Hetty and Trevor are discussing the amorous encounter they had at Christmas. Hetty tells Trevor that, “Although… sitting across from you now, no one else around, I do find myself thinking perhaps we could succumb to… One final act of  passion.” “Really?” Trevor asks. “No, not really.” Hetty turns to walk out as Trevor jumps to his feet and says that he was joking, he wasn’t turned on. Hetty pauses in the doorway and says, “My friend, that lie would be a lot easier to sell with some pants on.” Hetty leaves and Trevor calls out to her, “That’s involuntary! Don’t read into it!”

Hetty comes down the stairs to find lots of people mulling about.  She asks Pete who they are and he explains, “They’re guests. It’s a big weekend up here. The Ulster County Jam Fest. Celebrating local jams and well-known jam bands.” Hetty asks what a jam band is and Flower answers, “They play long improvisational grooves. Which are really good if you’re on acid.”

Jay is excited to tell Sam that Freddie has overhauled the booking system. He’s great with computers. Freddie smiles, “Aw, I just did some simple back-end coding. Basically, the website now stops accepting reservations once we’ve reached capacity.” Sam thinks that was a great idea. Jay tells her that Freddie has also installed a camera to keep an eye on employees at the front desk. Sam looks at Freddie, puzzled. “But you’re our only employee.” He says he needs to keep himself honest. Jay laughs, he thinks Freddie‘s great. Sam tells Freddie how much she and Jay appreciate all the things he’s done for them. Hetty, unheard by Freddie, tells Sam not to compliment the employees, “In order for them to perform at their best, they must be kept hungry and afraid.” Freddie says he’s just really happy to be working there. His girlfriend’s getting a little sick of hearing how much he loves working at Woodstone Mansion. Sam asks how long they’ve been dating and Hetty is appalled. “Now you’re asking about his personal life? He’ll think you care about him. That’s not the message you want to send.” Freddie tells Sam they’ve been dating a couple of years. They were long-distance but now he’s moved back from the city. Hetty tells Sam not to say anything more. Sam asks Freddie how things are going. Hetty tells her she’s just trying to annoy her now and leaves.

Sass and Jessica are sitting in the parking lot in Freddie’s car talking about favorite foods and smells. When Jessica says her favorite savory smell is French fries, Sass explains he never got to try them and asks her to describe them. Then she asks what Sass’s favorite sweet smell is, and he tells her that she smells sweet. She smiles, and they kiss. The car door suddenly opens and Freddie gets in, he’s going home. Since Jessica is a car ghost, she has to leave with him. Freddie turns on the radio and starts singing like no one’s listening. Sass says he’ll see her tomorrow.

Some of the Ghosts are watching Freddie complain to Sam that his girlfriend never refills the Brita water-filtering pitcher before she puts it back in the refrigerator. Isaac asks the others why so many people are afraid of drinking water. Pete retorts, “I don’t know, dysentery?” Isaac laughs, “Yes the thing that killed me.  Sure, sure.” Sam offers advice to Freddie about the Brita situation and Hetty tries to stop her. “Samantha, when it comes to handling household staff, I know of what I speak.” She says nothing good will come from getting involved in his personal business. Sam insists that things have changed. People want their boss to care about them. Hetty forbids Sam from getting any further involved. Pete thinks Hetty is bossy and Trevor agrees, “She can be a taskmaster.” Freddie comes back in with a snack for Sam and is ready to hear her advice. Sam tells him that he shouldn’t ignore the problem if it bothers him, he needs to talk to her about it. Hetty is angry, “That is it. Your inheritance is going to your cousin!”

Sass and some of the ghosts are in the kitchen talking about Jessica. He admits that they did kiss, but it wasn’t a big deal. Alberta thinks it’s a huge deal, because this is about Sass. Flower agrees, “Especially for you. I mean, you marked a tree when a girl said hi to you. What are you gonna do now, write a rock opera?” Sass agrees, it’s a big deal. He really likes her and she’s interesting because of all the time on the road. She has great stories. Alberta loved her time on the road. “Back when I was on tour. Ooh, a new city every night. Made it pretty easy to see different guys, if you know what I mean.” Sass pauses, ”Do you think Jessica could be hooking up with different ghosts?” He hadn’t considered that. His insecurities start getting the best of him, wondering what she could be doing parked at Freddie’s apartment every night. Flower tells him not to worry. With all those opportunities Jessica has to have sex, it won’t all fall on Sass to keep her satisfied. Sass looks upset and Alberta looks at Flower saying, “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s helping, girl.”

Jay hollers to Sam that he needs help at the front desk. Freddie isn’t there and it’s busy. In walks Freddie looking disheveled. “Sorry I’m late, didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” Sam asks him if he’s ok, but he says no. He talked to his girlfriend as Sam suggested and she got angry. They got into a huge fight and she broke up with him. Hetty tells Sam, “So he lost the love of his life. The important thing is that his employer cares about him.” The phone rings and Freddie answers, it’s a guest that wants a reservation for Valentine’s Day. Freddie tells the guest not to book so far in advance because their relationship might not be as good as it seems and becomes too upset to continue. As he hangs up the phone and walks away, Jay says to Sam, “Babe, I think you broke Freddie.”

After listening to Alberta, Sass is feeling insecure about Jessica and where she may be going when Freddie leaves Woodstone. Sitting in the car with Jessica, he is attempting to get more information about her ghost life, so he asks her about where Freddie lives and parks his car at night, “Any cool ghosts live there?” Jessica explains mostly its just her and this guy Roger, he was a “leatherhead football player back in the day. Died running into a goal post. And he’s just absolutely ripped.” That’s not what Sass wants to hear, but Jessica continues, “He’s really funny, too.” She goes on to tell Sass that he’s really smart and sensitive and was a model.

Freddie is sitting at the table in the kitchen crying about his girlfriend to Sam. He’s worried about the pet hamster, Bubbles, that they have together and who gets to keep him. Sam tells him he doesn’t have to work today if he’s not up to it. Hetty says, “Yes, reward this poor showing. That’ll set him straight.” Freddie says he just needs to be alone for a while. Hetty confronts Sam. “Well, this is exactly what I was afraid would happen. You have now ruined your employee.” Sam insists Hetty is being dramatic. Pete is worried about poor Bubbles. Hetty, focused on employer and employee behavior, says Sam needs to stop or the problem will get worse. Sam feels bad because Freddie has just been dumped but Hetty says, “It doesn’t matter if his girlfriend dumped him or his right arm was torn off in an iron foundry. You need to tell him to stop whining and put that stump to work.” Pete is horrified, “That sounds like a disturbingly real example.” Sam throws up her hands and leaves.

Hetty seeks out Trevor to help her. Freddie is a liability and she needs Trevor to use Sam‘s phone to get her to see it.

Jessica tells Sass that Freddie’s girlfriend kicked him out of the house and he’s staying at his mom’s place. Sass replies, “Oh, so that means you won’t get to see your buddy, the football model, anymore.” She says not unless they get back together. It’s fine though because there’s another cool ghost that haunts his mom’s house. “He was doing a charity car wash for his firehouse. And then got hit by a driver who got distracted by his washboard abs.” Sass can’t believe it. Jessica asks him if he’s jealous and he denies it. He asks her if he should be, but Jessica says she’s not liking this side of Sass. She’s been listening to podcasts with Freddie that are making her see signs of a toxic relationship. Sass responds he can’t help feeling that way when she’s out on the road with football players and guys with washboard abs. Jessica tells him to leave the car, so he does.

Jay and Sam are at the desk and can’t believe how busy it’s become. There are several guests standing in the foyer, new ones keep arriving, and they are completely booked. Trevor and Hetty watch as their plan comes to fruition. Two guests walk up to check-in but Sam tells them they must be mistaken. The B & B is filled to capacity. But these guests have a confirmation and show it to Sam and Jay. They need to get Freddie to the front desk, but he’s elsewhere making a collage for his girlfriend. When he does come to the desk, they explain there’s problems with the reservation system. The guests start arguing with each other as it becomes clear that several of them booked the same room. Freddie doesn’t understand, the system should have prevented rooms from getting double booked. Hetty is whispering, “Samantha, he’s making a fool of you and ruining your business.” Sam tries to calm the increasingly agitated guests by explaining  they have a new employee and there’s some sort of mix up. They aren’t interested in her explanation. There are no available rooms within 30 miles because of the event. Freddie offers that his mother has an extra room with a Murphy bed,  Sam snaps at him. “They don’t want to stay at your mom’s place, Freddie.” Hetty is encouraging Sam to get angry. Freddie asks Sam why she’s mad at him, and she asks him who she should blame. He continues that since his girlfriend broke up with him and took Bubbles before Sam cuts him off in frustration. “Oh, my God. Buy another hamster. They’re all the same.” Freddie responds, “He was a really special rodent.” Sam tells him that’s not their problem and that he messed up their entire reservation system. Freddie is surprised by this. “I thought you were a nice boss.” But she replies, “I thought you were a good employee.” Freddie says she’s right and he quits.  Hetty is thrilled.

Sass is upset with Sam for making Freddie quit. Hetty tells Sass that she did the right thing but Sass doesn’t care. His girlfriend lives in Freddie’s car! Sam says she’s sorry, but he made a big mistake, and Sass storms out of the room, further frustrated that he is unable to slam the door for effect. Jay is looking at the reservation system on his laptop and notices something strange. Changes were made to the maximum occupancy limit at 9:38p.m. the night before. Freddie wasn’t there when the changes were made. Hetty tries to divert their attention by suggesting they not dwell in the past. Jay observes, “Someone changed the maximum number of rooms from four to sixty-nine.” Sam looks at Trevor. “Hetty made me do it,” and, he adds, it’s a great joke and he won’t apologize. Sam is upset with Hetty and asks her why she would do all this. Hetty explains that she didn’t have any choice. Sam wasn’t taking action so she forced her hand. “Freddie was in a downward spiral and he was going to take you with him.” She thinks Sam should be thanking her. Jay shakes his head, noticing that,  “‘Freddie’ also made a reservation for Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Butts.” Trevor laughs.

Pete goes to his room to find Sass sitting on the bed, upset. Pete tells him that Jay and Sam are going to try to hire Freddie back. Sass is unmoved because he feels he’s already ruined things with Jessica because of his jealousy. Pete offers advice, “You know how you can tell 100% if someone is cheating on you? You can’t. That’s the thing about relationships. You know? You have to trust.” He explains that paranoia can destroy a relationship. Sass genuinely smiles and thanks him.

Hetty approaches Sam and wants to talk but Sam says no, she made her yell at Freddie after Hetty had sabotaged her business. Hetty says she was just trying to share her wisdom. Sam doesn’t want to hear any of it, she went way too far.  She asks her what she was thinking, and Hetty looks down. “I was not the best mother. I delegated the care and raising of my children to others. And I missed out on being part of their lives. And then, after my death, I had to watch my children become adults in this house. Unable to help them. To give advice… to guide them.” Her eyes filling with tears, she continues, “I have watched generations of Woodstones make mistakes in this house. But then, after 100 years, a miracle happened. You fell down those stairs, and I was given a second chance. To be heard.” Sam, emotional as well, tells Hetty that her mom used to point out her mistakes too. They would fight and she’d do the opposite of her mother’s suggestions. “Because of that, I probably missed out on some good advice.“ They realize that maybe they have another chance and can now do things differently with each other. Still, Hetty thinks Sam seemed quite comfortable disciplining Freddie. Sam chuckles, “It felt so good.” Hetty is proud. Those are her Woodstone genes at work.

Outside, Sass has begun to talk to Jessica, admitting that he is surprisingly new to dating and he’s sorry. He explains that he got jealous but that’s on him. Jessica says she’s not seeing anyone else. Sass is relieved to hear that and thanks her for the reassurance. She tries to hug him but bounces off the car ghost barrier.

Back at the front desk, Pete asks Freddie if his ex-girlfriend liked the collage, but he hasn’t heard back from her yet. Jay says they’re happy to have him back to work. Sam agrees. Freddie smiles, “Oh, I’m glad to be back. It’s crazy, though. I mean, I checked the security footage and no one even approached the laptop at 9:38. So weird, right?” Sam chuckles, “That’s spooky.” Sam and Jay walk away and Freddie looks closer at the security footage. “That’s odd. The keys are clicking themselves.”

Pete looks at Flower, “Yeah, he’s gonna have questions about that.”

coming soon…