GHOSTS Post-Mortem: Richie Moriarty on the ‘Dumb Deaths’ Reveal

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from the Thursday, November 10 episode of GHOSTS, “Dumb Deaths.”]

A face from Pete’s (Richie Moriarty) past led to additional insight into his death on the Thursday, November 10 episode of GHOSTS, “Dumb Deaths.”

While a doc crew was at the Woodstone Mansion recreating Pete’s death, Jennifer (Dana Gourrier), a former Pine Cone Trooper came to share her take on the day. Now all grown up, she acknowledged the only weird thing about the day was that he handed out the bows and arrows before giving the kids a safety demonstration. Pete realized she was right—he had a fight with his wife (about donut holes) hours before he died.

“Pete, he’s very sensitive,” Moriarty acknowledges to Give Me My Remote. “He’s sensitive with other people, but I think he’s also sensitive himself, and can have his feelings hurt pretty easily. And to learn, or to come to terms with the fact, that he did make this big mistake on the day of his death and he died in large part because of how he was distracted and wasn’t following the rules that he imparts upon his Pine Cone troopers [is hard].”

Pete lamented his failure as a leader and his own role in his death, until Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) was shot by an arrow during the recreation scene. Jennifer jumped in, remembering all the safety lessons Pete taught her, and was able to help Jay out.

“Part of what saves it at the end of the episode is seeing that the trooper that he taught all these years ago remembers the sort of life saving techniques that he taught in case of an accident,” Moriarty says. “For all of us, in life, we all want to leave a legacy of having made people’s lives better and having helped people. There’s so much in the show that touches on legacy and what we leave behind; I think it’s really important for Pete, in that moment, to see that he’s left the incredible skills and values behind in the Pine Cone troopers that he spent time with.”

Because of Pete’s more recent (comparatively speaking) death, he is one of the few ghosts in the house to have people tied to his life come visit. But is there any part of him that wants to seek out more, now, while he still has the chance?

“I feel like me, as Richie, if I were Pete, I would be wanting to have constant connections with my family, especially now knowing that he has a grandson and a daughter,” Moriarty says. “I think there’s a balance that the show has to have: the focus needs to remain in the house. The story is about the ghosts’ current relationships, and Jay and Sam struggling to keep this business alive, and manage this insane new ability that Sam has. So obviously we can’t do too much that is external.”

“But I’m very grateful for these windows where we do see his connections with these people that are still living,” he continues. “Obviously, that’s going to be where a lot of the emotional and powerful stuff happens with a character like this, that does have family and friends who are still alive. A lot of the feedback we heard after the ‘Pete’s Wife‘ episode was how touched people were of being able to envision the loved ones that we have lost, experiencing our life to whatever degree they can. It’s powerful. And I think it’s what makes the show really special and what makes this character special—I’m one of the most recently dead and you don’t see a lot of other ghosts with living relatives.”

GHOSTS, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS

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