There are many issues with Woodstone Manor’s ghostly inhabitants, and that’s the whole point of Ghosts.
The series offers the spirits a chance to become better people, allowing them to move on to the afterlife, and the only way they’ve been able to change is through Sam.
However, the 2025 Thanksgiving episode brought up a toxic trait of the ghosts that needs to be revisited more often, and yes, it was partially in the 2025 Christmas episode, but that isn’t enough.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
The Ghosts Bully Sam
Before Sam, the spirits of Woodstone Manor couldn’t interact with people, and nobody even knew they were there.
It allowed them to remain selfish, despite knowing that to be “sucked off,” they would need to do something positive and selfless.
Well, they partially knew. They had to know that something was wrong in the way they were acting.
Throughout the four-and-a-half seasons of Ghosts, we’ve seen them grow. While they’re still not at the point of moving on to the afterlife, they are learning how that could happen, and there’s a little more optimism that it could happen.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
Yet the Ghosts Season 5 Thanksgiving special highlighted a toxic trait that isn’t discussed enough: The ghosts’ bullying of Sam.
Again, the spirits are selfish, and they make that clear by always having Sam do their bidding.
If she doesn’t, they will hound her constantly.
They have specific requests about what food to smell, how often they should turn pages in magazines, and when particular channels need to be turned on, and all of this does get to Sam now and then, because she has a life of her own.
During the Thanksgiving episode, she left Jay with all the instructions while she went on her book tour.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
What did he do? Ignored it all, and for a good reason.
Jay pointed out that Sam had spoiled the spirits far more than they deserved, and he wasn’t going to play that game.
They could learn to go some time without getting their every want and need.
Instead of doing that, they found Kyle and brought him back to the Manor, forcing him to do their bidding. They even lied about Jay allowing him back to do all that!
It’s something that needs to be brought up again on Ghosts, especially since it highlights an ongoing reason they won’t be “sucked off” anytime soon.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
The Christmas Episode’s Attempt
During the two-part Ghosts Season 5 Christmas special, there was an attempt to bring this up again.
After Thor encourages Flower to possess Sam to give in to all of her cravings, Sam ends up in a version of It’s A Wonderful Life.
What if she had never had that accident? What if she couldn’t see the spirits?
We got a great look at what the spirits would have been like, but we also got to see what life would have been like for Sam and Jay.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
In the end, the message was that everyone needs each other, and they do, but they need each other in the right way.
This shouldn’t stop Sam from setting some boundaries and teaching the ghosts that they can’t always get what they want.
She needs to stop just giving in, and yes, they can be annoying when they don’t get their own way, but they need to start learning to stop being toddlers.
Sam needs to treat them like toddlers, in fact. The best way is to say no and stick to that, so that’s what she needs to do with the spirits.
(Bertrand Calmeau/CBS)
This doesn’t mean all of the time, but it’s time for the ghosts to show Sam the respect that she deserves.
If she’s not there, they’re stuck with Jay.
And then what happens if they both move out and leave Woodstone Manor? They won’t want that!
The Christmas episode can’t be the only time that the ghosts’ selfishness around Sam is mentioned, and it needs to be a bigger part of the conversation moving forward.
Ghosts returns on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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