‘Tis the season to be haunted and Ghosts has a few surprises in its Christmas stocking.
Warning: This post contains spoilers from the Dec. 15 episode ofGhosts.
Is there anything better than a good Christmas episode?
Rose McIver on ‘Ghosts’.CBS
Into this grand tradition enters CBS’Ghostswith their two-parter, “The Christmas Spirit.”
before the ghostly gags start.
Those include Sam and Thorfinn (Devan Chandler) switching bodies while two ghosts embark on a torrid affair.
Devan Chandler Long as Thorfinn and Rose McIver as Samantha on ‘Ghosts’.Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
How did you get into that character?
But in that show, I take on a different character each week, essentially.
So, I had a lot of experience with taking on different characters.
Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay and Rose McIver as Samantha on ‘Ghosts’.Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
I didn’t have anybody I had to be accountable to.
The actor who I was impersonating was a cadaver on a morgue table.
And then, I would really build the character from scratch, and it would be an archetype.
Rose McIver on ‘Ghosts’.Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
I’d be a cheerleader, or I’d be a bank robber, or whatever I might be.
I’m very aware that it’s never going to be “I am Thorfinn.”
She’s been possessed by Thorfinn.
Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay, Rose McIver as Samantha, Danielle Pinnock as Alberta, Román Zaragoza as Sasappis, Brandon Scott Jones as Isaac, Rebecca Wisocky as Hetty, Asher Grodman as Trevor and Rob Huebel as Ari on ‘Ghosts’.CBS
She’s got a little Thorfinn driving the bulldozer.
It’s still Sam, but there’s somebody else operating her.
So, it’s more forgiving.
Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay and Rose McIver as Samantha on ‘Ghosts’.Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
It allows for you to blend some of the two characters together a little bit when it suits.
But it’s pressure to play somebody who you work with every day.
There was freedom to play and to make Thorfinn my own as well.
Did he have any notes?
He wanted my voice to be lower and louder, and we really hit a wall with that.
I did my best.
Now, this is a Christmas episode.
Yeah, look, I loveNational Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
I used to love those movies.
That movie always makes me laugh.Home Alone, I liked all the classics.
So, I think there’s room for plenty of them.
Christmas isn’t always easy for a lot of people.
To be able to transport yourself to a fairytale version of it is good fun.
And I’m excited thatGhostsgets to do that this season, too.
And are there any TV shows that have a Christmas episode that you love in particular?
Oh, that’s a good question.
TV shows, I’ll have to get back to you.
I think of Christmas movies, in general.
So, I don’t have one that comes to mind.
Do you have any?
I’m stealing yours.Golden GirlsChristmas!
Do you think you’ll do multiple Christmas episodes, like a different one each year?
That mansion really lends itself to Christmas decorations.
It looked so beautiful.
We all showed up on set, and it was so special and festive in that everything was decorated.
Often, Utkarsh and I will look at it like, “How did Sam and Jay do this?
How did they pull it off?”
But you know what?
That is fairytale magic.
How’s the B&B doing this season?
There have been a few guests.
If they come for me, so be it!
But Sam and Jay get an assistant.
Also, they’re not just the accommodation, they’re catering too.
They’re providing breakfasts for everybody.
Sam’s still trying to write.
She’s busy writing Isaac’s (Brandon Scott Jones) biography the whole time.
She’s got a true-crime podcast she’s doing with creepy Todd.
They have their hands so full.
Small businesses are hard, but they definitely benefit from help from an assistant later in the season.
I was like,Oh, excuse me.
But that also makes sense.
Were you surprised at all about that?
How do you feel about the relationship?
This clandestine little affair that they have going on, I think, is great.
It’s a great twist.
As you said, it’s two simultaneously very unlikely characters but also really well-suited.
I think it’s a perfect match in many bizarre ways.
And there is alsothe relationship between Pete (Richie Moriarty) and Alberta (Danielle Pinnock).
Do you think that’s going to go anywhere?
So far it’s appeared to be a pretty one-sided relationship.
Pete is just besotted with Alberta, and of course he is.
I think it’s really funny.
We don’t want to use up every storyline super early on.
I think it’s nice to plant some seeds of potential and explore those.
But yeah, Pete is so doe-eyed about her.
It’s so cute how much he wants her and that she’s into bad boys.
She talks about being into bad boys, which Pete really,reallyis not.
But maybe he could be.
Maybe he will be.
Do you have a favorite ghost on the show?
Oh, that’s like asking me to choose my favorite child.
What are you trying to do to me, Lester?
It changes in the same way that a parent probably does have a favorite child.
Brandon and I laugh about how brutal Isaac is to her.
Why on earth is she as patient as she is with Isaac?
He really is so belittling of her.
But again, maybe that’s room for a friendship to grow.
And clearly there’s something she’s getting out of it.
That is going to be interesting to see how that one evolves.
But there are other ghosts that have been more apparently supportive of her, I will say.
I think Pete is one of them.
I think in some ways Sam and Pete are kindred spirits.
They’re very managerial and leader types.
They like to get things right.
They’re perfectionists, I think, in lots of ways.
So, I think there’s a little kindred thing going on there.
And final question, what can we expect from the rest of this season?
What’s one big thing that we could maybe look forward to?
I love their dynamic.
We get to really see Jay and Sam overcoming more and more as the season goes on.
