‘Ghosts’ Recap: Season 2, Episode 8 “The Liquor License”
During the new episode of Ghosts, we laughed, we got choked up, and we got hit with a cliffhanger that we definitely weren’t ready for. Let’s take a look at what happened!
The episode starts with Isaac and a friend in 1773. Isaac is obviously alive and discussing how big his new carriage is when none other than Sam Adams, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin walk in. Benjamin Franklin asks Isaac if he’s free to drop by the exclusive Masonic Lodge that Friday. He says yes.
Whiskey Tasting at Woodstone
Sam and Jay are hosting a fancy whiskey tasting, and someone from Sipper, NY, has agreed to attend. Sam explains that Sipper is the same thing as Eater, but the whole concept still goes over the ghosts’ heads.
Jay gets a phone call at this point and finds out he dropped the ball. He never got Woodstone’s liquor license. Thankfully, he remembered last week! He’s been hounding the liquor board to expedite the process, but the earliest the inspector can come is eight weeks from now.
Sam and Jay decide they’re hosting the whiskey tasting anyway. They’ve been serving alcohol this long and they haven’t been caught. What’s one more day? Hetty and Alberta love this idea. Pete hates it.
The Event Starts
Two college kids come to the event. One of them is an art history major, and the other is a frat guy who, according to Flower’s analysis, is trying to impress her by taking her somewhere fancy.
This opens up a conversation about frats. Trevor misses his frat days, as does Isaac. Isaac was a FreeMason — an original frat brother with the historical friends we saw earlier. In the midst of reminiscing, Isaac suggests that the ghosts start their own fraternity.
The guy from Sipper is also there, drinking a “playful offering with which to start” kind of whiskey (his words).
Sherry Crashes the Party
The event is interrupted by a knock on the door. When Sam and Jay answer, they discover it’s their (not so) lucky day! Sherry from the Hudson Valley River Authority is there, ready to give them their inspection. If they deny entry, it’s an automatic fail, and they have to wait a whole year to reapply.
Alberta has the idea of turning the whiskey tasting into a speakeasy! Jay and Sam decide to roll with it and make it a theme. Pete hates the idea, but the party goes on. Sam sneaks everyone into the vault to follow through on the plan.
The First Frat Meeting
Isaac and Trevor welcome Thor, Sass, Flower, and Hetty into their exclusive ghost fraternity.
With Isaac and Trevor leading, we see that the two have very different definitions of a frat. Isaac says frats focus on philosophy, poetry, and ethics. Trevor, predictably, says they focus on binge drinking, taking drugs, and doing one charity event every three years.
The differences in opinion cause a divide. Isaac and Trevor each start their own frat.
The Separate Frat Meetings
Thor and Flower choose to be in Trevor’s frat. Their first act of business? Thor is going to jump off the roof.
Sam sees Thor fall off the roof through the window and creates an awkwardly over-the-top reaction to improper permitting. People don’t normally scream “OH MY GOD!” about that topic, but Sam’s life is one of a kind.
Unfortunately, Sam is interrupted again when more people knock at the door. The frat dude from earlier invited his friends. Sam sneaks them into the speakeasy with the rest of the guests.
Isaac runs his frat meeting upstairs, discussing poetry with Sass and Hetty, who are miserable. Trevor and his frat walk by and invite Isaac’s frat to the speakeasy. Isaac says no, they’re having a great time. Hetty and Sass longingly watch them go. Sass makes it about two seconds before he goes after them. Hetty follows close behind.
Ghost Vault Party
Sass and Hetty go to the speakeasy in the vault. Trevor is sad to discover they left Isaac at their frat meeting alone.
The guy from Sipper thinks the high-end whiskey they’re serving at the speakeasy isn’t special. Alberta offers them some booze from upstairs that her bootlegger boyfriend stored the night she performed.
Sam promises the guy from Sipper that she’s going to get prohibition-era whiskey stashed on the property by bootleggers. Only when he’s thrilled about this does Alberta think to mention that the whiskey is stashed inside the wall.
Retrieving the Liquor
Sherry finishes the inspection and passes Woodstone Mansion! The only thing is, she has to finish up the paperwork. Jay has an idea. To get the whiskey out of the wall, they can Shawshank it. They just need to make a loud enough noise to hide the fact that they’re hacking into the wall.
Jay goes into the kitchen to “tenderize meat.” With Alberta’s help, Sam smashes into the wall at the same time Jay hits a ribeye, and they are able to retrieve 6 bottles of prohibition-era whiskey.
Trevor and Isaac
Trevor finds Isaac and invites him to the speakeasy again. It’s no Masonic Lodge, but it’s pretty cool, and they miss him down there.
Isaac discloses to Trevor that he actually doesn’t know what the inside of a Masonic Lodge looks like. In a flashback, we see that Ben Franklin only invited Isaac to the lodge to do busywork. Ouch. So today, Isaac started his own fraternity — his own Freemasons with whom he could finally belong — and was rejected again.
Trevor tells Isaac that Hetty and Sass didn’t reject him. They rejected being in the Freemasons, which makes sense because the Freemasons and Ben Franklin both suck. After some more Ben Franklin bashing, the pair goes down to the speakeasy and join in on the fun.
Hetty, Sass, Flower, Thor, Isaac, and Trevor party at the speakeasy. Trevor says, “To the Ghost Frat and its founding member, Isaac Higgintoot.” They all cheer, and Isaac looks profoundly moved.
Closing out the Party
Alberta talks with Pete about how he was wrong. This whole night has been fun. That’s why you have to take risks every now and then. Just go for it! And Pete does! He goes for it! He tries to kiss Alberta! She sticks a hand in his face to stop him, but at least she lets him down easy.
The guy from Sipper loves the whiskey. Sam and Jay can’t believe everything worked out. They’re actually good business people. Then, he tells Jay and Sam that they’ll get a great review in Sipper. He doesn’t understand why they would give away $5,000 bottles of whiskey, but he sure isn’t complaining.
Sam and Jay had no idea those bottles were worth that much. They watch as the remaining frat kids drink $30,000 worth of booze and realize they may actually be bad business people.
The Wall Letter
When fixing the hole in the wall, Jay finds a letter. It reads, “Dearest Earl, I can’t wait for us to be together once we get rid of you-know-who. Signed, T.” There are two new suspects in Alberta’s murder!
The midseason finale of Ghosts, an hour-long Christmas special, airs Thursday, December 15 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.