AlthoughGhostsseason 5’s Jay story couldn’t be better timed, the CBS sitcom is still unable to follow the gag through to its logical conclusion.The ghosts of CBS’sGhostsmight be the true stars of the ensemble sitcom, but their human co-stars Sam and Jay play a pretty major role in the show, too. If it weren’t for Sam and Jay facilitating all of their schemes, the ghosts wouldn’t be able to get a lot done despite their ambitions.
In fact,Ghosts’ Sam and Jay can’t even have childrenanytime soon, considering how much of their time is spent catering to the whims of the ghosts. Thor, Sass, Isaac, Hetty, Alberta, Flower, Pete, and Trevor would be lost without them, even if Trevor could technically type on a laptop and Pete could travel the world outside the Woodstone Mansion’s boundaries. This is a major part of why Jay’sGhostsseason 5 storyline can only end one way.
Elias Collecting Jay’s Soul Is Similar to Final Destination’s Premise
The Season 4 Finale Ends With Elias Revealing Jay Sold Him His Soul
In the twist ending of season 4, episode 22, “The Devil Went Down to Woodstone,” Sam learns that Jay has unwittingly hired the demonic Elias as his publicist. In the process, her hapless husband unknowingly sold his soul to Elias, and Hetty’s sadistic ex-husband is now eager to collect this debt. First, Elias tries to collect Jay’s soul by dropping a chandelier on him, but misses. From then on, the chase is on for Jay to avoid Elias’s engineered accidents, with Sam’s love interest worrying about even using household appliances in the final scene.
Jay’s Looney Tunes-esque setup is shared by the Final Destination franchise, wherein the heroes cheat death and are then systematically hunted down one by one afterward.
Jay’sGhostsseason 5 plight is bizarrely similar to the premise of theFinal Destinationmovie series, as he is now stuck avoiding elaborate death traps set up by an unseen, vengeful force who is out to kill him. UntilElias returns Jay’s soul inGhostsseason 5, Sam’s husband can expect to be plagued by all manner of absurd traps. Jay’sLooney Tunes-esque setup is shared by theFinal Destinationfranchise, wherein the heroes cheat death and are then systematically hunted down one by one afterward.
Ghosts Season 5’s Final Destination Nod Couldn’t Be Better Timed
Final Destination: Bloodlines Just Rebooted The Series
Ghostsseason 5’s riff on theFinal Destinationmovies could not be better timed, sinceFinal Destination: Bloodlinesrebooted the horror franchise to critical acclaim in May 2025. Before this reboot, the final outing of the series was 2011’sThe Final Destination. To make the timing even better, whileFinal Destination: Bloodlineswas well regarded, another recent horror hit also played with the same premise.
Jay’s story inGhostsseason 5 also bears a resemblance to the plot ofThe Monkey, a 2025 Stephen King adaptation from directorLonglegsOz Perkins. Although the show can take death seriously, asSass’sGhostsdeathis likely to prove, the sitcom often treats gruesome fatalities with a dark sense of humor. This is epitomized in the appearances of Flower and Pete, who have bear claw marks and an arrow through their neck as constant reminders of how they died.
Why Ghosts Season 5’s Jay/Elias Story Can’t Follow Through On Its Premise
The Storyline Can’t End With Jay’s Death
LikeGhosts,The Monkeyrecently explored a similar premise of predestined, inescapable death, and was equally acclaimed for making this grim premise shockingly, unexpectedly funny with its gross-out slapstick scenes. However,Ghostsseason 5 can’t really take Jay’s story to its logical conclusion, unlike theFinal Destinationmovies orThe Monkey.
Devon Chandler Long
Thor
Killing off Sam’s love interest would totally alter the entire show. Although Jay could stick around as a ghost, Sam acting as the lone human companion to the house’s paranormal residents would be too big a switch. Thus,Ghostsseason 4’s cliffhanger endingis likely to be swiftly undone when the show returns to screens, and Jay is almost certainly not going to succumb to one of the cartoony deaths thatGhostsseason 4’s finale promised.
