“All ghosts have unfinished business, all ghosts want to move on. But the idea that he’s finally accepted who he is long after he’s dead, I think is really exciting.”
Mey RudeEditor's note: this article contains spoilers for season 1, episode 15 of CBS' Ghosts, "Thorapy."
Fans of CBS’s hit new comedy Ghosts were treated to an especially moving episode that featured a pivotal moment for one of our favorite characters, Captain Isaac Higgentoot.
Viewers will know that Isaac, played by Brandon Scott Jones, has been closeted for over 250 years since he died during the Revolutionary War. It’s led to a lot of humor on the show, but also, what must be incredible pain for Isaac. But now, he’s not alone.
While the other ghosts, along with Sam and Jay, had been trying to help Thorfinn with his nightmares, Isaac realized that there can be catharsis and healing in speaking deeply held truths out loud. And when Nigel, the British officer he’s had a crush on for hundreds of years and only recently started getting to know better invited him to sleep in the shed with him, Isaac realized he had to take action.
By learning how healing it can be to let things out, Isaac finally opens up to someone about the secret he’s been holding for 250 years: he’s in love with another man — specifically, Nigel. After a typically hilarious episode, Isaac sits down with Hetty, the ghost he’s closest with in the house and confesses to her who he has feelings for. After all that time, he’s finally had the chance to come out, and he did it when he was ready.
Jones was excited to get to work on such a complex character journey.
“I think getting the chance to see him have this experience is really interesting,” he says. “All ghosts have unfinished business, all ghosts want to move on. But the idea that he’s finally accepted who he is long after he’s dead, I think is really exciting.”
Even though Jones certainly wasn’t in the closet for hundreds of years before coming out, he could still relate to his character. “I think about remembering that time and who I felt comfortable around, and who I wanted to share that type of information with...I remember feeling like, ‘Okay, who would receive this well? Who would take this news and would understand? Who would comfort me? Who would be mad?’”
He loves that he got to show this coming out scene by having Isaac find a friend and an ally who understands among the other ghosts of the house. “Sometimes we think about coming out as just admitting who you are to somebody else, but really there’s so much about the relationship,” he says. “I think the fact that he’s finally learned to trust somebody is really, really interesting to me.”
“Obviously it’s very fun to see him be all blustery and egocentric and so forth,” he adds. “But the idea of finally having a friend or feeling that friendship — there's a difference in having friends and feeling friendship — and I think he felt friendship in that moment.”
Digging into the friendship aspect of the scene was easy for Jones, who says that Rebecca Wisocky, the actress who plays Hetty, has become one of his dearest friends on the set. “In a large cast with 10 people you very rarely get a chance to do two person scenes. So I remember we were both sort of excited to do a two person scene together,” he says. “We hang out all the time. So there was a lot of comfort going into it.”
Jones knows how important it can be to find a friend, especially after such a long time. “Imagine how lonely it must feel to be living in a house for that long with the same people and never fully allowing yourself to be who you are around them,” he says. “And I think more than just kind of admitting that he has feelings for Nigel, the idea that he’s admitting his feelings *to another person* is so, so important to him.”
When will he admit his feelings to Nigel himself, though? Jones isn’t sure he’s ready for that yet. “I think that [being ready to share Nigel’s cot] will take at least a few more episodes. I don’t know if he’s ready to take that step. I think hopefully not another 100 years,” he laughs. “I think we might see it. And we might see him take smaller baby steps towards the end of the season. I think he’s moving at his pace.”
He does have ideas for a perfect first date for Isaac and Nigel though. His first thought is “walking the grounds, sitting under a tree, staring at the sky...because that’s all they can do,” but then it hits him. “Making Sam play music, that’d be fun.”
Having gay characters on TV is always important, and can impact viewers in tremendous ways, but when you have a thoughtful and well-done coming out story like this, it can do even more. It can provide people with pathways to becoming their truest self. I asked Jones how it feels knowing he’s providing that pathway for others.
“Oh my gosh. I never...oh my goodness,” he responds. “I never even thought that. Wow. Well, if my character is a conduit that helps somebody be able to have that moment in their life or find that safety or find that community, a community that maybe they don't have right now, fantastic! If watching the show is also kind of maybe puts you a few steps back too, maybe because you're not ready for that moment, that's okay too.”
“And what I would like to say is it is not a race,” he continues. “but your happiness is paramount and do whatever you need to do to take that step forward, to become yourself a little bit more. And if you feel alone in that, you can watch television and see a character who's doing the same thing.”
Ghosts airs on CBS Thursday nights at 9pm ET/PT. You can stream episodes on Paramount+.
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