Ghosts Season 5 Episode 3 Review: Halloween 5: The Mummy

Any time we can peek inside Hetty Woodstone’s storage box of exotic curios and cursed objects, we are bound to find something good.

Ghosts Season 5 Episode 3, “Halloween 5: The Mummy,” is basically the hot mummy plot from Night at the Museum. As the target audience for such a deeply niche topic, you can’t help but feel a little fearful that Joe Port or Joe Wiseman saw a Rami Malek thirst tweet they should not have.

Nonetheless, a hot mummy is roaming the halls of Woodstone, and we’re better for it.

His beef with Hetty and the reminder that her wealth was a terror to society is a fun concept to evoke for a second Halloween outing.

Plus, Ghosts often explores death through a lens of American group ideology. It rarely touches on cultural interpretations of death beyond the aspects of Sas and Thor’s backgrounds that fit neatly into the sitcom format.

An Egyptian mummy challenges this in exciting ways by establishing how the show’s afterlife lore could differ based on belief systems.

Amunhotep’s ghost (and the many Ghosts spinoffs) suggests the afterlife is the same across the board. Yet, ancient Egyptian lore implied people could become powerful in death, even gods themselves, depending on their status in life.

The Pharaoh’s god-like abilities go far beyond the powers of our ghosts. So, could this be hinting at a larger connection between the so-called ghost rules and our belief systems? And could this be the start of a new avenue of ghost lore for the show?

Unfortunately for Sam and Jay, it’s looking more and more like Thorfinn’s curse on their unborn child is legit.

Also, these Halloween specials are always just a little more unhinged and chaotic than the everyday outings.

Jay giving up on saving his wife from a deadly Halloween curse and embracing pimping their haunted house for money is very on brand for these broke husslers. Yet, in a hilarious reveal, the only ones who find Woodstone scary are the spirits.

(Every time one of the ghosts screamed out in terror, I nearly died with delight.)

Beyond the spooky-cute decorations, there are so many little treats to nibble on, too. Alberta and Pete continue to squabble in an adorably romantic way. And Isaac makes significant progress by coming clean about his desire to protect and care for Nigel even after their breakup.

The B-story with Isaac and Nigel proves Ghosts isn’t dropping the ball when it comes to secondary plotlines this season.

If we have to be picky eaters, it could be said that these Halloween episodes always leave us wanting more.

More cutaways to the guests exploring the haunted house, more interactions between the group and the mummy ghost, and more collective group freak-outs in the bathroom.

Beat for beat, the episode very much feels like a Halloween special that would air on the Disney Channel– immensely fun but lacking memorable flavor. For better and for worse, it breezes through rapture-levels of conflict without blinking an eye.

There’s an expertise to this mummy’s satisfying wrap-up that was certainly not present in the earlier seasons. But like gluttons for punishment, we desire a grander, messier format beyond what this sitcom can sometimes deliver.

That said, Hetty all but runs away with this Halloween special, thanks to her scary-good accent work.

Ghosts is at its strongest when it champions the adorable child-like affinity the spirits have for pop culture. Witnessing Hetty look for salvation in the wacky Minnesota accents of Fargo when asked if she’s a Woodstone is an out-of-body experience.

Rebecca Wisocky heightens Hetty’s usual mannerisms so that Marg is less of a scheme and more of Hetty entertaining herself. With every response she gives in that insanely adorable accent, it’s clear Hetty is having a blast tricking this mummy.

It’s a double victory. We get to see our unserious con-woman have the time of her life — and we are treated to an episode that lets Wisocky play with a fun new side to her character.

In the spirit of giving Hetty fans their fill of treats, Ghosts also reveals that the scandalous painting showing off her ankles is now proudly hanging upstairs.

Ultimately, we will never grow tired of the ghosts using Halloween as an excuse to claim they died at a costume party. Something else we will never grow tired of? H-Money being kinky sickos.

Someone needs to tell the “power friends” that they can’t openly talk about how turned on they are by each other. Not that we’re complaining about this slip-up!

Fans asked for H-Money to give us a treat, and we got a full-sized candy bar of romantic subcontext.

They may not be “together,” but Trevor asking Hetty to try out a few accents for his benefit, as everyone looks on uncomfortably, might as well be a sign from the heavens that it is happening.

This Halloween, sweet victory sounds a lot like a questionable Philly accent.

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Ghosts airs on Thursdays at 8:30c/7:30c on CBS.

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