Ghosts Review: Dinner Party (Season 1 Episode 4)

Ghosts Season 1 Episode 4, “Dinner Party,” gives the most iconic episode of The Office a run for its money with the addition of a killer guest list.

There’s nothing sitcom fans love more than a cringy dinner party, and while Ghosts lacks Jan and Michael’s unhinged presence, it creates its own chaos with the one thing this house has an abundance of — petty dead people.

This masterstroke episode showcases the worst of its sequestered characters and the best parts of this poltergeist-filled premise. Nosy neighbors, tattling ghosts, and a testosterone-fueled light show make for a night we won’t soon forget.

These ghosts enjoy making each other’s lives hell and I enjoy watching them do it.

The request from Samatha to keep all ghosts away from the dinner table spirals beautifully into Hetty deciding she will finalize the guestlist for a meal she isn’t invited to. The woman goes as far as to hire Thorfinn as muscle to keep Trevor out — the pettiness here is next level.

It’s precisely these kinds of unnecessary and delusional power struggles that make Ghosts absolutely to die for.

Like The Office‘s iconic “Dinner Party” episode, the lack of care towards its guests leads this mundane outing down exciting avenues. If Sam is ignoring them, the spirits panic and get louder. If Trevor enters the room unannounced, Thorfinn must wrestle him to the ground.

It’s all set to a lovely montage of screaming, light-flickering mayhem that cuts away to a quiet meal as the lights flicker overhead. The jarring nature of chaos to quiet continues to maximize this show’s laughability long after the joke has landed.

Interestingly enough, these episodes are not that ambitious and focus on one or two plot points. With such a straightforward story, it’s left to the cast to make this episode interesting.

Jay is the anchor of this undead sitcom with Ambudkar shining as the reluctant outsider in a house overflowing with intrusive ghosts actively sabotaging his binge-eating lies. When the story gets caught in the supernatural, Jay is happy to be a reminder that this is all very bizarre.

Ghosts continues to utilize McIver well as the conduit between the living and the dead. It’s necessary to show an uglier side to the peppy freelancer, but I especially love how quick she is to step up and threaten neighbors with gossip the ghosts overheard. The student becomes the teacher in this petty household.

These characters feel like old acquaintances in a long-running series, relying on the entire roster to work as a cohesive unit to make this concept work seamlessly.

The steady rhythm of dialogue on display during “Dinner Party” fires of material with rapid precision. If you don’t like a joke, wait a few seconds and another one will land. These ghosts are reliably funny in a world where comedies so often disappoint.

Dinner Party — Photo: Best Possible Screen Grab/CBS ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Ghosts has gifted us a show centered entirely around people being hurtful in harmless ways. It’s the evolution of comedy that proves jokes can still be made at someone’s expense without making it personal.

In a room of diverse characters, who are radically different and blatant stereotypes, this easy material lays untouched. Instead, the series chooses to allow the culture and characteristics to defy the more tender moments, rather than the jokes.

The show understands it’s toying a fine line between self-aware and mean-spirited comedy, a fact Pete points out when Sam’s behavior contradicts the gentle humor of his favorite show. It forges ahead anyway, cycling between a begrudging will to help each other and a gradual softening from proper character growth.

Ted Lasso has cultivated a kindness-first policy and Schitt’s Creek glamorized self-deprecating humor. Ghosts is finding a way to do it all with a savage flair that hurts no one.

Few shows appear fully formed and that makes this sitcom’s strong execution right out of the gate rather spooky.

Ghosts has its BBC counterpart to thank for a strong foundation, but this version has no trouble standing on its own. It understands its niche.

The comedy of “Dinner Party” is an extension of the characters and that means there are no weak links to this episode arc. It’s the tiny details that may or may not be important to the later plot that adds substance to the recurring jokes.

Like the lingo of these spirits seeping casually into Sam’s vocabulary without her noticing; the mundane shots of Flower chasing butterflies in the garden; Thorfinn referencing a jazz singer to Alberta and then reassures her he listens when she talks.

It’s all fleshing out this hauntingly bubbly world rather quickly.

These people don’t always get along and their apologies might be out of convenience, but somewhere amongst the savage roasting is a tender undernote of understanding. It rears itself in quieter beats but the softness of this mismatched crew shines through in substantial ways.

And sometimes, it is not that deep and this show just wants to shame a man for eating an oreo off the floor. Case in point, the brilliance of “Dinner Party.”

Afterthoughts that Haunt Me:

• That New Heart plot twist! I always knew extensive knowledge of TV shows would come in handy as a ghost.
• Flooreo a.k.a. Floor Oreo. Please protect Pete at all costs.
• Jay is terrified to shower in his own house because the ghosts have no boundaries — I can’t!
• Hetty was out here doing cocaine and running a child slavery ring. The definition of a gatekeeping girl boss.
• Sasappis’ presence is missed. He would have thrived at this petty dinner party.
• Is Thorfinn romantically involved with every ghost in this house?!

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What did you think of this episode of Ghosts? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ghosts airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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