Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Ghosts season 4, episode 11, “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues”
AlthoughGhostsseason 4, episode 11 does undeniably answer a major mystery about the backstory of one character, it is up to viewers to decide whether this explanation is truly satisfying. WhileGhostsseason 4’s cast of charactershas grown since the premiere, this isn’t necessarily an unalloyed good for the CBS sitcom. More characters mean less time to focus on the existing cast members, and there are plenty of unsolved mysteries still surroundingthe ghosts of CBS’sGhosts. Viewers are yet to receive a backstory for Sass or to find out Hetty’s powers.
Luckily, some of season 4’s outings have devoted significant screen time to fleshing out the lives of the Woodstone B&B’s undead residents. Isaac’s book is coming along nicely thanks to Sam, Pete got to say goodbye to his family at Christmas by possessing Jay before his daughter moved to Australia, and even Thor found out the reason his friends abandoned him hundreds of years ago in season 4, episode 11, “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues.” However, this last explanation wasn’t necessarily what viewers may have been expecting,
Ghosts Season 4 Episode 11 Finally Explained How Thor Was Left Behind
“Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues” Centered On The Viking Ghost
WhileGhostsseason 4’s Jay possession could be revisitednow that the sitcom has established how the ghosts get into human bodies, it is unlikely that the series will revisit Thor’s abandonment.It has never before been clear why Thor’s shipmates left him behind as they headed home to Norway,but “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues” saw Sam commit to finding out the answer to this mystery. Surprisingly, the truth was pretty straightforward, although it almost cost Pete his existence to get to the bottom of things.
As Tor moped around the mansion on the anniversary of his abandonment, his unprocessed grief and anger started playing havoc with the Woodstone B&B’s electricity. Sam decided it was time for Thor to go back to therapy, meaning she told Thor’s story to a therapist by changing personal details. Soon, Thor realized Sam could just go to Norway and ask the ghosts of his shipmates why they left him behind, only for Sam to tell him that this was a job for Pete instead.
After all Pete’s hard work, Thor’s answer was shockingly mundane.
To make theGhostsseason 4 plot less complicatedfor everyone, Pete accepted the challenge and headed off to Norway. Aware he had never left the grounds of the mansion for this long before, Pete took care to ensure that he wouldn’t fade out of existence during his trip. However, unexpected delays resulted in him almost vanishing by the time he arrived at the Woodstone B&B, reduced to just a head, a torso, and a single arm. After all that work, Thor’s answer was shockingly mundane.
Ghosts Season 4’s Thor Reveal Was Surprisingly Straightforward
Thor’s Shipmates Left Him Behind After A Faulty Headcount
Viewers might reasonably have expected that Thor was the victim of a grand betrayal, or that he had neglected to mention a big fight with his shipmates, or that there would be some sort of secret animosity revealed in “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues.” After all, Thor is an outspoken, often belligerent character, and he has never hidden his love of war and conflict. As such, it was a shock when the explanation turned out to be much more banal.
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Thor was just the victim of a faulty headcount as his shipmates mistook another Viking for himand were halfway home to Norway before they noticed their mistake. AlthoughRose McIver’sGhostsheroine Samwas satisfied with this explanation, it couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelming after four seasons of mystery. Admittedly, the gag of fearsome Vikings doing a headcount and refusing to turn around due to embarrassment was a funny one, but it was still surprising that such a pivotal part of the ghost’s backstory turned out to be no big deal.
Is Ghosts' Thor Backstory Reveal Satisfying?
Thor’s Ghosts Season 4 Backstory Reveal Was Simple But Underwhelming
SinceGhostshad hyped up Thor’s abandonment over the years, it wasn’t entirely satisfying when “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues” revealed that it wasn’t even intentional. Viewers did not get much in the way of emotional payoff or catharsis, as Thor wasn’t even the one who learned the truth. Instead, Pete was. Pete telling Thor that his friends said they were sorry is a little likeGhostsseason 4’s Hamilton roleturning out to be a cameo within a flashback within a larger story involving all the ghosts.
Thanks to the show’s long history of setting up these running gags, it is hard not to feel like the payoffs are a little wanting. Fortunately, Thor’sGhostsseason 4 story does redeem itself by highlighting a surprising reality about ghosts.Thor realizes he is closer to the other ghosts than his old friends, since he has spent so much more time with Sass, Hetty, and the rest of the show’s heroes. After Pete risks afterlife and limb (literally) to find out what happened to his shipmates, Thor learns that his true friends were in the mansion and not Norway.
Ghosts Season 4’s Thor Backstory Reveal Sets The Stage For Other Spirits' Pasts To Be Explored
Future Ghosts Season 4 Episodes Are Likely To Feature More Backstories
Meanwhile,Ghostsseason 4’s Thor story also improved another underused character’s role in the show, since Flower received more screen time thanks to her love interest’s plot. After season 4’s first half largely relegated her to the background, Flower got a lot of killer punchlines in this subplot. This makesGhostsseason 4’s Hamilton episodemore exciting, as the prospect of the sitcom exploring the hippie’s past is now fun and promising once more. WhenGhostsforgets about its main characters for entire episodes at a time, it becomes hard to care about their backstories.
Devon Chandler Long
Thor
As such, Flower’s return to the spotlight means that the upcoming episodes focusing on all the backstories of all the ghosts can be all the better. Trevor’s actor Asher Goodman toldScreenRantthat an upcoming outing would see the show go back in time, as “We’re going to have people come in who have had big impacts on these ghosts, and people who have been impacted by the ghosts that the ghosts are not aware of.”
This fun premise seems all the better now that “Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues” has foregrounded Thor and Flower again. While the episode’s plot wasn’t perfect, it did at least allowGhostsseason 4 to focus on the rest of the gang’s backstories in coming installments.
