1.04 - Dinner Party

Episode Number: Season 1, Episode 4
Episode Title: Dinner Party
Air Date: October 21, 2021
Written By: John Blickstead, Trey Kollmer
Directed By: Trent O’Donnell
Regular Cast: Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Brandon Scott Jones, Danielle Pinnock, Asher Grodman, Román Zaragoza, Sheila Carrasco, Rebecca Wisocky, Devan Chandler Long
Guest Cast: Kathryn Greenwood, Mark Linn-Baker
Episode Images: Episode Stills | Screen Captures

 

Episode Summary

We open with Sam walking into the kitchen indirectly asking Jay if he knows who ate the Oreos she bought that morning. However, the ghosts let her know that he was the one who ate them, including a floor oreo (or Flooreo coined by Pete) despite him trying to blame the contractor. Jay is annoyed that the ghosts told on him and leaves the kitchen.

Next, Sam is complaining to Jay outside about the increasing bill from the contractor as they fix up the mansion – and in walk the Farnsbys. Flower clues Sam in about “Henry and Margaret Farnsby: Wealthy next-door neighbors. Total squares” like she’s reading it off of a character description. The seemingly polite neighbors introduce themselves until the scene is interrupted by Sam’s sneeze which is noticed by Hetty still inside the manor. She suggests how Sam should’ve taken a nip of cocaine for her “hay fever”, aka what she remembers as a medical wonder drug: “From headache to hysteria, four out of five barbers prefer cocaine.

Back to the Farnsbys, they have some other minor passive-aggressive misunderstandings like Jay’s use of “sick” (though Sam clarifies it’s a good thing), and Margaret insulting Jay’s earrings. Anyway, Henry *very polititely* mentions how he is the head of the local Historical Preservation Board and that he controls whether Sam and Jay’s permits to open a B&B are accepted or denied.

Hetty then again dismisses the “Woodstone family rivals for generations” when the Farnsbys start walking away, but Sam and Jay runn after them and apologize to the Farnsby’s for the bad first impression. So instead, they invite them over for a dinner party.

Jay then starts to prepare the dinner for that night while Pete walks into the kitchen and figures out they’re having a dinner party! Sam explains how they made a bad impression on the neighbors and tells him that she doesn’t want any of the ghosts there since there’s a lot riding on the dinner, and Pete is upset but wallows away anyway to tell the others.

Pete then tells the ghosts about the dinner party they aren’t allowed to attend, which most notably upsets Hetty, Alberta, and Isaac. Hetty notes how the Farnby’s are terrible company and how Samantha would appreciate the ghosts attending likewise – even though Pete keeps repeating how that is exactly what Sam does NOT want. So, Hetty ‘compromises’ by planning to attend with three ghosts, so about half of the group, and decides to invite Thor (as her muscle), Alberta, and Isaac. “Huzzah!”. She also purposefully excludes Trevor, especially due to his “incomplete formal attire”. How sad.

Skip to dinner party time! Thor welcomes them to Sam’s confusion, which keeps building when she sees how Hetty, Alberta, and Isaac are there to join them for dinner. Oh boy.

They eat while the Farnsbys talk about their newest hobby – Pickleball! “Fastest growing sport in America. That’s true.” Eventually, Pete pops in to try and get Trevor invited because he’s upset about being excluded, but also disrupts Sam so she “casually” sends Jay and the Farnsbys out of the dining room on a house tour. She then confesses to the ghosts how the dinner party is important so she and Jay can get the permits to open the B&B – which the ghosts complain they don’t want that anyway (Other than Pete who believes the B&B will be like Newhart). Sam reinforces how if there’s no hotel, then no her and reminds them of her help, so they begrudgingly agree to help her anyway.

Pete returns to a room nearby to tell Trevor that he is still not invited, which causes him to despair. He opens up that he feels extra upset being excluded because he was left off a guest list for a 4th of July party. Pete doesn’t understand his references but emphasizes with him, and Flower’s FOMO, thus declares how this isn’t over.

Back to the dinner party, Henry Farnsby clarifies that, according to ordinance 6.B.13, they can’t demolish an existing structure but can change the interior. In come Flower, Pete, and Trevor who have a brief ‘non-violent protest’ since they weren’t invited – but then quickly becomes hilariously chaotic and violent all thanks to Thor. Sam freaks out and leaves to go check on the lights in the other room. She complains to the ghosts about how they were disturbing her and that they should leave them alone because Sam is “alive”. Unfortunately, they get offended by that word and finally leave her alone.

Sam and Jay then return to keep dining with the Farnsbys and decide to bring up the B&B permits again to which they immediately get shut down. The Farsbys explain how they like their quiet community with quiet people, so Sam tries to save the evening by claiming that the quaint B&B will beike the Inn on Newhart (the show Pete mentioned earlier). She then digs herself into a hole by claiming to know and love “her favorite show”, but then excuses herself and Jay again.

Sam then goes to beg Pete to share his Newhart knowledge. The ghosts are apprehensive to help after she hurt them and made them feel “less alive than [they] ever have”, so she does apologize: “Because this isn’t my house. This is our house”. She then invites them ALL back for dessert, which they gratefully accept.

Pete then feeds Sam tidbits and background knowledge about Newhart to prove to the Farnsbys that she knows what she’s talking about. Also Alberta shares some Jazz musicians she likes. And Hetty agrees that young people are the worst (partially jokingly).

While Sam and Jay are in the kitchen for a minute, the ghosts overhear how the Farnsbys knocked down a house to build a pickleball court.
Sam and Jay return and Henry agrees to fix the zoning issue by accepting their permits, but only as long as they make a minimum $20,000 donation to the Historical Presevertaion Fund. They then decide to leave and Jay complains about how he wasted a Duck on them, but Isaac tells them about the pickleball court loophole that will save the evening.

Sam and Jay then use that knowledge of the breaking of the ordinance as blackmail so the Farnsbys won’t make them pay the donation and instead will just push through the permits. They reluctantly agree then leave in annoyance for the night as the ghosts and livings celebrate their victory. Yay!

Episode Quotes

  • Liar! He is a liar!” -All the Ghosts
  • “One of the cookies fell to the floor, after which he ate it.” -Isaac
  • “I would have called it a “Flooreo.” That’s just my improv training kicking in. I wish I possessed the ability to write that down.” -Pete
  • “I told her a nip of cocaine would wipe that hay fever right out, but does she listen?” -Hetty
  • “The children that worked in our factories were far happier.” -Hetty
  • “The repartee, the gentle mocking of the hostess when she leaves the room.” -Isaac
  • “When I was alive, I threw the party. I-I made the party. I was the party.” ­Trevor
  • “Thor grab she-wolf by neck, gouge eyes and then punch in genital!” -Thorfinn
  • “I thought it’d be small and quaint, like the inn on Newhart.” -Pete
  • “One time, my throuple made love without me. Just the two of them. How does that even work?” -Flower
  • “If I can reserve comment on Sam’s whorish lipstick, the rest of you can hold your tongues.” -Hetty
  • “Well, if everybody’s just doing what they want… ♪ I’ve had a man…” -Alberta
  • “Now she’s begging for reinforcements, like she’s William Howe at the Battle of White Plains.” -Isaac