[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Ghosts Season 5 Episode 1, “Soul Custody.”]
Ghosts is back for Season 5, and it’s resolving Jay’s (Utkarsh Ambudkar) devilish deal with demon Elias (Matt Walsh) in the premiere episode, “Soul Custody,” which delivers one twist after another.
So… is Jay doomed? It turns out that the living Woodstone restaurateur hasn’t sniffed his last signature dish as the head chef of Mahesh due to a rather generous spirit. While anxiety is at an all-time high when the episode begins, Jay seeks out possible solutions for his situation and determines that using a ghost box is his best bet to keep his soul around instead of “going down” with Elias.
Meanwhile, Patience (Mary Holland) is eager to rid the mansion of the evil that permeates its walls, and she almost considers sacrificing herself in Jay’s place, but decides against it. This spurs others to step up to the plate, with Pete (Richie Moriarty) even throwing his hat and arrow-skewered neck into the ring, but it’s his widow Carol (Caroline Aaron) who ultimately offers herself up to Elias in exchange for Jay’s soul, allowing him to live.
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Initially, Carol’s soul does go down to hell, but her good deed of sacrificing herself sends her to heaven as she’s “sucked off,” leaving Patience rather upset over her inaction. Still, it ultimately determines that Jay will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. Below, Ambudkar opens up about the rollercoaster ride of emotions unfolding in the premiere episode and weighs in on whether we’ve seen the last of Carol or not.
Jay decides his loophole if he dies is to cage his soul in a ghost box, and he furnishes it with a nice chair and makes sure he’s got cookies in his pockets. I’m surprised he doesn’t have Sonic on speed dial for that honor…
Utkarsh Ambudkar: That’s really funny. Yeah, maybe at the end of the day, we didn’t know this, but Jay has a sweet tooth more than anything else. We do get some Sonic jokes in because what is a Jay episode without a Sonic joke, but you’re right, we left that on the table.
This episode misdirects viewers by making us believe Patience is going to take Jay’s place when Elias offers to accept another soul in exchange for his. Ultimately, Carol takes on the task, only to get “sucked off” for her selfless deed. What journey did you take reading that script?
It’s fun to read because it’s twofold. One is preparing as an actor, and one is just reading it as a fan. As a fan, I’m like, “This is action-packed, it’s great!” We haven’t really had an episode with this much activity in Ghosts before, where it really felt like an action movie ending with things flying and the lightsaber umbrella, but from an acting perspective, from the moment Patience says I’m not doing it. Jay actually doesn’t know what happens if you watch the episode.
There’s no other line in that last page of dialogue where anyone speaks to Jay, Sam (Rose McIver) included. Pete steps up, Carol steps in for Pete, Carol goes down to hell, Carol then gets sucked off, Carol’s soul ascends, all the ghosts are like, ‘Whoa, that happened,’ and then the episode ends with Sam hugging Jay and Jay being like, “What the f**k just happened?” So, as an actor, I was like, well, you’re gonna look confused for that whole last page, aren’t you, buddy? So, hopefully I played that, and hopefully keen-eyed viewers will pick up on that as well.
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You’re five seasons into the show. Is there any part of acting like you can’t see your costars that’s still difficult or has it gotten easy?
It depends on the day and the joke, right? It’s probably tougher for them when I’m off camera because I’m staring at them when I do my lines, and I’m looking at them and watching their performance because I don’t get to see it when we’re in scenes together. I never know what they’re doing, I mean, to look at them is to ruin a take. So, I’m more of a problem when the camera’s not on me and when it’s on [everyone else]. I’m only a problem when I turn into a fan; that’s when I get in trouble.
Jay’s nerdy side came out with that lightsaber moment. What do you enjoy about embracing that part of him?
What our writing team puts together is based on specificity, and so whether it’s Trevor (Asher Grodman) talking about his summer camp or Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) talking about the labor workers, Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) talking about what it was like in revolutionary times, or Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long)… Any time we’re specific, it’s a likable quality because it gives more people more things to relate to. So the fact that Jay is kind of this pop culture zeitgeist and can share that with Pete is special. I find it really charming and sweet, but I think it is a testament to the writers having a really specific vision for each character. Obviously, I have something to do with it a little bit; GI Joes, the Transformers, and the comic books are pulled from my own hobbies, but it makes work easy, let’s put it that way.
Is this the last we’ll see of Carol now that she’s been “sucked off”? Are Elias and Patience sticking around?
I don’t know. I actually can’t answer that question, but I don’t think it’s the last of Caroline Aaron. I would be surprised in this world of Ghosts that I’ve inhabited now for a few years… nobody’s truly ever gone… I’m sure she’ll show up in flashbacks, or she’ll find some way to come back down and argue with Pete about donuts versus donut holes again. Maybe she’ll be so insufferable in heaven that they’ll be like, “Get out of here!” We love having Caroline on set. If there’s an organic and funny way to have her back, I’m sure the Joes will find it.
Ghosts, Season 5, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS