2.05 - Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past

Episode Number: Season 2, Episode 5
Episode Title: Halloween 2: The Ghost of Hetty’s Past
Air Date: October 27, 2022
Written By: Kira Kalush
Directed By: Katie Locke O’Brien
Regular Cast: Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, Danielle Pinnock, Asher Grodman, Román Zaragoza, Sheila Carrasco, Rebecca Wisocky, Devan Chandler Long
Guest Cast: John Hartman, Tristan D. Lalla, Carolyn Taylor, Punkie Johnson, Darrin Baker, Hannah Rose May
Episode Images: Episode Stills | Screen Captures

Episode Summary

Jay, while shopping at an outdoor market, sees the organic farmers June and Ally that he met when Sam was trying to stop an old tree on their property from being cut down. Next to them is a guy that is trying to entice their customers to him to pickle different foods. He’s very proud of his pickling skills and says he can pickle anything. Jay asks June and Ally if they have Halloween plans. They tell him about the annual Halloween party they go to every year at actor Liam Neeson‘s house. When Jay says the party sounds amazing, they think he’s hinting for an invite. They tell him they aren’t allowed to invite anyone else. Jay explains that he’s not trying to get an invitation because he can’t go anyway. He and Sam are having a Halloween party themselves. It’s exclusive and he was going to invite them but it’s too bad they have plans. They say that Liam‘s party is later in the evening so they will come to Sam and Jay’s party first. Pickle Guy, inviting himself, wants to know what time he should arrive.

Back at Woodstone Mansion, Jay is explaining to Sam why they have to throw a Halloween party. Jay likes June and Ally, he wants to befriend them but tomorrow is Halloween, leaving little time to plan a party. Isaac asks if plus one’s, Nigel, are allowed and Jay says all invisible people are welcome. Isaac is nervous as it will be their first party as a couple. Trevor doubts it will work because there’s too little time to prepare and people will already have plans. Jay thinks a party at a haunted spooky house is sure to get people to come.

It’s Halloween and the only guests that arrive are June and Ally, Mark their contractor, and Pickle Guy, who is asking the guests to name items they think he couldn’t pickle. Jay asks June about her costume, a black and white maid uniform with a white lace collar and she explains she’s dressed as Ruth Maid-er Ginsburg. She’s here to “Clean up the mess left behind by the patriarchy.Trevor is sad, “Feminism has ruined this sacred holiday.June sees a feather duster that would go well with her costume. Jay tells her to take it. He’s happy to win any points he can with her after the tree incident and the lame party. Hetty isn’t happy that Jay is giving away her things.

Isaac has brought Nigel as his guest and he’s nervous. Suddenly, Pickle Guy walks through Isaac and the smell that fills the room is awful. Nigel asks what that horrible smell is and Isaac, not wanting Nigel to know it’s him, tells him it’s Pete. “When the Living walk through him, it smells.Stinky Pete’ is what we call him.Pete tells Nigel it’s true to save Isaac from embarrassment in front of his date.

Back in the kitchen Jay tells Sam the party is a disaster. Hetty suggests they hold a séance and tells Sam about a séance she had that worked. “The lights flickered, the smell of death surrounded us, and I’m just now realizing that was Thor and Isaac messing with us.Sam thinks it’s a good idea and the Ghosts can help make it spooky. They gather all the guests at the table with the Hhosts watching. Sam is leading the séance and has them all hold hands while she invites the spirits to join them. Suddenly the lights flicker, thunder cracks, and the Ghosts are screaming. Only Sam can hear what’s going on with the Ghosts. Jay hears nothing but expects the Ghosts to help with effects. He asks the spirits to give them a sign if they are there. All is quiet, but on the ghostly front, there is a portal opening on the ceiling and a maid appears. It is Molly, the Irish maid that was sleeping with Hetty’s husband. The Ghosts are screaming and Molly is confused. June and Ally, hearing none of this, ask if is over. Jay is defeated with them again, he apologizes for the lame séance.

Hetty confronts Molly, angry she would come back here, but Molly assures her that it wasn’t her idea. Alberta wants to know what it’s like up there. Molly says, “All I’ll say is it’s remarkable. But beyond that, I can’t say anything specific or, I’ll melt. In fact, I’m not even sure I’m supposed to say that, but I didn’t melt so I guess it’s okay.Jay comes in grumbling that everyone is gone and the party is over. “What gives ghosts? That séance was a dud.Sam tells Jay what he missed and he’s really excited, “That is awesome!” He can’t believe it worked. Alberta says, “I bet because it’s Halloween. You know they say the border between the living and the dead thins on Halloween.Sam thinks if Alberta is right, they have to send Molly back by midnight. Sass asks, “Unless she wants to stay?Trevor is hopeful, Hetty is angry, but Molly answers, “No, I’d like to leave and go back to the place where everything’s perfect all the time.Sam wants to know how they send her back and Jay says it’s easy, they do a reverse curse with another séance.

Jay and Sam try another séance but no portal opens and nothing happens this time. Trevor is pleased at the thought of the beautiful maid being stuck with them and says to the group, “Well, we tried.Hetty is angry, “So the harlot just remains?Molly glares, “Well, I may have been a harlot, but what about you? You were a cruel and vindictive boss.Hetty takes that as a compliment, “It’s too late for flattery.Flower notices that the feather duster Molly is holding is the same as the one Jay gave June earlier that night. Sam asks Jay about it and he realizes giving the feather duster to June is why Molly was summoned and that’s why the séance to send her back didn’t work. The feather duster has to be back in the house. Jay explains, “In “Big”, he had to find the ‘Zoltar’ machine to reverse the curse. The feather duster is our ‘Zoltar’ machine.” Sam and Jay need that duster but June is at Liam Neeson’s party and Jay doesn’t know where he lives. Pickle Guy walks in and tells him that he does. Everyone thought he had left but he said he couldn’t leave his best friend Jay’s party. Sam and Jay look at each other, but decide they can handle that later. For now, he can help them get to Liam’s house.

Isaac and Nigel are in the kitchen smelling the food that was left from the party. Pete walks in and Nigel says, “Uh-oh, here comes Stinky Pete. Watch out for those Livings, chap.Isaac laughs, “It does smell terrible when they walk through him.Pete agrees and says he is repulsive and asks to speak to Isaac alone.  He’s happy to help him out but Nigel will eventually find out that it’s Isaac that is really the one that smells when the Living walk through him. Isaac is embarrassed and afraid Nigel won’t like him anymore when he finds out the truth. Pete says, “Well, then there are plenty of other fish in the sea.Nigel looks at him with a face that says he disagrees. Pete continues, “Okay, not plenty, but there is that one other guy. And I don’t know what Thor means when he talks about ‘boat rules,’ but that sounds…Isaac begs him to stop talking.

Hetty can’t believe that Molly got to heaven but she didn’t. “She’s the adulterer, she brought shame on my home.Sam thinks this could be an opportunity for Hetty to get closure, forgive Molly and possibly move on, but Hetty thinks it’s an opportunity to push Molly down the stairs, “She would heal instantly, but it would be fun to watch her tumble.Hetty is not interested in forgiving Molly so she storms out. Alberta tells Sam that Molly isn’t interested in talking to Hetty either. Flower has an idea, “In the cult, when two people had a problem we would lock them in a room together until they worked it out, or killed each other.Alberta thinks that’s ridiculous, “We can’t lock ‘em in a room, Flower. They’re Ghosts, they’ll just walk out through the walls.Sam remembers that the Ghosts can’t walk through the walls of the Vault in the basement. Sam gets Hetty to go down to the Vault with her, Flower and Alberta to look for an earring that she had supposedly lost earlier. When they walk into the Vault, Molly is already there. They are not happy to see each other but Sam explains they need to talk. Flower gets confused with the plan and walks out, closing the door, leaving Sam inside with Hetty and Molly. Alberta freaks out because none of the ghosts can turn the handle, their ghostly hands go right through it. Sam will run out of oxygen in the Vault.

Molly asks why they can’t walk through the walls of the Vault. Hetty explains that her husband Elias, Molly’s former lover, built the Vault out of material impenetrable to Ghosts. Sam, seeing that she has no cell service, starts panicking that she could actually die.

The Ghosts are trying to figure out how to save Sam since Jay is out looking for the feather duster he gave to June. Trevor can’t text Jay because the iPad was put away in a drawer.

At Liam’s party Jay finds Ally and June. Ally asks Jay what he’s doing there and Jay tells them he needs the feather duster back. June wants to keep it until after the party because it’s perfect with her costume. Jay insists he needs it right away and Ally looks at Jay like he is crazy, “You got an antique feather duster emergency?” He says that he does. June asks Jay if he knows how weird he’s being and he says he does and grabs the duster and leaves.

Sam is starting to wonder if suffocating will hurt and is getting really scared but Hetty is mad that Sam locked her in with her husband’s seductress. Molly tells Hetty that she never seduced Elias, it was him that pursued her. She hated him but needed her job because she had a child to feed, and her husband perished at Hetty and Elias’s mill. Hetty hadn’t known that. Molly tells Hetty she doesn’t blame her for hating her, Elias was her husband, and cousin, and she loved him. Hetty laughs, she didn’t love him, she married Elias so her father could close a land deal. She didn’t even like him. Sam points out that Hetty and Molly were both victims of a patriarchal system that didn’t allow blaming the man as an option. They shouldn’t be mad at each other, they should be mad at Elias. They realize that Sam is right, and start bonding over their shared hatred of Elias. Meanwhile, Sam is still stuck in the Vault that is running out of oxygen.

Jay comes home with the duster and can’t find Sam. The Ghosts have a plan to let Jay know where she is so he can save her.  Thor flickers the lights to the powder room that leads to the entrance of the hidden doorway to the Vault. Jay wonders if Thor trying to get him to go into the powder room. Jay goes in, waiting to see what happens. The Ghosts are all yelling at him to go through the secret door, but he can’t hear them. Jay thinks he’s supposed to wait for ”No Pants” to write on the mirror so he fogs it up and waits. Trevor writes “Sam SAFE” on the mirror but Jay thinks that means that Sam IS safe. Trevor wrote “safe” because it was shorter than Vault. Jay walks out of the room. Pete yells to Thor to flicker the lights again but Thor is too tired from the first time. Flower is scared now, “We have to get him back in there, or Sam’s gonna die!Isaac knows what he has to do and tells everyone to hold their nose, tells Nigel he’s sorry, and walks through Jay. The room fills with that horrid odor and Jay realizes there is something else they need to tell him and he goes back to the powder room. Nigel turns to Isaac, “You’re Stinky Pete?” “Yes, Stinky Pete is I.Pete tells them they can retire the nickname now. Trevor has added a word in the mirror to make it say “Sam IN SAFE.Jay now understands and runs through the secret door to the Vault to get to Sam, where she is starting to have trouble breathing. Jay bursts in and they hug. He asks her why she was in the Vault and she says “ghost thing,” and asks how he found her. “Ghost thing,” he replies.

They all gather around the table to send Molly back. Hetty and Molly have made up and it’s almost midnight. Isaac tells Nigel he wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to end their relationship, but Nigel says he doesn’t. He’s disappointed Isaac felt he couldn’t be honest with him. Isaac’s power to still affect worldly matters is impressive, “And you’re my date. Not bad for a skinny Brit with webbed feet.Isaac laughs, “Webbed feet? Good one, Nigel.Nigel, who’s face indicates that he may have been serious about his feet, laughs and says, “Yes. Could you imagine?

The séance begins, the portal opens, and thunder cracks. Molly begins to rise up into the portal. Hetty yells, “Take me with you! I’ve changed!Hetty attempts to grab on to Molly, screaming, “Let me ride you while you get sucked off! Don’t leave me here with these peasants! Take me with you!Molly is gone. The Ghosts didn’t care for being called peasants but Hetty says, “Oh, get over it.

Episode Quotes

  • “Sam and I are throwing our own Halloween party.” – Jay
  • “Jay wants to throw a Halloween party to follow through on a lie he told our neighbors.” – Sam
  • “Well, you know we don’t love Halloween. But we do love a party” – Alberta
  • “And we haven’t had a gala at Woodstone Mansion for decades. Count me in.” – Hetty
  • “Sam, ask Jay if plus-ones are allowed.” – Isaac
  • “Murderer and victim?” – Sasappis
  • “Look, I want this house filled with sexy nurses as much as the next ghost.” – Trevor
  • “Who doesn’t want to go to a Halloween rager in a spooky mansion? It’s gonna be awesome.” – Jay
  • “I’ve been in relationships that had more people than this party.” – Flower
  • “When the Livings walk through him, it smells. Stinky Pete is what we call him.” – Isaac
  • “In my day, the occult was all the rage. Why not conduct a séance? What’s more Halloween than that?” – Hetty
  • “The lights flickered, the smell of death surrounded us, and I’m just now realizing that was Thor and Isaac messing with us.” – Hetty
  • “I can’t believe some people think this stuff is real.” – Pete
  • “That is the maid who was sleeping with Hetty’s husband.” – Sasappis
  • “Hi. Trevor Lefkowitz. Yes, I’m not wearing pants. But it’s because of a hero move.” – Trevor
  • “I have to ask, what is it like up there?” – Alberta
  • “All I’ll say is, it’s remarkable. But beyond that, I can’t say anything specific or I’ll melt.” – Holly
  • “Actually it worked. In the way that a portal in the ceiling opened up and now we have a maid from the Gilded Age in our kitchen.” – Sam
  • “You know they say the border between the living and the dead thins on Halloween.” – Alberta
  • “We do another séance, but this time to send her back. It’s like the movie Big, he made one wish to get big, and then he had to make another wish to reverse it.” – Jay
  • “Don’t worry, Molly. We’re gonna find your dog.” – Flower
  • “Well, I may have been a harlot, but what about you? You were a cruel and vindictive boss.” – Holly
  • “The feather duster is our Zoltar machine.” – Jay
  • “Uh-oh. Here comes Stinky Pete. Watch out for those Livings, chap.” – Nigel
  • “You mean for me to push her down the stairs? That is not bad, Samantha. She would heal instantly, but it would be fun to watch her tumble.” – Hetty
  • “No, I mean an opportunity for you to get closure. By forgiving her. Who knows? Maybe it could even help you to move on.” – Sam
  • “Flower, what were you thinking? Why did you lock Sam inside there, too?” – Alberta
  • “Should really be conserving oxygen right now, but here goes. Elias was in a position of power over Molly, which he knew, and I’m sure you needed that job.” – Sam
  • “But I guess I can’t blame you for hating me. He was your husband and your cousin.” – Holly
  • “Babe! I got the feather duster. I alienated June and Ally for good, but I got to see what kind of cheese Liam Neeson likes, so that’s cool. Babe, where are you?” – Jay
  • “Uh, do you want me to go to the powder room? Okay, thank you, Spooky Lassie.” – Jay
  • “I am rooting for you, Samantha, but, on the other hand, it would be nice to spend eternity together. Sort of a win-win situation.” – Hetty
  • “Isaac, I don’t want to end things. I am disappointed you felt you couldn’t be honest with me. But I think your power is impressive. You can still affect worldly matters. And you’re my date. Not bad for a skinny Brit with webbed feet.” – Nigel
  • “Take me with you! I’ve changed! Let me ride you while you get sucked off! Don’t leave me here with these peasants! Take me with you!” – Hetty