Ghosts Review: Viking Funeral (Season 1 Episode 3)

Ghosts puts the fun back in funeral with an episode centering on loveable Viking Thorfinn.

As far as second impressions go, Ghosts Season 1 Episode 3, “Viking Funeral,” threatens to keep the good times going with another strong installment. It is a sequel dying to impress us with its spooky shenanigans as we dive headfirst into grave robberies and firey burials.

This beautiful baby sitcom continues to thrive as it takes its first few steps into the network comedy world, thanks to a roster of killer jokes and clashing personalities.

It is admirable how many jokes from the two-part series premiere resurface during “Viking Funeral.”

Some comedies adapt to the notion that every episode needs new dynamics and funnier ground to tread. However, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has proved circling back to the same iconic jokes until you beat them dead into the ground is still pretty damn hilarious.

Ghosts shares promising similarities to the cop comedy with a running commentary of spiteful remarks and callbacks viewers learn about secondhand — like Trevor telling the other ghosts that the modern term for going to heaven is “getting sucked off.”

I swear Trevor is Schmidt if he died before he put a dollar in the douchebag jar.

None the less the humor of this character-driven sitcom carries the essence of Brooklyn Nine Nine‘s pettier Halloween Heist episodes and promises it has a long memory when it comes to the jokes that haunt us.

We can be sure to revisit every weird little nook of this show’s lore. This is a fact “Viking Funeral” flexes by circling back to Sam and Jay’s obsession with HGTV shows, more specifically Fixer Upper.

The comments are so detailed and obscure, they should never land. But it seems this show has made a very intuitive guess its viewers have gone down the Chip and Johanna rabbit hole and know exactly what breakfast booth they are talking about. It is spooky how well this comedy understands its audience… 

Yet, Ghosts bets on the home renovation enthusiast also being down for a traditional Viking funeral, and once again, this show is not wrong.

An exploration of the most ridiculous spirit makes for a violently funny, yet wholesome, affair. It delivers immensely in its final beats with a shocking confession from Flower and Thorfinn preparing to go to heaven, only for it to be the police with a spotlight because the lake is on fire.

We don’t know the extent of this sitcom’s capabilities yet, but it certainly seems to have an eye for misdirection and a flair for dramatics when entertaining the skeletons in this manor’s closest.

These ghosts are not just funny; they are petty.

And a little pettiness can go a long way for a comedy wanting to present itself as refined chaos. Thankfully Ghosts does not, and there is nothing refined about the way these spirits roast each other.

There’s the delusional dynamic between Trevor and Jay as the pantless ghost actively attempts to steal Sam with pathetic pick-up lines like, “You’d be my queen.” Thorfinn is cursing the couple’s unborn baby the second they don’t do what he wants. Even Sam and Jay have no trouble providing a string of feral remarks for this cold open.

The cherry on top of this selfish mob mentality is Alberta deciding to run against Isaac for the house’s ghost representative simply so he cannot have it. Plot points born entirely out of spite make for the best television — I don’t make the rules!

These people constantly want to remind us that they are not looking to be friends. Even in a moment of reconciliation where Thorfinn thanks everyone for not abandoning him, Trevor savagely points out, it is impossible to abandon him because they can’t leave.

It’s that bitter-sweet setup that continues to elevate Ghosts‘ bubbly nature with a whole lot of juicy toxicity. By design, these polar opposite personalities are not meant to share common ground. So when they do, it’s well earned — on account of how much trash talking is involved.

Alberta and Hetty are a strong example right out of the gate of how this series will build on meaningful dialogue without losing its edge.

Hetty declaring, “I do believe women should have each other’s backs. But I don’t believe that women should be allowed to vote,” opens a can of worms that forces the women of this series to reevaluate the worth society delt them in their time.

It manages to creates a genuine connection between two drastically different female characters with little fuss.

There’s plenty of “laugh the pain away” comedy here as Thorfinn’s traumatic abandoning is buried in History Channel jokes and morbid bone talk. However, I hope this is not the last time we see this show skirt a heavier sitcom tone so beautifully.

You will be hard-pressed to find a side story or joke from this third episode that isn’t still enjoyable on some level. Ghosts is just a likable show.

It is also scary good at understanding its wacky brand of offbeat humor. So much so that even the weaker arcs still give something entertaining to the episode.

Thorfinn is one of the more outlandish ghosties of the ensemble, yet in the hands of this show, his misfortune becomes an open season for some of the smartest (and cruelest) comedy. If a Viking has this much material to work with, I can’t wait to see what frightening fun is in store for us next.

It is un-boo-lievable how good this show continues to be!

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Ghosts airs Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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