S01.E12: Jay’s Sister

[Katy M]

10 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

They're already dead; it's not like they can get sick again.

They can smell, though.

[Chatty Cake]

I’m still enjoying this show. 
I agree with most about Nancy. At first I found her funny but after awhile I was thinking shut up already! Wouldn’t mind seeing her occasionally in the future ( in small doses)

[iMonrey]

Something I missed on the first viewing: 

Sam: "Thor, lights!"

Thor: "Sam, chair!"

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That house is enormous.  From the outdoor photos I would guess it has 12 to 20 bedrooms.

Definitely not 20. It's hard to tell from the exterior shots. The house has an L shape and it appears the bedrooms are all located on the second floor of the main wing (where the front door and entry hall are). Judging by the fireplace chimneys, there appear to be seven bedrooms facing the front yard. Assuming the other side of the hall is the same that would be 14 total. But it's possibly fewer.

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I've figured out how Jay could see the ghosts.

I think I prefer that he can't, it's funnier that way. The visual of him trying to go through Trevor was one of the funniest parts of this episode.

[Blakeston]

On 1/13/2022 at 11:45 PM, AngieBee1 said:

What I found funny about that was that Utkarsh played Punam Patel's best friend/friends with benefits in season two of Netflix's SPECIAL.

I found it a little uncomfortable watching these actors who played lovers playing brother and sister. It wasn't as bad as if, say, someone cast Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer as a married couple...but it was the same kind of principle.

Anyway, this is the first we've heard of living people being able to hear Alberta singing, or of Pete having x-ray vision, right?

If I were Trevor, I'd be pissed that I had to go through the effort of writing those messages on the mirror, when all Alberta had to do was sing a message to Jay.

[Browncoat]

I don't think they can hear Alberta singing, just humming.  I feel like that was mentioned early on, but I could be hallucinating.

[SoMuchTV]

26 minutes ago, Blakeston said:

I found it a little uncomfortable watching these actors who played lovers playing brother and sister. It wasn't as bad as if, say, someone cast Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer as a married couple...but it was the same kind of principle.

Anyway, this is the first we've heard of living people being able to hear Alberta singing, or of Pete having x-ray vision, right?

If I were Trevor, I'd be pissed that I had to go through the effort of writing those messages on the mirror, when all Alberta had to do was sing a message to Jay.

I think it was noted in the first (maybe second?) episode that livings could hear Alberta's ghostly singing.  I don't think it was actually words, just tones.  That was her "skill", like Thor with electricity/lights and Trevor with being able to (barely) touch things.  I didn't catch anything about Pete having x-ray vision.  Was that in reference to telling Jay's sister what was in her bag?  I just thought the bag was open enough that the ghosts could see into it.

[shapeshifter]

13 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I didn't catch anything about Pete having x-ray vision.  Was that in reference to telling Jay's sister what was in her bag?  I just thought the bag was open enough that the ghosts could see into it.

Oh! That makes sense! I thought it was X-ray vision too, rather than Pete just looking in her open bag.

[Browncoat]

I thought he poked his head into it.  Like through it, not just into an open bag.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Browncoat

[Blakeston]

Just now, Browncoat said:

I thought he poked his head into it.

Yes, upon rewatch, he poked his head in. I guess any of the ghosts can do that, and Sam called on Pete to do it because he was right there.

In that case, any of the ghosts can see any human naked if they want to, just by looking through their clothes. Creepy.

[iMonrey]

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I think it was noted in the first (maybe second?) episode that livings could hear Alberta's ghostly singing.  I don't think it was actually words, just tones. 

Yes, it was either the first or second episode, before Sam could see them. The ghosts were trying to scare Sam and Jay out of the house, and Alberta did her humming thing but Jay was blasting the stereo so neither could hear her.

[SmithW6079]

3 hours ago, Blakeston said:

On 1/13/2022 at 11:45 PM, AngieBee1 said:

What I found funny about that was that Utkarsh played Punam Patel's best friend/friends with benefits in season two of Netflix's SPECIAL.

I found it a little uncomfortable watching these actors who played lovers playing brother and sister. It wasn't as bad as if, say, someone cast Courtney Cox and David Schwimmer as a married couple...but it was the same kind of principle.

Eh, they're just actors playing roles.

[LisaM]

I find it weird when one or two of the ghosts is missing from the episode - and nobody mentions them. I gather that the plan is for all of the ghosts to be in each episode but was this originally a Covid thing or an actual artistic choice?

Edited January 17, 2022 by LisaM

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, LisaM said:

I find it weird when one or two of the ghosts is missing from the episode - and nobody mentions them. I gather that the plan is for all of the ghosts to be in each episode but was this originally a Covid thing or an actual artistic choice?

Or maybe it was a budget issue? And now that the show is successful, they have more money for actors to appear.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, LisaM said:

I find it weird when one or two of the ghosts is missing from the episode - and nobody mentions them. I gather that the plan is for all of the ghosts to be in each episode but was this originally a Covid thing or an actual artistic choice?

It doesn't bother me that all the ghosts are not there in every episode.
I'm often assuming Covid is the reason for odd character absences these days, but this show's episodes seem pretty smoothly written, so I'm less inclined to think that's the reason in this case.
I'm guessing having a large cast of part time ghosts was always the plan?
Perhaps because they can get better actors by giving them enough time to work on other projects?

[Blakeston]

8 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Eh, they're just actors playing roles.

I am aware of that!

But we all carry around a certain amount of mental associations between actors and roles they've played. No one is immune to it.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Blakeston

[North of Eden]

The B story with the ghosts giving up the room was a plot line that should never have made it onto the screen as long as the show insists on the "missing ghost (s) of the week". You cant do a story about giving up a room when Sas and the Hippie chick are missing. It just didn't work. Also yes in a house that size I can't believe there weren't more spare non-moldy bedrooms!

LOL of the week: "What is this personal massager?"

Side note I LOVED the gorgeous overhead shot of the house and what I hope is the real Hudson River valley beyond (I  live just north of there and its beautiful). Hopefully it wasn't something shot in California and they took the time to come here for the exteriors.

Edited January 17, 2022 by North of Eden

[iMonrey]

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Side note I LOVED the gorgeous overhead shot of the house and what I hope is the real Hudson River valley beyond (I  live just north of there and its beautiful). Hopefully it wasn't something shot in California and they took the time to come here for the exteriors.

Sorry, but neither. It's not even a real house, it's an amalgamation of a real house (in California) and CGI:

https://hookedonhouses.net/2022/01/06/haunted-house-ghosts-sitcom/

[North of Eden]

28 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Sorry, but neither. It's not even a real house, it's an amalgamation of a real house (in California) and CGI:

https://hookedonhouses.net/2022/01/06/haunted-house-ghosts-sitcom/

And....that's the sound of a bubble bursting! All the grand old houses in the world and they have to go to the CGI well?

[Browncoat]

They should have used the Knives Out house.  

[redpencil]

9 hours ago, North of Eden said:

The B story with the ghosts giving up the room was a plot line that should never have made it onto the screen as long as the show insists on the "missing ghost (s) of the week". You cant do a story about giving up a room when Sas and the Hippie chick are missing. It just didn't work. Also yes in a house that size I can't believe there weren't more spare non-moldy bedrooms!

I do think it's weird that literally not once has anyone mentioned a ghost who didn't appear in that episode. For some storylines, it's not really necessary. But for others, there are big things happening and it seems strange to not throw in a line about how [insert ghost] is really missing out. And yeah, this one in particular seemed weird in that regard (though I'll admit that I generally completely forget about Flower when she's not around).

[callie lee 29]

Nancy (?) can stay in the cholera cellar. Her crap got old real quick and her voice reminded me of Cam’s sister in Modern Family (who might be the most annoying character ever).

It doesn’t really bother me when some of the ghosts are missing, if anything I think it makes it more realistic and all of them competing for the 20 minutes of screen time would get too much.

[iMonrey]

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They should have used the Knives Out house.  

I think the issue is that the manor is supposed to look old and run-down, so a real one that looked liked that would be hard to find and impractical as a shooting location. They use a real house when they shoot exteriors in closeups and medium shots because they only have to dress a small part of it, and when they need a wider shot of the whole house the fill it it with CGI.

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The B story with the ghosts giving up the room was a plot line that should never have made it onto the screen as long as the show insists on the "missing ghost (s) of the week". You cant do a story about giving up a room when Sas and the Hippie chick are missing. It just didn't work. Also yes in a house that size I can't believe there weren't more spare non-moldy bedrooms!

It did seem odd that neither Flower nor Sass were there to vote on the rooms, but they could have easily hand-waved this with a simple line of dialogue and just didn't bother. 

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I think the issue is that the manor is supposed to look old and run-down, so a real one that looked liked that would be hard to find and impractical as a shooting location. They use a real house when they shoot exteriors in closeups and medium shots because they only have to dress a small part of it, and when they need a wider shot of the whole house the fill it it with CGI.

I know, I just love that Knives Out house so much!

[North of Eden]

23 hours ago, callie lee 29 said:

Nancy (?) can stay in the cholera cellar. Her crap got old real quick and her voice reminded me of Cam’s sister in Modern Family (who might be the most annoying character ever).

It doesn’t really bother me when some of the ghosts are missing, if anything I think it makes it more realistic and all of them competing for the 20 minutes of screen time would get too much.

No...having missing ghosts when your storyline is one of them MUST give up a room doesn't work without Sas and Flower. Everyone of them had a stake in it and it was ridiculous  to float this plot without everyone.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, North of Eden said:

No...having missing ghosts when your storyline is one of them MUST give up a room doesn't work without Sas and Flower. Everyone of them had a stake in it and it was ridiculous  to float this plot without everyone.

Were Sass and Flower the only ones missing? I can imagine either one of them preferring to sleep under the stars anyway. 
Yes. I used to do that.

[iMonrey]

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Were Sass and Flower the only ones missing? 

The headless ghost, but we haven't seen him since Episode 4. I think maybe the show has decided to drop the character.

[ajsnaves]

On 1/16/2022 at 11:50 AM, iMonrey said:

Definitely not 20. It's hard to tell from the exterior shots. The house has an L shape and it appears the bedrooms are all located on the second floor of the main wing (where the front door and entry hall are). Judging by the fireplace chimneys, there appear to be seven bedrooms facing the front yard. Assuming the other side of the hall is the same that would be 14 total. But it's possibly fewer.

I wonder if there are servants’ quarters somewhere?  Also, are there ensuite bathrooms? I have never stayed at a B&B, so I have no idea what is expected.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ajsnaves said:

I wonder if there are servants’ quarters somewhere?  Also, are there ensuite bathrooms? I have never stayed at a B&B, so I have no idea what is expected.

Maybe next season Sam and Jay can get fixer-upper funding by being featured on an HGTV show. Then the bedrooms will get en suite bathrooms.
It could be fun to have the ghosts haunt the crew of the show.

Edited January 19, 2022 by shapeshifter

[HurricaneVal]

I'm not terribly fond of Chip and Joanna Gaines, so I wouldn't mind if Isaac walked through them over and over while Thorfin zapped them.

[ajsnaves]

16 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I'm not terribly fond of Chip and Joanna Gaines, so I wouldn't mind if Isaac walked through them over and over while Thorfin zapped them.

My God, are there enough big clocks for Joanna to put in the house?

[shapeshifter]

17 hours ago, HurricaneVal said:

I'm not terribly fond of Chip and Joanna Gaines, so I wouldn't mind if Isaac walked through them over and over while Thorfin zapped them.

Maybe the home reno characters could be named Block and Jenny Losses or some more imaginative derivatively punny names.

[proserpina65]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:59 PM, ajsnaves said:

I wonder if there are servants’ quarters somewhere?  Also, are there ensuite bathrooms? I have never stayed at a B&B, so I have no idea what is expected.

There are various levels of B&Bs.  I've stayed at some with ensuite bathrooms but not very often because they tend to be more expensive.  Usually there are at least a few rooms which share a bathroom.

[Johannah]

I don't think it's a big deal if all the ghosts aren't present, even when making a decision.  It's like at work.  If you didn't come in that day, you don't get a vote.  It was to use a room for one night.  No big deal.  Although, they could have said, "Use Flower's room.  She's wandered off somewhere."  But maybe they have an unspoken rule:  don't mess with my stuff when I'm not around, and I won't mess with yours.

There have been some comments about seeing Trevor's caring side (or whatever), but it's been shown a lot of times.  I specifically remember at the end of the episode about Alberta when she was so happy being validated about being poisoned (something like that) and the looks he gave her showed how happy he was for her.  He cared that she was so happy.  Looking at characters when they aren't the focus of attention can be so telling if the actor stays in character and I think these actors do a good job of this.

 

[HurricaneVal]

The actor playing Trevor is particularly good at this.  Or maybe it is just that his and Pete's characters allows for broader expressiveness.  Sass is sarcastic, so he's mainly smirky, Thorfin is stoic, Hetty is hampered by coming from a straight-laced era but she does morally horrified or snarkily superior very well, and Flower is just sort of spacy.

The one example from Trevor that made me start watching the background reactions with greater attention was several episodes ago.  Hetty mentioned something about being known for her "comely" ankles, then we see Trevor's face leaning into the shot, clearly ogling and leering down towards her feet.   But it wasn't just standard skeevy horndogness, there was a bright curiosity to it, like "Oooooh, let me see!" There was an element of learning something new about a long term companion in there.  

These characters have layers, yo.

 

 

[kathyk24]

I thought Jay trying to attack Trevor was hilarious. Nancy was great pointing out the group's flaws to Pete. I loved that Sam trusted Bela with her secret and the ghosts were willing to help her. I wonder if we'll meet Trevor's family next year? He's the only ghost young enough to have outlive his parents. I would also like to meet Jay's parents too.

[SmithW6079]

The thing that bothered me about Jay's sister and Trevor "sexting" is that they've shown how difficult it is for Trevor to manipulate physical things. Did she wait 10 minutes for a response after she sent something "hot" to him?

[LittleIggy]

9 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

The thing that bothered me about Jay's sister and Trevor "sexting" is that they've shown how difficult it is for Trevor to manipulate physical things. Did she wait 10 minutes for a response after she sent something "hot" to him?

I thought the same thing! 😆”O…..h…..b….a….b….y….”

[AnimeMania]

5 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

The thing that bothered me about Jay's sister and Trevor "sexting" is that they've shown how difficult it is for Trevor to manipulate physical things. Did she wait 10 minutes for a response after she sent something "hot" to him?

Just send an Emoji, a picture is worth a thousand words. That picture you sent me was 3 Eggplants and a Fire Emoji.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Just send an Emoji, a picture is worth a thousand words. That picture you sent me was 3 Eggplants and a Fire Emoji.

Yes, and we were deprived of a few laughs by having Trevor saying something like: Thank goodness for those Anime hieroglyphics! 

Edited March 13, 2022 by shapeshifter

[SmithW6079]

On 3/13/2022 at 5:18 AM, AnimeMania said:

Just send an Emoji, a picture is worth a thousand words. That picture you sent me was 3 Eggplants and a Fire Emoji.

 

On 3/13/2022 at 5:26 AM, shapeshifter said:

Yes, and we were deprived of a few laughs by having Trevor saying something like: Thank goodness for those Anime hieroglyphics! 

Would Trevor have even known what certain emojis stand for? 

[KarenX]

1 hour ago, SmithW6079 said:

 

Would Trevor have even known what certain emojis stand for? 

They do watch a lot of television. Texting is a thing characters do and talk about. Emoji language is shown and explained. He knew about tablets and apps. I think he’d get it.

But they were communicating far more deeply than jokey emoji strings. It’s true that it would take too long for Trevor to realistically accomplish.

[enduringforce]

8 hours ago, KarenX said:

But they were communicating far more deeply than jokey emoji strings. It’s true that it would take too long for Trevor to realistically accomplish.

Hey, the man was motivated! Sad in the end that Trevor states he thought he had all the time in the world to find his one true love but his time was up before he could. He truly seemed to want a meaningful relationship and of course, nudes! 🤣

[Scarlett45]

The Shawshank Redemption  reference was GOLDEN. I loved it. 

[LexieLily]

"This time we do it in reserve order of seniority. "
"Thor not like this. This is bad outcome for Thor."

God, these ghosts are children. XD. Where did Thor of all people learn how to settle an argument with "NOT IT!"?
 

On 1/14/2022 at 10:59 AM, kwnyc said:

Also: Trevor is smart and motivated as hell. I bet he was a successful financial douchebro. He's the only one who has managed to communicate directly with Jay. If Flower had been there, they could have had her walk through Bela, who would probably have enjoyed tripping balls.

I don't know how it happened but I've done a complete 180 on Trevor since the pilot; he's got his moments to be sure but he's not at all the douchebro frat-boy I thought he was at first. He is that, obviously, but he's also more than that if his apology speech to Bela in the kitchen was sincere. We've seen how much energy and strain it takes out of Trevor to manipulate an object or to write a solitary letter in steam on a bathroom mirror but not only did he somehow put together an entire dating profile and match himself to someone but he carried on a week-long text relationship with a Living. Bela's text chain was full of paragraphs and words, not one-word answers or emojis. (I didn't see a last name on Trevor's profile, so if Bela's page didn't use a last name either it's conceivable Trevor wouldn't have known he'd matched with Jay's sister.) The ghost-options for romance are quite limited in that regard :p.

Jay chasing Trevor across the room wanting to walk through him (wanting to run through him, angrily XD) because ghosts are impervious to touch or punching cracked me up. 

Now that Jay's seen a picture of Trevor and his granite-chiseled jawline, he can add Trevor to the list of ghosts he knows what they look like. Trevor's dating profile pic/obit pic. Alberta's face on Creepy Todd's tattoo, or even one of her album covers. We know from the pilot Woodstone has a portrait of Elias so there must be a portrait of Hetty in the house somewhere, or both of them together; if not Jay at least knows Hetty's voice from the possession. Sam's research on the commune bank robbery might have found a picture of Flower, or there could be one on the Daisy's coffee shop website. If Pete's old Pinecone troop book was at Woodstone after all this time there might be a picture of the troupe he was in charge of. Isaac would be tougher because he wasn't at the Declaration of Independence or the Boston Tea Party, and I don't know how you'd have a picture of Thor or Sasappis. Five out of eight ghosts isn't bad!

"He used the kitchen iPad. I knew we needed a better password than 1234." / "You're right. I should have anticipated a ghost catfishing my sister." I love Jay. That is all XD.

Pete's confession that his being a pushover was actually him modeling good conflict-management behavior for the other ghosts (such as it worked, lol) was a sweet confession but I'm glad Nancy pushed him to do better. Hetty, Isaac and Thor's aghast annoyance at Pete having feelings was worth it. And I'm glad that Nancy went back downstairs to the cholera pit. Lol.
 

 

[Annber03]

4 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

"This time we do it in reserve order of seniority. "
"Thor not like this. This is bad outcome for Thor."

God, these ghosts are children. XD. Where did Thor of all people learn how to settle an argument with "NOT IT!"?

How much you wanna bet they've done the "I'm not touching you!" game at some point :p? 

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We've seen how much energy and strain it takes out of Trevor to manipulate an object or to write a solitary letter in steam on a bathroom mirror but not only did he somehow put together an entire dating profile and match himself to someone but he carried on a week-long text relationship with a Living. Bela's text chain was full of paragraphs and words, not one-word answers or emojis. (I didn't see a last name on Trevor's profile, so if Bela's page didn't use a last name either it's conceivable Trevor wouldn't have known he'd matched with Jay's sister.) The ghost-options for romance are quite limited in that regard :p.

Yeah, he's definitely got a savvy side to him, for sure, and he's clearly a quick learner. You don't get to where he did in life without those skills, after all :D.

I like your point about why he might not have put two and two together regarding who Beta was related to. But yeah, these people had been lonely and single for so long, it's no surprise they'd take advantage of any opportunity to connect with someone else on a romantic level. Even if that "someone else" is alive :p. 

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Now that Jay's seen a picture of Trevor and his granite-chiseled jawline, he can add Trevor to the list of ghosts he knows what they look like. Trevor's dating profile pic/obit pic.

I LOVE how incredibly complimentary he was of Trevor's looks. Even when he was mad at him, he still found a way to work in a compliment about his jawline :p. And I love Trevor appreciating the praise, too. Hee. 

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Isaac would be tougher because he wasn't at the Declaration of Independence or the Boston Tea Party

Maybe somebody did a portrait of him, similar to the kind that people have done for the Founding Fathers? It'd probably have to have been commissioned either by Isaac himself (which seems likely ;p) or by one of the few people he was close to when alive, but still, it'd be cool if something like that existed out there. 

But yeah, I love your reasoning for how Jay could learn what at least some of the other ghosts look like, and have a few faces and names to put together. 

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"He used the kitchen iPad. I knew we needed a better password than 1234." / "You're right. I should have anticipated a ghost catfishing my sister." I love Jay. That is all XD.

I love Sam swatting Jay's shoulder when Bela uses the password to open up the tablet :p. On the one hand, I agree with Jay's response to Sam, but on the other hand, yeah, there's a reason passwords are often (ridiculously) complicated :p. 

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Pete's confession that his being a pushover was actually him modeling good conflict-management behavior for the other ghosts (such as it worked, lol) was a sweet confession but I'm glad Nancy pushed him to do better. Hetty, Isaac and Thor's aghast annoyance at Pete having feelings was worth it. And I'm glad that Nancy went back downstairs to the cholera pit. Lol.

 

Thor asking if Nancy breaking up with Pete meant she was single now...XD. I like Pete pointing out to Nancy the irony of her forcing him to develop a stronger backbone :p. 

[possibilities]

Maybe Sam can hire a sketch artist like they use for people who witnesses who want to describe the person who they saw  do whatever crime. She can say it's for illustrations for a book she's writing, rather than saying it's so she can show her spouse what the resident ghosts look like.

[Annber03]

Oooooooh. I like that idea! And hey, the book excuse would be a valid one, given she's already written a book about one of the ghosts, so...:D. 

[Mabinogia]

17 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Maybe somebody did a portrait of him, similar to the kind that people have done for the Founding Fathers? It'd probably have to have been commissioned either by Isaac himself (which seems likely ;p) or by one of the few people he was close to when alive, but still, it'd be cool if something like that existed out there. 

I could 100% see Isaac commissioning a portrait of himself looking very important and dignified. He had no way of knowing he'd end up dying of dysentery before making a name for himself, and he seems very into notoriety or fame. It is unlikely it is at Woodstone, but I'd love for Sam, in working on Isaac's bio, to look up his family and finding some great great neice or nephew who has it in their attic. 

Though it would be fun to see how Sam explain to a sketch artist how she knows what a centuries old soldier she'd never even heard of before moving to the mansion looks like. 

[possibilities]

She wouldn't have to claim she knows what he looked like. She could just say she's imagining him and wants to hire an artist for her book.