Ghosts Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Jay’s Friends
Ghosts Season 2 Episode 3, “Jay’s Friends,” is a perfect outing for the spooky sitcom.
This groovy cult-centric episode is firing on all cylinders, with jokes coming at us from all sides of the ensemble and unexpected moments of gravitas sneaking through the chaos.
With expert utilization of a large cast and no hiccups from the comedy in the face of newcomers, there are no notes for Ghosts. Just an overwhelming amount of joy to see this show reaching its full potential.
Ghosts at its funniest is always worth celebrating. Some jokes build in tension like a good mystery, and others act as good jump scares, coming back from commercial breaks with a vengeance.
The series treats this episode like a haunted house of character work, letting everyone come out of the woodwork to throw material at us, and it lands more than a few gasps with their off-the-wall obscurity.
Thorfinn continues to build on his TV lore with Friends jokes, and Trevor cannot see past the cult’s eye candy. But best of all is Hetty, who reluctantly joins Trevor in his thirsting as she enters her sexual renaissance.
The icing on the cake has to be Jay, a man trying to make friends so his wife won’t humiliate him whenever she abandons him to talk to the air.
The best tool is the cutaways to an empty room when Sam talks to the ghosts because it accentuates how ridiculous this all looks from Jay’s perspective. While it would be great to see Jay accidentally sign away his life every time he meets a new friend, it would be even better to see the cutaways make a comeback.
Tending to Flower’s Backstory
Flower is the ghost to watch this season.
She came out swinging with that Fleetwood Mac tarp story, but “Jay’s Friends” establishes her as a strong anchor for these large ensemble episodes simply because you can effectively bounce any material off the hippy.
Seriously what sitcom has the luxury of a character whose spacey demeanor offers endless outcomes to the same conversation? Alberta pretending to leave, only to immediately come at Flower with a new line of questioning, is so clever and unique to this show’s comedy.
And it’s commendable to see Ghosts use this cult subject matter to grow Flower’s character considerably. Her backstory is so rich with hilarity and poignancy, as this episode eloquently displays.
Sheila Carrasco has a tough job authenticating and upholding the stoner stereotype, all while bringing authentic beats of gravitas to the performance.
This cult episode gives her the room to explore the various facets of Flower but hones in on the traumas of losing oneself to a decision. Flower’s choice to join the cult cut her off from her family, opening the character to an eternity of reflection on that cost.
It allows Trevor and Alberta to connect with Flower in ways they wouldn’t typically be afforded. Seeing how these characters, which can be so shallow at times, melt into concerned friends at the first sign of grief is so sweet.
The real payoff comes when Flower, in a rare moment of clarity, takes the phone from Sam and reads her brother’s words out loud.
The choice to have Flower herself read the email is so small in retrospect, but it allows Carrasco to take this thing home with a memorable performance.
Pete’s Reputation Era
And because this is a perfect episode, the B-storyline is also a showstopper.
Pete’s Reputation era doesn’t just threaten a good time; it nearly eclipses the episode with, “Welcome to another day in hell, bitch.” Legend has it some viewers are still trying to recover from that vicious takedown.
Jump-scare jokes aside, seeing Pete and Sas forced to humor eternity from a new angle is just great storytelling. Plus, Sas learning to respect Pete’s positivity as a coping mechanism marries so beautifully into Flower’s sunset moment.
The line “That my friend is why I still look at sunsets” packs as much a punch as Pete’s unhinge attitude. The commentary on sunsets is such a powerful note to intersect three completely different storylines on, and it’s born out of Thor’s loud complaining.
We cannot lose here!
With the episode’s subtle yet poignant discussions of eternity, it almost doesn’t feel like a sitcom. But then the jokes start flying, and you realize Ghosts is good at this balancing act — like scary-good.
Cults are generally associated with negative stories, but here they are a lighthearted way to poke fun at the irony of wanting to live forever. It’s a lovely, deeply flawed human topic to tackle this sitcom’s supernatural elements from.
In the grand scheme of episodes, “Jay’s Friends” is one hell of a sunset.
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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 8:30/7:30c on CBS.
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Alicia Gilstorf
Alicia is a Rotten Tomatoes Certified Critic and a Critics Choice Association member. She credits her passion for TV to workplace sitcoms, paranormal dramedies, and coming-of-age stories. In her free time, Alicia loves to curl up with a good book and lose herself in a cozy game. Keep a lookout for her coverage of Ghosts. You can also find her work on Eulalie Magazine and Cool Girl Critiques. Follow Alicia on social media: @aliciagilstorf
One thought on “Ghosts Season 2 Episode 3 Review: Jay’s Friends”
Couldn’t disagree more. This was a dreadful episode. It was choppily thrown together, paced ridiculously, and made little sense. In one scene Jay was completely in the thrall of the cult, in the next he was running from them, with very little plot to connect the scenes. The wonderful ensemble cast could barely keep up with the abrupt shifts along the way, and that’s criminal — this superb cast deserves better than the poorly written and subpar construction of this episode.
I have loved this show up till this episode. Did they fire the former excellent writers and replace them with web hacks? Hope not! But if this is a sign of things to come my Thursday nights have just opened up.
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