Ghosts Premiere: Can Jay See Spirits Now? EPs Explain Their Choice
Warning: The following contains spoilers from Thursday’s Ghosts premiere. Proceed at your own risk!
It was the cliffhanger question that haunted Ghosts fans all summer: Would Jay be able to see the Woodstone Mansion spirits after taking a fall through the floor and hitting his head?
After all, when his wife Sam took a stumble down the stairs in the show’s pilot, she awoke with that very special ability. So Jay was wondering the same thing in the Season 2 premiere when he regained consciousness and excitedly began running through the property while calling out the ghosts’ names. Alas, after a fake-out, it was revealed that Jay had not gained the ability to see his BFF Pete, No Pants & Co.
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“It just felt like it was going to be too much of a premise-breaking development,” co-showrunner Joe Wiseman tells TVLine of the decision not to give Jay powers. “We’re only 18 episodes in from the first season, and it seems sort of like it’s Sam’s thing, and it’s his thing that he sort of has to deal with being this guy who’s not privy to what’s going on. We just don’t want to blow that up yet.”
Co-showrunner Joe Port also singles out the uniqueness of Sam’s ability and his desire to not take away from that. “I know we’re a TV show, but it seems like a very TV-ish direction to go, I guess,” Port explains. “I didn’t mind the head-fake in that direction, but it seems like Sam’s power is very rare. It doesn’t seem like this should be something that happens to that many people that hit their heads. So I just thought it would be too much that it would happen to two people in the same household.”
Asked if it was just too early in the lifespan of the show — it is only the second season — to enact such a big twist, Port says, “It’s partly that, as well. But I also think him having that power in that way, I don’t know that that’s a place to go. I’m not sure.”
While the writers went in a different direction with Jay’s story, the supernatural comedy “is the type of show where he could have died or he could have seen them for a little while,” Wiseman notes. “In our mind, it was a valid, fun cliffhanger, and then, ultimately, when we thought about it, we didn’t want to go there yet.”
Does that “yet” mean there’s a possibility of Jay being able to see ghosts in the future? “I mean, nothing is ruled out,” Wiseman says.
Ghosts fans, what did you think of the season opener? Grade it below, then hit the comments! And for more scoop on what’s going on with Jay in Season 2, check out our preview here.
Loved the fake out that Jay could see ghosts. Fun premiere. The YS/Ghosts combo is a great comedy duo.
I agree with it being too early, but I think they will have to cross that bridge eventually, if the show goes on for seasons and seasons. Having a core character who constantly needs to have another character explain everything that is going on in order to participate in stories is simply not sustainable long-term. It will get old eventually.
They don’t necessarily need to let Jay see and hear the ghosts the same way as Sam.
Maybe he develops the ability to sense their emotions or read their inner thoughts.
Maybe he finds a ouija board that lets him receive messages
Maybe there’s some weird event that allows him to “borrow” the ability from Sam and swap it back and forth occasionally, meaning that only one of them is on “ghost duty” at a time.
There are a lot of options.
But it can’t be a week to week thing. Like this week he can see the ghosts, but then he can’t for a few weeks/eps or months. It can’t be a few times a year. There has to be a long term fix for letting him see them. It gets old, as the OP stated.
I’m not sure they do. I think you can keep him not seeing them for a good long time.
Still I guess I might like it if he somehow develops the ability to see Pete in some fashion. (In his dreams or something maybe.) They do seem like they’ve become actual friends and I was almost a bit sad he didn’t get to see him. Or like maybe he talks to him enough through Sam they just develop a connection somehow. (What was Pete’s power? Maybe he could prove to have the ability to control darts and they can at least do Yes/No answers that way.)
That reasoning makes a lot of sense. I’m fine with that – the fakeout was great, and it would be fun to see how Jay would react to actually seeing the ghosts someday, even if only briefly, but for now, yeah, this seems a logical way to go. It is cute how eager he is to see them, though. I love how much he’s come to care about a group of people he can’t even see.
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As for the rest of the premiere, oh, that was so fun. I loved the ghosts spying as they did, and the way Sam and Jay tried to deal with their every critique. And Jay defending Sam as he did was wonderful, too.
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Also loved the storyline with Issac, Nigel, and Thor. Leave it to Thor and Nigel to bond over ants, of all things :p. Isaac apologizing as he did was sweet, too. And there were Spice Girls references! I mean, how can you not enjoy that :D?
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I’m glad that Sam and Jay’s first proper foray into having guests wound up working out so well for them in the end. I look forward to seeing how their business continues to develop over time, and what other kinds of guests we may see at their B&B. And I look forward to seeing what’s in store for them and the ghosts in general, too. This promises to be a very fun season. So glad the show’s back :D.
I loved the premiere. My favorite part was towards the end when the couple they were hosting discovered that all the nasty reviews they had posted on Yelp were not anonymous…!
That was priceless. I think a real reflection of how people posts things to social media that they’d never say out loud.
Great fake out!! And loved the premiere! And the Thor story-just sweet!! I adore this show!!
Not making Jay see ghosts was the right move. A+.
Man this show is great. I actually prefer the dynamic of Jay “talking to the ghosts” but is pointed out it’s the wrong one. Such a great show, with amazing chemistry, heart and a ton of laughs. Thor is amazing! Would love to see what he’s seen since he is the “first ghost” such as when all the others passed
Knowing specific ghosts were around and watching you all the time, but not being able to see or hear them, would be incredibly creepy. Luckily, this is just a sitcom, so they can pretend it’s fine.
Many good moments but they tried to cram too many characters into one 20 minute show. What really worked last season was having shows focused around select characters each week.
Respectfully, I understand this perspective but I wonder if this mainly happens with viewers who don’t know the characters well enough. Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous! :)
Yes, we had Nigel and Nancy PLUS the two guests in this episode, on top of our 10 series regulars, but honestly I love them all so much that I love having them all in one 20 minute episode!
The colorful ensemble crew of ghosts is what makes the show so great
And in the previews it looked like next week would see the return of Alberta’s obsessive fan Todd (one of THE best episodes from the first season). Can’t wait for that!
Great start for the new season!! They really did do a hard fake with Jay apparently being able to see Pete. I kept getting this odd feeling last night that the guy playing Isaac was somehow channeling Paul Lynde.
It would have been fun to give Jay a rotating ghost and see how the ghosts react to that.
Let Jay see the ghosts soon.
Loving the show, cool S2 opener with Jay hitting his head I also agree too soon for him to gain abilities but I also agree that this will grow old for him as well. So he should eventually gain it thought some horrific death and come back with some sort of gift. Or the ghosts should be able to grow their power too to effect the living more like scare guests or ivaders and be able to communicate to Jay better.