2.07 - Dumb Deaths

Episode Number: Season 2, Episode 7
Episode Title: Dumb Deaths
Air Date: November 10, 2022
Written By: Sophia Lear
Directed By: Nick Wong
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: Mathew Baynton, Amir Talai, Dana Gourrier, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Rose Abdoo, Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, Adam Bernett, Marc Antoine-Kelertas
Episode Images: Episode Stills | Screen Captures

 

Episode Summary

In a flashback to 1969, Flower and her boyfriend Ira are walking through the woods. Suddenly, Ira sees a bear and warns Flower. Flower, apparently under the influence of  drugs, goes up to the bear to talk to it. Alberta, Isaac and Sass are watching this play out. The bear is starting to grunt and Flower believes he’s asking for a hug. Ira is trying to stop her, but Flower continues. The bear growls, Flower screams, and Ira runs away. Flower, now able to see the Ghosts because she has died, goes up to greet them. She sees the bear with a body, not realizing the body is hers, and feels sorry for the person. She then realizes, that it’s her body and she’s dead.

Back to the present, Isaac is talking to Sam about the book she’s writing on his life, and Nigel is observing. Sam is asking him about the Revolution. Isaac tells her about the Stamp Act and the crown levying unjust taxes on the colonies. Nigel, looking a bit annoyed, utters “hmmm”, but when Isaac asks, he explains that it’s just a frog in his throat. Isaac continues telling Sam that they were trying to get them to pay for their costly war with France. Nigel can’t contain himself, and makes another “hmmm” in objection. Isaac asks him why as Sam leaves to answer the door.

Jay explains to Sam that the woman at the door is Paula, a Producer, looking to rent out their property for an episode of their television show, Dumb Deaths. Woodstone is the sight of a “dumb death” and they want to shoot an episode about a hippie back in the ‘60s. “The woman’s name was Susan Montero. She wandered over from a music festival high on drugs. And then she tries to hug a bear,” she laughs. Flower is hurt. “So, the show would be making fun of me? I don’t love that.Paula says they will give them ten thousand dollars, and will take  two days to shoot. Sam says they need the money and Jay agrees. Sam is hesitant because Flower is saying no to the idea, so she waits to see if the other Ghosts can persuade her. Pete tells Flower that this is an opportunity to help Sam and Jay.  Pete convinces Flower to do it to help Sam, she does a lot for them. Flower agrees.

Isaac is questioning Nigel about his earlier reactions. Nigel feels he’d been reserved considering Isaac’s, “Egregious misrepresentation of history …. Well, the Stamp Act you maligned was necessary to pay for the many troops we bought to protect you from France during the Seven Year’s War.Isaac is not impressed but Nigel tells him, “You Rebels should be thanking us!

Outside, Sass is excited to see that the crew unpacking for the show are wearing t-shirts that say “Its Getting Hot In Here”, his and Thor’s favorite show. Thor exclaims that they,  “Walk amongst the gods!Jay is asking Paula how they are going to stage the bear scene but she says they have pivoted from the hippie because they’ve had too many shows with animals. She has the Woodstone location so they are going to do another death on the property. Paula laughs, “It turns out some idiot got shot teaching archery to a bunch of little girls.” A man dressed like Pete steps out of a van. Alberta says, “Oh my God. They’re doing you Pete.Flower thinks it’s great that now Pete can help Sam and Jay himself. Despite his words encouraging Flower about how much help she’d be, he’s not happy to be given the same opportunity. (The actor dressed as Pete is Mathew Baynton, who plays  the ghost “Thomas” on the original British version of Ghosts.) He steps out of the van and tells the assistant to please put her cell phone away. He needs to have the right ”vibe” around him at all times, cell phones weren’t around in 1985.

Thor asks Pete if he’s sure he’s okay with this, Pete replies that he was rattled at first, but does want to help Sam and Jay. Thor, Sass and Pete are watching the actor get ready to play the role of Pete. He wants to know who Pete Martino really is and what drove him. The Director says Pete Martino was an idiot who let himself get killed by a child, but the actor wants more depth. He can’t figure out how anyone could be so stupid, especially since he was an experienced troop leader. Pete is getting upset listening to this. The actor decides he could play the role of Pete as having such a pathetic life that he drank, and asks that someone get him a flask. Pete doesn’t want to be portrayed as a drunk and goes to find Sam.

Trevor and Hetty are watching the crew as the Producer, Paula, walks right up to the head of the line. Hetty is impressed. Pete tells her that the Producer is the most important job on the set and can fire anyone she wants for any reason.  Hetty says, “Really? So powerful.Hetty, intrigued, follows her as she walks off.

Back inside, Isaac is expressing his frustration over his “tiff” with Nigel to Trevor and Alberta, about The American Revolution. Alberta thinks it’s time to let that go but Trevor gets it, “It’s like you guys are rooting for different teams.Trevor said he should try to change the subject to something that isn’t controversial like, “The Cosby Show or Woody Allen movies.” Isaac pauses, “So you’re saying in order to keep the peace, I should avoid the war?Alberta says, “Damn, Isaac, that was good.Isaac laughs, “Suck on that, Hamilton.

Sam tells Jay how they plan to tell Pete’s story on the show. Pete is animated, “It’s a gosh darn hatchet job! Sorry about that locker room talk but I am steamed.Sam tells Jay how they plan to tell Pete’s story are going to say that Pete was drunk when he got shot with an arrow. Pete says that while he had an ordinary life, he could always hang his hat on being a great troop leader. “The kids loved me, and I was there for them. That’s what makes this so hurtful.

Paula walks in and Sam expresses her concern with Pete being portrayed as a drunk. Paula is dismissive, “Um, yeah, we don’t typically take creative notes from the owners of the location.” Hetty tells Sam they are very busy. Sam objects saying she knows Pete’s widow and met his grandson and they won’t be happy if you portray him inaccurately, as a drunk. Pete realizes that his grandson will see the show, and that’s how little Pete will know him. Paula asks Sam if she was present when this happened, of course she wasn’t. Sam can’t know they are wrong Paula tells her and leaves, Hetty trailing behind. Sam and Jay don’t know what they can do to fix this. Jay has an idea. If they could find one of Pete’s old troopers that were there at the time of the accident, then they can tell Paula the truth about Pete. Sam will try to find a trooper that wasn’t still traumatized by the incident.

Nigel walks in to find Isaac alone and says he hopes Isaac isn’t too upset to take their afternoon walk. Isaac tells him no, “And I was thinking we should avoid talk of the Revolution altogether.Nigel agrees. They start to argue over whether they should walk around the lake as always or go in a new direction through the woods instead. Isaac wants to go to the woods instead and says he deserves to vote.  “No ambulation without representation.” They are back to the original argument about the revolution.

Sam and Jay welcome Jennifer, now an adult, who was a troop member of Pete’s that has arrived at Woodstone Mansion. She says that it was an unusual request, but she’s happy to help Mr. Martino. Sam introduces Jennifer to Paula, explaining that she was there when Pete was shot with the arrow. The actor playing Pete is thrilled! He asks her, “Bring me inside the mind — of a madman.Jennifer points to the flask he’s holding saying Mr. Martino would never have one,  he didn’t drink. “But he was a bitter soul, visibly haunted by demons from his past?” he asks hopefully. Jennifer laughs saying he was the opposite of that. The actor is upset that he has completely lost his character. Sam says that Pete did nothing wrong, it was an accident. Pete didn’t do anything dumb. Jay says, “Yeah, sorry, Paula if that’s not good for your show …. you heard it from an eyewitness.Jennifer says, “Well, he did do something sort of dumb.” She says he handed out the bows and arrows before he did his safety demonstration that day, and he seemed distracted. Pete thinks she’s wrong, but she is certain. “He kept muttering something about donut holes.Thor says he remembers Pete talking about them too. Pete starts remembering that it had all started that morning at home. He went to get the leftover donut holes in the kitchen but his wife, although she doesn’t like donuts, had eaten the rest of them. He was looking forward to them and was sure she ate them just to upset him. He was thinking about it when he handed the archery equipment out to the little girls. Paula says, “Okay, so he wasn’t a reckless drunk, he was just an idiot?” She leaves. Pete is feeling terrible, “I failed those girls. I was a terrible Pinecone Trooper leader.Pete walks out and the actor says, “A sugar fiend in need of his fix.” He can play that.

Sam wants this whole thing shut down. Pete says forget it, “I died dumb. It’s time to pay the piper.Sam tells Paula that they are friends of Pete’s family and they aren’t comfortable with this. Paula reminds her that she signed a contract.

Sam finds Isaac sitting in a room alone looking sad and asks him what’s wrong. He tells her that, “Its just this thing that I have with Nigel. It’s not going to last.“ He says their differences can’t be reconciled because, ”Americans and the British are sworn enemies and it shall remain that way until the end of time.Sam tells him that the two countries are basically best friends and one of America’s closest allies. Isaac is surprised at the news.

Outside the actor is setting up to shoot the episode of Dumb Deaths. He has an idea that when he gets shot with the arrow he should wet his pants. He thinks it would be so real because the body does that when you die. Sass feels bad for Pete and wants them to do something to stop it. Flower says that Sam tried, it didn’t work. Hetty says she really poured her heart into the production but, Pete is more important to her. She tells Thor to direct his ghost power at the camera to take it out. One of the crew leaves to get the bow and arrow so they can shoot the next scene where Pete gets shot.

Nearby, Jay is trying to convince the food truck operator to make him a sandwich even though he’s not part of the crew. The actor is starting to become uncomfortable because he drank a lot so he could wet his pants when shot. He is anxious to begin. They start the scene and Thor focuses his power on the camera, draining the battery. The Ghosts cheer but the cameraman just puts in a new one. Thor is exhausted so the Ghosts try to encourage him to do it again. Focused on Thor, Flower doesn’t see the guy carrying the bow and arrow as he walks through her, immediately becoming stoned. He looks down at the arrow and says, “Hey. You want to go for a ride, little buddy?” and shoots the arrow toward where Jay is standing at the food truck, striking him in the butt. Pete comes running, shouting out first aid directions but the Livings can’t hear him. Jennifer, his former trooper, comes up and starts repeating almost exactly the directions Pete said. Flower asks if she can hear ghosts, but Pete realizes that she said those words because she remembers what he had taught her. He was a good troop leader after all. The actor, not able to hold it any longer, wets his pants. He needs more shorts, and socks.

Sometime later Sam, Jay, and all the ghosts, are gathered around the television to watch the show. Sam explains that after Jay got shot with the arrow, they agreed not to sue in return for not doing the story about Pete. They did the story of Flower instead and Sam played her character in the show. Pete is grateful they did this for him. By doing Flower’s story, Sam and Jay still got paid. Isaac invited Nigel to join him.  He tells Trevor that, “If America and England can resolve their issues, so can we.Nigel agrees, “They are very similar countries. So one has a parliamentary system that’s slightly superior.  No matter.Isaac utters a “hmm” the way that Nigel did at the start of their argument, indicating that it really isn’t over.

The actor that was supposed to play Pete is portraying Flower’s boyfriend, Ira, still in his overly theatrical style. At the end of the scene, he soils his pants.

Episode Quotes

  • “Hey, Mr. Bear. How are you today?” – Flower
  • “Thor happy for bear. Eat well tonight.” ­- Thorfinn
  • “And she’s staying.” – Sasappis
  • “What are you guys looking at? Oh, man, I’d hate to be her.” – Flower
  • “And while today he may be celebrated as a great man, it turns out Hamilton was a bit of a nose-picker.” – Issac
  • “Could you be more specific? There were a number of dumb deaths that took place here.” – Sam
  • “$10,000? That’s more than I paid for my Skylark.” – Pete
  • “I don’t want to look dumb. Tell this lady and that guy that we’re not interested.” – Flower
  • “Yeah, Flower. Do it for Sam and Jay.” – Alberta
  • “I’m still getting to know all your adorable little tics, but this pointed “Hmm” seems to occur only when you’re displeased.” – Issac
  • “I thought it was actually quite a reserved utterance, given the egregious misrepresentation of history I was hearing.” – Nigel
  • “Oh, my God. They’re doing you, Pete. Aw, now you get to help Sam and Jay. You must be so happy.” – Flower
  • “Hey, we went to Epcot, buddy. That’s the whole world all at once!” – Pete
  • “Who is this woman who just walked to the head of the line?” – Hetty
  • “Whenever football came up, I would change the subject to something that no one would find controversial, like, uh, The Cosby Show or Woody Allen movies.” – Trevor
  • “So you’re saying in order to keep the peace, I should avoid the war?” – Issac
  • “It’s a gosh darn hatchet job! Sorry about the locker room talk, but I am steamed.” – Pete
  • “I don’t think they would appreciate an inaccurate depiction.” – Sam
  • “They can’t do this to my guy Pete.” – Jay
  • “We could track one of them down and they could set the record straight. I’ll look them up, and assuming they’re not too traumatized to talk about it” – Sam
  • “Thor not sleep for many moons after witnessing. And I’ve chopped heads off, and drank blood from open necks.” – Thorfinn
  • “I was so distracted, I must have handed out the arrows before doing the safety speech.” – Pete
  • “He tried to rip off his Pinecone Trooper badge, but it just zapped right back into place.” – Sam
  • “Pete’s impotent.” – Thorfinn
  • “Oh, is that why he didn’t want to be our third? It’s okay. There’s still stuff you can do.” – Flower
  • “It’s just that our differences are simply irreconcilable. Americans and the British are sworn enemies and it shall remain that way until the end of time.” – Issac
  • “You know, there’s even a name for the friendship between Britain and America. It’s called, “The Special Relationship. I… I learned it from a movie called Love Actually.” – Sam
  • “You know? While I have poured my heart and soul into this production, my allegiance is with Peter. And I know how we can shut this thing down. Thor, we’ll need your ghost power.” – Hetty
  • “Is there an arrow in my butt?” – Jay
  • “If America and England can resolve their issues, so can we.” – Issac