S02.E12: The Family Business

[Neptune]

“The Family Business” – Sam gives relationship advice to her and Jay’s assistant, Freddie (Mike Lane), ignoring Hetty’s warning not to get too close to “the help.” Also, Sasappis strikes up a romance with Jessica (Nichole Sakura), the ghost who lives in Freddie’s car.

[Neptune]

 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Please, universe and any attendant deities who might exist, let Sasappis have one kiss this episode. I ask for so little. Just one kiss (on the same scale as Nick and Jess’s first kiss in New Girl, season two, episode 15 for anyone who’s never seen it, google and thank me later, it’s the best kiss in cinematic history)! That’s all I ask. 

[Neptune]

 

[Neptune]

 

[AnimeMania]

Mike Lane (Freddie)

Nichole Sakura (Jessica)
Toby Berner (Ted)
Shaleen Hudda (Olivia)
Adam Cawley (Alan)
Daniel Rindress-Kay (Thomas Woodstone)
Geoff Rutherford (Denny)

Next New Episode: February 2, 2023

Edited January 13, 2023 by AnimeMania

[Annber03]

SO many laugh out loud moments and one-liners this episode, oh, my god.

Hetty is a damn tease XD! I love it. That opening scene... And Trevor with the amount of rooms and the name of the "couple" that booked a room there. No wonder these two have connected as they did, they've both got quite the wicked little minds.

Also laughed at Flower asking Sasappis if he was going to write a rock opera about Jessica. And Pete being upset about Bubbles being the product of a broken home (but everything about Carol and their wedding night. Damn, Pete, just lay it all out there, why don't ya...). 

Ohhhhhh, poor Sasappis. I felt for him with how awkward he looked listening to Jessica go on about all these other guys. Pet's talk with him was really good, though, and I'm glad Sasappis and Jessica were able to work things out in the end :). His apology to her was really nice and sweet. 

Also felt bad for Freddie. I hope he finds happiness again, too :). 

The talk between Sam and Hetty was really good, too, and very emotional. I liked Sam referencing her own fraught relationship wit her mom - I think that absolutely explains a lot about her interactions with Hetty. I hope this is an opening for us to learn more about the Woodstone family history in general, too, be it about Thomas or any other relatives who came in and out of that mansion over the years. 

Such an entertaining episode the whole way around :D. 

[phalange]

Hetty and Trevor’s hook-up was apparently a one time thing, but who knows if it’ll stay that way. They do have fun chemistry. Leave it to Trevor to change the occupancy to 69 and find it hilarious. And poor Freddie is all confused about the keys moving on their own. I wonder if he’ll end up finding out about the ghosts at some point.

I liked seeing a flashback, however brief, of Hetty with one of her kids. It must have been hard for her to watch and not be able to interact with them anymore. I’ve always loved how Hetty has taken on a maternal role with Sam since Sam didn’t have the best relationship with her own mom. It hasn’t been made clear, but I’m thinking the Woodstone line is from Sam’s mother’s side. 

Sass and Jessica are cute together. I’m glad they worked it out. Pete really is the go-to for good advice.

[Chit Chat]

51 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Also felt bad for Freddie. I hope he finds happiness again, too

He needs to run far away from that woman!  I'd be concerned about someone who gets that upset about being asked to refill the Brita pitcher!  We have one and it's really no big deal to take 20 seconds to stop and refill it when you empty it!

[stonehaven]

...and now my water tastes weird....Ah yes, the aftertaste of a bad break up...

Oh do I love this show. I find myself posting quotes on FB just because it's just too quotable. The line about keeping the help hungry and in fear had me rolling. Not much has changed...

My guess is Hetty and Trevor will be friends with benefits at some point. Alberta's frustration at Thor's "landship" cracked me up....

[Annber03]

42 minutes ago, stonehaven said:

Oh do I love this show. I find myself posting quotes on FB just because it's just too quotable. The line about keeping the help hungry and in fear had me rolling. Not much has changed...

I loved Hetty's story about when her family had the only phone for hundreds of miles, and they would write letters to people bragging about their phone. Something about Wisocky's delivery on that whole bit just cracked me up. 

[HurricaneVal]

Oh man.  This cast.  They are all wonderful.

I still don't like car ghost, but I'm not sure we're meant to.  I think she'd be great mean girl friends with drunk prom date attic ghost.

Seriously, what a cast.  Even guest stars are pitch perfect.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, HurricaneVal said:

I still don't like car ghost, but I'm not sure we're meant to.  I think she'd be great mean girl friends with drunk prom date attic ghost.

Oh! Yes! I like this idea :D!

[possibilities]

I wonder if they'll fire Freddie in every episode he's in.

I also think it's funny that they are now brining in a lot of guests and none of the stories have anything to do with them. They're barely more than extras.

[appositival]

So Hetty sabotaged Sam because she misses being in control? You lived your life; you don't get to live mine. I was waiting for an apology but I didn't really hear one.

I've always liked Alberta's hat.

 

[Shelbie]

I’m looking forward to Freddie’s reactions when the camera he installed shows Sam behaving oddly and having conversations with the ghosts. 

[Katy M]

It's so crazy that the wind was able to sabotage the res system like that:)

I don't think it's wrong for Sam to take an interest in Freddie's life, but she probably should have drawn the line at giving him advice.  Not saying it was bad advice, but, not a good idea.  I mean, obviously he could have had that talk on his own without her advice with the same result, but then he couldn't blame her (not that he did).

[bad things are bad]

I laughed hard at Trevor's pantsless betrayal 

[Tachi Rocinante]

Very uneven episode for me. Some good parts, but:

• I don't like Freddie or his car ghost, sorry
• So they handwaved the booking disaster? Without any Yelp blowback?
• Missed opportunity for a Grateful Dead joke (licensing?)

[shura]

54 minutes ago, Shelbie said:

I’m looking forward to Freddie’s reactions when the camera he installed shows Sam behaving oddly and having conversations with the ghosts. 

They really need to remove the camera.  It’s not like they have no control over it and have to put up with anything their employee decided to implement in their own place of business.

10 hours ago, phalange said:

I liked seeing a flashback, however brief, of Hetty with one of her kids. It must have been hard for her to watch and not be able to interact with them anymore.

Yes, she should reserve herself some window time and open a support group with Baby Bjorn’s girlfriend.  That woman can commiserate, although from a somewhat different perspective…

I loved how Sam was confessing that she liked yelling at Freddie and even wanted to strangle him (and found that exciting, it appears).  The sentiment was all kinds of wrong, of course, but she knew it - and it was portrayed beautifully by Rose McIver.  Fantastic acting there.

[Zahdii]

I'm so angry at myself that I forgot the show was on and missed it.

Anyone want to take a stab at a recap?

[Paloma]

One of my favorite lines was Isaac's saying that Freddie looked like "Hamilton after a night at the whore house, which he frequented. No songs in the musical about that." I've never even seen the musical, but I love Isaac's continuing frustration at Hamilton's fame.

[Daff]

12 hours ago, ChitChat said:

He needs to run far away from that woman!  I'd be concerned about someone who gets that upset about being asked to refill the Brita pitcher!  We have one and it's really no big deal to take 20 seconds to stop and refill it when you empty it!

Curious people who do these things: can’t refill the water, leave empty ice trays in the freezer, empty packaging in the cupboard…if they lived alone, would it still happen?

[proserpina65]

41 minutes ago, Daff said:

Curious people who do these things: can’t refill the water, leave empty ice trays in the freezer, empty packaging in the cupboard…if they lived alone, would it still happen?

Don't know about the rest, but I forget about refilling ice trays a lot.  Not necessarily because I've used all the ice but because I use it so rarely that the cubes eventually evaporate.

[iMonrey]

I got a big kick out of the flashback with Hetty's son thinking Thor's "sign" meant yes instead of no. I noticed they re-dressed the set to look like it was in the Victorian/Edwardian era. Love that attention to details. 

I'm not sure where they're going with Freddie and his car ghost. Are they meant to be a permanent characters now? Because it seems like they are very limited with what they can do with Jessica. And it seems like Freddie is going to figure out there are ghosts. 

Spoiler

(In the UK version, one of the ghosts can be photographed. I wonder if one of our ghosts will show up on the security video.)

At this point, I'm thinking maybe Freddie will get "spooked" when he figures out the mansion is haunted and end up quitting.

Quote

One of my favorite lines was Isaac's saying that Freddie looked like "Hamilton after a night at the whore house, which he frequented. No songs in the musical about that." I've never even seen the musical, but I love Isaac's continuing frustration at Hamilton's fame.

I've never seen Hamilton, and what little I have seen makes me think you'd have to pay me to sit through it. But all the references this show makes to it almost makes me want to. Almost.

[possibilities]

I really wanted to see how they resolved the overbooking issue. Did they just tell people sorry and they left? A screw up that big would completely tank their business. There really didn't seem to be a good solution, but it would have been nice to see them at least try to find a creative workaround, or show the fallout from it. I guess they wrote themselves into a corner, but it was too easily ignored.

[Driad]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Don't know about the rest, but I forget about refilling ice trays a lot.  Not necessarily because I've used all the ice but because I use it so rarely that the cubes eventually evaporate.

Try dumping the cubes into a plastic bag and sealing it.  Then you can leave the tray out of the freezer until you need to make more ice.

I was expecting Sam and Jay to move out of their own room so the first couple could have a room.  Did someone say they have four guest rooms?  That hardly seems like enough to pay the bills, so I hope they are making money on events and dinners.

[kathyk24]

Hetty and Sass are my favorite characters so I loved this episode. I squealed when Sass kissed Jessica. The scenes with Hetty and Trevor were hilarious. I would love to know exactly how Hetty and Sam are related. We don't know if Sam is related to Hetty on her father or mother's side of the family.

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, kathyk24 said:

Hetty and Sass are my favorite characters so I loved this episode. I squealed when Sass kissed Jessica. The scenes with Hetty and Trevor were hilarious. I would love to know exactly how Hetty and Sam are related. We don't know if Sam is related to Hetty on her father or mother's side of the family.

And now, although I know it is "highly improbable" (as Hetty would say) I would love for there to be a reveal that Hetty and Trevor share a distant relation. 

[tennisgurl]

Trevor and Hetty's dalliance might have been a one time thing (for now) but they sure do make for a diabolical duo. Hetty absolutely crossed the line here, but I did feel for her when she explained why she was meddling. The glimpse of her son was really nice to see, I felt really bad for her not being able to talk to them, then started laughing at Thor's attempt at helping. I always appreciate how well the show can make me feel some real feels one second and then crack up the next.

There really are just too many quotable lines, I almost feel like I have to take notes to remember them all, like when Pete was talking about how his wife didn't want to sleep with him on their wedding night. "In retrospect, the signs were there." 

Sam could find a middle ground between her method of employment and Hetty's. She can be kind to Freddie and show interest in his life, but also remind him that he needs to still do his job even when he's dealing with a break up. 

18 hours ago, ChitChat said:

He needs to run far away from that woman!  I'd be concerned about someone who gets that upset about being asked to refill the Brita pitcher!  We have one and it's really no big deal to take 20 seconds to stop and refill it when you empty it!

And she took their hamster! Now Bubbles is a hamster of divorce!

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Sam could find a middle ground between her method of employment and Hetty's. 

Sure. I think Sam went over the line in response to Hetty bossing her around like her mom used to do.

But Freddie is a bit of a snowflake, so she's going to need a little time to figure out the best way to deal with him.

[Snow Apple]

9 hours ago, Zahdii said:

I'm so angry at myself that I forgot the show was on and missed it.

Anyone want to take a stab at a recap?

Try downloading the CBS app. That's how I saw the Christmas episode when I had to miss it live.

As for the this episode, I was thinking the security camera will capture the ghosts, but it didn't which I'm glad about.  The show won't be the same if Jay and Freddie can see them too.

Are they taking reservations with a real rotary phone?

Edited January 13, 2023 by Snow Apple

[iMonrey]

Hetty: It doesn't matter if his girlfriend broke up with him or if his right arm was ripped off in an iron foundry. You tell him to get that stump back to work!

Pete: That seems like a disturbingly real example.

Quote

I was expecting Sam and Jay to move out of their own room so the first couple could have a room.  Did someone say they have four guest rooms?  That hardly seems like enough to pay the bills, so I hope they are making money on events and dinners.

That house definitely has more than four bedrooms, but they made the ghosts double up so I'm guessing there are four guest rooms, four ghost rooms and the master. 

Sam and Jay probably figure four couples at once is the most they can handle.

[BellaBabe2022]

If I were Freddie, I'd start looking for another job. These people have fired him twice in just the span of two weeks, and for no reason.  I enjoyed this episode. I especially liked Flower realizing that she is invisible, and Jay talking to Trevor as if he knows all about him, and what he would do.

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Don't know about the rest, but I forget about refilling ice trays a lot.  Not necessarily because I've used all the ice but because I use it so rarely that the cubes eventually evaporate.

OMG that happens to me too. I don't really put ice in my water so I'll have someone over and they ask for water in their ice and...nope. it's all magically gone. Wait, does it evaporate...or do I have a ghost with some kind of ice powers? Ooooh

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've never seen Hamilton, and what little I have seen makes me think you'd have to pay me to sit through it. But all the references this show makes to it almost makes me want to. Almost.

I certainly enjoy the references more than I think I'd enjoy the actual musical based on what I've seen of it. 

 

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

There really are just too many quotable lines, I almost feel like I have to take notes to remember them all

Just do what I do and use it as an excuse to have to rewatch the show until you memorize them all. lol 

 

36 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That house definitely has more than four bedrooms, but they made the ghosts double up so I'm guessing there are four guest rooms, four ghost rooms and the master. 

Sam and Jay probably figure four couples at once is the most they can handle.

I kind of assumed that they haven't completely fixed up all the rooms so only have 4 that are "guest ready". If so, they could always put the overbooked into the unready rooms, unless said rooms are missing windows or have holes in the ceiling or something. I would think they would only do a few rooms to start, just in case things didn't work out they wouldn't have wasted all their money on rooms that would never be used. 

While I don't care for Car Ghost, I adore Sass so much and just want him to be happy, so I was giddy when he got his kiss. That said, he could do sooooo much better than her. I mean, not with the limited options at Woodstone, but hey, maybe a guest will come along some day and die and then he can have a new girlfriend. 

I adore this Hetty/Trevor thing, whatever it is. I just think they work so well together. I kind of like that the meaner she was getting the more turned on Trevor was getting. LOL I just hope they don't fall in love. I prefer them as frienemies with benefits. I did feel bad for Trevor when his pantlessness betrayed him. That's just not fair. 

[BellaBabe2022]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I really wanted to see how they resolved the overbooking issue. Did they just tell people sorry and they left? A screw up that big would completely tank their business. There really didn't seem to be a good solution, but it would have been nice to see them at least try to find a creative workaround, or show the fallout from it. I guess they wrote themselves into a corner, but it was too easily ignored.

In real life, when faced with this problem, other b&bs would try to book the people at different locations, or even open up private rooms that were not previously available. In this case, they could give the people rooms that belong to the Ghosts.

[wembley]

11 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

pantsless betrayal 

Amazing phrase.

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

OMG that happens to me too. I don't really put ice in my water so I'll have someone over and they ask for water in their ice and...nope. it's all magically gone. Wait, does it evaporate...or do I have a ghost with some kind of ice powers? Ooooh

Since I only used ice for injuries or headaches, I silently fumed about my youngest daughter putting empty ice cube trays back in the freezer until she went away to college and I realized they were just evaporating. So glad I hadn’t falsely accused her! Need to pick which hill you want to die on.

Could something similar have been happening with Freddie’s Brit’s pitcher?

Or, perhaps, Freddie’s girlfriend was overwhelmed with life-work balance and Freddie’s neediness was the last straw.

[SoMuchTV]

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've never seen Hamilton, and what little I have seen makes me think you'd have to pay me to sit through it. But all the references this show makes to it almost makes me want to. Almost.

 

9 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I certainly enjoy the references more than I think I'd enjoy the actual musical based on what I've seen of it. 

I hate most musicals. More than one has driven me to tears (of boredom, not the “good” kind).  On top of that, I’m no fan of rap or hiphop. Also, not really a history buff. But for some reason, I could watch Hamilton over and over. Maybe it’s because before I ever watched it, I listened to the soundtrack out of curiosity over what the big deal was, and read some background info on the various parts. So, not trying to change anyone’s mind, just saying…

I know this is bordering on small talk but I think I can get away with it here, considering the Hamilton references in the episode.

Also, fun fact, Hamilton is one of the few things my one year old granddaughter’s parents can put on to keep her engaged so they can do something for a few minutes. 

[SoMuchTV]

46 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Since I only used ice for injuries or headaches, I silently fumed about my youngest daughter putting empty ice cube trays back in the freezer until she went away to college and I realized they were just evaporating. So glad I hadn’t falsely accused her! Need to pick which hill you want to die on.

Could something similar have been happening with Freddie’s Brit’s pitcher?

Or, perhaps, Freddie’s girlfriend was overwhelmed with life-work balance and Freddie’s neediness was the last straw.

I guess either of those could be possible, but I’m inclined to go with horses v zebras and say she’s probably just that person who doesn’t bother/think to fill up the pitcher. 

[Mabinogia]

38 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I hate most musicals. More than one has driven me to tears (of boredom, not the “good” kind).  On top of that, I’m no fan of rap or hiphop. Also, not really a history buff. But for some reason, I could watch Hamilton over and over.

I enjoy musicals, am fascinated by history, and was into hiphop back in the day but I just can't with Hamilton. My BFF loves it, so I tried and found it almost as annoying Isaac does, though for different reasons, since I never knew Hamilton personally. haha I'd say the only thing I do like about Hamilton is how much it annoys Isaac. 

On another note, I have started to call my car my landship. I got your back Thor! 

 

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, Mabinogia said:

On another note, I have started to call my car my landship. I got your back Thor! 

You just heard the word car! Can’t you just repeat the word?!

[Annber03]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I got a big kick out of the flashback with Hetty's son thinking Thor's "sign" meant yes instead of no. I noticed they re-dressed the set to look like it was in the Victorian/Edwardian era. Love that attention to details. 

I'm not sure where they're going with Freddie and his car ghost. Are they meant to be a permanent characters now? Because it seems like they are very limited with what they can do with Jessica. And it seems like Freddie is going to figure out there are ghosts. 

  Reveal spoiler

(In the UK version, one of the ghosts can be photographed. I wonder if one of our ghosts will show up on the security video.)

At this point, I'm thinking maybe Freddie will get "spooked" when he figures out the mansion is haunted and end up quitting.

I've never seen Hamilton, and what little I have seen makes me think you'd have to pay me to sit through it. But all the references this show makes to it almost makes me want to. Almost.

I liked that detail with Thor, too, partly because of the reason you note but also because I love the thought of Thor, or Sasappis or Isaac, depending on the situation, trying to help Hetty in her attempts to communicate with her family from beyond :). 

Spoiler

Spoiler

I kept wondering if Sam would look at the security camera footage to see what happened with the booking mix up, only to see Trevor and/or Hetty on there. I thought maybe that might be an opening for her to discover not only that Trevor and Hetty were behind the booking mess, but also what was going on with them romantically :D. Maybe that'll happen in a future episode?

I also wonder if the ghosts would be able to notice each other on the cameras if they were hovering and noticed the camera footage? 

 

As for Hamilton, I want to see that musical partly because I'm just curious to see it in general, but also because it'd add to my enjoyment of all the jokes about it that pop up on this show ;p.

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And now, although I know it is "highly improbable" (as Hetty would say) I would love for there to be a reveal that Hetty and Trevor share a distant relation. 

I said this to someone else last night when talking about the episode with them...I wonder how Sam would feel knowing Trevor's affections for her have now switched to her great-great-great-great grandmother :D? I imagine she'd be rather weirded out about that, LOL. Somehow it seems fitting that Trevor would keep it in the family :p. 

[SoMuchTV]

3 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

As for Hamilton, I want to see that musical partly because I'm just curious to see it in general, but also because it'd add to my enjoyment of all the jokes about it that pop up on this show ;p.

Really, although I’d personally recommend it, I don’t think you’re missing any jokes. The only joke is that Isaac is so annoyed that Hamilton is getting all this attention, to this day. 

[Annber03]

17 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

On another note, I have started to call my car my landship. I got your back Thor!

I LOVE that he refers to Jessica as the "landship ghost" :D. That's weirdly cute. 

 

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

You just heard the word car! Can’t you just repeat the word?!

That was hilarious.  I thought about one the posters here who wondered why Thor's dialect hasn't changed over time like some of the others, but I think that Alberta's snarky comment summed it up quite well.  He doesn't try!! Thor is content with how he talks, so he's not going to try and be like everybody else!  

[Mabinogia]

16 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

He doesn't try!! Thor is content with how he talks, so he's not going to try and be like everybody else!  

I kinda love him for that. Sure he knows what it is really called, but land ship is truer to who Thor is. It could also be a small way of retaining some of his old viking identity. 

I forgot to mention how heartbreaking Hetty's story was. While they are all ghosts who have far outlived everyone they knew in life, I'd say only Hetty, and possibly Sass, had to watch their loved ones grow old in front of them and die. Most of the others were only visiting the location when they died but Hetty's family remained there, for generations, and all she could do was watch. 

It also is interesting to me, to remember that Thor, Sass and Isaac would all have watched Hetty grow up in that house. We know Thor used to sing to her, and given the nature of the songs he sung, it really isn't that surprising that Hetty grew up to be kind of ruthless lol. 

[Chit Chat]

17 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

It could also be a small way of retaining some of his old viking identity. 

He is a proud and strong Viking! He does sound powerful when he talks, so I can understand why he prefers to speak the way he wants to.  I need a vanity plate on my car that reads 'land ship"! 

[possibilities]

It would be hard to watch your family and not be able to participate, but on the other hand, the others died and would have no idea what ever happened to their loved ones. That's also really tough.

 I think they couldn't find accommodations for the overbooked guests at other places, because everything was full due to Jam Jam, but I do think kicking the ghosts out of their rooms would work, if only the ghosts would be co-operative.

I kept waiting for someone to say the reservation system had been hacked, and start a whole cascade of events while they freak out about and try to fix that situation and probably falsely accuse some rival or other of being culpable.

I guess they didn't have time to really deal with the details, and only wanted to focus on the ghost-host dynamic.

[Neptune]

At least Hetty didn’t have to watch Elias control her family. He’d have had no problem using his power on them