Ghosts season 4 is hauntingly close and that means there’s finally some news fans have been dying for.
Over the weekend, cast members Utkarsh Ambudkar, Rebecca Wisocky, Román Zaragoza and Richie Moriarty appeared at San Diego Comic-Con, where they divulged the names of the ghost guest stars coming up in the new season: Breaking Bad‘s Dean Norris and Happiest Season‘s Mary Holland. Norris joins the show as the father of Rose McIver’s character, Sam, while Holland will play the Puritan ghost Patience, whose appearance was teased in the final seconds of the season 3 finale.
During their panel, it was also revealed that the new installment will once again feature 22 episodes after an abbreviated season 3 — caused by the 2023 Hollywood strikes. Two of those 22 installments will see the return of the designated Halloween and Christmas specials, the ladder of which will be a full hour as opposed to the traditional 30-minute episodes fans are used to.
The show follows Ambudkar’s character, Jay, and his wife Sam (McIver) who inherit the Woodstone Mansion and turn it into a bed and breakfast, only for a series of unfortunate events to lead to Sam being able to see a plethora of ghosts haunting the grounds.
Season 4 is already looking up, but the icing on the cake is that Ambudkar’s character will finally be able to see the eight ghosts haunting the Woodstone Mansion in the new season. How? The jury is still out on that.
Chatting at the 2024 Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con Bash, the actor shared that while he can’t share the how of it all, he is ready for Jay (and himself by extension) to get to interact with the others nearby. “We’re so excited. I get to make eye contact with my coworkers,” the Pitch Perfect alum joked.
That includes the two new faces on set. CBS has shared that Holland’s character is the ghost of a 1600s woman who was extremely judgmental while alive, so much so that she got kicked out of her village for “being a bit too much.”
Meanwhile, Norris plays the “kindly and well-meaning” Frank, who struggled to keep in touch with Sam after divorcing her mother (Rachael Harris) when Sam was 10. According to CBS, Norris’ character will visit the Woodstone Mansion for his first visit with Sam in years — and he brings along his girlfriend for the trip.
“The guest stars on our show have always been phenomenal, and this season they are unparalleled,” Wisocky — who plays Gilded Age ghost Henrietta “Hetty” Woodstone — shared. “Mary Holland, we just found out today is coming in to play Patience, and she’s got a magnificent storyline with all of us, especially our beloved Brandon Scott Jones. So that’s something to look forward to.”
At the end of season 3, viewers saw a shrouded-in-darkness Patience coming to exact revenge on Jones’ character, Isaac — a Revolutionary War-era spirit — after he abandoned her in the dirt in 1895, leaving her to wander aimlessly forever… until now.
As for the exciting new specials, the actor and the actress promised two hilarious and game-changing episodes that expand upon the previous fan-favorite holiday specials.
“Halloween is really interesting ’cause we kind of turn it on its head. We’ve been used to the ghosts doing real paranormal stuff and Jay’s not really into that this year because it never goes well,” he said. “For the holiday, I think we’re going to meet my family — Jay’s parents.”
Thus far, viewers have only been introduced to Jay’s sister Bela (Punam Patel), who has appeared in a variety of episodes. “And hopefully that means Punam Patel comes back,” Ambudkar said.
He added, “I know what happens at Christmas, but I can’t tell you. It’s incredible.”
Wisocky tacked on, “It’s very incredible, very moving and earth and world-shattering.”
Another thing to look forward to in season 4 is a return to normalcy. Much of season 3 lacked Sheila Carrasco’s free-wheeling and ’60s-era hippie-centric spirit as Flower, given that the actress took time off after announcing she was pregnant with a “miracle baby” in July 2023. The show explained Carrasco’s absence by establishing that her lovable but incredibly ditzy character had fallen into a well on the property. The other ghosts ultimately were able to rescue her in the ladder half of the shortened season.
In Ghosts, the spirits stuck at the Woodstone Mansion are able to stand on the floor and the ground and sit on furniture but travel right through walls. This fact made Flower’s escape impossible as she could have gotten lost in the dirt on the expansive property. In the episode where Flower is rescued, the ghosts even make reference to Patience, who they believed to have been lost underground.
Similarly, McIver was also pregnant throughout the filming of season 3, which resulted in the show’s production team using tried-and-true sitcom methods to hide her baby bump, including strategically placed furniture and oversized clothing. McIver announced her pregnancy at the Golden Globe Awards in January and only recently confirmed that she and husband George Byrne — the brother of Bridesmaids star Rose Byrne — welcomed their baby.
In an adorable Instagram Story, McIver shared a photo of a sign posted on her trailer that reads, “Please do not knock (Baby Chloe might be sleeping ZzzzZzzzZzzz).” The actress captioned the pic, “Best and most thoughtful crew. Very excited to be back.”
It appears that McIver and the rest of the cast stayed back in Montreal to continue filming ahead of season 4’s release in mid-October. The cast is hard at work to make a bigger and better season.
Ghosts season 4 premieres on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 p.m. EST.
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