"Ghosts" Last Resort (TV Episode 2023) Poster

(TV Series)

(2023)

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9/10
A suitable ending
dsahukfsa26 October 2023
Warning: Spoilers
It must be said that this episode did not have the finality that a lot of people had hoped for or expected. No ghosts get sucked off, the basic premise hasn't fundamentally changed, and the show could conceivably continue exactly as before.

However, that view misses a lot of smaller shifts that have taken place, and this episode does a really good job at bringing things full circle, with lots of references back to the very first episode of season 1, but showing how much has changed. In the beginning, the ghosts teamed up to scare Alison out of the house. Now they're working on Operation Be Really Nice to make her stay.

I love the fact that Alison finds out about Julian pushing her out of the window. That had been just hanging there unsaid throughout the whole show, and the scene when she finds out is incredibly dramatic. But it also shows how strong this found family has become, that despite learning that Julian literally tried to murder her, she still can't leave them.

I'm also still pinching myself that they ended the entire show with such a breezy little joke about the Captain being openly gay. His journey to accepting himself has been handled so sensitively over the five seasons, and although part of me wanted to see more of an overt reaction from the other ghosts to his coming out, it's in keeping with the show to do it in such an understated way. Seeing him finally comfortable, not needing to correct himself or worry about getting funny looks from the others, was very gratifying.

There's one more Christmas special remaining and they may still decide to go out with a bang and kill off/suck off some characters. Personally though, I'm sure they won't, as the show has always been a comedy suffused with warmth and friendship, and the writers have never lost sight of that.
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7/10
Season Five Review
southdavid11 November 2023
I think I said in my review of season four that I was wondering whether we might have gotten all we're going to get out of the premise of the show and it turns out that the creative team are thinking something similar, as this run is the final full season of "Ghosts " which will conclude with a Christmas special later this year.

With the gatehouse burned down, Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) and Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) are struggling to get their finances in order and really need the insurance money to come through. Things only become tighter when they realise that Alison is pregnant. They decide to sell part of the land that comes with the house, but the interested party would need some of their neighbour's (Geoff McGiven) land too. The Ghosts finally get to the bottom of how both Kitty (Lolly Adefope) and The Captain (Ben Willbond) died, the struggles of Humphrey's (Laurence Rickard) marriage and Alison learns a truth about her abilities.

"Ghosts" remains the genial and amusing show it's been since the beginning. The second season added a level of pathos that the show hasn't managed to get to quite the same level again and this season doesn't either. We're definitely in 'ending mode' in this run. The shows mysteries are starting to be resolved and it looks for a while like Mike and Alison might make some hard decisions that would facilitate the end of the show. The pregnancy angle is the key through running story of the season though.

As ever, "Ghosts" biggest strength is probably the thing that also stops it achieving true greatness. It's likeable and entertaining, but never quite funny enough to match up with true top tier sitcoms. But not everything has to be the best ever and sometimes good enough is good enough.
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8/10
A fine end to series 5.
Sleepin_Dragon15 May 2024
Alison and Mike receive an unexpected and shocking offer, the developer wants the grounds, but also the house, Alison and Mike have to make a huge decision on whether to stay or sell up.

The final episode, with only the Christmas special to go, not quite as good as the previous episode, they really should have signed off with that one, but a very fine finale nonetheless.

Loved Kitty's indiscretion, I can't help but wonder if she was being dull, or just a little makeover, she certainly switched up a little bit.

Pat and Robin's disagreement was hilarious, but The Captain as ever, was spot on.

I can't say I'm much of a fan of Obi, he's a little too much, a little too dim,

A nice reference back to an early episode, where Julian had pretty much gotten away with what he did to poor Alison.

8/10.
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10/10
Really? Really??
GabrielSymes14 October 2023
That's the end of Ghosts? Forever? They could have at the very least had some of them sucked off. Anyway... This is, apparently, the last episode of the last season of the entire series. The various characters and their quirks are likeable, living or dead, and how they managed to squeeze so much out of this ensemble is testament to the writers' and actors' abilities. It's gentle, unoffensive fun. And this episode is more of the same. Clever, witty and refreshing, it entertains without hoisting social commentary up the flagpole. There's no special effects, no gimmicks, no implausible action sequences, just proper entertaining telly. You'll be missed.
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6/10
Could have worked as a season finale.
Laqshayaroraofficial9 October 2023
This episode felt more like a season finale than a series finale. I really don't know who the curly-haired guy was who was crying in the episode; he appeared in an early episode as well. The perfect ending would have been the disappearance of all the ghosts, but did they do that? You have to see for yourself; maybe they didn't make it like a series finale because the Christmas special will be coming this year. Overall, this season could have been way better if they fast-forwarded it to 10-20 years later to show the growth of the characters and the disappearance. Instead, they made it all so predictable with effortless storytelling. This season is still good but not better than the last four seasons. I would love to see Charlotte Ritchie in some other show too; she's awesome.
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Episode 506
bobcobb3015 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
They almost got me to cry when Julian was telling Alison how much she meant to all of them and then Alison was discussing whether she wanted to leave it or not. It has certainly been a good journey the last five years on this show, it spawned an international version and it gave us a lot of laughs.

Them staying was the right ending, but I would have appreciated one of the characters getting their happy ending and getting sucked off. I feel like that was the right path as we only had one character actually disappear throughout the entire run, which does not seem probable.

Nevertheless, a solid ending to a good hit from the BBC.
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