Ghosts Season 4 introduces a new, chilling character: Patience, a Puritan ghost trapped beneath the Woodstone B&B for centuries. While her creepy catchphrase, “Patience!” immediately stands out, it may carry a much deeper, more tragic meaning than initially apparent. As fans of the show know, the ghosts are central to the series’ charm, offering a mix of humor and heart—making the introduction of any new spirit an exciting event. Patience, portrayed by Mary Holland, is no exception. Her backstory and eerie behavior suggest there’s more to her than just the unsettling “Patience!” she repeats throughout the season.
Patience’s Tragic Backstory
Patience’s first appearance in Ghosts Season 4 kicks off with a flashback to 1692, revealing that she was banished from her Puritan colony for being “too pious”—a remarkable feat given the notoriously dour and humorless nature of the Puritans. However, her intense devotion and isolation seem to have taken a toll on her mental state over the years. Stuck underground after an accident left her behind by the other ghosts, Patience spends over a century waiting for rescue, her sanity slowly unraveling in the process.
Her introduction in the season premiere, also titled “Patience,” reveals that she’s been driven a bit mad from the solitude. In fact, when she kidnaps Isaac (Richie Moriarty) in the Season 3 finale, she repeatedly utters the word “Patience!”—a line that both unsettles Isaac and hints at the emotional toll her isolation has taken.
The Hidden Meaning Behind the Catchphrase
While “Patience” initially comes across as a creepy and bizarre catchphrase, there’s a sadder, more poignant explanation behind it. The word seems to serve as a coping mechanism for Patience, a way for her to remind herself to wait. After being trapped for over a hundred years, isolated from human interaction, Patience has spent an unimaginable amount of time waiting for someone—anyone—to rescue her. This obsessive repetition of the word is likely a reflection of her deeply ingrained need to be patient in the face of endless, unresolved longing.
When Patience yells “Patience!” in various moments throughout the episode, it often seems less like a command and more like a desperate self-affirmation. She repeats it when she’s awaiting an answer from Alberta or when she’s interrogating Isaac, possibly trying to reassure herself that answers will eventually come. Her need for patience, then, isn’t just an odd quirk but a reflection of her prolonged suffering and abandonment.
Patience’s Catchphrase Reflects Her Isolation and Humanity
What makes Patience’s character so compelling is the way her catchphrase highlights the sadness and isolation at the core of her story. Even before being buried under the Woodstone B&B, Patience’s life was one of rejection and isolation. Banished from her Puritan colony for her zealous faith, she was never truly accepted in life, and now in death, she finds herself trapped alone, yearning for connection. The repetition of “Patience!” underscores her emotional struggle, reminding viewers that despite her creepy exterior, Patience is a deeply human character at heart.
As Ghosts fans have come to appreciate, the ghosts aren’t just there for comic relief—they often have rich, emotional backstories that make them both tragic and relatable. Patience is no exception. While her powers are intense and her behavior unnerving, her catchphrase reveals the loneliness and desperation that define her existence, making her one of the more sympathetic characters on the show.
Her situation is both tragic and poignant, and it seems clear that, more than anything, Patience just needs a friend—and maybe someone to listen.
