When Hetty gets her power, there’s no inciting incident — such as being walked through — that causes the change; she simply walks into the kitchen on St. Patrick’s Day, and Jay’s cousin Sunil mistakes her for a guest at the B&B.
When Sunil expresses interest in Hetty, she finds herself in a position she’s never been in before, being romanced by a potential suitor, as her marriage to Elias was out of her control, and she and Trevor skipped past any kind of formal courtship. Despite knowing the relationship cannot go anywhere, Hetty begs Sam and Jay for the chance to go on a date with Sunil, yearning to fully experience her new power by indulging in the fantasy of being alive and desired.
In the process, we see a softer side of Hetty, as she is a more innocent and vulnerable version of herself. While Hetty and Sunil are never going to be allowed a traditional romance, they each allow the other to feel seen, with both characters gaining something important from their brief connection. From her experience with Sunil, Hetty can learn more about what she might want from a relationship — she also gains context from her new dating knowledge that may put other relationships in her life into a new perspective. Meanwhile, she also offers something to Sunil by giving him the confidence to not settle for women with whom he doesn’t have anything in common.
Following a hilarious comedy of errors in which Sunil realizes that Hetty isn’t human anymore, she has a beautiful moment of honesty in which she’s able to confess that she is, in fact, a ghost. The music and the lighting, along with Wisocky’s beautifully measured delivery, really lean into how Ghosts is a show about people, long-dead, living in a haunted house. But it also highlights that, with Sam (Rose McIver), their fellow ghosts, and an occasional boost from their powers, these individuals have all been given a second chance to find love and purpose in their afterlives. Hetty’s power opens up the opportunity for her to live a little in a way that she was never able to when she was alive. With her power tied to the holiday, we can only hope there will be many more St. Hetty’s Day special episodes in our future — especially if this is the caliber of storytelling we can expect.
Ghosts Season 4 will return on April 3, and you can watch previous episodes, including “St. Hetty’s Day,” on Paramount+.
