even when Season 3 brings a new member that most people aren’t thrilled with. With clever and intricate writing to work around actors and their maternity time off, Ghosts Season 3 furnishes yet another charming chapter of TV that effortlessly provides another comforting spectacle.
Ghosts Season 3 Continues to Honor Character Journeys
In order to keep a series like Ghosts refreshing amid the humor, the showrunners need to keep the characters evolving as much as they can. While all but two of them are quite literally trapped in the archaic estate, the latest season still provides ample ways for each character to shine. When we leave the residents of Woodstone behind in the Season 2 finale, we’re left wondering which ghost is sucked off, questioning how the series could feel the same without a beloved ghost’s presence.
The season premiere answers the burning question immediately, noting that it’s Flower…only she isn’t really gone. (And thank heavens for that!) Later, the audience learns that Flower is stuck inside a well, but it takes the characters a beat to find her there. Pete’s ex-wife Carol, played by Caroline Aaron, dies on Halloween and is now a ghost within the mansion, too. Viewers also learn the truth about Hetty Woodstone’s death, bringing a sensational performance from Rebecca Wisocky to our screens, and Isaac and Nigel, unfortunately, end their engagement. Oh, and we finally get to learn what Pete’s ghost power is, too.
For a period in the series’ history that’s as short as it is (only ten episodes), Ghosts Season 3 ensures that each character gets a moment where the spotlight is solely on them. With this, the bonds they all share are solidified and challenged, and the lore of how ascending truly works remains an intricate conundrum. The friendships fans adore are back and better than ever; the relationships are…something, to say the least, and the overall energy at Woodstone Mansion is still wildly chaotic.
Because of the Characters, the Storyline Remains Entertaining
A show like Ghosts could quickly get frustrating if the characters aren’t multifaceted, yet that’s precisely why every episode feels so rewarding. As much as the characters grow throughout seasons one and two, the revelations in Ghosts Season 3 are on a whole new level, giving the actors worthy space to explore them through new avenues. While my biased opinion wants to state that Hetty Woodstone is the season’s standout character, in actuality, it’s all of them. There’s room for not only the ghosts to grow but Sam and Jay, too.
Ghosts is the kind of show that remembers what it did in previous seasons; thereby, it continues to put characters at the forefront of its narrative to ensure that even when some are bound to the estate’s property line, we’re investing in journeys that are going somewhere.
Halloween episodes remain a worthy tradition on the show, and this one might inarguably be the best yet, as it offers revelations old and new that again service the characters entirely. There’s a cliffhanger at the end of the finale, and things aren’t quite what they seem, but the development matters for the overarching story because everything that we see here is something that previous seasons foreshadowed.
While Ghosts Season 3 isn’t perfect, it sets the stage for exciting surprises that could change the show’s trajectory. What happens when one ghost wants the absolute worst for another? So far, animosity within the characters has been harmless, yet the awareness of a new ghost provides room to explore dynamics that aren’t so wholesome. Still, this isn’t the kind of show to change course entirely, and even if it doesn’t last as long as it would on an actual horror, the season sets up plenty that could shake much of what we’re familiar with.
Ghosts Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on Paramount Plus.
