Like all the performers in the ensemble series, Danielle Pinnock is always brightly captivating in Ghosts, but she’s especially brilliant when she gets to sing—when she can pour her heart out and show us more of Alberta’s passions in the process. She’s completely magnetic every single time she does so, and this is especially the case in “The Bachelorette Party.”
We got pieces of her greatness earlier in the season as well with Rose McIver in “A Star Is Dead,” yet so much of the reason she shines in this episode is because viewers get a bit more into Alberta’s heart, too. We get fragments of her past that continue to make her a compelling character, allowing these small beats to become some of the show’s most memorable moments. There’s a major bombshell in the end with a potential new resident at Woodstone Mansion, but Alberta and her niece Alicia singing together is the moment I can’t stop thinking about.
It’s the type of scene that easily evokes a sense of healing because we not only get a glimpse into Alberta’s past but we watch Danielle Pinnock effectively add new layers to her with a plethora of heart and vulnerability. While the ghosts jump to conclusions because they think that Alicia’s fiance is cheating on her with her maid of honor, much of it, as we learn, boils down to the guilt Alberta has carried without anyone else knowing.
It’s in “The Bachelorette Party” where we discover that Alberta isn’t distrustful of musicians because they broke her heart, but because she broke his. And this is something she’s carried with her quietly, which in turn gives Danielle Pinnock a gorgeous beat of vulnerability to not only admit to her mistake but do everything in her power to ensure that she doesn’t mess up Alicia’s future, too. Pinnock shows us exactly how important this is to Alberta as she also manages to expertly balance her comedic timing with beats of openness, delivering a full range of emotions that elevate every scene she’s in.
In addition, it’s how director Pete Chatmon frames Alicia’s revelation that effectively works to show us how momentous it can be to experience the presence of someone we love. Alicia says it best: it’s a little woo-woo, but isn’t that what we all have to do to process grief sometimes? Holding on to the belief that our loved ones are guardian angels of a sort is what makes the pain and hard days a bit more bearable. And it doesn’t matter that Alicia never really knew Alberta because the connection is profound enough to show us that there’s unyielding love and respect there. As Alberta steps closer to Alicia, and we see how desperately she wants this to work—how she wants to make matters right—there’s a sense of healing that stretches gorgeously through the scene.
When we watch the two women sing together while understandably apart it realms, that heartwarming feeling of how Ghosts continues to be such a healing series soars through the scene. There’s also something to be said about the way Hetty, Sas, and Isaac are looking at them. How proud Hetty especially seems to be and excited because she knows this moment is something Alberta will forever carry with her. Both Danielle Pinnock and Ashley D. Kelley are tremendous in showcasing that this is a moment both women will hold onto because it’s one they both need to find a bit of happiness.
Ghosts is now streaming on Paramount+.
