A Very Arondekar Christmas Parts 1 & 2
Jay’s family comes to visit for Christmas, but problems with the Bed and Breakfast lead to a double ghost possession of Sam and Jay. The pair need to get the ghosts out, but issues with Jay’s possession lead him to being able to see the ghosts for the first time ever.
Jay’s Family
Like many other families, the in-laws aren’t exactly thrilled with Jay’s choices in a wife and career. His mother doesn’t seem to get along with Sam while his father vocalizes his displeasure about Jay wanting to be a chef and run a Bed and Breakfast. As Sam and Jay get ready to host, the water heater breaks.
Their contractor, Mark, is on vacation in Fiji with his family, so Sam and Jay try to fix it themselves using some help from the ghosts. This backfires in spectacular fashion when they forget to turn the power off and the shock sends both Sam and Jay flying. They land on Nancy and Pete leading to the annual tradition of a ghost possessing a human body.
Ghost Possessions
Jay’s parents arrive while Sam and Jay are still possessed. Pete proves to be a pleasant possessor as he allows Jay to be in charge of the body the majority of the time. Unfortunately, Sam isn’t so lucky as Nancy has been stuck in the basement for decades with the other ghosts who died of cholera and wants better treatment.
She only agrees to allow Sam control of the body in exchange for guacamole. Jay’s mother chooses this time to try to bond with Nancy. Here is where we learn why she’s not fond of Sam. Sam tries too hard to be perfect that she comes across pretentious and uptight. Nancy doesn’t care and is more laid back which helps build the relationship enough that Jay’s mother invites Sam to lunch and even agrees to let her drive the Audi.
Unfortunately, Nancy doesn’t want to lose the body and battles Sam for control. Sam/Nancy drives toward the edge of the grounds that forms the barrier for most ghosts. This causes Nancy to be thrown out of the car, unfortunately Sam isn’t in great control and crashes Jay’s mom’s Audi damaging the relationship that Nancy just fostered.
Pete and Jay
With Nancy no longer possessing Sam, the focus shifts to removing Pete from Jay’s body. Pete’s ghost power is that he can leave the property, as he tells the other ghosts and the audience every episode, so the barrier won’t work on him. Sam and the ghosts decide to perform an exorcism. What could go wrong?
Exorcisms are usually used to remove evil spirits, but there’s no evil spirit in Jay’s body. When Sam and the other ghosts work together, the spell removes the “evil” spirit. Unfortunately for Jay, Pete was so pure of heart in life and his afterlife that Jay is removed from his own body. Jay can finally see the ghosts, because for the time being, he is a ghost. Now Sam, Jay and the ghosts must come up with a new plan. Meanwhile, Jay’s sister Bayla arrives and tries to help her brother get back in his body.
Pete Leaves the Property
The initial plan is for Bayla to take Jay’s parents off the property so they can shock Jay’s body. The force would throw the body while Pete’s spirit stays standing by the electrical outlet. Meanwhile, Jay’s spirit would stand behind his body so he could repossess it. Unfortunately, Jay’s parents find his body and bring him along for the shopping trip, thwarting this plan.
Meanwhile, it’s been 40 years since Pete drove a car, and Jay’s parents want him to drive. This leads to an awkward scenario where Pete keeps acting odd while shopping. Eventually, Pete uses Jay’s phone and learns that his daughter and grandson will be moving away from Philadelphia to Australia after the holidays. Pete is worried about never seeing them again as he believes he won’t be able to leave the property for that long of a flight, spend time with his family and return before he starts disappearing. Pete/Jay leaves his family at the store and heads to Philadelphia.
Jay as a Ghost
Jay spends time bonding with the ghosts while awaiting his body’s return. He walks through doors because it’s new for him. He bonds with Hetty over her former possession of him. He gets a big hug from Thorfin. And Jay gets easily annoyed by Trevor constantly calling himself “T-Money.” Still, Jay’s pure heart comes through.
When Jay learns about Pete’s family moving and the fact this will probably be the only Christmas he can spend with his grandson, Jay has Trevor text Sam and encourage her to take Pete to spend time with his family. Pete, in Jay’s body, had already stopped in New Jersey for a snow globe to remind his daughter of years past. Sam is ready to stop Pete when she gets the text and the pair head to Philadelphia together.
Pete’s Special Christmas
Sam and Jay/Pete arrive at Pete’s daughter’s door saying they always get a “Christmas cheesesteak” and wanted to stop by and wish her a Merry Christmas. They say “hi” to Little Pete who calls them the people who killed Grandma (Remember Pete’s ex-wife, Carol, also died at Woodstone Manor meaning both of this kid’s grandparents died where Sam and Jay live.)
Jay/Pete makes an impassioned speech and gives Pete’s daughter and grandson a hug. It’s a wonderful family moment that ends the possession as when Jay’s body pulls away, Pete’s spirit is still hugging his family. This also means there’s no spirit in Jay’s body meaning Ghosts has introduced a zombie.
Zombie Jay
Sam brings zombie Jay back to Woodstone Manor to finish the plan from earlier. Bayla distracts her parents upstairs while Sam uses french fries from Sonic to lure Jay’s body to the exposed outlet. Jay touches it and the force from the shock sends him flying. Jay’s spirit stands behind his body so that he can re-possess it. Of course, he has to play a prank on Sam by pretending it didn’t work before revealing Jay is back and can no longer see ghosts.
Thorfinn and Sas
While all this was going on, there was a falling out between two of the ghosts. After Flower and Thor discuss the story of Christ and Mary having a virgin birth, Thor reveals that Sas is still a virgin after 500 years both alive and as a ghost. Flower wants to help Sas, so the pair approach Pete’s ex, Carol (first time we’ve seen her this Christmas), because she’s never been big on commitment.
Carol approaches Sas and tells him what happened, and she will be declining the offer. However, this causes a major rift between Thor and Sas as Sas had told Thor in confidence and expected him to keep it a secret. Sas spends most of the rest of the episode angry at Thor. However, in a conversation with Flower, Sas reveals to Flower that Thor had learned Sas’s native language while monitoring the Native Americans as a Viking ghost. Thor was the only ghost on the property at the time and wanted to communicate whenever a second spirit remained.
Sas and Thorfinn finally decide to talk through their issues. Thorfinn speaks in Sas’s native language revealing he never forgot the language but chose to speak English because far more of the ghosts speak that language than the native language. Sas accepts this as he’s been speaking English the majority of his afterlife and the two oldest ghosts on the property bond again.
Jay’s Parents Accept Sam and Jay
During his time as a ghost, Jay listened in on the conversation his parents had about his dreams. They are fearful he will fail. Jay’s father explains that Jay is the single best chef whose food he’s ever eaten. However, a restaurant is a huge undertaking. Jay’s family immigrated to the US to give their kids a better life. He’s afraid a failed restaurant won’t provide that better life.
Once Jay is back in his body, he reveals the restaurant to his family. He lets them know it will be in honor of their homeland and the American dream. He also points out how Sam is the one who encouraged him to chase his dreams and honor his heritage. Jay’s father accepts his dreams and Jay’s mother accepts Sam, adding her to a family text chain. It’s a Christmas miracle.
Rating
Ghosts took the place of Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage this week delivering an hour-long Christmas special that CBS has officially designated as “two episodes.” It hits the heart of many Christmas specials with major focuses on family, discontent, disagreement, loss, pain, grief, betrayal and even ghosts. The premise of this show makes any Christmas special feel like A Christmas Carol, even when the plot is very different.
The possession, Pete’s family and zombie storyline dominated the two-part episode and provided the laughs. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as these episodes aired. Meanwhile, the Thorfinn and Sas storyline wasn’t funny but was heartwarming. This is the best Christmas special I’ve seen in a while as it actually advances storylines in the show rather than removing itself from the main story to just tell us it’s Christmas. Well done, Ghosts!
Check out Ghosts on CBS and Paramount Plus.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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