Ghosts – The Work Retreat

By: Gladys Luna

Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) finds Sas (Román Zaragoza) sitting on a bench outside the mansion waiting for a tree branch to fall. The ghost expresses how he has been waiting for nearly twenty-three years for that to happen and for some reason, he has the feeling that today is the day. This conversation makes Hetty to realize how boring the afterlife might be so, in order to spice things up a little the pair decides to start a rumor and while they are deciding who will be the target, Pete (Richie Moriarty) comes right in telling them how happy he is to have the ability to leave the property and go see the world. For example, he has just come back from being in Budapest and cannot wait to go and see his girlfriend Donna (Allegra Edwards) next week and tell her all about it. The other two ghosts are so jealous and tired that Pete keeps rubbing on their faces about his recently discovered power that they decide to start a rumor about him. In the meantime, Sam (Rose McIver), Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) are trying to help Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) to get over his breakup with Nigel (John Hartman) using the tips of a magazine but none of them seem to be doable for the ghost. While they are discussing what should be best for the captain Trevor (Asher Grodman) comes in saying that he should quit his job, an activity that no one were aware of. The man confesses that he managed to get a fake identity in the dark web and applied for a remote job as a financial analyst and apparently, everything was working well until his boss prepared a mandatory retreat for the entire office and based on his current situation, is evident that he cannot attend.

On the other hand, Hetty and Sas are still thinking about the type of rumor they should start about Pete when they are interrupted by Thor (Devan Chandler Long) who does not appear to be the type to keep a secret so, the other pair decide to tell him that Pete’s girlfriend Donna only exist in his imagination and use the Viking to spread the rumor. Later on, Trevor informs Sam that he has convinced his boss to make the retreat at the Woodstone Mansion but given that no one could see him, he asks Sam to persuade Jay into pretending to be him. In order to do so, they ask Jay to wear an earpiece where Sam will be whispering everything he has to say to the others so he can keep up with the character. At first, Jay does not feel comfortable with the suggestion but ends up accepting. While they are still discussing about it, Isaac shows up with a new hairdo just as the magazine suggested.

The retreat day finally arrives and Trevor’s co-workers show up at the mansion where Jay re-introduces himself as “Michael Jackson,” the name that Trevor chose for his fake identity. The team formed by Brett (Ennis Esmer), Maggie (Connie Shi) and Dave (Mark Little) is excited to meet him and they start asking him questions about the tricks he used to solve some financial problems at the company to what he has the assistance of Trevor and Sam to answer properly. Alberta and Isaac are there enjoying the show and suddenly, Nancy (Betsy Sodaro) walks in talking about what she heard about Pete and his fake girlfriend something that Isaac does not take well since his decision of not marrying Nigel was based on the beautiful love speech he gave about Donna.

At the other side of the mansion, Thor can be heard screaming to his ghost neighbor about Pete and unfortunately, the last one hears him and screams his truth but no one believes him and to make matters worse, he is slapped on the face by Isaac that accuses him for being a liar. Hetty and Sas observe the whole scene and start to realize that they had gotten a bit too far with the joke.

Trevor’s team gather for lunch at the dining room and when Jay is not around, they talk how surprised they are about “MJ” since based on the conversations they’ve had, they thought he was lame but they are happy that he is funnier in person. Trevor hears all of this and gets very sad since he believed that he was doing great. Sam, Jay, Alberta and Thor follow him to the other room and he confesses that he is sad not because of the job but because this was his way to relive his glory days but now, he has finally realized that he was not a legend and just turned into a guy who died and no one will ever remember but luckily for him, Jay has a plan to make sure that won’t happen. On another room, Hetty and Sas talk to Pete and confess they were the ones that started the rumor about him and Donna and apologize about it. They explained they were bored and a bit mad with him for bragging about his escapades and lucky for them, Pete understands the feeling and accepts the apology. Now they have to find a way to prove that Donna actually exists.

Jay returns to Trevor’s colleagues; Alberta, Thor, Sam and Trevor are there too. The group of co-workers keep praising him on his abilities and here is where Jay takes the chance to say that everything he knows is because of Trevor Leftkowitz, also known as T-Money who used to be a family friend and thought him everything he knows about finance. The other colleagues confess they know him too and that he is actually a legend in the financial business something that makes Trevor extremely happy. They also say that to this day they still do the man’s classic “Run for Fun” and they want to do it again as a tribute to his legacy so they all go outside to run and dance the Trevor style. Isaac feels this as an opportunity to go free and find his own closure.

Back to Pete, Sam has managed to find some articles and material about Donna’s existence to help him prove that she is not part of his imagination. Hetty and Sas are there too and sadly, Sam has to inform that when Donna was alive, she murdered her husband and flew to the Caribbean. While they are watching the documentary about her, they can hear Nancy screaming to her ghost neighbors that Pete’s hair is actually a wig and the rumor has it that is made out of Legos so Hetty and Sas have to admit that they also started that rumor to hedge their bets.