S02.E12: The Family Business

[wembley]

16 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?

https://www.vulture.com/article/ghosts-season-2-episode-12-recap-the-family-business.html

 

Her recaps are great!

[kathyk24]

When Hetty was telling Sam not to get close to the help I thought she was going to mention Elias and Molly. I was surprised that Trevor wouldn't kiss someone who was younger than him but had no problem kissing Hetty who is much older than him.

[iMonrey]

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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. 

He quit this time, actually. He does seem overqualified for the job though. I think his priority was living near family which probably means jobs are scarce. 

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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. 

Judging by the outside of the house, there are between eight and ten bedrooms. Hard to say for sure since the front and back facades do not match. But given that Sam made the ghosts double up in order to accommodate future guests, it appears she has agreed not to rent out those rooms to guests, so they remain reserved for the ghosts. They specified in this episode they only have four rooms available - they could have put some of the overbooked guests into the four ghost rooms assuming the ghosts would agree to it, which I don't think they would. It's not like the ghosts could do anything about it but they could make life hell for Sam.

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

Learning is for Danes!

[Driad]

Aren't the "rooms not ready for guests" not ready because they have mold or other serious problems?

[possibilities]

It's been a while since we got an update on the renovations. I don't think it's clear whether they finished that, and are just reserving half the rooms for ghosts to live in, or if they really haven't finished.

[JH Lipton]

No comment on the REO Speedwagon dis?  I wonder if Freddie has Loverboy, Supertramp, Foreigner and other bands of that era on his mixtape?  

On 1/13/2023 at 4:15 AM, appositival said:

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'm sorry -- have you met Hetty???? "Apologies are for the weak, and the staff!" says she.  

 

[eel21788]

On 1/12/2023 at 7:31 PM, 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.

Do we know how old Hetty was when she died? 

[Annber03]

27 minutes ago, JH Lipton said:

No comment on the REO Speedwagon dis?  I wonder if Freddie has Loverboy, Supertramp, Foreigner and other bands of that era on his mixtape?  

I was wondering if the nod to that band would come back again later in the episode, like there'd be a scene of Freddie listening to one of their songs in his car while crying over his breakup or something :p.

17 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Do we know how old Hetty was when she died? 

I've been wondering about that, too, partly because depending on how old she was, she would've likely been alive during the time of the Civil War and its immediate aftermath. I wonder what kind of impact that war would've had on her family, either in terms of any relatives fighting in it (did she have brothers that fought? Cousins? Was her father involved in the war effort?), or in terms of how it impacted them financially, or things of that sort. She was married off to Elias because of a land deal, so that seems to imply there was some kind of financial situation the family may have been dealing with prior to her marriage. 

(And despite being raised to believe that women didn't involve themselves in politics, it'd be interesting to see what she would've thought of that aspect of the war, too.)

[Bruinsfan]

My assumption is that Hetty died in her 40s based on her appearance. If the beginning of her grudge against Molly corresponds with her wedding, she was probably born in the 1850s, so a young child or teenager during the Civil War?

[iMonrey]

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Aren't the "rooms not ready for guests" not ready because they have mold or other serious problems?

We know there's one room with mold and a leaky ceiling, it's the one Pete volunteered to move into when he was "dating" Nancy. So that may be the 10th bedroom, which nobody uses. Otherwise, from what we've been told, there are four bedrooms that have been set aside for the Ghosts to sleep in and aren't rented out for that reason. There isn't anything wrong with them, otherwise the ghosts themselves wouldn't want them. 

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My assumption is that Hetty died in her 40s based on her appearance. 

Yeah, I mean, Rebecca Wisocky is 52 but Hetty could easily be taken as a 40-something.

[shapeshifter]

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Aren't the "rooms not ready for guests" not ready because they have mold or other serious problems?

44 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

We know there's one room with mold and a leaky ceiling, it's the one Pete volunteered to move into when he was "dating" Nancy.

Wouldn't they have failed any inspections for hospitality services if there was mold and/or leaky ceilings anywhere in the home?
Or could they have a license to use only a designated portion of the house?  

 

[seacliffsal]

I think the ghosts would have given up their rooms for the over booked guests as Hetty and Trevor were responsible for the mistake and they would convince the others to give up rooms just this once.

[iMonrey]

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Wouldn't they have failed any inspections for hospitality services if there was mold and/or leaky ceilings anywhere in the home?
Or could they have a license to use only a designated portion of the house?  

Who knows, they might have repaired it by now, that was a season one episode before they were open. But my point is that the reason there are only four available rooms isn't because the others aren't "ready," except for maybe that one. It's because Sam and Jay are willing to set aside four rooms for exclusive ghost use.

[ajsnaves]

My guess is part of the house is set aside as their own living quarters, including rooms for the ghosts to live in and watch TV and the like. If I remember correctly, Bob Newhart and his wife lived in a separate part of the inn on Newhart. I imagine they do too. 

[Katy M]

17 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I think the ghosts would have given up their rooms for the over booked guests as Hetty and Trevor were responsible for the mistake and they would convince the others to give up rooms just this once.

But, Trevor upped the room count all the way to 69.  Since there were no other rooms available in the area, it stands to reason that most of those 69 rooms would have been booked.  The ghosts only have 4 to give up.

[nora1992]

13 hours ago, ajsnaves said:

My guess is part of the house is set aside as their own living quarters, including rooms for the ghosts to live in and watch TV and the like. If I remember correctly, Bob Newhart and his wife lived in a separate part of the inn on Newhart. I imagine they do too. 

Ever see the Newhart episode with Jason Alexander?  He played a lavish tipper, who tried to upgrade to the Loudon’s bedroom.  
But add me to the group who wonders what the fallout will be of all the overbookings.  And if they only rent out 4 rooms, why do they need Freddie?

[iMonrey]

Rewatched this again. (So I'm obsessed. Don't judge.)

What would happen if Freddie drove off while Jessica was standing outside of the car? Would she be sucked back into it? I assume so.

Car ghost doesn't really make a lot of sense. I mean it's a funny idea, but if ghosts have to stay in the location where they died she should be stuck where the car struck the light pole, not in the car. Like the ghosts Sam saw out on the street in the pilot when they were driving home from the hospital. We've already raised the issue of what happens when the car goes to the scrap yard and is destroyed. If she can't move more than five feet away from the wreckage, that sucks for her. The Woodstone ghosts can move all over the property.

What looks like an old timey land line phone on the front desk is, on closer inspection, a retro modern cordless phone designed to look like an old timey phone.

There is a continuity issue with Trevor's shirt. Sometimes the bottom of it is wrinkled and sometimes it is ironed flat.

[shapeshifter]

13 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

There is a continuity issue with Trevor's shirt. Sometimes the bottom of it is wrinkled and sometimes it is ironed flat.

Heh.

[Mabinogia]

18 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Car ghost doesn't really make a lot of sense. I mean it's a funny idea, but if ghosts have to stay in the location where they died she should be stuck where the car struck the light pole, not in the car.

Maybe because she was the one driving, thereby guilty of her own death, she is trapped in the car? While, someone who is innocently hit by a car, or innocently in an accident (car malfunction rather than being an asshole drunk driver) would be left in the location of the crash? 

Just fanwanking. I love fanwanking, it's my second favorite type of...oh, I've said too much...

anyhoo... 

18 hours ago, iMonrey said:

What looks like an old timey land line phone on the front desk is, on closer inspection, a retro modern cordless phone designed to look like an old timey phone.

I really want this in my life, only I no longer have a land line, only a mobile. Hmmm, do they make one you can plug your mobile into to look like an old timey phone? I old timey phones. I just love antiques. Maybe that's why I like the idea of ghosts. They are like antique people. haha

[iMonrey]

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Maybe because she was the one driving, thereby guilty of her own death, she is trapped in the car? While, someone who is innocently hit by a car, or innocently in an accident (car malfunction rather than being an asshole drunk driver) would be left in the location of the crash? 

I don't get why the car itself would be a factor though. We know that Alberta and Trevor both died in the house, but they aren't restricted to being in the house, they are able to go outside. So you aren't trapped in the thing you died in, just where. 

I know it's just meant to be funny but it seems kind of awful to me. She has to spend eternity sitting outside Woodstone all day and sitting outside Freddie's apartment. 

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I know it's just meant to be funny but it seems kind of awful to me. She has to spend eternity sitting outside Woodstone all day and sitting outside Freddie's apartment. 

I'm with you on this...  it does seem awful to be confined to such a close space.  I'd think it would make her a little bonkers after a while, or at the very least having significant rage against Freddy.  He'd drive me crazy in a day.  So it does take a bit of the funny out of it for me, too.  I mentioned above that it would be interesting if Jessica could be where ever a part of the car was.  I love Nicole Sakura, and would love to see her in a semi-regular role, and if that is going to happen I think they need to get creative about the car rule.  

In one of the first few episodes (maybe Ep 2?), Jay is driving Sam to the hospital and she screams for him to stop because there are people crossing the intersection.  Except they're ghosts.  So are they confined to just crossing the intersection?  If "property" creates the ghosts' boundaries, and the intersection is public property belonging to the city, can they go anywhere in the city as long as they stay on public roads?  Can they go into City Hall, the police station, etc.?  I get why the writers keep things so vague, and just wink at the lack of a ghost manual - they couldn't possibly come up with consistent rules for every ghost situation. 

 

[Paloma]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:24 PM, iMonrey said:

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My assumption is that Hetty died in her 40s based on her appearance. 

Yeah, I mean, Rebecca Wisocky is 52 but Hetty could easily be taken as a 40-something.

To me she seems in her 50s and could not be taken for 40s, but maybe that's due to her hair and dress style as well as the way she talks. I'm sure she would seem younger when in modern dress.  

[Katy M]

19 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't get why the car itself would be a factor though. We know that Alberta and Trevor both died in the house, but they aren't restricted to being in the house, they are able to go outside. So you aren't trapped in the thing you died in, just where. 

I know it's just meant to be funny but it seems kind of awful to me. She has to spend eternity sitting outside Woodstone all day and sitting outside Freddie's apartment. 

But on the other hand she does get to travel around whereas everyone else has to just stay where they are.  She even has different ghosts that she gets to interact with. And she's not trapped in the car either, she just can't go more than a couple of feet away.