Ghosts – Hello Brother – Review: The Brother That Flops

After a brief hiatus for March Madness, we are back with brand new episodes for Ghosts all April long. The last episode before the hiatus left the audience with so many questions: What is going to happen with Carol, Pete’s ex-wife who died on Halloween? Is Alberta crushing on Pete? Will Flower be found? Many of these questions will most likely be stretched out for the rest of the season. 

In the episode that found Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) discovering that dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the audience was treated to some comedic vibes from Carol (Caroline Aaron) and Pete (Richie Moriarty). To win Pete back after cheating on him when they were “livings”, she tempts him with a piece of butterscotch candy. You would think Ghosts cannot consume food but due to the fact that Carol died with the piece of candy on her person, Pete is allowed to lick it in a cringy scene. 

Pete and Carol get back together much to Thor (Devan Chandler Long) and Sasappis (Roman Zaragoza) warning that she has not changed. Cut to a few scenes later and Peter and Carol argue like old times which prompts Sasappis to come up with a plan to prove to Pete that Carol has not changed. He enlists the help of Thor to seduce Carol by testing the waters. Of course Thor goes overboard and actually sleeps with Carol. We get to see Peter get angry again which is such a departure from his bubbly spirit (no pun intended). In fact he gets so angry that he punches Thor in the face and almost sends his head spinning. There is something very interesting about seeing comedic actors tap into a little bit of drama. Pete declares to Carol that they are finished and Thor is not a good friend and he is no longer his “little buddy” while Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) looks on in admiration and perhaps even desire. 

Pete and Thor do eventually make amends with Thor telling Pete he respects him for resolving his problem using physical violence and apologizes. Pete admits that without Thor he would still probably be stuck with Carol. This storyline was more interesting than that of Trevor (Asher Grodman) and his baby brother Jeremy (Jon Glaser). 

“Hello Brother” – GHOSTS, Pictured: Devan Chandler Long as Thorfinn, Richie Moriarty as Pete Martino and Rebecca Wisocky as Hetty Woodstone. Photo: Gaye Ann Bruno/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

On the other side of the mansion, Trevor’s brother Jeremy has checked in for a weekend stay at Woodstone using his fraudulent rewards points he gained by signing up using ten thousand fake email addresses. This loophole allows for him to stay for a year without having to pay a dime and Trevor could not be happier. After Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and Sam (Rose McIver) verify this with their attorney they use the ghost’s suggestion to get Jeremy to leave by providing horrible customer service. When that does not work Jay challenges Jeremy to a video game he played with Trevor as a child. Should Jay win, Jeremy will have to leave and should Jeremy win, Jay will double his reward points. 

Jeremy has beaten the computer multiple times and is confident in his chances. Jay enlists the help of the ghosts and Sam to cheat at the game. All seems to be going well until Trevor realizes what they are up to and puts a stop to it. Right when Trevor is about to win, Jeremy reveals he was not fired but left his father’s company out of fear of not living up to Trevor who was better at business than him. This causes Trevor to come to the conclusion that it is time for Jeremy to grow up and he helps Jay beat him by sticking his finger in his ear. Jeremy leaves the mansion hoping to make his family proud but not before pointing out that no one else will probably find the loophole because he did not see another guest while there and the website most likely does not get much traffic. Way to kick them while they are down Jeremy. 

While the episode had some highlights: Pete and Carol, Isaac becoming obsessed with dinosaurs, it was not one of the best. It did not give the audience the laugh out loud moments it is known for. There was not enough Alberta and no follow up to her feelings for Pete. We also did not get any mention of Flower (Sheila Carasco). You win some and lose some and here is hoping next week we check the win column.