You don’t have to get stranded on a deserted island for a group of Others to start wreaking havoc.
When “Ghosts” returns in 2026, Sam, Jay, and the ghosts have a sinister group of shadowy beings to contend with. In Season 5’s midseason finale (read our post mortem here), Patience introduced Trevor and Sass to a group she only referred to as “the Others” — and Trevor’s reaction made us a tad uneasy! While Woodstone’s infamous Puritan referred to these figures as “my people,” nothing concrete is known about who they actually are. (We’ll learn more when the show returns from break Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026.) But according to showrunners Joe Wiseman and Joe Port, the Others are bound to turn the mansion upside down.
“We’re basically going to pick up where the last episode left off,” Wiseman tells TVLine. “We’re going to meet the Others and they’re going to have a lot of effect on the house.”
The Others were first mentioned by Patience in early Season 3, so the executive producers’ plan was always to circle back and introduce them. Teases Wiseman, “There’s a few different stories that spring out from their arrival.”
The Others won’t only shake things up for the livings of “Ghosts,” but they’ll also have a large impact on the already dead characters as well. “In particular, on one of our ghosts, who has a history with them,” says Port. “It’s going to spawn a few stories, and amongst them, we’re going to meet some people that have an interesting past at Woodstone as well.”
Who else is coming back to Ghosts this winter?
What other faces, new or recurring, will we see in Season 5’s back half? For one, Punam Patel will continue to recur as Jay’s sister Bela, and she’ll have “a heavy presence” this season, according to the showrunners.
“We love Punam [Patel],” says Port. “She fits in so well. She helps center Jay in the stories. She’s very useful, character-wise, because she’s one of the few people that they’ve told about the ghosts and Sam’s ability to see them.”
In addition, we haven’t seen the last of Ben Feldman either. “Kyle, the other human — that we know of — who can see ghosts is going to come back for an episode,” says Wiseman. Plus, the EPs reveal that the mystery surrounding Joan’s disappearance will be dealt with.
“Sass has been sort of lovelorn since his reunion with Joan went bust this year,” says Port. “They had agreed to meet back up on a certain date, but she didn’t show. So, I think we might find an explanation for why she didn’t show and where she’s been.”
Speaking of Sass (and since I’m a very annoying entertainment journalist), you know I had to ask once again whether Season 5 will answer that lingering mystery about everyone’s favorite Native American spirit. We’re five seasons in and we still don’t know how Sasappis died. Will 2026 provide that answer?
“It’s possible!” says Wiseman. “We’re still writing a good chunk of the tail-end of the season. No promises, but it is something that we do talk about a lot, and we want to get that story out there as well. Whether it will be this season or not, I don’t know.”
What do you hope to see when “Ghosts” returns in 2026? Let us know in the comments!
This story originally appeared on TVLine
