PaulE

We've already been given a small glimpse of a possible rebellious streak in Patience when she did her little dance moves, remember? Also, when she decided to return to the dirt, didn't she say something to the effect that she didn't belong in the mansion? Whatever she actually said, I remember thinking she sounded sad, which led me to think that actually she was quite lonely. I think she can't understand why people don't like her--remember, even her fellow Puritans told her to get lost--but she wants to belong like everyone else. So I think we might eventually see her shed some of her extreme rigidity if the writers keep her around next season. But she seems to be the sort of person who runs to extremes and has no sense of proportion, so if she does loosen up she might go hog-wild, rather like the pervy Farnsworth Puritan who reconsidered his views after he didn't go directly to heaven.

I think and hope Patience will be involved somehow in vanquishing Elias--for once her piety would do some good. I can't understand, though, why the other ghosts are so intimidated by her. Yes, she can make walls bleed, but, as far as they're concerned, so what? On the contrary, I'd expect they'd go out of their way to shock or annoy her just because of her insufferable, spoil-sport self-righteousness. On the other hand, I feel a little sorry for her because no one likes her (though for understandable reasons). If she can help take down Elias, maybe she'll grow a little closer to the others. That would be nice to see. Poor Bela is never able to avoid causing trouble, whether intentional or not. It was nice to see many of the recurring ghosts present for the season finale, even if some barely had any lines. A different kind of cliff-hanger for this season finale: of course we all know Jay won't really go to hell; the suspense is in wondering how Elias will be thwarted.

I guess Joan (like Nigel) is the type of character you either like or dislike, with no middle ground. I like her, but I also don't see her in a long-term relationship with Sass. At this point, she's the stereotypical older, more mature, worldly-wise woman nurturing a younger, inexperienced man, but that probably won't last forever, especially since she can travel and is bound to meet other men that might attract her. We'll see, I guess. I also don't see Shiki as Sass's ideal match, but I don't think he was genuinely in love with her. I see it as more of a crush--maybe the first time he'd really been attracted by a woman. But they never got to know each other very well and develop those feelings. He might have thought of himself as being in love, but I suspect it was more a matter of being in like (and, yeah, sexual desire might have been part of that, even though he never got to follow through on that with her). And from the little we've seen of Shiki, I don't have the impression that, when he was alive, she really thought that much about him at all.

He's more than a bit odd and rather creepy as well, so I suspect the mansion ghosts are relieved he keeps his distance. Remember, he thought watching Charleston burn was an amusing story for a bachelor party. He's not exactly a people person and I think that, unlike Nigel, he's never really ceased viewing the Americans as the enemy, so he probably prefers being in the shed most of the time.

I agree that it would be difficult for practical reasons (from the writers' viewpoint) to have him around even as a recurring character, though an occasional visit (say, once a year) could be fun. Honestly, I can't imagine he'd have stayed long anyway. Being the ghosts' gofer wouldn't be very rewarding and I doubt it would do much for his self esteem. As to why Sam let him go, I don't think it was the attempted kiss so much as the fact that, with him around, Jay would feel even more left out than he already does. To her credit, at that moment, all she really cared about was Jay, and recognized that if Kyle stayed, her marriage might truly become jeopardized. At least, that was my take on it.

I like Joan more and more. Sass deserved a kind person like that for his first time. She wouldn't have minded if he were awkward or shy. I plead guilty, though, to laughing out loud when he accidentally bounced her through the wall. Face-palming seems to be a recurring theme now: first Isaac, then Alberta, and now Sam. I sometimes wonder if the writers periodically monitor this forum, because in this episode they dealt with two issues that have been extensively discussed here. First, why Nancy has open sores when she's a cholera victim. Second, and more important, that Sam finally realizes how lucky she is to have a husband like Jay and that she doesn't always appreciate that. But I liked how she loves Jay so much she wasn't even tempted to let Kyle kiss her, even though they'd bonded over their mutual ability to see ghosts. I completely understood Jay's insecurity, though Bela's unhelpful big mouth made it worse. This episode also brought home how truly awful it could be to have that ability. When Kyle admitted that it kept him from keeping a job and forming relationships--well, that kinda got to me. And the idea of having to cope with prison ghosts (some of whom could once have been pretty terrible livings)--not a pretty thought. I mean, there's absolutely no way to escape. Seeing ghosts has been ruining his life. Although I'd never want anyone to split up Sam and Jay, I did feel a little sorry for Kyle when he made a pass at Sam. The guy's desperate for someone to understand and accept him. He does, but at certain moments he reminded me of Scott Baio, which is weird because neither of those guys resembles the other.

It could come up as a subplot. Deniz Akdeniz wouldn't even need to be there. Since the mansion inhabitants know how Chris disappeared, and we don't know if they know Isaac lied about it to Nigel (Isaac being Isaac, it might never have occurred to him to fill them in on that), it's possible that one of them at some point would make a casual remark about Chris's leaving (it could even be Jay, not knowing that Nigel was in the room), which would result in Nigel storming off to demand an explanation from Isaac. If something like that does happen, though, I imagine it will be in a future season. I'd guess that the writers, having created this deception, would want to capitalize on it somewhere down the road.

I think so, too. But I also think Nigel will forgive him once he understands that Isaac was trying to shield him from being hurt yet again after being jilted at the altar. Not that Chris and Nigel had been an item, but their kiss probably got Nigel's hopes up.

He’s been indelibly burned into my retinas since his lap dance at Nigel’s bachelor party.

Thanks. I've only ever heard of an event or action being random, not a person. Yet that usage has been around since the 1980s?!? I guess I hung out with a different group of people back then. At any rate, I don't see how Jenkins is more random than anyone else around there, but I realize you're not always going to make sense when you're stoned. It's ironic to think that Hetty the cocaine queen was having her first experience with weed.

Yeah, I was surprised at how easily Sam and Jay believed Stephanie's story, especially since, as Isaac pointed out, she'd not the most reliable source of information. I actually felt a bit sorry for Tad. Imagine having endured the terror and horror of being attacked by a chainsaw-wielding maniac while being brave enough to try and protect your girlfriend, only to have two people who weren't even born at the time publicly accusing you of cowardice (Sam's lame excuse afterward wasn't very convincing). If it had been me, I'm not sure they ever would have received those permits. It also seemed odd to see Justin Kirk playing a benign person because the last show I saw him in was "Succession," where he played a seriously fascist presidential candidate. I guess I'm showing my age, but I don't know what "random" means in that context. Could someone enlighten me (he asked sheepishly)?

Granted (though not telling him about the ghosts would have been pretty difficult in any case), but as we've seen throughout the show, Jay's had to jump through quite a few hoops to satisfy the ghosts' demands, but Sam seldom seems to think about that, precisely because he's so good-natured. So for me, she takes that aspect of his character for granted at least some of the time.

Jay's also got a good-natured sweetness about him that's very heartwarming to see. There are times I think Sam takes that side of his personality for granted. The ghosts certainly do, though now that he's met all of them (except for Pete, who loves him anyway), I think they care about him more than they did.

With some of the other ghosts always talking about sex, I think that Sass just wanted to fit in and therefore lied about his sexual past. It's on the other ghosts for never shutting up about it and making him feel weird about it. Moral of the story? Never trust Thor with your secrets!! I think you're on the right track. Sass realized that if he'd told the truth the others would have laughed and pointed, which is essentially what they did do once they found out. Who needs that? Though Isaac's a case of someone living in a glass house and throwing stones. We've often wondered about whether he ever consummated his marriage to Beatrice. If he didn't (which is my opinion), then he died a virgin at an older age than Sass. Even if he did manage to get it on with her, it was probably such an awful experience that they seldom if ever did it again. I'm assuming he and Nigel had ghost sex, mainly because Nigel is a self-confessed slut, but maybe they decided to wait until the wedding night, which, since that never happened, would make Isaac as virginal as Sass. I also tend to suspect that Pete might have been a virgin until he got married. He just seems like the sort to have wanted to wait for that one special person (even though his wife didn't turn out to be the love of his life). Carol did mention his bedroom prowess, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was experienced when they married. At any rate, I agree with those who think the ghosts are making way too much an issue over something like virginity. I think most of us can think of worse problems.

Right? Also, maybe start making use of biometrics on their devices and/or come up with difficult passwords and set them up outside of the ghost boundary so no one can see what they are. And while they're at it, change the auto-lock screen time to, say, 30 seconds. You'd think by now they'd have learned their lesson. But of course if they were smarter we'd lose a lot of plots. I felt very sorry for Sam after Trevor's meddling because there was absolutely no way she could defend herself or explain it away. She's lucky Pinkus didn't hit the roof when he found out what had happened, because from his standpoint it was inexcusable. I was glad, though, that even though she got in trouble and had to take the blame anyway, she knew Trevor's request would have been wrong and therefore refused to do it. Usually she caves in to the ghosts' requests. I feel the same way. In fact in this episode, the only two ghosts who really mattered were Trevor and Pete; the others were there mainly to add comic remarks. But I don't remember another episode in which two main ghosts were absent. Trevor may be a jerk but he's still a decent guy at heart--I think he's grown the most since the first season. And I loved that Pete referred to Jay as his best friend. There has to be a way for those two to meet--maybe Sass could bring him into Jay's dreams?