Heaven Can Wait

The only thing scarier than Bed & Breakfast owner Jay Arondekar (Utkarsh Ambudkar) selling his soul to Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh) is having to still wait until Thursday, October 16, to see what happens next on CBS’s hit sitcom, Ghosts.

“How will they get Jay out of this deal, and at what cost? That’s something that we’re going to have to deal with very early on,” promises co-showrunner Joe Wiseman, who notes that we’ll see that storyline play out in the Season 5 premiere, titled “Soul Custody.”

In Season 4, Elias, the devil-worshipping ex-husband of ghost Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), masqueraded as a publicist named Brent McAfee. “Brent” promised to help turn Jay’s newly launched restaurant, Mahesh, located in a barn on the Woodstone Mansion property, into a success. Jay didn’t know the true nature of the deal he signed until the final moments of the season, when his writer wife Samantha (Rose McIver) introduced him to Elias. “In exchange for making your dreams come true, I secured your soul for Satan,” Elias tells the hapless Jay. When Jay says he wants out, Elias tells him to “relax and enjoy what little time you have left to live,” before trying to drop a chandelier on the horrified chef.

“[Jay feels] less than confident,” Ambudkar told us during San Diego Comic Con. “He’s a little unsure of his safety in the house.” If Jay’s going to be jumping every time the Woodstone lights flicker, Viking ghost Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) had better pump the brakes on his electrically inclined powers.

Also producing sparks: Jazz singer ghost Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) and former scoutmaster Pete (Richie Moriarty) will continue to pursue their opposites-attract romantic feelings that led to the two finally sharing a kiss in the fourth season ender. This year, Wiseman teases, they’ll be “navigating early relationship stories.”

He continues: “Pete’s had a crush on Alberta for the longest time, and for the past several seasons, we’ve been incrementally changing him in her view and getting her to a place where maybe she can be open to someone more like him.”

Pinnock is also swiping right on the love match for her talented apparition. “Alberta deserves healthy love. She used to love a toxic man — a bootlegger, a murderer — and Pete is just not that,” the actress says. “I’m excited to see how the relationship grows.”

But in the return, Pete’s ex-wife from his Earthly days, Carol (Caroline Aaron), now a Woodstone ghost, along with basement-dwelling cholera ghost and Pete’s “fake” ex Nancy (Betsy Sodaro), both mega meddlers, will have something to say to the lovebirds. Will they get in the way? The stakes are always high, notes co-showrunner Joe Port. “If it doesn’t go well, they’re stuck together.”

Meanwhile, the established relationship between Thor and hippie specter Flower (Sheila Carrasco) may hit a rough patch this season, and Flower will be seeing things clearer than ever before. “Flower has some big developments early on,” Wiseman teases. “We’re going to see what she’s like when she’s a little bit more lucid, before she was so drug addled.”

Native American ghost Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) might also remain unlucky in love. “He is in that relationship with Joan [Taylor Ortega] who can travel, and for a long period of time,” says Port. “He’s struggling with what it means to be in a long-distance relationship.”

And while we’ll always root for Sam’s Gilded Age ancestor Hetty and 1990s finance bro Trevor Lefkowitz (Asher Grodman) to make a real go of it, this year, Trevor has some growing up to do. The pantsless phantom learned he was a dad last season, and his (living) daughter, Abby Pinkus (Gideon Adlon), will return to Woodstone. “We’re going to follow up on that early in Season 5,” says Wiseman. “Trevor [will] get to learn more about Abby and spend some time with her.”

Halloween is also around the corner, and with it, a comeuppance for a big lie that Revolutionary-era ghost Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) told to his Redcoat ex Nigel (John Hartman). Isaac left Nigel at the altar after having mixed feelings for a dino-loving stripper named Chris (Deniz Akdeniz), who later died on the property and became a ghost. But the skydiving Chris disappeared when he learned he could leave Woodstone’s boundaries, breaking both Nigel and Isaac’s hearts. Isaac told Nigel that Chris was “sucked off” to soften the blow, so Nigel, of course, plans to bring Chris back for their yearly Halloween séance. “Isaac’s going to have to deal with that,” says Port. Also tying into the seasonal entry? Hetty’s mummy, established in last year’s holiday episode.

Speaking of traveling outside of Woodstone’s property lines, “we’re talking about a fun homage to [1987 film] Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Sam and Pete going on a road trip,” notes Wiseman, as they continue to write Season 5’s scripts. Hopefully they get to stop at Jay’s favorite restaurant, Sonic, along the way.

Also on the docket? More flashbacks, of course, but for some of the show’s more peripheral ghosts, too. “We’re going to learn quite a bit more about Nancy’s background, how she got cholera,” says Port, who notes that the storyline will happen concurrently with one of the main house ghosts spending “a few episodes” in the basement.

Thankfully, CBS has given the comedy a two-season pickup, which not only gives fans more time with these wacky apparitions but allows the writers to really stretch future storylines. Still, let’s get Jay his soul back, ASAP!

Ghosts, Season 5 Premiere, Thursday, October 16, 8:30/7:30c, CBS