Have you ever gone into an Airbnb and thought, “Hey this place is for sure haunted” but in a non-alarming way? You’re probably not alone. There are a lot of haunted hotels and bed and breakfasts in the world, which is basically the main plot of CBS’s new show Ghosts.
Based on the BBC series of the same name (which you can also stream on HBO Max) the show stars Rose McIver (from the CW series iZombie) and Utkarsh Ambudkar as young couple Sam and Jay, who inherit an old mansion which they decide to turn into a quaint bed and breakfast. The only thing is…the mansion is a fixer-upper. And when Sam, played by McIver, has a near-death experience, she starts seeing all of the ghosts living in the house. And since it’s in upstate New York, there are a lot. Some of them have ‘powers’ and some of them are just annoying, so it can be hard to keep track. Here is a character breakdown.
Captain Isaac Higgintoot, played by Brandon Scott Jones, is a closeted gay Revolutionary War officer who died on the grounds after the siege of Fort Ticonderoga (geographically, this makes sense!) He is often taking the role as a leader, even though nobody wants him to.
Then there is Pete Martino played by Richie Moriarty, a girl scout troop leader who died on the grounds in the summer of 1985 after being shot in the neck with an arrow by an untrained girl scout. Heety Woodstone, played by Rebecca Wisocky, is the lady of the manor, and original owner of the mansion and the grounds. Her cause of death is unknown, but she is the great-great-great-great grandmother to Sam.
Asher Grodman plays Trevor Lefkowitz, a young Wall Street trader who died without pants on sometime in the late nineties. Trevor actually possesses the ability to touch certain items in the real world. Sheila Carrasco plays Flower, a young woman who was attacked on the grounds by a bear while trying to find her way out of a cult. Then there is Alberta Haynes, played by Daniella Pinnock, a prohibition-era singer whose voice can be heard by “the livings” aka, not dead people.
The two oldest ghosts are a Viking named Thor, played by Devan Chandler, who can sometimes control the lighting in the house, and Sasappis, played by Roman Zaragoza, a Lenape Native American. Of course, no character breakdown would be complete without mentioning the group of ghosts who died of cholera that live in the basement.
There seem to be other ghosts living on the grounds, but these are the main ensemble of the spirits, who often have their own plots and storylines that involve them recounting their times as humans. While many of their deaths remain a mystery, viewers will be happy to know the series was renewed for a second season, so there will be more ghost puns to come. You can stream all episodes of season one now on Paramount+.