Warning: Spoilers ahead for Ghosts season 4, episode 19, “Pinkus Returns.”
Ghostsseason 4 has done a great job of expanding its paranormal lore, but now, Pete has found a better way to use his. Hetty was one of the last spirits to get herghost powers in CBS’Ghosts. Joan introduced the concept of“roamer” ghosts in season 4, episode 17, which helped give parameters to Pete’s power. Season 4, episode 19 reminds us that Pete has yet to break up with Donna, his girlfriend who killed her husband, but Jay shames him for ghosting. Pete travels to St. Lucia, but Donna swears she didn’t kill her husband, though she doesn’t know who did.
Pete travels to her home and speaks with Richard, a ghost who claims to have witnessed Donna commit the murder in 1984 as a spirit. However, Jay catches that the tape eternally playing in Richard’s Walkman is Prince’s ’86 albumPurple Rain, meaning he couldn’t have been a ghost in ’84. Richard confesses that he lied to protect his wife, meaning Donna is in fact innocent.Donna jokes that Pete should solve cold caseslikeColumbo, which feels like a soft dig atCBS’ reboot ofMatlock, but a genuinely interesting idea for Ghosts to explore.
Pete Finds A Better Way To Use His Powers In Ghosts (& It Could Help Sam Too)
Pete Wants To Team Up With Sam To Solve Cold Cases
Pete eagerly suggests to Sam that they team up together to solve cold cases, which feels like a brilliant use of both of their powers. Pete has used his powers to help other ghosts, like helpingThor get closure inGhostsseason 4, episode 11, but I think Pete has just scratched the surface of how he can use his gift as a roamer.Solving cold cases would give Pete a greater sense of purposewhile also offering Sam incredible stories no one else could tell.
Travel agent & Pinecone Troop leader
Can leave the property at will (but not indefinitely)
Can move material objects with great effort
Entering livings’ dreams
Harnessing electricity
Makes livings high if they pass through her
Gilded Age socialite & Lady of the Manor
Be seen by all livings on St. Patrick’s Day
Prohibition lounge singer
Project a humming/singing sound
Isaac Higgintoot
Revolutionary War captain
Gives off a foul smell if a living passes through him
Sam rejects his idea, as she is a homebody who just likes to be “cozy.” While Sam’s reaction is in character, this feels shortsighted on her part, as she is missing the obvious storytelling potential as an aspiring writer. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the kind of unbelievable material that no one would ever suspect was actually true. She’s already fictionalizing the ghosts’ adventures with projects like Isaac’s vampirized biography, so this could be a natural extension of her writing.
Pete & Sam’s Potential Team-Up Will Break Ghosts' Storytelling
It’s The Perfect Opportunity To Get Outside Of Woodstone Manor
Ghostshas poked fun atThe Bear, and whileGhostshas more true jokes in one cold open thanThe Bearhas in an entire season, it faces an uphill battle in one key area: its less visually dynamic and varied setting. Because the show is largely confined to Woodstone Manor and a single set of costumes for most of its characters,it can sometimes be challenging to makeGhostsfeel visually distinctfrom episode to episode.
However, if the show were to fully embrace Pete’s roaming capabilities, combined with Sam’s unique gift, it could open up a whole new avenue of storytelling possibilities. Even briefly seeing Pete in St. Lucia and Richard’s backyard was a welcomed change of scenery. Pete mentioned this investigative team as part of a joke to close out the episode, but it’s an idea worth exploring inGhostsseasons 5and 6. Expanding the show’s settings would keep the series feeling fresh while still playing to its core strengths: heart, humor, and lovable chaos.
New episodes ofGhostsair Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET and stream next-day on Paramount+. Season 4, episode 20, “I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago” will air August 15, 2025.
