Ghosts Season 4 Episode 4 "The Work Retreat" Review: Laughs, Legends, and Lies
Last week's Halloween episode of Ghosts left us hanging with Patience’s cryptic departure from the mansion, teasing that there were "others in the dirt," but this week's The Work Retreat more than made up for that cliffhanger. With a perfect mix of laugh-out-loud moments and unexpected heartfelt beats, this episode may just be one of the best of the season—and possibly the series.
The episode kicks off with Sass (we missed him last week) eyeing a tree branch that's on the brink of breaking after 23 years of hanging by a thread. Hetty joins him, sharing her usual view on the afterlife: "It’s boring." Enter Pete, the always-cheery ghost, who casually brags about leaving the mansion to visit his island girlfriend. This sets Sass and Hetty into full gossip mode, and they begin spreading a rumor that Pete’s girlfriend is made up—just for fun.
Meanwhile, Sam is trying to help Isaac and Alberta “get their groove back” after their respective breakups, but when the self-help article she’s reading is filled with advice for the living, Isaac can’t help but point out the absurdity. His line, “Another great article from the biased living media,” is a hilarious jab at the living world’s inability to cater to the needs of the undead.
Then, Trevor bursts in, shouting about quitting his job—wait, what? Turns out he’s been working remotely as a financial analyst for three months and didn’t tell anyone, not wanting "mom and dad" (a.k.a. Hetty and Sass) to know. The problem? A mandatory work retreat. So Trevor convinces Jay to pose as him and host the retreat at the bed-and-breakfast, using the alias "Michael Jackson."
To cope with his breakup advice from the article, Isaac lets his hair down, adopting a "long hair, don’t care" attitude. But things quickly spiral when the rumor about Pete’s girlfriend gets back to Thor. Hetty and Sass, in their usual fashion, had made up the story that Pete’s girlfriend doesn’t exist. This causes chaos, especially for Isaac, who had partially ended his relationship with Nigel because of Pete’s wild claims. The frustration leads Isaac to slap Pete (not that Pete minds) and the two old ghosts realize that they’ve gone too far.
Back at the work retreat, Jay is thriving as “Michael Jackson,” pulling off Trevor’s outdated references and persona with gusto. But when Trevor overhears his coworkers mocking Jay's portrayal of him, he has a bit of an existential crisis. He realizes that when he was alive, he had a mark to make—he was someone. Now, as a ghost, he’s just forgotten. It’s a poignant moment, highlighting Trevor’s insecurities and regrets.
Eventually, Hetty and Sass come clean to Pete about the rumor they started, and, in true Pete fashion, he forgives them almost immediately. But, of course, the damage is already done—how can Pete prove his girlfriend Donna is real? It’s a problem with no easy solution.
But just when Trevor’s feeling down about his legacy, something unexpected happens. Jay meets up with Trevor’s coworkers and shares the surprising news that he learned everything he knows from Trevor himself. It turns out that Trevor’s “legendary” actions—like giving his pants to a co-worker the night he died—had become a key part of the company’s lore. Trevor’s story lives on, and his co-workers even perform the “Run of Fun” as a tribute to him—pantsless, of course. Isaac joins in for a hilarious slow-motion shot of his hair blowing in the wind, embodying the “long hair, don’t care” mantra.
The episode closes with Sam revealing she did some research on Donna for Pete, only to discover that Donna had murdered her husband and fled to the Caribbean. There’s even a documentary about her on Paramount+ (a cheeky nod to the streaming service). Pete, Sam, Sass, and Hetty all gather to watch it, only to be blindsided by another rumor that Hetty and Sass started—Pete’s wearing a wig! Poor Pete just can’t catch a break.
And let's not forget the other hilarious moments, like Sam’s attempt at a Southern accent, which falters when she forgets the accent mid-story, making up an increasingly bizarre tale about a “twin sister.” It’s small moments like these that add to the richness of the episode’s humor.
In the end, The Work Retreat strikes the perfect balance between comedy and heart. Trevor finally realizes that, even in death, he made a lasting impact, and Pete learns a valuable lesson about boasting and jealousy among the ghosts. This episode gives us plenty to laugh about, while also delivering some surprisingly touching moments that remind us how much the ghosts have grown—despite their, uh, "eccentricities."
It’s an episode that reminds us why we love Ghosts: a quirky ensemble of characters, hilarious misunderstandings, and surprisingly deep emotional moments wrapped up in a perfect 22-minute package.
What did you think of the episode?
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