S01.E11: Sam’s Mom

[HurricaneVal]

I've just always assumed that Trevor died from an exertion induced aneurysm or heart attack perhaps exacerbated by cocaine or uppers.  We definitely know he died with his pants off.  So I figure he was either pooping or having sex.  

I'm interested in all the backstories.  Sassapis had the unrequited love story, but I don't remember the details.  I'm interested not just in how he died, but what he did alllll these years up to now.  How did he and Thorfin meet and deal?  How did they all meet and deal?  

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that Trevor died in 1999, although I don't know if they've officially told us that.

For Some reason I'm thinking it would be awesome if it had been New Year's Eve.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that Trevor died in 1999, although I don't know if they've officially told us that.

My memory isn’t great these days. Did Trevor maybe mention Y2K in relation to when he passed? 

6 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I've just always assumed that Trevor died from an exertion induced aneurysm or heart attack perhaps exacerbated by cocaine or uppers.  We definitely know he died with his pants off.  So I figure he was either pooping or having sex.  

LOL, all this time I assumed Trevor was some Don Juan having too much sex when he died, but he might’ve just been pooping.

Maybe after 7 seasons of the show, they’ll devote the last episodes to having at least most of ghosts get “sucked off” and we’ll learn the only thing keeping Trevor from ascension was not wanting to admit he died pooping. 💩
 

I’m glad so far they aren’t having a revolving door of ghosts getting “sucked off” so we can keep some regular characters, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Nancy “ascends” soon since she—–like Sam’s Mom–—was just introduced. Plus it doesn’t seem like we have closure on the attraction between Pete and Alberta.
 

I wouldn’t mind a sort of spinoff within the show in which Sam and Jay go away for a weekend to a BnB–—in part to get ideas for their own BnB, and in part to get away from the ghosts and have some alone time. At this other BnB there could be more ghosts—–and maybe another ghost-seeing proprietor or employee who Sam might visit or FaceTime occasionally. Perhaps more of those other ghosts might ascend.

[The Crazed Spruce]

9 hours ago, Blakeston said:

When we saw Pete's death scene, it said 1985 at the bottom of the screen.

Somewhere along the line I got the impression that Trevor died in 1999, although I don't know if they've officially told us that.

Don't remember which episode, but I'm pretty sure they said that he died in the 90s.

[Snow Apple]

15 hours ago, possibilities said:

Maybe Sassapis and Hetty died of old age. 

They look young, but they didn't live in modern times with modern medicine, so maybe?

Edited January 10, 2022 by Snow Apple

[shapeshifter]

17 hours ago, possibilities said:

Maybe Sassapis and Hetty died of old age. 

1 hour ago, Snow Apple said:

They look young, but they didn't live in modern times with modern medicine, so maybe?

Perhaps rather than saying Hetty and Sassapis died of "old age," a more apt description would be "natural causes," meaning no murder or accident or suicide precipitated their deaths. I'm not sure which illnesses might be considered "natural causes." I'm sure heart disease was.

Do we know how old Hetty and Sassapis are/were?  Hetty looks 50 to me, and it turns out that is Rebecca Wisocky's age. Would that have been "old age" in her era?

Roman Zaragoza, who plays Sassapis, is just 26. So I'm guessing by "old age," @possibilities, you meant we aren't necessarily seeing them as they appeared when they died? But given pantsless Trevor, I'm assuming we are. 🤷‍♀️

 

[chaifan]

Regarding the characters that we don't know yet how they died... I think a clever bit would be in the season finale to have one of those characters turn around and we see an axe in their back, or the back of their head blown open by a bullet, or giant bear claw marks down their back...  something like that.  And then the audience would realize, hey, we never even realized we never saw ____'s back this whole time. 

I have no idea if that is possible, if we haven't seen Hetty or Sass or Thor walk out of a room or whatever.  I'm just saying it would be a fun reveal. 

As to helping the ghosts resolve their unfinished business...  if I were one of those ghosts I'd be all hell, no!  I'm just starting to finally have some fun around here!  I don't want to leave now!  OK, maybe the cholera ghosts aren't having a blast in the basement and they'd like to get sucked off.  But the upstairs ghosts?  I think they'd all love to stick around for however long Sam is around.

 

[HurricaneVal]

I know we've seen Hetty from behind, because I know she'd got that fancy bustle on her skirt.  And there was that scene where she gets blown out of the car when it reaches her boundary.  I think 50 was probably in the ballpark of life expectancy for women of her era, so natural causes is probably right.  Since there is no physical manifestation or continual reference, how Sissipis died is a mystery.  I'm not sure we've seen him from behind to tell if there's a hatchet buried in his back, but I'm sure one of the other ghosts would have mentioned that.  Thorfin died because he got separated from his viking expedition and got lost, right?  So my guess is exposure for him.  Which might cover Sissipis too, and explain the bond between him and Thorfin if they died in the same manner.  Though, maybe Sissipis is ashamed of that.  What's the timeline again?  Did Sass die before Thorfinn, or the other way around?

[Catfi9ht]

6 hours ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

Don't remember which episode, but I'm pretty sure they said that he died in the 90s.

It was Pete's Wife episode where Trevor thought he was a dad. His "daughter" just celebrated her 21st birthday plus gestation time puts it at 1999. I think while they were looking on Facebook, Trevor mentioned 1998 or 1999 like he couldn't specifically remember which I thought was weird.

Back to this episode, can we please stop writing about emotionally manipulative mothers? It's one of the lazy writing techniques this show uses that drives me batty. Speaking of which, immediately after Jay gives Sam a pep talk about resolving past issues with her mother, Sam makes a snarky comment about Jay wanting to text his mom. It was shitty and completely unwarranted after Jay JUST unquestionably supported her.

I loved the plotline with the ghosts. I normally don't like this type of behavior, but I love how gossip obsessed the ghosts are. They must have been so bored for the past few decades.

The ghosts still continue to be the best parts of the show for me. I love how zany it can get.

[Sakura12]

Sassapis and Hetty could've died from an illness that doesn't present physical symptoms, there was plenty to go around in both their eras or posion like Alberta.

[emma675]

20 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Thorfin died because he got separated from his viking expedition and got lost, right?  So my guess is exposure for him. 

Thorfin got struck by lightning. Although, yes, he got separated from his friends and they sailed off without him.

Quote

Did Sass die before Thorfinn, or the other way around?

And Thor died before Sass (I remember Sass trying to come up with how many times he had sex and Thor said he knew, because he watched, lol).

Edited January 10, 2022 by emma675d

[kwnyc]

On 1/9/2022 at 2:05 PM, Katy M said:

Trevor probably died of alcohol poisoning.  Or a drug OD.

Cocaine and poppers do not mix... ;-)

[questionfear]

On 1/7/2022 at 11:45 PM, chaifan said:

I think I'd also invest in a contraption that turns the pages of books or magazines at set intervals.  And, of course, TV's without "sleep" functions.  Both with strict instructions to keep them functioning in perpetuity, for however long the house stands, and then some.

A good episode, over all.  I like how they separated story lines between Jay/Sam and the house ghosts.  I do wonder if we'll continue to see Nancy, and if so, if other cholera ghosts will follow her upstairs.  Maybe Sam will set up a TV in the basement? 

 

 

There are settings for certain appliances in "shabbat mode" where very religious orthodox jews can have their oven, elevator, or other appliance running even though they're not supposed to run things during shabbat. IIRC they even came up with some devices that will auto-turn kindle pages and things like that, so it's not outside the realm of possibility for Sam to set that up for them. 

There's also smart home devices and stuff like that. Now I'm also picturing them getting a bunch of home automation stuff installed and then explaining to the installation guy that it can't be capacitive (finger touch) and has to all be physical buttons so Trevor can activate them. 

[Scarlett45]

Can someone remind me how the cholera ghosts ended up in the basement and why they don’t interact with everyone else most of the time?

Yeah, there’s a difference between dying of “old age” and “natural causes”. If you die from an infection or illness, it was a natural cause but you could’ve been fairly young. 

On 1/10/2022 at 3:33 PM, Sakura12 said:

Sassapis and Hetty could've died from an illness that doesn't present physical symptoms, there was plenty to go around in both their eras or posion like Alberta.

Yes I agree. 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:40 PM, emma675 said:

Sassapis being so sweet to Sam before they left as a way to constantly remind her to leave the TV on cracked me up. And blurting out that Pete has a crush on Alberta was so him. He just can't keep a secret. And damn, that actor is hot.

This show has given me a major crush on Román Zaragoza. And if he weren’t already swoon-worthy, his Instagram has videos of him singing and playing guitar on set during his downtime. Heart eyes all the way. 

My original thought was that Sasappis died from smallpox, because the fever can kill before the rash appears, but there weren’t any European settlers in the Hudson Valley region at the time of his death. Maybe hypothermia? Maybe a tiny cut on his foot that got infected?

Hetty is most likely supposed to be the same age as Rebecca Wisocky, and 50-something was still quite young during the Gilded Age. If a woman survived her own early childhood and then bearing children, she had a solid chance of living to her 80’s. Maybe tuberculosis? I’ve read it described as a pretty disease, in a forgotten novel from that era, because the damage was all internal, and the fever gave the victims a rosy color. 

[Scarlett45]

On 8/27/2022 at 11:39 AM, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

Hetty is most likely supposed to be the same age as Rebecca Wisocky, and 50-something was still quite young during the Gilded Age. If a woman survived her own early childhood and then bearing children, she had a solid chance of living to her 80’s. Maybe tuberculosis? I’ve read it described as a pretty disease, in a forgotten novel from that era, because the damage was all internal, and the fever gave the victims a rosy color. 

Yes, I assume Hetty died of a disease we could likely treat now .Perhaps tuberculous or influenza, or she couldve had a heart attack/stroke and died in her sleep.

[chitowngirl]

50 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yes, I assume Hetty died of a disease we could likely treat now .Perhaps tuberculous or influenza, or she couldve had a heart attack/stroke and died in her sleep.

If she died in her sleep, she would be in her nightclothes…I’m guessing heart attack/stroke, but just dropped….

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

If she died in her sleep, she would be in her nightclothes…I’m guessing heart attack/stroke, but just dropped….

Yes you’re right! I hadn’t thought of that. Yes it was probably something quick, heart attack, stroke, brain aneurysm. 

[shapeshifter]

Wasn't Hetty in an episode with someone falling out a window? 

[The Crazed Spruce]

On 8/29/2022 at 9:45 PM, shapeshifter said:

Wasn't Hetty in an episode with someone falling out a window? 

You might be thinking of Fanny, the character from the UK version that Heddy's loosely based on.

[shapeshifter]

23 minutes ago, The Crazed Spruce said:

You might be thinking of Fanny, the character from the UK version that Heddy's loosely based on.

If that happened in the first few episodes, of the UK version, that's probably it. 

[lucindabelle]

People had grandparents in the Victorian age, and no, 50 was not old even then, just middle aged. (Just read some Dickens!)
 

we don’t k ow what Hetty died of yet…but I agree it would have been quick because she clearly wasn’t lying in bed ill or she’d be in a nightgown.

[LexieLily]

On 1/10/2022 at 3:33 PM, Sakura12 said:

Sasappis and Hetty could've died from an illness that doesn't present physical symptoms, there was plenty to go around in both their eras or poison like Alberta.

Hetty *is* very covered up in the dress she died in so in that regard just because we don't see outward physical injuries like Pete's arrow or Flower's claw marks doesn't mean there aren't any. She could have bruises underneath her dress or she could have any number of internal injuries we don't know about yet. We don't even know her ghost power yet to see if that could give us any clues. We've seen it twice now how Hetty reacts to Alberta's notion that she herself was murdered - just how much of a louse WAS Hetty's philandering ex-husband?

(Pete has no blood on his neck from the arrow, but the carhop ghost at the restaurant that died from a roller blades/tail fins entanglement had blood on her apron. Hm XD)

The entire subplot about Sam's mom in the weird restaurant I was thinking, man, Sasappis would love to have died in a restaurant, especially one with a cheese hurricane on the menu that made someone's heart explode. Even if the cheeseburger on the wall was playing a ukulele :p. But now we know thanks to Sam's mom being able to have that conversation with Sam before she got sucked off (thanks for totally ruining that for me, Trevor :p) and even in the pilot with the elderly lady when Isaac got to start his Introductions to Ghosts! speech, we know there's time for 'last words' before a ghost gets sucked off. Good?

I'm still wondering how Thor of all the ghosts knew what sleep mode was, and oh my god, the ghosts devolve into children when Sam and Jay aren't around! They've gotten so spoiled by Sam being there to turn on the TV for them, LOL. Pete hiring Nancy the cholera ghost to be his girlfriend to save face in front of Alberta and the other ghosts, God XD!

I think my favorite moment from this episode was from the tag scene at the end, the bittersweet but happy smile on Sam's face when Hetty showed up and started criticizing her about leaving the luggage in the hallway and smiling too much :p. She'd just lost her mom, again and for real this time, but now she has Hetty. Hetty can criticize her and be her mom figure but unlike her real mom Sam will forever get a second chance with Hetty because Hetty wouldn't (couldn't) leave :/

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

The entire subplot about Sam's mom in the weird restaurant I was thinking, man, Sasappis would love to have died in a restaurant, especially one with a cheese hurricane on the menu that made someone's heart explode. Even if the cheeseburger on the wall was playing a ukulele :p.

Oh, god, he would. 

On the topic of Sasappis, I like that we get to see very different sides of him in this episode. On the one hand, he's very compassionate and sympathetic when Sam's talking about wanting to visit her late mom, expressing his condolences and supporting her in her efforts (and I like that the ghosts in general are supportive while also trying to prepare her for the possibility her mom might not be a ghost - it's sweet how they don't want her to be let down). 

On the other hand, he's blurting out Pete's secret about his crush on Alberta and pestering Sam to remember to leave the TV on :p. I just love how these ghosts can be so serious one minute and so goofy the next, LOL. 

Quote

I'm still wondering how Thor of all the ghosts knew what sleep mode was, and oh my god, the ghosts devolve into children when Sam and Jay aren't around! They've gotten so spoiled by Sam being there to turn on the TV for them, LOL. Pete hiring Nancy the cholera ghost to be his girlfriend to save face in front of Alberta and the other ghosts, God XD!

I like when Isaac's like, "Well, if this is good news for Pete regarding his crush on Alberta, maybe we should all be here to see what she says." and Alberta's just like, "...yeah, let's talk about this elsewhere?" :p. 

But yeah, I love the total chaos Nancy brings to the group, and I like what it all reveals about Pete's role in their group as well. Maybe they should leave the TV on sleep mode more often, LOL.

Quote

I think my favorite moment from this episode was from the tag scene at the end, the bittersweet but happy smile on Sam's face when Hetty showed up and started criticizing her about leaving the luggage in the hallway and smiling too much :p. She'd just lost her mom, again and for real this time, but now she has Hetty. Hetty can criticize her and be her mom figure but unlike her real mom Sam will forever get a second chance with Hetty because Hetty wouldn't (couldn't) leave :/

Such a lovely moment indeed :'). 

I also love how incredibly supportive and comforting Jay is throughout this entire episode, and how he rolls with the awkwardness of Sam trying to have a conversation with her mom in a busy restaurant :D. 

[possibilities]

I think Hetty did quickly, maybe of a heart attack. She's fully drssed and even her hair is properly coiffed. She doesn't look like someone who was lying in bed convalescing, and she doesn't look injured.

Of course, Alberta also looks fully dressed and put together, but they wouldn't have two ghosts who were poisoned, would they?

The lady ghost at the neighbor's place also looks young and healthy, so maybe they just don't went a lot of messy ghosts on the show. I don't know.

We don't have any elders at all, now that I think about it. All our ghosts died young or young-ish.

[chitowngirl]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

The lady ghost at the neighbor's place also looks young and healthy, so maybe they just don't went a lot of messy ghosts on the show. I don't know.

If the ghosts were too gory, makeup would have a tough time getting it exactly right every single time. Plus the time it would take to do that.

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

If the ghosts were too gory, makeup would have a tough time getting it exactly right every single time. Plus the time it would take to do that.

Yeah, I'm willing to overlook the fact they are all fairly clean and put together as this is a comedy about ghosts rather than a realistic horror show. I'm shallow, I like my ghosts pretty. 

[kathyk24]

19 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Hetty *is* very covered up in the dress she died in so in that regard just because we don't see outward physical injuries like Pete's arrow or Flower's claw marks doesn't mean there aren't any. She could have bruises underneath her dress or she could have any number of internal injuries we don't know about yet. We don't even know her ghost power yet to see if that could give us any clues. We've seen it twice now how Hetty reacts to Alberta's notion that she herself was murdered - just how much of a louse WAS Hetty's philandering ex-husband?

(Pete has no blood on his neck from the arrow, but the carhop ghost at the restaurant that died from a roller blades/tail fins entanglement had blood on her apron. Hm XD)

The entire subplot about Sam's mom in the weird restaurant I was thinking, man, Sasappis would love to have died in a restaurant, especially one with a cheese hurricane on the menu that made someone's heart explode. Even if the cheeseburger on the wall was playing a ukulele :p. But now we know thanks to Sam's mom being able to have that conversation with Sam before she got sucked off (thanks for totally ruining that for me, Trevor :p) and even in the pilot with the elderly lady when Isaac got to start his Introductions to Ghosts! speech, we know there's time for 'last words' before a ghost gets sucked off. Good?

I'm still wondering how Thor of all the ghosts knew what sleep mode was, and oh my god, the ghosts devolve into children when Sam and Jay aren't around! They've gotten so spoiled by Sam being there to turn on the TV for them, LOL. Pete hiring Nancy the cholera ghost to be his girlfriend to save face in front of Alberta and the other ghosts, God XD!

I think my favorite moment from this episode was from the tag scene at the end, the bittersweet but happy smile on Sam's face when Hetty showed up and started criticizing her about leaving the luggage in the hallway and smiling too much :p. She'd just lost her mom, again and for real this time, but now she has Hetty. Hetty can criticize her and be her mom figure but unlike her real mom Sam will forever get a second chance with Hetty because Hetty wouldn't (couldn't) leave :/

Rachel Harris was perfect casting as Sam's mom. I wonder why Trevor didn't use his power to use the remote? I wonder if they could use Alexa to turn the television on?

[possibilities]

They could have had someone who died at a ripe old age, though, without needing a lot of gory make up. Having veeryone be fairly young implies tragedy, or...just the usual Hollywood youth cult.

[Annber03]

16 minutes ago, kathyk24 said:

Rachel Harris was perfect casting as Sam's mom. I wonder why Trevor didn't use his power to use the remote? I wonder if they could use Alexa to turn the television on?

I think Trevor mentioned in the episode that the remote was somewhere where he couldn't get to it. And the Alexa wasn't in their house yet at that time, but if they still have it now, yeah, if there's a way to do that, that could definitely help solve that problem going forward :D. 

[LexieLily]

12 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I think Trevor mentioned in the episode that the remote was somewhere where he couldn't get to it. And the Alexa wasn't in their house yet at that time, but if they still have it now, yeah, if there's a way to do that, that could definitely help solve that problem going forward :D. 

I think Trevor said Jay had put the remote in the drawer and opening a drawer was beyond his ghost-capabilities? Sass was so focused on making sure Sam remembered to leave the TV on, he forgot the need for a contingency plan - make sure the remote was out!