Ghosts Season 5 Episodes 21 and 22 Review: Up the Creek / Across the Pond

Top-tier season finale incoming!

Ghosts Season 5 Episode 21 and 22, “Up the Creek/Across the Pond,” goes out on a stellar note with one of its best hour-long specials to date. We find out one of the ghosts is secretly a princess, we meet the lonely local historian, and Pete may be lost forever to a ghost void.

It’s fine, we’re fine.

When we ask for Ghosts to fire on all cylinders, this is exactly what we’re talking about!

First of all, the episode bypasses many of the issues it had this season with overly explanatory dialogue. When the ghosts are given free rein to say whatever they would like, context be damned, the show has so much more freedom comedically.

It’s how we get iconic bangers like: “Those shots we did not take. Those rails we did not snort,” or “You only regret the bears you didn’t hug,” or an underrated gem, “The mummy is going to do locusts.”

It’s essential that during an episode sidelining many of its ghosts, the ensemble isn’t reduced to a summary device. They are far more powerful as an observational peanut gallery, picking apart what’s happening or adding literally nothing helpful to the discussion.

We won’t remember a recap from Thorfinn, but a callback joke about pushing elders off a cliff or insight into his new obsession with Devil Wears Prada will leave a lasting impression.

Speaking of excellent use of its ensemble, Ghosts nails the big reveal that Nancy is a princess!

The show has slowly ramped up Nancy’s involvement with loveable sexual remarks and diabolical mastermind antics. For the finale to add another layer of development to a character that is already quite rich is such a delight.

Nancy, being the fancy one after years of being referred to as “it” by Hetty, is iconic. Of course, she would leave behind a life of royalty, cakes, and notoriety for a romp through nobility. From flashbacks to her first run-in with Stuart to portrait paintings in the grand palace, it’s exhilarating. 

Her backstory leads to a feast of visual pleasures from grand settings to beautiful ball gowns to that incredible portrait rendering of Princess Nancy. She also gives us a knight and a mummy in a museum — which frankly, would make for a great movie concept!

Tethering two episodes to Nancy and her ridiculously lavish secret is no doubt what sets this finale up for victory.

Woodstone Mansion, facing its mortality for the first time in this series, also makes for some bone-chilling stuff!

By pondering what would happen if the mansion no longer existed, Ghosts brushes up against uncomfortable feelings of death and loss. The stakes are grounded in a very real fear of seeing a historical building and its legacy disappear.

Woodstone seeking out historical landmark status makes total sense, and it is lovely to see the Farnsbys return to introduce Sam and Jay to the quirky local historian.

Their presence certainly dredges up callbacks to the Season 1 finale. It’s a full circle moment to be reminded of how far the series has come from gambling the house in a game of pickleball to this high-stakes showstopper.

It is a tiny bit silly, however, to insinuate Woodstone’s historical status depends on a very specific kind of historical figure. The place is teeming with dead bodies, murder mysteries, plague pits, and hidden speakeasies. It’s not the most effective way to escalate the stakes. Most places will never meet the historical requirement, rendering the need for a “local” historian null.

Ghosts plays to its strengths, and unfortunately for us, when it comes to the infamous season final cliffhanger, the show does some of its best work to date.

After all, Pete is the perfect mark.

He’s by far the sweetest soul to ever cross over on the property, and the finale makes quick work of establishing that Pete’s life is hanging in the balance from the moment Alberta reminds him of their upcoming anniversary. The slow build to his supposed demise is upsetting to watch.

The shot of Kyle tearing up at the realization it’s too late as Pete sings a haunting rendition of “Here I Go Again” is diabolical. Yet, given the seasons of lore building to Pete pushing his power too far, this devastating ending feels earned.

Painful and upsetting conclusions aside, there’s just so much to love about this smorgasboard of Ghosts shenanigans.

Kyle not only makes another appearance, but Sam hints at Ben Feldman’s return for an extended stay next season. When Kyle first graced our screens, we could only hope for a regular guest spot. So it’s wonderful to know he’s going nowhere any time soon.

Then there’s Hetty’s feud with the bunker ghosts, which highlights the selfishness of all the ghosts involved and the beauty in embracing each other for their faults rather than shunning them.

Hetty’s mean streak is such a fixture of the house at this point that when confronted by ghosts that aren’t accustomed to it, her friends have to question their allegiance to such a problematic woman. But ultimately, Hetty is embraced for her worst qualities, and that’s a rather beautiful thing.

Just like Hetty, Ghosts doesn’t have to change a single thing it’s doing!

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Ghosts will return this fall with two holiday specials on CBS.

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