Ghosts Introduces Hetty's Estranged Sister Margaret in Halloween Special

Hetty Woodstone has a sister, and CBS's Ghosts has finally brought her on screen. Margaret, played by Maria Thayer, is introduced in the network's two-part Halloween special, which aired on October 29.

The episode turns on a mirror. Jay, played by Utkarsh Ambudkar, replaces a broken mirror at the Woodstone mansion with an old-looking one from a nearby flea market. Deadline reports that Margaret's ghost is trapped inside that replacement.

The show's rule for mirrors is simple. A spirit that catches sight of itself in a mirror as it leaves its human body becomes stuck there. The mirror once belonged to the Woodstone family, and it hung in Margaret's room when she died of disease.

Hetty, played by Rebecca Wisocky, has long blamed her sister for ruining her life. In the show, Hetty says Margaret stood in the way of her marriage to Julian, a painter she calls her one true love. The episode shows that Margaret was interested in Julian first, before Hetty pursued him.

Wisocky said she had been asking to meet Hetty's sister ever since Hetty mentioned her in a throwaway quip in Season 1. She told Deadline that she had wanted the storyline for a long time.

For viewers new to the series, Ghosts follows Samantha, played by Rose McIver, and Jay as they turn their recently inherited country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. Only Samantha can see and hear the spirits of the people who lived there before. CBS describes the show on its website in those terms.

Wisocky also said Margaret's arrival expands the show's ghost mythology. In her words, it adds a new type of ghost lore to the world of the series, according to TV Insider.

For a series built around ghosts who have been stuck in the house for centuries, a new spirit with her own history gives the cast a fresh story to play.