[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Ghosts Season 4 Episode 22, “The Devil Went Down to Woodstone.”]
Ghosts served up another massive cliffhanger in its latest finale as Season 4 closed out with Elias Woodstone’s (Matt Walsh) return in the aptly titled episode, “The Devil Went Down to Woodstone.” But it wasn’t all doom and gloom as it also made way for a potential relationship between Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) and Pete (Richie Moriarty).
As viewers saw, the episode revolved around Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) throwing a book launch party for her and Isaac’s (Brandon Scott Jones) novel, but things got tense when Puritan spirit Patience (Mary Holland) reemerged from the dirt to warn that she felt evil had arrived at Woodstone.
While everyone was unaware of Elias’s presence until the end of the episode, Patience posed a problem for Sam and Jay’s party as she threatened to use her bloody ghost gift to break up the soiree. It was up to the other ghosts to keep Patience distracted, and Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) threw Alberta under the bus by revealing her secret affection for Pete lately.
One thing led to another, and Alberta found herself sharing her sinful thoughts aloud to all of the spirits, including Pete, who listened in as part of a shame circle ceremony Patience suggested. Alberta was initially upset when she noticed Pete had run off, but it turned out he had to break things off with his long-distance girlfriend before he’d commit to Alberta.
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And although the ghosts’ effort to keep Patience out of Mahesh, where the book party was set, backfired, and the angered spirit used her bloody gift to paint the walls red, the spooky visual only elevated the event, which celebrated the vampire element of the book. Towards the end of the party, though, Jay met a critic who praised his cooking and complimented his publicist for pointing them in the direction of Mahesh.
When Sam asked who his publicist was, Jay introduced Brent, not aware that it was the physical manifestation of Elias Woodstone. The ghosts and Sam were immediately shocked and tried to explain that Elias had been a spirit at the estate prior, but he’d since gone to hell and became a demon doing dirty work for the devil.
Apparently, Jay signed a contract to make his professional dreams a reality, unaware that Elias had tricked him into signing a contract that would sell his soul to the devil. With the deal essentially done, Elias threatened that Jay would go to hell once he died, and moments later, a light fixture fell, almost crushing the chef.
Elias promised he’d see them all soon, hinting that shenanigans for the devil were just beginning. As mentioned above, Pete and Alberta capped off the season with a long-awaited smooch, teeing up a fun romance set to unfold.
Bertrand Calmeau / CBS
As for what’s in store moving ahead, co-showrunner Joe Port teases, “I would expect we’ll see Matt Walsh at least early on next season as we attempt to extricate Jay from his situation.” And Port, along with fellow co-showrunner Joe Wiseman, will be figuring out things sooner rather than later as they’re mere days away from returning to the Season 5 writers’ room.
“We’ve been talking in general about ideas and stuff, but we’re really going to roll up our sleeves and begin to break stories out in the next week or two,” Wiseman teases.
Along with shaping Jay’s life and death stakes moving forward, the duo, referred to by their team as “The Joes,” are also getting ready to further explore the impact of that Alberta-Pete kiss they’ve been building toward since the show’s first season. “It’s something we’ve planted since Season 1. It’s been clear that Pete had a crush on Alberta, and then we’ve been chipping away at Alberta’s reluctance toward him. I think even in Season 3, we had him take out the arrow, and she saw him in a different light,” Wiseman points out, referring to the dynamic between the Jazz era spirit and arrow-skewered scout leader ghost.
As Wiseman notes, “Since [Pete] got this power to leave the property, he’s become a little bit more confident. So it just felt like time. Let’s have them kiss and see what happens.”
In addition to Elias’s return, viewers also revisited Patience, who, despite her scary gift, seemed rather eager to help rid Woodstone of evil. Could that mean she’ll be an ally of Sam, Jay, and the rest of the estate’s non-demonic crew in Season 5? “We love Patience, and we love Mary’s portrayal of her, and it felt like a natural way to bring her back when we’re having the devil’s emissary come to Woodstone. Going forward, we have to figure that out,” Wiseman shares. “It does seem like she might be in a position to help out, but we’ll have to see.”
Who knows, perhaps “the others” she teased earlier in Season 4 might be able to help. While we never met “the others,” Port teases, “We want to meet them too. And I think that eventually we will, and they could play a role, in a helpful way, as could Patience, as we get into the early parts of Season 5.”
As for what else may lie ahead, Port adds, “We still have a death to learn about, and not just Sasappis’ (Román Zaragoza) death, but there are other characters as well…”
Stay tuned for more Season 5 details as we look ahead to Ghosts‘ future, and let us know what you thought of Season 4’s shocking finale in the comments section below.
Ghosts, Season 5, Fall 2025, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS
