Ghosts – The Liquor License

In a flashback from 1773 we see Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) and his colleague Cyrus (Mark Andrada) are in a pub when Ben Franklin (Neil Crone) walks in. Eager to be a Freemason, Isaac sees his chance when Ben Franklin approaches him and asks for him to drop by the next Freemason meeting. Isaac agrees and feels that this is his chance to finally become a Freemason.  

In present time Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) are all set to host a high-end whiskey tasting at the B&B, especially since a writer from “Sipper” will be attending. As Sam explains the appeal of a whiskey tasting, Jay takes a phone call that may change the ability to host their tasting.  Jay was responsible for procuring a liquor license prior to the tasting and forgot to procure one…until the last minute. Unfortunately, the inspector is unable to make it out to Woodstone for eight weeks which would leave Sam and Jay without a liquor license to host a legal whiskey tasting. Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) encourages Sam to break the rules and run the event without the proper documentation just like they did during her time with prohibition. While Pete (Richie Moriarity) is against the whole idea, Jay joins Sam with breaking the law. 

With the whiskey tasting event starting off with frat boy Blane (Jonathan Valvano) trying to impress his “date” Amanda (Reanne Spitzer), Trevor (Asher Grodman) reminisces on his days in a fraternity to Isaac, Sasappis (Román Zaragoza), Flower (Sheila Carrasco), and Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long). Inspired by Trevor, Isaac proposes that the ghosts start a fraternity of their own and Trevor is on board with it. Getting Sasappis, Flower, and Thorfinn on board with the idea, a fraternity is born. 

In the main area Elliott (Nelson Franklin) from “Sipped” is savoring the goods at the tasting when the doorbell rings. Jay heads to the door where he finds an inspector named Sherry (Kaliko Kauahi) from the Hudson Valley Liquor Board and prepared to do an inspection due to a last-minute cancellation. Sam tries to reschedule the inspection, but Sherry explains that being denied entry would mean they are denied a license and they would be unable to reapply for a year. Therefore, Sam and Jay change tactics.  

Alberta suggests utilizing the vault as a speakeasy while Sherry does her inspection. This way the event can still go on while the house is under inspection. Pete still believes this is a bad idea, but Sam goes with it. Playing into the speakeasy idea, Sam lures the guests to the vault and provides them with secret password “arrow nerd” to gain entry to the makeshift speakeasy. The crisis has been averted as Sherry enters Woodstone to conduct an inspection over several hours. 

Going with their fraternity idea, Issac and Trevor greet the ghosts that have decided to join the fraternity: Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), Sasappis and Thorfinn. Unfortunately, Isaac and Trevor butt heads on the idea of a fraternity as Isaac wants to treat it more like a literary salon where Trevor wants to relive his glory days of stunts and partying. Deciding to split the fraternity in two, Trevor proposes that everyone choose whether they want to join Isaac’s snooze-worthy fraternity or Trevor’s fun.  

In the vault the whiskey tasting continues without a hiccup. Elliott from “Sipper” is enjoying the immersive experience with the rest of the guests as Blane keeps trying to impress Amanda by posing with Elias’s corpse in the vault. As the event goes on, Alberta continues trying to get Pete to loosen up a little and live in the moment while he worries that Sherry will catch onto the speakeasy event going on. 

As Trevor and Flower cheer on Thorfinn to do a daring jump from the roof, Sam tries to keep Sherry busy in the house during the inspection. Sam sees Thorfinn jump and tries not to react, but is quickly distracted by the doorbell. Sherry continues inspection while Sam opens the door to find three new guests (Nathaniel Appiah, Ben Peters, Akiko Espano) who provide the secret password….courtesy of Blane. Sam tries to dissuade the newcomers but finding that they start shouting for Blane, she immediately ushers them into the house and to the vault, unbeknownst to Sherry. 

While Trevor’s fraternity is having fun, Isaac’s version of fraternity is not going so well as he tries a version of literary charades to engage Hetty and Sasappis. Trevor, Flower, and Thorfinn enter to mock Isaac’s fraternity and encourage the group to head down to the whiskey tasting for some fun before leaving. Sasappis immediately joins Trevor’s group. While Isaac is grateful that Hetty has stayed, she too makes an excuse to head out and leaves Isaac all alone in his fraternity. As Hetty and Sasappis join Trevor and the gang, Trevor feels bad that Isaac is all alone upstairs and decides to head up to see him. 

With the party in full swing, Alberta explains to Sam that her boyfriend stashed prohibition-era whiskey in the house and that she should give that to Elliott to try if she really wants to get the party started. Sam is on board with it but quickly learns that to get the whiskey, she must manage to get it out from the wall without Sherry knowing. Done with her inspection, Sherry gets to work at the kitchen table while in the next room over, Jay proposes that to get the whiskey out him and Sam need to pull a Shawshank Redemption move to muffle the sound. Utilizing a meat tenderizer, Jay pounds a ribeye at the same time Sam hits the wall to get to the whiskey. Their venture is successful as Sam finally reaches the private stash of whiskey in the wall. 

Trevor finds Isaac upstairs and tries to encourage him to come down to the party, but Isaac explains to Trevor that he was never a Freemason. In a flashback to the meeting, Isaac learns that Ben Franklin only invited Isaac over to pick up a piece of furniture for transport in his large carriage, then return to provide other Freemasons a ride home from the meeting. Trevor tells Isaac that Franklin was a jerk and that even though he did not get into the fraternity of his choice, the one he joined gave him a camaraderie and friendships that he cherished dearly. With this, Isaac joins Trevor downstairs. 

Bringing Alberta’s whiskey to the party is a huge hit, which makes Sam and Jay feel successful…until they learn from Elliott that the vintage whiskey they have given away for free is $5,000 a bottle. In another part of the room Alberta is proud that Pete stepped out of his comfort zone and got risky. Seeing this as his opportunity, Pete tries to kiss Alberta but she rejects him in the politest manner possible.  

Later, Sam and Jay decided to fix the hole in the wall that they made getting the whiskey.  Jay finds a letter inside the wall. As Sam begins to read it, Alberta realizes that it is addressed to Alberta’s boyfriend from a person named T and mentions how they cannot wait for Alberta to be gone so they can be together. With this information, Hetty tells Sam to fire up the podcast as now Alberta’s murder has two potential suspects.