Ghosts Season 4 Episodes 8 and 9 Review: A Very Arondekar Christmas

Ghostmas is the gift that keeps on giving, year after year.

One could even argue Ghosts Season 4 Episodes 8 and 9, “A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1/A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 2,” elevates the one-hour holiday special to new heights by finding a way to make this even crazier concept digestible and entertaining.

These holiday specials are all about the risks as they deck the halls with chaos. So imagine our delight to find all this emotional depth under the tree.

This episode is a beautiful marriage of cocaine and hot cocoa; gazebo fires and hero moves. It’s also a huge day for the Ghosts lore.

Jay gets to see the ghosts — even more crazy, he is briefly a ghost! This gift has been on our wish list since the pilot, and the momentous event makes the most of his short time with the ensemble.

His time as a spirit is brimming with adorable little interactions. Thorfinn finally gets to hug his favorite small man, Isaac accidentally trash-talks Jay to his face, and Hetty develops a plan for him to smuggle cocaine into the afterlife.

These exchanges are a goldmine of joy after years of missed connections. I have to be selfish and say we needed more moments between Jay and the ghosts — an entire episode of exchanges, really.

This moment for Jay is to us what guacamole is to Nancy.

That’s just the character lore. Jay’s family outing also expands the hell out of that ghost lore!

Ghosts is notoriously stingy with information about the afterlife. It is incredibly unusual to have the logistics of the afterlife in the spotlight for an entire outing like this. So when this show pulls back the curtain to aid a story, we know we must savor every tidbit.

Firstly, we get confirmation the spirits aren’t just ghosts; they are human souls separated from their bodies at death. There’s something sweet about seeing the show transition its language from spirits to souls, which demonstrates how Ghosts is embracing change with age.

Also, zombies and exorcisms are real things in this universe, so that’s fun. I love the reference to the exorcism video on YouTube. I especially love that Ghosts never misses an opportunity to have Rose McIver poke fun at iZombie fans.

The boundaries of Woodstone Mansion just became a whole lot more exciting.

It’s difficult to top the existence of zombies and double possessions. These are very applaudable occurrences.

However, the sitcom is at its best when it can upstage ghost things with emotional revelations, and both installments of “A Very Arondekar Christmas” make human connection the priority.

Pete’s soul being so pure he can’t be expelled from a host body during an exorcism is just about the most accurate plot point that Ghosts could introduce. It’s a throwaway fact, but I can’t help squealing over Pete’s pure baby soul and his refusal to get upset when Sam ties him to the bed and calls him an “evil spirit.”

The cuteness quickly turns emotional when Pete hugs his daughter Laura for the first time. He is so overwhelmed with joy that he willingly leaves Jay’s body behind to stay with her. 

That’s how you solve a story problem and plunge a knife into our hearts.

As if the Pete thing wasn’t a heartbreaker, Thorfinn had to break out the Lenape.

This scandalous Virgin Sas storyline plays off as another causal friendship rift between the storyteller and Thorfinn, with the added element of Thor having to learn his girlfriend cannot always come before his best friend’s needs.

Then Ghosts flashes back to Thorfinn and Sas’s first encounter. We learn that the viking spent years learning Lenape to communicate with Sas. Worse, he never forgot the language and used it once again to comfort his friend when he needed it.

Remember the days when Thorfinn couldn’t even say the word sorry? Now, this man is out here apologizing in Sas’ native language.

Who hurt you on Christmas, Ghosts, that you thought it acceptable to pass this pain onto us?

Regardless of how much it hurts, the friendship storyline carves out valuable space in this jam-packed episode and even finds a way to utilize Carol effectively. The whole “Christmas Carol” exchange still has me wheezing!

A double possession is not the recipe for a traditional holiday special.

That said, so much of this episode’s triumphs are traditional Ghosts greatness, from the gift of grand gestures to fulfilling character growth.

The addition of fabulous method acting from McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar, a precious family dynamic between Jay and his parents, and some casual Bela and Trevor flirting are delicious sides to a delightful feast.

This latest Christmas celebration seamlessly transitions between two parts, choosing to expand into long-format episodic storytelling rather than separating this fun outing into two conflicting storylines.

The creatives behind this ambitious special deserve nothing but praise in their stockings this year!

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Ghosts Season 4 returns with new episodes in 2025.

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