S04.E19: Pinkus Returns

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I assume Sam and Jay, to help Pete clear Donna's name.

I'm wondering how the police would get a warrant to search the home based on an anonymous tip that came from an unverifiable source.  Hmm. 🤨

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

I am confused. Who tipped off the cops that the elderly lady was a killer and that there was enough evidence to prove that guilt that the cops didn't think it was some kind  of prank call on a cold/closed case.

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 I assume Sam and Jay, to help Pete clear Donna's name.

From the transcript:

• Newscaster ( over TV ): This cold case heated up after an anonymous tip from a Hudson Valley local, and now the octogenarian murderer-slash-gardening enthusiast will find herself planted behind bars.

But it wasn't a "cold case." 
Oh well. Clearly the Newscaster got their Communications degree at the University of Click Bait.

[Orcinus orca]

2 hours ago, nilyank said:

I am confused. Who tipped off the cops that the elderly lady was a killer and that there was enough evidence to prove that guilt that the cops didn't think it was some kind  of prank call on a cold/closed case.

Again, poor writing.  Sam calls them and says, what, "I heard from a ghost that Donna's husband was killed with a spade.  Did up the body and look for evidence"? And a heartbeat later they arrest her?

Sounds like they need someone to proofread the scripts a little more carefully.

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, Orcinus orca said:

Again, poor writing.  Sam calls them and says, what, "I heard from a ghost that Donna's husband was killed with a spade.  Did up the body and look for evidence"? And a heartbeat later they arrest her?

Also from the transcript:

• [Pete to other ghost] What was the real murder weapon?
• [Killer's Husband ghost] One of Linda's garden tools. We buried it under the fountain.

🤷🏼‍♀️

7 minutes ago, Orcinus orca said:

Sounds like they need someone to proofread the scripts a little more carefully.

Or maybe not cram so many plots into a 20 minute show?

Edited April 19 by shapeshifter

[PattyorSelma]

This episode would have been much more entertaining for me to watch if the commercial promoting it hadn’t used the clip of Pinkus saying that Trevor was her real father.  I just waited for that scene to clue in everyone else!

[Skooma]

30 minutes ago, PattyorSelma said:

This episode would have been much more entertaining for me to watch if the commercial promoting it hadn’t used the clip of Pinkus saying that Trevor was her real father.  I just waited for that scene to clue in everyone else!

I hate how they do that stuff.  On The Amazing Race now at the start of the episode Phil says something like on this episode ... at which point I mute and close my eyes or switch channels really quickly.  Why ruin an episode of anything like this?

LONG OT Rant:  For years now the old network three have been doing this with their nightly news.  They waste time mentioning all the "headlines" at the start then repeat them after just mentioning them.

When they go to commercial they tell you what you are going to see after the commercial.  When they come back you get a 15 second story then off to the next commercial.  

The last 15 minutes of the broadcast are roughly 13 minutes of commercials for drugs where happy people walk down beaches and celebrate birthdays obviously not hearing that the drug being pushed will cause their liver to explode, turn their toenails green and make them unable to ever eat pizza again.

And don't get me started on the "senior correspondent" for economics who last night was the "senior" correspondent for defense and the night before was the "senior" correspondent for celery research.  Just once I'd like to meet a "junior" correspondent.  But of course they have less correspondences these days then where one should really get the news (and much needed laughs) -- "The Daily Show"

No wonder nobody watches the nightly news anymore.  Well except me I guess because I love shouting at my TV about how crummy these broadcasts are then back in the day.  😝

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, Skooma said:

the "senior" correspondent for celery research. 

I think I’ve found my new byline.

About the episode, it’s kind of sad that “they” didn’t think any of the 3 plots was worthy of more than a few lines.

Edited April 19 by shapeshifter

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Orcinus orca said:

She didn't think it odd that she was getting a text from her own phone?  And who has all of their baby pictures stored on their own phone?

This one was a real stretch.

I was annoyed by the phones even before then, when Trevor, using Sam's phone, meant to text the dad but texted the daughter -- Why does Sam have the daughter's cell phone number?  She'd have the dad's from him making the reservation (although why it's in her personal phone rather than just in the computer, I don't know), but does she ask for the cell phone number of every guest when they arrive? 

[Dimity]

20 minutes ago, Bastet said:

She'd have the dad's from him making the reservation (although why it's in her personal phone rather than just in the computer, I don't know), but does she ask for the cell phone number of every guest when they arrive? 

IIRC there was a reference earlier that Sam was going to send the daughter directions for a hike, think it was that creek she kept calling magical, much to Hetty's annoyance.

[PaulE]

10 hours ago, Chit Chat said:

21 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

Sass wouldn't be in this situation if he had been honest in the first place.

With some of the other ghosts always talking about sex, I think that Sass just wanted to fit in and therefore lied about his sexual past.  It's on the other ghosts for never shutting up about it and making him feel weird about it.  Moral of the story?  Never trust Thor with your secrets!!  

I think you're on the right track.  Sass realized that if he'd told the truth the others would have laughed and pointed, which is essentially what they did do once they found out.  Who needs that?  Though Isaac's a case of someone living in a glass house and throwing stones.  We've often wondered about whether he ever consummated his marriage to Beatrice.  If he didn't (which is my opinion), then he died a virgin at an older age than Sass.  Even if he did manage to get it on with her, it was probably such an awful experience that they seldom if ever did it again.  I'm assuming he and Nigel had ghost sex, mainly because Nigel is a self-confessed slut, but maybe they decided to wait until the wedding night, which, since that never happened, would make Isaac as virginal as Sass.

I also tend to suspect that Pete might have been a virgin until he got married.  He just seems like the sort to have wanted to wait for that one special person (even though his wife didn't turn out to be the love of his life).  Carol did mention his bedroom prowess, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was experienced when they married.  At any rate, I agree with those who think the ghosts are making way too much an issue over something like virginity.  I think most of us can think of worse problems.

[Annber03]

44 minutes ago, PaulE said:

I think you're on the right track.  Sass realized that if he'd told the truth the others would have laughed and pointed, which is essentially what they did do once they found out.  Who needs that?  Though Isaac's a case of someone living in a glass house and throwing stones.  We've often wondered about whether he ever consummated his marriage to Beatrice.  If he didn't (which is my opinion), then he died a virgin at an older age than Sass.  Even if he did manage to get it on with her, it was probably such an awful experience that they seldom if ever did it again.  I'm assuming he and Nigel had ghost sex, mainly because Nigel is a self-confessed slut, but maybe they decided to wait until the wedding night, which, since that never happened, would make Isaac as virginal as Sass.

I'm thinking he and NIgel haven't been intimate yet simply because of how hesitant Isaac's been with physical intimacy of any sort. It took him a number of months to even work up the nerve to kiss Nigel, and then there was the whole issue with them moving in together, and then after that his nerves about their engagement that ultimately culminated in them not going through with the wedding. Nigel's clearly interested in that kind of relationship with Isaac, but we've seen Isaac's hesitancy in that arena, and it's been one of the many issues they've had in their relationship, so yeah. I think they haven't yet crossed that point, I suspect, though, that that will change whenever they get back together.

But I think that also explains a lot about why Isaac's making comments about Sasappis' virginity - it's so like him to try and deflect any suspicion or discussion from his own issues by mocking someone else for similar things - it fits with his hypocritical nature in general. And he's always been the sort to want to try and be with the popular crowd and join in their little jokes and jabs about some person or thing - he did it when he was alive, so it makes total sense he'd do it here, too. 

Also, I think it's his way of calling out Sasappis, 'cause if he has little to no sexual experience himself, it's kind of his way of being like, "I'm in the same boat as you, I know you're lying. Who do you really think you're fooling here?"

[Driad]

Sounds like spending eternity in middle school, or at most high school.  The ghosts were more or less functional adults when they were alive, but they seem to have regressed.

[txhorns79]

On 4/18/2025 at 4:43 PM, Bastet said:

Maybe it's just my mood, but the writing the past two episodes has felt incredibly lazy to me, so I get distracted by lack of logic I'd normally overlook because I'm so busy laughing at the sharp humor. 

I wish they didn't have to make Sam look like a complete crazy person in order to facilitate the plot.  Outside of the sitcom bubble, a text message sent from Sam telling Abby the truth about her father would be very hard to ever move past.  The "Ha Ha" with the text would just be the icing on that particular crazy cake.   

[kathyk2]

3 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I wish they didn't have to make Sam look like a complete crazy person in order to facilitate the plot.  Outside of the sitcom bubble, a text message sent from Sam telling Abby the truth about her father would be very hard to ever move past.  The "Ha Ha" with the text would just be the icing on that particular crazy cake.   

I agree with you. The ghosts do apologize but they cause more problems then they solve. I think the ghosts are like children they are impulsive and forget that actions have consequences.

[iMonrey]

21 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But it wasn't a "cold case." 

I think it probably was. They never actually arrested Donna because she fled the country, so there wouldn't have been a trial or any closure to this case. 

21 hours ago, Orcinus orca said:

Again, poor writing.  Sam calls them and says, what, "I heard from a ghost that Donna's husband was killed with a spade.  Did up the body and look for evidence"? And a heartbeat later they arrest her?

If detectives got a tip that the old woman was the real killer and the evidence could be found in her back yard, it might be as simple as they went to her house, knocked on her door and asked if they could ask her a few questions. And she might have admitted to the whole thing right there on the spot because she'd been riddled with guilt all these years.

I dunno. This didn't really bother me as much as the plot holes in last week's episode did.

[Ilovepie]

On 4/19/2025 at 8:46 PM, txhorns79 said:

I wish they didn't have to make Sam look like a complete crazy person in order to facilitate the plot.  Outside of the sitcom bubble, a text message sent from Sam telling Abby the truth about her father would be very hard to ever move past.  The "Ha Ha" with the text would just be the icing on that particular crazy cake.   

Yeah this is one of the things that bother me about this show - Sam looks batshit crazy so often because of the things they do. Like the episode with her dad. It's just not believable that she would humor them more than once after something like this.

On 4/18/2025 at 9:44 AM, Chit Chat said:

I'm surprised that her husband gave her up that quickly!

He was talking to another ghost. From his perspective, who was Pete going to tell? He was surprised Pete could "travel"; he would probably be just as shocked that Pete knows a living that he can communicate with....

[shapeshifter]

34 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

Yeah this is one of the things that bother me about this show - Sam looks batshit crazy so often because of the things they do. Like the episode with her dad. It's just not believable that she would humor them more than once after something like this.

Others have expressed the same sentiment, and at the time when I’m watching, Sam’s situations often do make me cringe. But Sam’s responses also make perfect sense to me for someone who can see and interact with ghosts. Likewise, the childish, trickster ghosts fit perfectly within the canon of ghost lore — again, from my perspective.

 

 

On 4/18/2025 at 12:44 PM, Chit Chat said:

I'm surprised that her husband gave her up that quickly!  

43 minutes ago, Ilovepie said:

He was talking to another ghost. From his perspective, who was Pete going to tell? He was surprised Pete could "travel"; he would probably be just as shocked that Pete knows a living that he can communicate with....

Ooo! Good point. I missed that.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

From his perspective, who was Pete going to tell? He was surprised Pete could "travel"; he would probably be just as shocked that Pete knows a living that he can communicate with

I get your point, but Pete told him that he was investigating a murder.  That guy should've asked him more questions as to how solving the murder would matter since Pete's a ghost.  If he'd been more inquisitive, he would've found out that Pete has living connections who were interested and could help.  He might not have confessed if he had known that!  

My main point was that the guy kept the secret for so long and then confessed rather easily.  That's really all I meant.  😉

[chaifan]

41 minutes ago, Chit Chat said:

That guy should've asked him more questions as to how solving the murder would matter since Pete's a ghost. 

Pete said he was dating Donna, and was trying to confirm if she was telling the truth when she said she didn't kill her husband.  So I think Walkman Guy figured OK, I'll just let this guy know his girlfriend isn't a murderer, and that would be the end of it.  Also, he was probably really happy to have someone new talk to.  There didn't seem to be any other ghosts on the premises.   He better hope he gets sucked off before his wife dies.  ooohh, she's gonna be mad at him if she finds out he ratted her out...

The one thing I wish Pete would have asked is whether the husband was still around as a ghost.  If not, did he get sucked off?  Did he go down?  But if he was still around, I could see Pete introducing himself, saying hey, I'm dating your wife, I hope that's ok with you.  That would be a total Pete thing to do.

I forgot... how did Donna die in the Bahamas?

 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I forgot... how did Donna die in the Bahamas?

Someone dropped their cell phone off the resort balcony onto her head -- since they were so big back then, it killed her.

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

The one thing I wish Pete would have asked is whether the husband was still around as a ghost.  If not, did he get sucked off?  Did he go down? 

They've established only a small percentage of people who die become ghosts, so him not asking makes sense to me.

[iMonrey]

18 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

Yeah this is one of the things that bother me about this show - Sam looks batshit crazy so often because of the things they do. Like the episode with her dad. It's just not believable that she would humor them more than once after something like this

But that's sort of baked into the cake. It was the same with Alison on the UK version, perhaps more so. It's where a lot of the jokes are mined. Same with Jay not being able to see or hear the ghosts.

However - in the case of her dad, I would have just proven to him there were ghosts like she did with Bela. I can understand why they wouldn't want to do that most of the time because if word spread they would be overrun. But she should have been able to trust her dad to keep it secret like she did with Bela. 

Whether or not she should have told Abby that Trevor's ghost is there, I'm on the fence. It would have been nice for Trevor but she doesn't really know Pinkus or Abby well enough to keep the secret.

One thing we can all agree on, though, is that Sam and Jay have to do a better job keeping their electronics off and turned over. They've been burned too many times for this to keep happening.

[Ilovepie]

20 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

But that's sort of baked into the cake. It was the same with Alison on the UK version, perhaps more so. It's where a lot of the jokes are mined. Same with Jay not being able to see or hear the ghosts.

There are a lot of other ways for the show to find comedic situations other than making Sam look insane at best, malicious at worst. I don't find these types of situations funny at all. I do like episodes like the one with Pete's daughter where she somewhat unobtrusively helps the ghosts and humans, but this episode was very gross to me. The reality is that Trevor is dead, and "Sam" potentially could have permanently ruined that girl's relationship with the only father she's known her whole life. I guess this is thinking about this too deeply, I just wish Sam wasn't made to look like an idiot so often. Speaking of.......

I greatly prefer Jay to UK Mike, and I think the American version does a better job making Jay seem smart, successful and able to deal with the ghosts without actually seeing them.

[kathyk2]

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

But that's sort of baked into the cake. It was the same with Alison on the UK version, perhaps more so. It's where a lot of the jokes are mined. Same with Jay not being able to see or hear the ghosts.

However - in the case of her dad, I would have just proven to him there were ghosts like she did with Bela. I can understand why they wouldn't want to do that most of the time because if word spread they would be overrun. But she should have been able to trust her dad to keep it secret like she did with Bela. 

Whether or not she should have told Abby that Trevor's ghost is there, I'm on the fence. It would have been nice for Trevor but she doesn't really know Pinkus or Abby well enough to keep the secret.

One thing we can all agree on, though, is that Sam and Jay have to do a better job keeping their electronics off and turned over. They've been burned too many times for this to keep happening.

I definitely think Sam should have told her dad about the ghosts it would have brought them closer. I don't know why they made such a big deal about casting Dean Norris if he was going to be in one episode. I wish the ghosts were more helpful to Sam instead of making her look stupid all the time.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

But she should have been able to trust her dad to keep it secret like she did with Bela. 

Her dad hasn't given her a whole lot of reason to trust him until very recently, and it wasn't just him, there was the girlfriend, too, who Sam doesn't even know.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Whether or not she should have told Abby that Trevor's ghost is there, I'm on the fence. It would have been nice for Trevor but she doesn't really know Pinkus or Abby well enough to keep the secret.

It's kind of an intriguing concept to have a young adult meet their absent father for the first time as a ghost — which isn't quite what this was about, but maybe in another episode (censoring myself from typing "or a spinoff").

 

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

One thing we can all agree on, though, is that Sam and Jay have to do a better job keeping their electronics off and turned over. They've been burned too many times for this to keep happening.

I wonder if they had scripted into this and other recent episodes some extenuating circumstances for why Sam didn't lock her screen, but they get cut for time? It seems like a throwaway line could work. Like Sam getting the front door and Jay hollering "Did you lock your computer?" followed by a fleeting worried look on Sam's face, and then a shot of Trevor and the gang taking advantage.

But wasn't there an episode that ended with Trevor having his own iPad or something? 

[chaifan]

I'm glad they didn't have Sam tell Abby (or Pinkus) about the ghosts.  I think that would have set up a really weird, almost obligatory relationship between Abby & Trevor.  Would Abby have to be a recurring character, coming to the manor and have "conversations" with Trevor, share more about her life with him, keep Sam updated on what's going on in her life, etc?  If the show didn't do that, or write around it, then we'd be seeing Trevor being dejected and depressed over Abby not wanting to spend time with him.  I just think it would set up an inconsistent plot going forward.  So I'm going to say it was a good call for the show to not go there.  

I felt differently about the episode with Sam's dad.  Prudence was doing some batshit crazy ghost stuff, I think it made Sam look a lot crazier than the text with Abby, and it would have made sense for Sam to tell her dad about the ghosts.  Especially since she had seen her mom as a ghost.  Yeah, the girlfriend would complicate things, but not so much that telling her dad would be impossible.  So in that one, it was weird to me that Sam didn't tell her dad.

[Annber03]

Yeah, if everyone Sam comes in contact with learns about her power, it doesn't make it all that unusual anymore. Plus, I think Sam tends to be rather choosy about who she tells regarding her ghost power, partly because she may not be sure how they'll react and partly because she probably feels protective of it and the ghosts. The ghosts themselves are already demanding enough on her time and energy, if others know she has this unique power, they may want her to do things for them, either on behalf of this group of ghosts or on behalf of their own loved ones that they're hoping might be ghosts or whatnot, and that'd be...a lot for her to deal with. 

And honestly, she and Jay already look odd enough to a lot of people in the town because of how many people have died on their property as it is. Whether Sam lets others in on her ghost power or not, she's going to look odd/idiotic/insane/whate have you to somebody no matter what :p. 

[PaulE]

6 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

I greatly prefer Jay to UK Mike, and I think the American version does a better job making Jay seem smart, successful and able to deal with the ghosts without actually seeing them.

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

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, PaulE said:

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

I don't think Sam takes him for granted at all. She told him about her ability to see the ghosts from the start. Sam tries to get along with his family especially his mother. Sam had the restaurant built just for him. I think the ghosts are more considerate of Jay than of Sam.

[iMonrey]

16 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

I don't think Sam takes him for granted at all. She told him about her ability to see the ghosts from the start.

Well she didn't have much choice, they both thought at first she was brain damaged from the fall and coma.

Why was Sam bringing Abby a sandwich? This isn't the first time they've shown them serving lunches and dinners. This is supposed to be a B&B. That's Bed and Breakfast. Not lunch and dinner too. Isn't that what the restaurant is for?

[PaulE]

13 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

I don't think Sam takes him for granted at all. She told him about her ability to see the ghosts from the start. Sam tries to get along with his family especially his mother. Sam had the restaurant built just for him. I think the ghosts are more considerate of Jay than of Sam.

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

[DanielleBowden]

On 4/10/2025 at 9:23 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Gideon Adlon is the daughter of Pamela Adlon, and the sister of Odessa A'zion (aka Odessa Zion Segall Adlon), who plays Stephanie, the sleepy prom girl ghost.

I saw/heard the resemblance and was coming here to see if maybe it was the same actress.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 4/18/2025 at 4:43 PM, Bastet said:

I didn't like this.  At all.  Maybe it's just my mood, but the writing the past two episodes has felt incredibly lazy to me, so I get distracted by lack of logic I'd normally overlook because I'm so busy laughing at the sharp humor.  The actors are still bringing it, but I'm starting to find the writing very Sitcom 101.

Yea, I feel like they need to find something new to do with Trevor's power. Because they keep having him get in trouble by using a phone or a computer to do something like send a message. And it makes Sam and Jay look stupid it happens so much. It definitely feels like Three's Company style writing.

[chaifan]

16 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Yea, I feel like they need to find something new to do with Trevor's power.

Isn't he making money doing stocks/trading?  I have no idea what he's doing with the money, but I thought he was still doing that.  That's how he could buy the skates from The Cutting Edge, and try to influence Flower with $5,000, right?  If so, maybe they need to have an Amazon Prime delivery of the week with something ridiculous he's bought.  It could be a fun running gag.

[KarenX]

On 4/25/2025 at 10:05 AM, chaifan said:

Isn't he making money doing stocks/trading?  I have no idea what he's doing with the money, but I thought he was still doing that.  That's how he could buy the skates from The Cutting Edge, and try to influence Flower with $5,000, right?  If so, maybe they need to have an Amazon Prime delivery of the week with something ridiculous he's bought.  It could be a fun running gag.

Trevor should commission iron tools for the ghosts to use—tongs, levers, that kind of thing—so they can manipulate their own objects. Get them their own tablets. They could start a ghost blog!

Whatever metal the ghost vault is made of. I think it’s iron. 

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, KarenX said:

Trevor should commission iron tools for the ghosts to use—tongs, levers, that kind of thing—so they can manipulate their own objects. Get them their own tablets. They could start a ghost blog!

Whatever metal the ghost vault is made of. I think it’s iron. 

I'm not quite following how the ghosts could interact with a metal that blocks them. 
Can we assume they can move it if it's not too heavy?
If the writers haven't thought of this, they need to hear from you.

[KarenX]

33 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm not quite following how the ghosts could interact with a metal that blocks them. 
Can we assume they can move it if it's not too heavy?
If the writers haven't thought of this, they need to hear from you.

If they can’t go through iron, then their fingers could grip iron, right? But maybe you are right: they probably done have strength to move it.

I’m sure this idea was batted around in this forum after we first daw the ghost vault. But Trevor wasn’t earning his own money then…

[chaifan]

2 hours ago, KarenX said:

Trevor should commission iron tools for the ghosts to use—tongs, levers, that kind of thing—so they can manipulate their own objects.

I don't think it works that way. I think they just can't go through iron.  But I don't think that means they're actually touching it or they could move it in any way.  Otherwise, they could have opened the vault door.