Ghosts' Utkarsh Ambudkar Was 'Afraid' Of Jay's Deal With Elias At First, But Revealed Why It Actually Creates 'Really Fun Opportunities' For The Show
Accidentally making a deal with the devil causes a lot of feelings.

When Ghosts returns on the 2025 TV schedule, our guy Jay will probably be dodging near-death experiences left and right, because he accidentally made a deal with the demon Elias. Whoops! Understandably, when that happened, Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays the human, became a little afraid about what lies ahead for his character. However, he also revealed why this storyline creates some “really fun opportunities” for the show that we should be excited about.
Since Jay will quite literally be looking at death’s door in the upcoming season (and who knows, maybe he might go to hell), I get why Ambudkar was a little afraid. Going into Season 5, despite Ghosts’ two-season renewal, his fate on the show was very unknown. To that point, the actor said this when asked about Jay’s deal with Elias during the show's panel at San Diego Comic-Con that CinemaBlend attended:
At first, I was afraid about the job security we talked about earlier.
That’s understandable. Characters’ fates on Ghosts are always up in the air, considering a spirit could get sucked off at any moment, and it’s always possible that a human will die on the property. However, those potentially lethal situations typically lead to funny stories too – just look back on the time we thought Flower was sucked off, but she was really stuck in a well.
That was the next point Ambudkar made. He quickly realized that Jay fighting for his life as he deals with the deal he made with Elias will unite the ghosts. And that will make for great TV. The actor explained:
You know, I think it’ll be another exciting adventure for the ghosts and Sam and Jay to go on. I love when we all as a family work together against a common foe, when we’re not infighting or creating tension with each other. I love when the whole team has a goal. And we are now united against Elias to save Jay’s soul, which I think creates a lot of really fun opportunities for the ensemble. You see a lot of us in scenes together, and you’ll see everybody working towards hopefully me staying alive.
Paramount Plus: from $7.99 a month/$79.99 a year
To stream Ghosts as well as other CBS hits, you'll need Paramount+. Plans start at $7.99 and that will give you access to those shows as well as the streaming service's original series. If you upgrade to premium for $12.99 you can also add Showtime and delete ads.
Great points were made! Obviously, Jay being in trouble is not ideal, and any of the Woodstone family being doomed is bad news. However, for the sake of the show, getting the Ghosts cast united and fighting for the same cause is fantastic.
Now, they are all going after the same foe, which means more ensemble scenes, more fun pairings, and maybe no drama between characters we love. Elias is big-time bad news, and I think seeing the spirits, Sam and Jay come fully together to take him down will make for an epic season.
As Ambudkar said, this situation his character is in creates “really fun opportunities” for everyone, likely including himself, so there’s no reason to be afraid. Jay might be scared for his life, but we don’t need to feel that way, because we’re in for one hell of a fun ride (pun intended).
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Ghosts will return to CBS for Season 5 on Thursday, October 16, at 8:30 p.m. ET. While we wait for that, you can go back and see how Jay and co. got into this mess by streaming the series with a Paramount+ subscription.

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.