Maybe Hetty’s power is what allows someone like Sam to see ghosts (the near-death-experience was a red herring). She has to unconsciously approve of such people because she doesn’t consciously approve of anyone. The only flaw with my theory is that Sam was able to see ghosts when she was away from the house and Hetty.
I’m wondering if there’s ever going to be any follow-up to the scene at the end of the episode where Elias Woodstone was trying to get Jay to sell his soul in exchange for a successful business. While Jay declines, he does say that he’ll “think it over”, which leaves the door open to him later accepting if the business starts to decline.
Somehow I completely forgot about Jay and Elias. Maybe the great review was a manipulation on Elias’s part to get Jay so enamored of success that he’ll eventually do anything to stay on top.
In New York state huge cholera epidemics in 1830s, 1840s, and 1860s,
Maybe the power is hereditary.
The ability to unwrap the long cord around her neck?
Well if that’s it, she’s been cheated! Also, I think the cord remains and always will, beneath her high collar,
I keep trying to come up with something related to child labor, but I got nothing.
Thorfinn had to wait 900 years before there was any electricity to use his ghost power on. This might take a while.
Well, it’s more useful than some powers we’ve seen.
Anyway, who says that every ghost must have a power?
A Historian Breaks Down The German Ghosts And Speculates About The Australian Ghosts
I found this video last night, in which a historian breaks down the differences and the similarities between the British and UK Ghosts, and looks at matters from a historical perspective. And apparently the identities of the German Ghosts have been out there for a few months, we at the SDMB just missed the memo. Her breakdown of the German crew begins here. I thought about spoilering the identities of the German Ghosts, but since the number of Dopers reading this thread who are likely to ever see it can likely be counted on one hand, I figured there’s no need.
First the Livings, the show follows the British/American model of having a hetero couple, a white woman and the man a Person of Color. Their seven (yes, seven not eight) Ghosts are:
A Neanderthal Obviously their version of Robin and Thor. The historian notes that he is expressly and unambiguously NOT H Sapiens, unlike Robin.
A Roman Legionnaire That tracks, considering German history. In keeping with the tradition of having the military men be gay and closeted, you can guess where this is going. Although the historian notes that there would be no need for a Roman to hide his homosexuality. Anyway, he may not wind up being gay anyway, we don’t know.
A Burned Witch obviously a direct equivalent of UK’s Mary (no equivalent in the US version)
An Uptight Lady of the House their equivalent of UK’s Fanny and US’s Heddy.
A Romantic Poet a direct equivalent of the UK’s Thomas (no equivalent in the US version). And FWIW, I had no idea that Romantic poetry was important in German history/culture. I’ll be damned.
A Pantsless Guy the Julian/Trevor equivalent, who in this version is an insurance salesman. OK.
A Teacher With an Arrow Through Her Neck Obviously milking the trope of the kindly character killed in a freak accident, although in this case she’s neither a Scout nor male.
Either there’s no eighth German Ghost, or he didn’t make the promo pictures. I suggest a Visigoth. Put him in the same scene with the Roman and the jokes write themselves.
And yes, as everyone suspected and hoped, the Germans are completely skipping their rather uncomfortable time period.
For the Australians, the historian was only able to speculate, absent any real information. She suggests a Lady of the Manor from the British Colonial era (that tracks), a Pantsless Guy of some form of employment or other, a Pat/Pete, a First Nations character (whom she speculates would have occupied the time period right before colonization, much like Sessapis in the US), a Ned Kelly-like Bushwhacker (which is what I speculated, too, way earlier in this thread), and a 1980s pop star/soap star who can sing (a la Alberta in the US and Jemima in the UK), apparently owing to Australia’s love of soaps/pop stars, I guess?
The Same Historian Knows About The French Ghosts Too
In this video, she breaks down what is known about the French version. At around 3:54 she reveals a photo that turned up on Reddit, which may or may not be real. If it is real, then the French version is basically an exact copy of the UK version Ghost-for-Ghost, at least for the seven who made the picture. An eighth Ghost, not in the photo, is a Gualish Chieftain (which she explains when she breaks down what’s known about the characters, apart from the photo, which may or may not even be real). The only difference I can suss out is that both of the Livings are White, breaking the tradition of having the Living husband be a man of color.
Spoiler from reading this week’s episode description. I believe that we’re going to learn Hetty’s ghost power.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was kind of a big deal.
Actually, it would be kind of funny if the Romantic poet ghost in the German version was Goethe. Though no version of ‘Ghosts’ has ever done that with any other ghost-- they’ve all been famous-adjacent, at best.
I have seen a short clip of the French version recreating the scene in both English language pilots where the main character confronts all the ghosts. Looking it up apparently the French version started streaming a month ago.
Ok not the exact clip I saw but here is the preview for the French version. They do seem to be very close to the original characters.
Has it, or does it start April 9th?
from the trailer it looks like the basement ghosts are Gauls, with helmets and hairstyles straight out of Asterix.
Yes you are correct
From the trailer, the actor’s name appears to be Persian.
One of the French ghosts is an 18th Century aristocrat. Strange that she’s not the headless one.