Source | Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) finally opened their bed & breakfast in the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale Thursday — only for their dreams to come literally crashing down moments later thanks to a curse. In the closing seconds of the episode, titled “Farnsby & B,” Sam and Jay are ready to welcome their first guests to the Woodstone B&B after defeating their enemy neighbors the Farnsbys in a game of pickle ball to get them to close their spitefully opened competitor, the Farsnby & B.
But just as they open the doors, the floorboards crumble beneath them, suggesting the curse Thor (Devan Chandler Long) put on them before he got to know Sam is actually real. And because Sam didn’t break the curse earlier in the episode — for fear that would reverse her ability to see ghosts Thor, Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), Pete (Richie Moriarty), Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), Trevor (Asher Grodman), Sasappis (Román Zaragoza), Flower (Sheila Carrasco) and Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) — the B&B might be over before it starts.
Variety spoke with McIver about the “Ghosts” Season 1 finale’s twist and how it will affect the Montreal-based show’s second season, which was picked up at CBS in January, as well as the actor’s hopes to make more “A Christmas Prince” movies for Netflix.
Based on how the finale ended, do you personally think the curse is real going into Season 2 — and what does Sam think?
I’m quite partial to sort of magical thinking and superstition. I have OCD, and that’s a big part of that. So once somebody has said something, it’s quite hard to get it out of my head. And I keep thinking like with this curse, and I don’t feel like I get the answers that I quite needed at the end of the finale to make me feel peaceful going into the future with this house full of ghosts. Not that we ever expected it to be a tidy wrap up, but that certainly plants a see that I think Samantha — and certainly Rose! — is a little uncomfortable with going forward.
Sam almost tries to break the curse until she realizes that could potentially take away her ability to see the ghosts. What was it like filming the scene in which Sam says goodbye to all the ghosts, before deciding she can’t go through with it?
We actually filmed that scene before we knew we had a Season 2 and it was actually a very emotional day for all of us. Everybody was very exhausted. It was before we broke for Christmas and we had an early shutdown because of COVID, and so we were kind of in this final stretch and everybody was really overtired. it was a very mixed emotion, everyone needs a break, everyone needs sleep — but we were very terrified of the end and thinking this could be, hopefully it wouldn’t be, but it could have been the end of working together. And we’ve spent months and months together in a foreign city, becoming a real family. And so looking around that room in the kitchen and seeing all of the people who I have come to consider it very, very close friends, I think all of us found it pretty easy to get quite emotional. It was a really challenging day, actually, and it brought a lot of real life into that scene, which I don’t think people necessarily expect in a kitchen full of ghosts. But it was it was much more grounded in reality than you’d imagine.
While Sam and Jay are over at the Farnsbys’ place to challenge them to the pickle ball match that will get them to close down their competitor inn, Sam sees a new ghost, Judy (Lindsey Broad). But she doesn’t have time to talk to her with everyone else present. What can you tell us about this ghost and if we’ll see her again?
It’s a blessing and a curse at any given moment being able to see ghosts. As a really nosy person myself, Rose, I feel like it would be an absolute treasure trove to uncover everybody’s stories and their journeys. But it does make socializing difficult. We’ve discovered already in the second episode, when Rose goes into the doctor’s office, she encounters a ghost. And so this is a return to that idea that, no matter where Sam goes, she’s not getting away from this and these encounters. And better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. At least at home, she has a collection of ghosts that she’s growing to know and love deeply. But it definitely opens endless opportunities for in the future, the various ghosts she can encounter. I mean, she was able to say goodbye to her mom, and it certainly expands the environments this show takes place in.
Sam has made a lot of commitments to the ghosts throughout the first season. What will she follow through on in Season 2?
In the second season, there is definitely going to be some hot pressure from the ghosts. Isaac still wants his book written, and Alberta wants her murder solved — which isn’t too much to ask, I think that was a pretty reasonable one. All of those questions will come up and we’ll be able to dive, hopefully more, into each of their back stories, as well. I know there’s a lot of ghosts that we didn’t get to see quite enough of when they died and what their context was they lived. I think we’re going to have a lot to mine in the second season.
Lastly, where are you and the “A Christmas Prince” franchise team on plans for a fourth movie, and what do you suggest Netflix call it?
“A Christmas Second Royal Baby”! I know, the world is our oyster. I’m still knocking on their door. I’m like, “Guys, I’m ready. I want to go back.” I love that group of people. When I worked with them, we had really special times together. I loved Romania, where we filmed. I’m always down to keep that story going. I think it’s one of the funniest franchises I could ever be part of, and I had such a good time making it. So maybe down the line. From your lips to God’s ears.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
The Rose Mciver Fansite since 2013