At first glance, the CBS sitcom Ghosts is a lighthearted comedy about a woman whose life becomes way more complicated after an accident leads her to see a motley crew of spirits in her new home. But while the Joe Port and Joe Wiseman ensemble comedy often uses death as a jumping-off point to explore life and our relationships, its latest episode touched on a much heavier subject through one of the show’s most beloved characters. In Thursday night’s antepenultimate episode of Season 3, audiences finally learned the cause of Hetty’s (Rebecca Wisocky) death at Woodstone. While the cause has been shrouded, the episode written by Sophia Lear put the series back at the top of its game amid a rather bumpy season.
In the episode, “Holes Are Bad,” Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) leave the spirits home alone for the weekend in an attempt to have a romantic getaway. But while the Livings are away, the ghosts discover Flower (Sheila Carrasco) is still very much alive and trapped in a well on the Woodstone grounds — and that Ralph, the basement cholera ghost, was “sucked off,” which is an underwhelming reveal. With one of the previous episodes informing how the ‘60s hippie can be rescued by using what’s attached to each ghost’s person, Flower is finally saved from that dark hole. But her rescue delves into a rather heavy topic and extends itself to Hetty’s death, which propels the show into a deeper conversation that humanizes the complexities of mental health.
A young couple, Sam and Jay, inherit a haunted mansion and, unaware of their invisible housemates, plan to turn it into a B&B. Their lives become much more complicated after a fall causes Sam to see the ghosts. Based on the UK series.
The following discusses themes related to suicide, including its causes and impacts, as well as descriptions of emotional distress. Reader discretion is advised.
How Did Hetty Die in ‘Ghosts’?
Ghosts Season 3 | “Holes Are Bad” Sneak Peek
But how did the matriarch of Woodstone even get to such a dark, tragic place? With the episode opening up to Hetty’s last few days in 1895, her husband Elias (Matt Walsh) has gone missing and left her in legal trouble after authorities discover he has been employing children to work in their Woodstone factories. As their family lawyer, George (Brian Huskey) states, in Elias’ absence, Hetty will be convicted and the authorities will seize all assets, including the Woodstone estate. Though George promises he will help her and get in touch as soon as possible, Hetty most subtly introduces the audience to the family’s first Ericsson skeletal phone sitting idly in the corner of her husband’s library.
Fast-forward to the day that Hetty takes her own life, complete with her signature sharp updo and vibrant teal Edwardian gown, and the lady of the house is frantic. The plan was to run away and pick up her son from boarding school, but she had not heard back from George. As the authorities make their way to the mansion, the help does their best to hold them off as Hetty barricades herself in the library in full panic mode. Getting arrested would not only push Hetty into poverty, but as someone who spent a large part of her life rejecting a certain image, it would have all been for nothing. She would lose her fortune, her family, and her friends.
With the law closing in, Hetty is hopeless and frustrated over the lack of help and uncertainty about what to do. It’s this moment that also brings out a strong, robust performance from Rebecca Wisocky that is the absolute best of the season and tugs hard at your heart. Wisocky shows another layer of Hetty that not only provides a more profound perspective of why her character is the way she is, but also how suicide is a deeply agonizing psychological struggle stemming from emotional turmoil. In her last moments, as the phone rings from what is a wrong number, a sudden wave of despair paints her expression. Hetty looks at the phone with deep pain and desperately rips the cord out, alluding to her final act unseen in the series.
