Ghosts UK Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Gorilla War

The ghosts go on the warpath as Ghosts UK Season 1 Episode 2, “Gorilla War,” nabs a well-deserved victory.

The show’s second episode does a tremendous job of escalating the remaining conflict from the pilot into all-out anarchy. It throws Alison’s ghost-seeing abilities like a stick of dynamite into the premise.

We see how the ghosts operate as a mob; shockingly, it involves a lot of strategic warfare and kitchen jumpscares. However, the show also introduces technology, hinting at their inevitable downfall as Alison’s reign as ghost queen begins.

The exciting part of Ghosts UK is it is not a traditional network comedy by American standards.

It almost doubles the run time of a typical sitcom. So even though Ghosts and Ghosts UK share many story beats in their first seasons, they have to take considerably different approaches to the same conflict.

The US version is fast and quippy, keeping its conflict to the point and character-driven. The show brilliantly combats this by elevating a sitcom’s vague approach while holding back basic information about the world and characters for later reveals.

The British show doesn’t have to be as frugal with its development, and it is thrilling to watch.

Characters have more room to breathe in a scene, stomping through the house and interacting more with the set. A likeable bit can go on longer, too.

Mike’s Daddy Era

Ghosts UK has much more time for elaborate side quests.

On Ghosts Season 1 Episode 2, “Hello!” we see the minimum damage of Jay’s hilarious handyman attempts. However, “Gorilla War” is much more committed to exploring all the ways Mike can destroy his new house.

Mike’s one-man banter with himself is perhaps the best byproduct of removing him from most of Alison’s scenes. We learn much about Mike in the silence of his failures — mainly that he calls himself Daddy.

The running bit where the ghosts mistake this for his nickname and parrot it back at him deserves a few good chuckles.

Additionally, the time spent on his physicality elevates the comedy. Indeed, seeing a grown man wave a power tool around like James Bond and then try to hammer the boiler into submission does a splendid job of being funny and creating meaningful commentary on gender stereotypes.

Alison’s Breakdown/Breakthrough

One of the critiques in Ghosts’ early days was the lack of depth for Rose McIver’s Sam. So it is lovely to see Ghosts UK take the opportunity to center such a pivotal episode around Charlotte Ritchie’s performance as Alison.

This episode puts Alison through it, but it’s right to focus on her turmoil.

The trial by fire allows us to garner respect for her as she stands her ground against the ghosts. The extra time spent on her frustrations until they boil over at the sight of the basement ghosts establishes a story beyond comedy. It grounds Alison’s traumatic side effects to her fall in some unnerving emotions.

Ritchie does a fantastic job customizing Alison’s physical comedy to different ghosts. The terror she faces with Robin and her irritation with The Captain makes these brief interactions amusing.

It isn’t easy to stand out in an ensemble of such lively performers. However, there’s no doubt Alison shines in this pivotal installment.

 This Means War

This crop of ghosts has to be the most over-the-top, dramatic bunch — and damn if that doesn’t make me love them even more.

They have a persistent, volatile need to further traumatize Alison after nearly killing her. They are far more ruthless in their haunting shenanigans than the American ghosts ever were, and to see that change in intensity is thrilling.

Mary’s commitment to repeatedly screaming “get out” in Alison’s face is equally entertaining as a caveman ghost stuffing himself into the cramped pantry to play with the light bulb. These bits are hardly groundbreaking comedy, but their silliness strikes a nerve.

Best of all, it doesn’t matter how quickly The Captain whips his troops into shape for psychological warfare because the TV inevitably undos them.

The fact that the greatest foil to the creatures of the undead in the Ghosts Universe is always the TV never ceases to amuse me.

Peaceful Resolution

“Gorilla War” is the stronger of the first two episodes and manages to shrug off the rest of the pilot’s exposition.

Ghosts UK has all but hit its stride by the end of the episode, having established a clear format for the premise to thrive in and teasing so many flourishing character dynamics to come.

Julian’s investigation doesn’t feel like an afterthought the way Lady Button’s backstory reveal did during the premiere. There’s still room to improve in balancing separate storylines, but this is a vast improvement.

Alison might have won the battle, but Ghosts UK stands to win the war with comedic strategies that are clever and delightful.

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Back-to-back episodes of Ghosts UK air Thursdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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