2.08 - The Liquor License

Episode Number: Season 2, Episode 8
Episode Title: The Liquor License
Air Date: December 8, 2022
Written By: Zora Bikangaga
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: Mark Andrada, Neil Crone, Kaliko Kauahi, Veronika Leclerc Strickland, Jonathan Valvano, Reanne Spitzer, Nathaniel Appiah, Ben Peters, Akiko Espano, Kevin Kelsall, Mitch Spour, Valerie Major, Francis Daudelin
Episode Images: Episode Stills | Screen Captures

Episode Summary

In a flashback to 1773, Isaac is in a pub talking with a friend. Ben Franklin, Sam Adams and General Washington enter the pub. They’ve come to town to attend a big Freemason gathering. Isaac sighs, “It’s the most illustrious group of men in the American colonies. Oh to be one of them.Ben Franklin approaches Isaac and asks if he would be free to stop by the Freemason lodge this Friday. “I can use a man like you.” Isaac, struggling to contain himself, says, “Of course.

Back to our time, Sam is at the front desk on the phone when Jay walks up. She’s excited because they got another booking for their event. Sam tells the Ghosts that they are hosting a “High-end whisky tasting.Jay tells them they got a writer, Elliot from Sippr, a popular publication on drinking, to come review the event. Alberta thinks it’s great that they can publish a drinking event because it was illegal in her time.

But Jay says he has bad news, he never secured the liquor license he promised Sam he’d do before they opened their B&B. He forgot, so he tried to get it last minute by hammering the liquor board to move it along but they can’t come for eight weeks at the earliest and their event is to tomorrow. Sam realizes this is bad because they’ve been serving alcohol for months without a license. Jay figures they haven’t gotten caught so far so it’s just one more day. Pete thinks this is crazy,  “Serving alcohol without a liquor license is a criminal offense.Hetty thinks sometimes you have to skirt the law when you run a business, Alberta laughs, “Yes, Sam! Let’s break the damn law.

Sam is serving snacks to the guests that have arrived for the whiskey tasting. The Ghosts are standing around talking about the people that have arrived. Flower refers to one as a frat boy but Trevor objects to her stereotyping, they are just as refined as the next guy. “Damn, I miss my frat days. Great friends, epic parties.” He turns to Isaac saying, “Isaac knows what I’m taking about. He was a Freemason.Flower asks what a Freemason is so Isaac explains, “We were the original fraternal organization. Ben Franklin, George Washington, Samuel Adams were counted amongst our membership.Trevor adds, “It was, like, crazy exclusive.Isaac thinks they should start their own fraternity for Ghosts, but the others aren’t sure why they want to participate. Isaac is excited, “Because a fraternity has rituals and traditions.” And Trevor adds, “And a cool handshake!Isaac and Trevor think a Ghost fraternity would be great. The other Ghosts reluctantly agree.

Meanwhile, Elliot from Sippr has arrived and Sam and Jay have given him a glass of whiskey. The doorbell rings and Jay leaves to answer. It’s a woman from the Hudson Valley Liquor Authority come to inspect the mansion since they had filed for a liquor license. Alberta turns and yells, “Sam, we’re being raided. Toilet, sink or drink. You got to get rid of the hooch.Sam and Pete come to see what’s going on. The woman explains that she had a cancellation and was told they were in a hurry so she was eight weeks early. Sam, worried about the guests currently sipping whiskey nearby, tells her this isn’t a great time and asks if she can come back another day. The inspector says that once they arrive at a business if they aren’t permitted to enter then it’s an automatic fail. They would have to wait a year before they can re-apply. Sam closes the door,  leaving the inspector outside, so they figure out what to do. They have to have that liquor license. Jay says that Elliott from Sippr will write a terrible review if they kick him out. Alberta has an idea, “Well, you have a bunch of booze and a bunch of thirsty customers with Johnny Law breathing down your neck. And you also have a secret room with a hidden entrance. Girl, I’m saying let’s do a damn speakeasy.Sam tells Jay Alberta’s suggestion is to call The Vault a speakeasy and sneak the guests down there. Jay loves the idea but Pete is against it. Alberta, clearly in her element, is loving this, she tells them it’s going to be a wild night!

Sam is leading the guests to the vault. “Its 1928 and Johnny Law is hot on our tails.” She tells them that if you know the password you can come in. She looks over at Pete and says the password is “arrow nerd.” The guests are excited, but Pete feels the ”nerd” part of the password is unnecessary. Sam opens the secret passage and each guest gives the password and heads down to the speakeasy. Sam follows with the bottles of whiskey.  In the meantime, the inspector has told Jay that she will be there for several hours.

Trevor and Isaac are addressing Sass, Flower and Thor as the inaugural class of the exclusive ghost fraternity. Hetty asks what makes it exclusive and Trevor says that Alberta and Pete aren’t in it. Sass asks, “Didn’t they choose not to be in it?Trevor says, “Be that as it may, they’re out.Isaac explains this is going to be, “An organization that promotes high-minded conversations about philosophy, poetry and ethics.Trevor disagrees, “It’s about binge drinking, taking drugs, and doing one day of charity every three years.Isaac reminds Trevor they are Ghosts and Trevor tells him that doesn’t mean they have to be lame because they can still do fun stuff, for example jumping off the roof. Thor is excited, “Like in Viking society, when old people no longer able to support themselves, we throw them off cliff. Is very fun.” The others look mortified. Isaac asks if everyone would prefer to “plunge the depths of human knowledge and learn timeless lessons about morality, like we did in the Freemasons?Trevor thinks since they have different ideas on what this will be, Isaac should have his own frat and he’ll do the fun one.

Jay, at the speakeasy event, asks Elliot how it’s going. He tells Jay the immersive experience is great and the fake corpse, (Elias’s real remains), are a nice touch. One of the guests is with the corpse taking selfies. Pete is nervous that the inspector will hear them but Alberta tells him to lighten up.

Outside, Trevor and Flower are cheering for Thor who is on the roof getting ready to jump. Flower tells him to jump but Thor tells her, “Now that Thor up here,  it, uh,…seems pretty high. Starting to feel bad for old people we throw off cliff.Trevor reminds him that he’s a ghost so he will be fine. Thor jumps and he, Flower and Trevor are cheering in celebration. Sam, in the kitchen with the inspector, gets startled as Thor goes by the window but is able to recover. Sam goes to see what’s going on outside with the ghosts, opens the front door to find three people standing there saying ”arrow nerd”. They tell Sam that their buddy texted them about a speakeasy. Sam says that’s not happening so they start calling out for their friend. Anxious to quiet them, Sam sneaks them down to the vault.

Isaac is talking to Sass and Hetty about the The Iliad, trying to engage them in conversation worthy of a Freemason. Isaac is excited, “This is the point of a fraternal organization. The Freemasons sought to build moral character through the study of classics.Sass and Hetty are bored and don’t see the point. Thor, Flower, and Trevor are back from the roof jump and are excited to get to the party. They tell the others to come join them at the speakeasy. Isaac says they are fine but it’s clear that Sass and Hetty want to go. Sass can’t wait anymore and gets up and leaves to go to the party. Hetty tells Isaac that Sass was so rude she needs to go give him a piece of her mind but Isaac knows she just wants to go to the party. She leaves, Isaac is alone.

Everyone but Isaac is in the vault for the party and Jay tells Sam that Elliot isn’t impressed with the whiskey they had for him. Alberta tells Sam that she knows where there is whiskey that will knock his socks off. Her boyfriend, a bootlegger, hid bottles in the wall upstairs. Sam asks Elliot if he’d like to try Prohibition-Era whiskey from one hundred years ago stashed in the mansion by bootleggers. He’s excited about the opportunity so Sam, Jay and Alberta go upstairs to find the booze. Alberta tells Sam there’s one little problem, the booze is in the wall. The liquor license inspector tells Sam and Jay that she’s finished with the inspection and will sit in the kitchen to do the paperwork, which is on the other side of the wall with the hidden whiskey. Jay has an idea and tells Sam that in the movie, “Shawshank Redemption,” the prisoner escapes by using the noise of a storm to cover the sound of him hitting the pipe with a rock. Jay tells the inspector he’s going to tenderize some meat. On the other side of the wall is Sam, ready with a sledge hammer. Alberta is standing between ready to give directions and when Jay hits the meat on the butcher block, she says “now” to help Sam’s timing as she hits the wall. They do this several times until the whiskey is revealed.

Trevor comes to find Isaac alone looking out a window. Isaac asks if he’s there to gloat about his fraternity. Trevor tells him he’s there to invite him down to the party, that he is missed. Isaac admits that he was never actually a Freemason, despite claiming he was. So given the chance to create his own fraternity, he thought he would finally belong, but he was rejected. Trevor tells Isaac they weren’t rejecting him, they were rejecting the Freemasons, they suck. And that he’s sorry to say it but Ben Franklin, “Sounds like a dick.Trevor went to Penn State and he tells Isaac there’s a statue of Ben Franklin sitting on a bench there and every weekend kids get drunk and pee all over it. That makes Isaac very happy.

Back to the vault, Elliot is tasting the hundred-year-old whiskey. He’s very impressed. Sam and Jay are feeling good. They passed the liquor inspection and impressed Elliot from Sippr. They must be good business people.

Alberta and Pete are talking about how much fun the party is. Alberta tells him that he needs to have fun, take some risks. Pete agrees and leans in to kiss Alberta. She puts her hand up on his face to stop him. She tells him not to see it as defeat but as a proud moment because he took a chance. The rest of the ghosts are dancing and having fun so Trevor declares that this is the ghost frat and that Isaac is the founding member. They all cheer. Elliot tells Jay and Sam what a wonderful event this was and they are going to get a great review in Sippr.

He doesn’t understand their business model though. They gave away five-thousand-dollar bottles of 100- year-old whisky. Sam and Jay look at the group of college kids chugging down the expensive whiskey with regret. They may be bad at business after all.

The party is over and Jay is looking at the wall Sam broke open and finds a note inside. Sam reads it aloud, “My dearest Earl, (that was Alberta’s bootlegger boyfriend), I can’t wait for us to be together once we get rid of you-know-who. T.” They wonder if this has something to do with Alberta’s murder. Alberta asks, “Did Earl knock me off? And who the hell is T?Hetty tells Sam to fire up the podcast machine because they have two new suspects!

Episode Quotes

  • “Yes, well, three of my five nephews survived the winter, so we’re pleased.” – Issac
  • “Knockers. My favorite. I wish she had three instead of two.” – Issac
  • “But just to bring everybody up to speed, we are hosting a high-end whiskey tasting…” – Sam
  • “In my day, when folks were boozing, you didn’t know if you were going to get arrested, get shot or go blind. Ooh-whee! It was fun.” – Alberta
  • “Um, you know how I was supposed to secure the liquor license before the B and B opened?” – Jay
  • “As the wife of a robber baron, if I might just add, sometimes one must skirt the law to advance one’s own business.” – Hetty
  • “This is nuts. Serving alcohol without a license is a criminal offense.” – Pete
  • “Uh, Sam, why are we wasting space on almonds? We need pungent. Where’s the Roquefort?” – Sasappis
  • “She’s an art history major, and he’s a frat guy trying to prove he’s not a douche by bringing her to this classy event.” – Flower
  • “Here’s an idea. What if we started our own fraternity?” – Issac
  • “Sam, we’re being raided. Toilet, sink or drink. You got to get rid of the hooch.” – Alberta
  • “Wow. I guess someone’s wishing they listened to the fellow with the modest house after all, huh?” – Pete
  • “Alberta’s suggesting that we sneak our guests into the vault and call it a speakeasy.” – Sam
  • “Now, you may be wondering, what is a frat?” – Trevor
  • “And the answer is an organization that promotes high-minded conversations about philosophy, poetry and ethics.” – Issac
  • “What? No, it’s not that at all. It’s about binge drinking, taking drugs and doing one day of charity every three years.” – Trevor
  • “Like ättestupa. In Viking society, when old people no longer able to support themselves, we throw them off cliff. Is very fun.” – Thorfinn
  • “Now that Thor up here, it, uh… seems pretty high. Starting to feel bad for old people we throw off cliff.” – Thorfinn
  • “Hey, what’s going on lame-da, lame-da, lame-da? We’re going to party in vault!” – Trevor
  • “Look, I joined your frat ’cause I hate siding with Trevor on basically anything, but… I just gotta get out of here.” -Sasappis
  • “My bootlegger boyfriend stored booze upstairs the night I performed.” – Alberta
  • “Uh, how would you like to try Prohibition-era whiskey stashed on this property 100 years ago by bootleggers?” – Sam
  • “Well, the truth is, I wouldn’t even know what the inside of a Masonic lodge looked like.” – Issac
  • “The point is, you may not have chosen us ghosts, but you’re here now, and we’re lucky to have you.” – Trevor
  • “You know, there’s a statue of Ben Franklin on campus at Penn, him sitting on a bench. every weekend, kids get drunk and pee all over it.” – Trevor
  • “Pete, you spent your whole life being afraid. Don’t make that same mistake in your afterlife. Just go for it. Whoa! Okay. You’re gonna see this as a defeat, but this is a proud moment for you, and I want you to acknowledge that.” – Alberta
  • “My dearest Earl… That was my bootlegger boyfriend. The letter must have fallen out of the crate. “I can’t wait for us to be together once we get rid of you-know-who.” Signed, T.” – Sam
  • “Sam. This might have something to do with Alberta’s murder.” – Jay
  • “Samantha, fire up that podcast machine. We’ve got two new suspects.” Hetty