I just finished a full re-watching of "Criminal Minds"–I blame TikTok users for posting clips of the show, which reminded me that, oh yeah, I used to like watching that. In turn, I spent the past several weeks catching up with Garcia, Reid, Rossi, Morgan, JJ, and Prentiss over 15 seasons and two streaming networks.
After so much murder, mayhem, and a suspiciously high rate of agents being kidnapped, I found myself looking for something a little less intense.
Enter, "Ghosts," on Paramount +. This heartwarming, and funny 30-minute comedy was just what I needed after all that murder and mayhem.
In it, “Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) throw caution to the wind when they convert their recently inherited country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. Call it mislaid plans. Not only is the place falling apart, but it’s also inhabited by spirits of previous residents—whom only Samantha can see and hear.”
It took exactly one and a half episodes for me to embrace every character, both living and dead.
The show features one of my favorite tropes, renovating an old house and all the drama that entails, and the comedy of errors that can come from living with a bunch of ghosts. Jay and Samantha, the Livings, don’t exactly have the money to pull their dream off and their unliving roommates hijinks sometimes makes their struggle harder. Jay is supportive of his wife’s new ability and even tries to get to know the ghosts despite not being able to see or hear any of them – there are very funny moment’s involving "Dungeons and Dragons" and watching basketball.
As for the spirits, their afterlife is limited to the estate and its grounds, so tensions between the ghosts and the living rise and ebb throughout the season as they figure out how to live with each other. The longer they all live together the more the spirits have the chance to experience the modern life of millennials, including reality shows, smelling pizza, and dating apps.
The writers of "Ghosts" beautifully manage the plethora of characters from very different periods in history. For a 30-minute comedy, you never feel rushed through storylines and have multiple opportunities to learn more about the ghosts and how they died. You’ll find yourself wanting to know more about all of them and collapsing with laughter throughout the season.
There’s nothing like watching frustrated ghosts with too much time on their hands trying to find excitement.
You can watch season one of "Ghosts," on Paramount + or on PlutoTV.
Perdita Patrice is a Texas-based writer and documentary filmmaker. She enjoys live music, reading, and watching TV. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @perditapatrice