I discovered Ghosts back in August with very little to watch at the time. Recommended to me by someone that themselves had stumbled into it unexpectingly with little knowledge of it, to the point where they said I should just check it out and did not really elaborate further. At first I was torn between which version I should check out having seen that there was both a series originally starting in the United Kingdom, and a United States version that seemingly followed it. Usually I am hesistant to check out US remakes of something, especially if the source material is still airing. There have been many instances in the past where the United States has attempted to recreate something from the United Kingdom only for it to either get cancelled very quickly or never even manage to take off after a pilot episode. A few shows come to mind, though sometimes there is a rare instance in which the show is successful.
Having watched through the entire first season, though of the US version and not the UK version at all, I am really enjoying it. It feels much like other shows as of late that have taken the idea of supernatural concepts and turned them into a relaxed, comedic show focused on character development and everyday scenarios; ignoring the idea that something like a ghost, vampire, or mythical creature can be evil or dangerous, instead harmless, regular people for the most part. Two shows come to mind from recent years, though made by the same general people: Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in The Shadows. Ghosts being an extension to this new wave of fantasy genre that removes the spooks and throws in the laughs.
While being a show you can generally understand the direction of, Ghosts manages to be a pleasant viewing that throws in plenty of fresh ideas each episode that manages to maintain your attention, slowly focusing on its wide range of characters, both alive and deceased, to mix in the humanity alongside the comedy.
Ghosts
Ghosts starts with a very easy to follow premise in which a young couple obtain a mansion that is passed down to one of them following the death of a relative, having inherited this mansion, the two struggle to think of what to do with the place: do they sell it or do they find a way to make it profitable under a bed-and-breakfast? One of them takes a little tumble and knocks their head, waking up to have discovered that they can now see the dead; of which there have been many present within the mansion's walls and grounds for many centuries. Each of these ghosts comes from a different period in time, each with their own mannerisms and character designs that allows for this wide range of characters to have distinct personalities that will most certainly come useful later on through strong character development and writing.
To start with, their introductions are relatively thin, and it works very well. We don't need to know a whole lot about these characters other than who they are and how they died to begin with. And slowly, but surely, the show takes consideration of them and begins to reveal more of their narratives and struggles, showing the more human side to these individuals despite them being ghosts. These ghosts, each with their own abilities and ways of life, come together and clash over episodes depending on the events. As one would expect, there is plenty of drama and friendship to be had from a set of characters that have spent centuries together; though their biggest event in death being that someone from the living can not only see them now, but speak to them.
These ghosts are seemingly left behind in this state of what seems like purgatory for unknown reasons, and we see that some ghosts upon achieving something in particular may transcend beyond this state into the next stage; the ghosts unknowingly call this 'getting sucked off'. As you can see from this alone, the humour is quite specific. It relies on the characters being ultimately quite wholesome and loveable despite their idiocies and, well, prior ways of life. One character in particular being a viking warrior known as Thor, having night terrors that we see are the result of him killing his friend. Over the span of the episode, with everyone taking it all very seriously assuming he had murdered and betrayed his greatest human friend, it was a mere small animal that he cooked and ate, not a human.
Other aspects of the show's comedic elements follow the ghosts as they discover the more modern ways of living, coming to much excitement and discovery when greeted with something such as modern television, the Internet, and even coming to discover that one ghost can control an Alexa. The way these characters and written and interact with the world is absolutely what makes the show so engaging. I find myself less interested in the living characters and more interested in the ghosts; though that is not to say that there is anything bad about the living ones, they are written quite well and are far from given too much attention, and serve more as the bridge between living and dead that results in the two having these interesting and often rather empathetic engagements. Part of me has this strange consideration of the show's main theme, however: what if the dead are just lingering on around us, watching our every moves? That itself is pretty scary and unsettling! Even if they have no ill-intentions.
Character Development
I really enjoy the pacing of the show thus far, it is introducing each character slowly while not revealing too much about them. Slowly we see how they have hidden talents or perhaps powers that are pretty much useless for the most part, and sometimes we get some character development that gives us more of an insight in their personal lives that extends beyond just their deaths. I suspect that eventually we will see some of them getting 'sucked off' going forward towards the show's conclusion, but at this stage things are very fresh, where we are still very clearly only just getting started.
Going into this second season, I think we will also begin to see more of the personal lives of the living characters as their struggles regarding turning the mansion into a functioning bed-and-breakfast takes reign over much of the general narrative. The writing seems to imply this so far, and it seems like a good direction. Though I must also add that the show, alongside its excellent current character development, is clear in having a great budget that allows for good costume design and makeup, amplifying the characters of which are performed by a mostly unknown cast. I love this unknown cast! They work really well in the show and it feels great to see a bunch of faces I have no prior connection with, I see them purely as these characters and I think it is a great strength.
As expected with the idea of death, some characters have very unique backstories in which we don't quite know what happened, it is left behind as a mystery to be taken into consideration later on. It is quite engaging. Especially alongside the comedic elements where these characters, now ghosts, have emotions but also very little to care for, instead holding these very relaxed and comedic personalities. Moving into the second season, I look forward to seeing how this show continues to surprise and unfold.
