Episode 8 of Ghosts season 5 opens on Alberta in 1923. She is in a dressing room telling someone it’s either them or her. An off-screen voice is heard pleading as Alberta swings a bat down.
In the present day, we finally learn how Sam’s book is performing. Sales are not great. The publisher needs Sam to drum up some publicity and suggests Sam reach out to her old podcast host, Todd Pearlman.
We know Todd as the freakishly obsessed fanatic of Alberta. Last season, Sam agreed to do a podcast about Alberta’s murder with Todd. At the end of their podcast, they invited Alberta’s living descendant to the mansion. Todd ended up growing fond of the woman, and Alberta begged Sam to put an end to it. Sam ultimately cuts ties by calling out Todd’s behavior.
She agrees to try and get on Todd’s new popular podcast, the Todd Pod. To do this, she invites Todd to Woodstone. He’s pretty understanding about how they parted ways. He agrees he became too obsessed with Alberta, especially since his research on her had a hard stop in 1923 where no paper trail continues.
Alberta has a guarded expression when this is mentioned.
Sam redirects the conversation back to her being on the podcast. Todd states they should grab lunch to see if there’s a story. He does all of this in a podcast bro manner that comes off again as creepy.
Sam suggests they eat at Jay’s restaurant. Alberta helpfully points out that Jay will be close by with access to several knife options.
Later, Alberta is in her room when Thor stops in for a visit. Thor points out that Todd can’t find anything about Alberta before 1923. He recollects that a long time ago she casually mentioned Alberta wasn’t her real name. Putting the pieces together, Thor inquires about her real identity.
Alberta relents and states she had to change her name because she killed a man. Thor, who is a literal pillaging Viking, doesn’t understand why she would need to change her name over this. She ends the conversation, sending Thor off.
Meanwhile, at the restaurant, Todd, Sam, and Jay are having lunch. While discussing the book, Sam admits she only did the vampire thing to please the publisher. This prompts Isaac to pull Sam aside to talk about hyping the book properly.
Sam and Isaac talk near Bela so it won’t look like Sam is talking to nobody. Bela interrupts to point out she recognizes Todd, and he asked her out in college. After learning he’s now wealthy, she regrets not having put up with his strange behavior.
Back at the table, Jay enthralls Todd with the story of why the restaurant was named after Jay’s father. Todd loves the story. When Sam returns, Todd announces the next Todd Pod will feature Jay and the story of Mahesh.
After the events in the restaurant, Thor continues his quest. He finds Pete and shares that he knows a secret about Alberta. Pete, being the most compassionate man to ever live, says he respects secrets. Thor bursts out, telling Pete that Alberta’s name is fake and she’s a murderer. This suggests Pete may have a type. He married a mob daughter, his Hawaiian girlfriend was an accused murderess, and now Alberta.
Thor also mentions that he’s only seeking this information because of his and Alberta’s revenge game that they’ve been playing for the last century.
Pete goes to confront Alberta. She doesn’t want to talk about her past. Pete points out that his marriage was riddled with secrets and lies, and he doesn’t want their relationship to be that way. So Alberta agrees to give him the story.
Before Alberta’s success she, like many performers, had to moonlight. She was Esther Greene and the Magnificent Murray, a ventriloquist duo. This was a surprisingly popular form of entertainment in the 1920s.
Alberta was able to garner an audience as Esther but wanted to pivot to jazz. She tried to incorporate singing into her shows but it was not well received. So she destroys her dummy, Murray, and changes her name to Alberta Haynes.
Pete is proud of Alberta for making the brave choice to pursue her dream and agrees to keep this a secret between them.
At the restaurant, Todd runs into Jay’s business partner Mark and they start talking about the podcast episode. Jay walks in saying he can’t do the podcast and it should go to Sam. Bela then enters acting as though she is happy to see Todd and brings up their time in college together.
Mark confirms Jay will do the podcast. He points out that if Jay does well, the restaurant does well, the B&B does well, and that means Sam will do well. With that logic, Jay accepts the interview. So Todd sets up his equipment in the mansion.
Sam stumbles on the equipment and assumes Jay convinced Todd to interview her. Jay explains what happened and how Mark was insistent. They then start riffing on their disdain for creepy Todd. This is all said in front of the podcast equipment, which is already turned on and recording.
Todd is far less understanding at hearing their unfiltered thoughts. He calls off the interview and claims he’ll instruct the Todd Mob to flood them with bad reviews tanking the restaurant, the B&B, the book, and even their Uber ratings.
Alberta and Pete come in and are filled in on Todd’s plan to exact revenge. In a moment of heroism, Alberta offers her real identity as a bargaining chip. Then Todd can find out everything about Alberta from before 1923.
Sam offers the information on the condition there is no Todd Mob and the podcast is about both her and Jay. Hetty couldn’t be more proud of her great, great grandniece. In Hetty’s words, “the couple that bribes together, thrives together.”
Todd accepts the conditions. Sam tells the story and shows a picture of Alberta as Esther. The ghosts realize the hat on Murray is Alberta’s current hat. This means the insult Thor made decades ago about Alberta’s hat being for dummies is factual.
To wrap things up, Alberta performs one more time as Esther. She uses Pete as a dummy and has him insult Thor. Thor doesn't quite understand what ventriloquism is and ends up mercilessly attacking Pete.