Ghosts Season 4’s New Cast Member Is Great News For A Plot I Hated

Summary Isaac's repetitive character arc in Ghosts could finally be resolved by Mary Holland's Patience in season 4.

Patience's kidnapping of Isaac may lead to redemption and growth for the show's most toxic character, providing a much-needed change.

Mary Holland's portrayal of Patience has the potential to humanize the unsettling Puritan ghost and bring a fresh dynamic to the series.

While Ghosts season 4 will have a hard time making up for season 3’s cliffhanger ending, I’m much more optimistic after hearing about the sitcom’s new cast member. Based on the British series of the same name from 2019, CBS’s Ghosts is a sitcom that follows Sam and Jay, a couple who move into a mansion they inherited from a distant relative. After a near-death experience, Sam gains the ability to see and speak to the house’s ghostly residents. The ghosts of CBS’s Ghosts are the real focus of the series, as well as Sam and Jay’s exploits.

The house is inhabited by a diverse array of comically mismatched specters, from the sardonic Native American Sass to the uptight aristocratic lady Hetty, to the free-spirited hippy Flower. All of these ghosts have unfinished business that keeps them trapped in the show’s mansion setting, but this isn’t the primary focus of the series. While Ghosts season 4 might change this, so far, the sitcom hasn’t rushed its antiheroes off into the afterlife. Instead, the ghosts of Ghosts are quite content to hang around in Sam and Jay’s house, continuing their centuries of in-group squabbles and shifting power dynamics.

2:47 Related Ghosts Season 4 Needs To End The Show's Most Annoying Sitcom Trope CBS' Ghosts is a successful sitcom, but season 3's ending still fell afoul of a terrible TV trope that the comedy series needs to give up soon.

Mary Holland Is Perfect For Ghosts Season Season 4’s Patience

The Creepy Puritan Needed A Likable Actor

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Many of the show's ghosts amuse themselves with petty in-fighting, but few are as prone to indulging in drama as Isaac. A Revolutionary War general with a penchant for gossip, Isaac almost married his love interest Nigel in the season 3 finale before backing out at the last moment. In the latest of Ghosts’ annoying cliffhanger endings, Isaac was then kidnapped by the largely unseen Puritan ghost Patience. Flower befriended Patience earlier in season 3 and Ghosts revealed that Isaac previously left Patience alone in a hole near the house years earlier. This decision seemingly came back to bite him.

Until she kidnapped Isaac, Patience was mostly used as a background character.

Luckily, Ghosts casting Mary Holland as Patience proves she will be a real character in season 4 and not just a running gag. Until she kidnapped Isaac, Patience was mostly used as a background character. This was amusingly effective and the revelation that Isaac was responsible for her years trapped in a well was funny. However, casting Holland in the role is enough to prove that she will be more than an unsettling background villain in season 4. I’m glad Holland was selected for the role as she has proven an hilarious supporting star in big and small-screen comedies.

Mary Holland’s Best Movie Proves She’s Perfect For Ghosts

Holland’s Breakout Role Came In 2020’s Happiest Season

Viewers might know Holland from her roles in 2017’s Unicorn Store, 2019’s Greener Grass, or 2022’s Senior Year. She has also appeared in episodes of The Mindy Project, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, but none of these were her star-making role. That came in 2020’s Happiest Season, a Christmas dramedy where Holland played Jane, a rich family’s arrested development daughter who was weird, a little off-putting, but ultimately surprisingly sweet. Holland’s hilarious, unsettling, and poignant role as Happiest Season’s Jane proves she can humanize Patience without fundamentally altering the Puritan’s role in the series.

I’m certain Holland’s take on the character could make her lovable.

This is a tricky balance to pull off since Patience has a reputation. Flower’s Ghosts season 3 story saw her befriend the ghost who was trapped in the hole with her. Her description of Patience made it seem like years spent underground alone might have taken a toll on her mind and, considering Patience was already a Puritan, this could have turned her into a terrifying figure. Certainly, earlier appearances by Patience highlighted the creepiness of the Ghosts supporting star, playing up her similarity to horror movie villains. However, I’m certain Holland’s take on the character could make her lovable.

Ghosts Season 4’s New Character Can Justify Season 3’s Cliffhanger Ending

The Sitcom’s Annual Ending Trend Still Works (For Now)

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Ghosts season 2’s cliffhanger ending was justified when it set up season 3’s surprising, clever Flower subplot. I initially thought Isaac’s kidnapping was an injection of cheap drama, but Patience becoming a bigger supporting star would justify the surprise. Ghosts changed the British show’s version of Isaac, the Captain, by making the character more self-involved. Although the Captain was also self-important, he didn’t wreak as much havoc on the other ghosts as Isaac did. As such, it makes sense for Isaac’s kidnapping to offer the character a chance to change when he is confronted by Patience.

I’ve been waiting for a change in Isaac’s character for years.

The rest of the ghosts will want to save Isaac, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Patience taught Isaac to be more thoughtful. Patience can reasonably blame Isaac for stranding her in the hole for 29 years and his callous treatment of Nigel proves that he hasn’t changed his attitude all that much in the intervening three decades. If Holland’s version of the character leads Isaac to see the error of his ways, she may become a welcome addition to the show’s lineup while also redeeming Isaac. I’ve been waiting for a change in Isaac’s character for years.

Ghosts Season 4’s New Character Can Fix A Frustrating Story

Isaac’s Repetitive Character Arc Could Be Solved By Patience

One of the reasons I prefer Ghosts to other similar sitcoms is the warm interplay between its main characters, and Isaac has always been one of the more toxic additions to the main cast. Hetty is admittedly meaner, but she isn’t as sly as Isaac. I think Isaac is overdue a character redemption as he has repeatedly failed to grow and change throughout earlier seasons. While there’s nothing wrong with a nasty or even outright villainous character in an ensemble sitcom, I find it frustrating to see a character stagnate for so long. Isaac is overdue a change.

Isaac’s mean-spirited attitude has always felt out of place to me.

Fortunately, Holland’s Patience could teach Isaac a lesson for leaving her alone in the hole, which in turn could make the messiest, more self-centered character in Ghosts finally grow. This would be a welcome change, since Isaac’s mean-spirited attitude has always felt out of place to me. Ghosts changed the British show’s tone in various ways, making the series more optimistic and less cynical than its predecessor. However, Isaac’s character went in the opposite direction. The supporting star has always been the show’s most arrogant character, so Ghosts season 4 should use Holland’s Patience to change this.