Ghosts Season 3: Episode 8 Reveals A Tragic Series First
Contains spoilers for "Ghosts" Season 3, Episode 8 — "Holes are Bad"
It's been three seasons in the making, but fans of "Ghosts" finally know how Hetty Woodstone (Rebecca Wisocky of "The Mentalist") passed away, and it brings about a tragic first for the heartfelt sitcom. "Holes are Bad" reveals that Hetty is the first Woodstone Manor ghost — she hangs herself with the cord of her brand-new telephone because her husband's nefarious business dealings were pinned on her and threaten to send her to prison. Her suicide is an attempt to save the family's ill-gotten gains from being taken from her son, Thomas (Daniel Rindress-Kay). While Hetty's tragic gambit ultimately works out for Thomas, it also makes her the first main character in the series whose death turns out to be a suicide.
Hetty's tragedy is also beneficial in another way — the cord she hanged herself with is still looped around her neck. She uses it to help retrieve Flower (Sheila Carrasco of "The Good Place," among other appearances) from the bottom of a well she fell into on the property, thus bringing her back into the fold.
The emotional episode had a solid impact on Wisocky, who was happy to be consulted by the show's writers before they explored Hetty's backstory.
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Rebecca Wisocky says the writers picked up on her ideas for Hetty
According to Rebecca Wisocky, the writers of "Ghosts" took extra time to help her assemble Hetty's arc. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in April, Wisocky was proud to announce that the show's writing team involved her in the crafting of Hetty's backstory, though she wasn't expecting the truth about her death to be this tragic. "They've done some last-minute surprises on us in the past, and this one [came] about a month before we shot the episode. [Creators] Joe Port and Joe Wiseman came to me and said, "We think that this is the direction that makes sense to go in with this." And I was blown away, I was not at all expecting it," said Wisocky.
The actress added that she seeded Hetty's fear of loneliness and abandonment throughout the first couple of seasons. She was pleased that the writer's room picked up on it, as co-workers like Brandon Scott Jones noted she nailed Hetty's character from the get-go. Wisocky said that this comes full circle for Hetty, who realizes that in revealing the truth of her death, she's rescuing Flower, saving her from a life of loneliness. "For them to explore, after 150 years of close friendship with these ghosts, she's going to reveal the secret to save Flower from being doomed to an eternity of abandonment and aloneness ... It just was very moving to me."
Though part of Hetty's backstory is out there, Wisocky seems excited to see how Hetty's story plays out in the years to come. And with "Ghosts" already renewed for a fourth season, fans will have fun finding out where those roads take them.