Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Danielle Pinnock, Richie Moriarty, Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky, Devan Chandler Long, Román Zaragoza, Sheila Carrasco, John Hartman, Betsy Sodaro, Tristan D. Lalla, Arthur Holden, Stuart Fink, Nigel Downer, Christian Daoust, Caroline Aaron, Cat Lemieux, Punam Patel, Cody Crain, Odessa A’zion, Heidi Foss, Andrew Leeds, Alex Boniello, Deniz Akdeniz, Tyler Alvarez, Lamorne Morris, Jon Glaser, Geoffrey Owens, John Reynolds, Sam Ashe Arnold, Brian Huskey, Irene White, David Kohlsmith, Brandon Knox, Adrian Martinez, Douglas Sills, Preeti Torul, Michael Caruna, Allegra Edwards.
The original British version of Ghosts may have been consigned to television history, its mission to entertain fulfilled quite brilliantly; however, its U.S. equivalent seems to have more beautiful insanity to impart, terrific tales to rummage through, and a buoyancy of emotion that lifts the spirits of the viewer and adds a much-needed injection of gentle humour into days beset by the unpleasant and the haunting moods of our times.
Ghosts (U.S) finds a way to transcend its British counterpart by cosying up to the joke with a finer sense of security at its core, the characters involved are more ready to be involved with the subtly of the innuendo than those trapped within the confines of the English countryside, and as such the possibilities of engagement increase, the humour pours out of every look passed between them, the situation never grows tense, and even when the new series kicks off directly from the ending of its previous encounter with the mysterious white light that indicates one of the dead friends is moving on to a higher plane of existence, what could be seen as tragic, is actually given a lighter note of pleasure and comfort.
Despite being considerably shorter in length compared to both series one and two, the structure and the pace of the writing remains thankfully unaffected, and there is a huge deal to unpack for the avid viewer into the dead lives of Alberta the Jazz singer, the history forgotten, and no longer closeted Captain Higgintoot, or the amiable former travel agent/scout master Pete, and the huge array of others that haunt respectively the lives of Samantha and Jay.
The ten episodes on offer in the third series offer grief in the form of loss of a friend, the opportunity for growth with one of the gang finding that their power permits extra space in their lives, of redemption, and of sexual liberty; it also point the hearty direction on how the fourth series could go with the introduction of a yet unseen ghost who walks in the darkness of the old manor house. It is in these enormous steps taken that the sheer quality comes through, the joy in seeing humour in the great beyond live on and understanding that even in death friendships can be forged and relished.
A thoroughly captivating third series, Ghosts (U.S) continues to inhabit the schedules with pride. Ian D. Hall