‘Ghosts’ Star Sheila Carrasco on Flower’s Emotional Revelation & Woodstone’s Cult Encounter

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Ghosts Season 2, Episode 3, “Jay’s Friends.”]

Ghosts continues to deliver laughter and heart in equal measure with its latest episode, “Jay’s Friends,” but don’t let the title fool you, it’s just as much about Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) as it is about resident hippie Flower (Sheila Carrasco).

While Jay works on building bonds with fellow locals, he meets Micah (guest star Drew Tarver), a man who has captivated a large following of people with the promise of eternal life. At first, Jay doesn’t see the signs that he’s befriending a cult leader, but Flower recognizes it along with the other ghosts who try to make sure Sam (Rose McIver) steers her husband away from Micah and his healing vitamin patches and the others who have been sucked into the cult.

Unfortunately, it’s a little too late because Jay signed a contract, effectively allowing Micah and his followers to take up residence at Woodstone. Along the way, Flower opens up about her experience and the loved ones that tried to keep her from pursuing the cult lifestyle, like her brother Robby. Believing he died in battle, a talk with her fellow ghosts clarifies that MIA doesn’t mean “murdered in action,” but rather “missing in action.”

(Credit: CBS)

As a thanks for Flower’s help in extricating Sam and Jay from Micah’s twisted setup, Sam tracks down Flower’s brother, sends him an email, and manages to get a heartwarming repsonse. Below, Carrasco is opening up about Flower’s emotional journey in this episode and reveals her personal connection to the story.

It was recently announced that Ghosts is one of the comedies of the fall season. How does it feel to know that the show is still connecting with audiences in its second season?

Sheila Carrasco: It’s so rare that you’re in a place where everyone’s there and loves the job. And so on top of that, to see how many people are loving watching it is… it’s really just amazing. And I’m just so excited for everyone to see the rest of the season because I think we’re making a pretty special season. I was just remembering all we’ve shot so far and I’m like, “Oh, right. Oh my gosh. People are gonna lose their minds.”

Despite identifying the cult-like qualities to Micah and his group, Flower isn’t really suspicious of them. You’d think a former cult member would be more alarmist about the situation. Why isn’t she?

I think that she’s fairly gullible and a lover and she says yes to her whole heart. So when someone like Micah walks into that room with this flowing gorgeous hair, his philosophies, and playing basketball, she’s all in from a start. Also, I don’t know that she ever left the cult because [she doesn’t] know yet that the cult was ultimately bad for her. That’s something that she discovers in this episode, that she lost something because of the cult. Something really huge in her life, her brother and family. She doesn’t necessarily blame the cult for that from the get-go.

(Credit: Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)

Speaking of Micah, what was it like getting to work with Drew Tarver?

Oh my gosh, Drew was, is so funny. I’ve been such a fan of his for a long time and knew him from sketch comedy and some other stuff in LA. So to get to work with him after having seen him on The Other Two and just killing it out there, it was such a treat for him to come and guest on our show. He is like the perfect guest star because he’s so funny and he’s such a professional. But he also comes to work and wants to connect with people, and have a fun time, and generally, he stays very loose in his character, which I also love seeing because I think that he comes from the world that Flower comes from in terms of point of view and physicality.

Considering Micah’s main pitch is vitamin patches, do you think Flower would have been swayed by something like that or is it not natural enough?

I think she’d be all in, and I’ll admit two weeks before we shot this episode and got this script, I had just bought vitamin patches. I bought them and I put them on my body and then I kind of felt nauseous hours later and I took it off and then I saw on the box it was not FDA approved yet. And I was like, “What are you doing?” So I get it. And I think Flower would totally buy into this cult, not just for the health benefits of these vitamin patches, but because she wants community and connection. I think she likes the whole culture of it.

(Credit: Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)

How did it feel to dig deeper into Flower’s emotional side in this episode, especially with the added layer of her revealing she thought her brother had been dead since Vietnam?

Flower is in and out of lucidity often. I think a lot of the time that we see her, she is not very lucid. She’s definitely high and having acid flashbacks, especially in her big group scenes and she’s just forgotten what just happened or comes in with something random to say. That’s the Flower that we see a lot of the time and a Flower I love to play, but the truth is Flower also has moments of lucidity. We see that [in Season 1], and then she very quickly loses it. In the moments where she’s lucid, she’s a very real grounded person like anyone else because she’s not high in those moments and she’s able to recall her family and she’s able to have regrets and just like anyone else.

And so it’s such a wonderful gift to be able to explore that side of her. And for me, personally, that storyline really hit a soft spot. I have two siblings in the Armed Forces. I have a brother who has served three combat tours in Iraq and a sister who is in the Air Force. They’re both Lieutenant Colonels. I’m very proud of them. I’ve also chosen a very different life being an artist, and over the years I found it important to stay connected to them. I can’t imagine what Flower must be going through when she finds out that her brother might still be out there. So, uh, it was just a really beautiful moment to be able to play and I hope that we continue to see more about Flowers’ family and backstory of who she was before she left for the cult and the commune. I think it really opens a lot of doors for that.

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Would you like to see Flower’s brother or anyone else from her past stop by Woodstone?

Oh yes, for sure. I would love to see that. I don’t know what we have planned in terms of Flower’s, old life coming back to Woodstone. It could be Ira, it could be her brother, maybe all of them. But I would love for her to be able to see her brother and I’m just tearing up thinking about it. And I’m also thinking about all the amazing actors that can potentially play her brother. I’d love to see their dynamic. I mean, not that he would be able to see her, but I’d love to know more about that brother-sister dynamic and have it kind of rekindled in some way.

Are there any fun things coming up that fans should be excited about?

Yeah, we might learn a little bit more about Flower’s Bear Attack. We might see more of Flower and Thorfinn, and their journey together. I do think it’s a bit of a journey and we also might see some unlikely other pairings develop. So that might be surprising to everyone. We might meet someone that starts to suspect the house is haunted and it might be a problem.

Ghosts, Season 2, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS