Nothing says human quite like Samantha and Jay. With Ghosts about to return for its second season, we thought we’d revisit the residents at Woodstone Mansion, beginning with the Livings, Samantha and Jay. We’ll be exploring who the characters are as individuals and who they are alongside everyone else residing at the house. We’ve already done an explainer for the show.
This post does contain spoilers for Ghosts Season 1.
Acquiring Woodstone
When Sophie Woodstone, Samantha’s great-aunt, dies, the only person to inherit her house is Sam, as Sophie’s son died years earlier. Despite Jay’s uncertainty, the couple goes to check the place out over the weekend. While his wife is impressed with the house, Jay isn’t so much and doesn’t want to stay full-time.
Optimistic v. Cynic
Jay and Samantha have very different personalities. Jay is more cynical than his wife, while Samantha is more optimistic and is willing to give something a go, such as moving out of the city. One of Jay’s favourite things while living in New York was opening the fridge from their bed.
The Ghosts Cause An Accident
Sam and Jay’s differing opinions on keeping the house leads to an argument between them, where Sam storms off. She doesn’t watch where she’s going and trips down the stairs after falling over a vase that Trevor has pushed over.
Jay Stays At Samantha’s Side And Makes Him Reconsider His Opinion
Sam is put into a coma, leading Jay to remain at her side for two weeks. His concern makes him realise that her life is more important than their living situation. However, he still has some problems early on when they disagree on what to do about the fountain.
Jay also supports Samantha’s desire to have canary yellow painted walls in their bedroom. At first, he thinks she’s out of her mind when she reveals she keeps seeing ghosts. Finally, however, he comes to embrace it.
Friendships With The Ghosts
Samantha is somewhat annoyed by her new power at first. She tries to ignore them, but when that doesn’t work, she has to embrace them being around all the time. Despite their best efforts to expel her and Jay from the house, the ghosts come to love the Livings.
Despite the chaos, Sam and Jay embrace the ghosts as family. In addition, Samantha translates conversations between Jay and the spirits.
Of all the ghosts, Jay is closest to Pete as they share similar interests. He also has nicknames for some of them, especially Trevor, whom he calls “No Pants”, as he died without pants. He even became acquainted with Hetty, Sam’s ancestor who built the house, after she accidentally possessed him.
Sam becomes close to all the ghosts in her way. She even teaches Hetty that the evolution of women is okay and should not be seen as unfavourable.
Bela’s Reaction
When Jay’s sister, Bela, arrives at the house after breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she is catfished by Trevor. However, given that he set his profile up on the kitchen iPad, Bela is left to think she sexted with her brother.
Sam, realising that she needs to do something to salvage the relationship she and Jay have with her sister-in-law, comes clean about being able to see the ghosts. At first, Bela thinks Samantha’s crazy until Sam gets the spirits to demonstrate their powers.
Bela embraces the idea of Sam’s abilities, much to her surprise.
Jay, knowing his sister, is surprised at how supportive Bela is towards Sam upon discovering her powers.
Nerd Factor
Jay is a colossal nerd. He has a yellow Decepticon shirt and an Atari shirt. Jay also plays Dungeons and Dragons, which Sam hates. However, he shares this love with Pete. He also has to tell Samantha who Andy Dufresne is and explains what Ragnarok is when he casually mentions it in front of Thorfinn, who panics, thinking that the world is ending.
Part of Jay feels left out because Sam can talk to the ghosts face-to-face, and he can’t. Perhaps his fall through the floor triggered the same ability as Samantha has.
