After Hetty's Power Was Revealed On Ghosts, I Can't Stop Thinking About Its Limitation And Why It Bothers Me

Spoilers for Season 4 of Ghosts are ahead! To catch up, you can stream the CBS series with a Paramount+ subscription. Then, you can catch new episodes on its home network starting Thursday, April 3, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

After waiting seasons for this reveal, Ghosts finally gave Hetty her ghost power in Season 4, Episode 16. The episode on the 2025 TV schedule was a momentous one, too, as Rebecca Wisocky’s character found out humans could see and hear her, which is an A-tier power. However, she also learned that there was a major limitation to said skill, and the more I think about this constraint, the more it bothers me.

An Explanation Of Hetty’s Ghost Power

For the longest time, Hetty’s power was a big question we had about Ghosts. That became even more the case when Utkarsh Ambudkar teased that fans “wouldn’t be able to guess her power,” it was “wild,” and the way it manifested was “even wilder.”

Well, he was right. I didn’t see Hetty being seen and heard by all humans coming. I didn’t see her finally accepting her Irish ancestry as the reason why. And I certainly didn’t expect her power to only work on St. Patrick’s Day.

Now, it’s not Hetty communicating with humans seamlessly that bugs me. Oh, no, I think that’s sick. It’s the limitation of it only being able to happen on St. Patrick’s Day that’s throwing me for a loop.

Why The Limitation On Hetty's Power Bothers Me

In a way, I do think it’s funny that Hetty can only use her power on one day of the year. Plus, her being able to use it anytime would make her far too powerful.

Not to mention, the other spirits have limitations on their powers, too. Pete starts to disappear if he’s gone for too long. Meanwhile, Trevor can do things like type, move objects and press buttons, but he can only do it at a very, very slow speed. So, I like the idea of Hetty’s power coming at a cost.

However, only using it one day a year is a bit much.

Gags like possession are already really only used once per season on Ghosts. While I love that, I don’t necessarily want a running list of recurring beats that I’m counting down the days for and expecting.

Also, I simply think Hetty deserves to use her power more than once a year. Obviously, with an A-tier power like this it needs a serious limitation. However, only using it on St. Patrick's Day feels a bit harsh.

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While the jokes about her boasting about her power and being reminded that she can only use it on this one day in March basically write themselves, I can see it getting old fast. Plus, I’d love to see this gal flaunting her power about, because she’s been waiting a very long time for it.

Ghosts has been renewed for two more seasons, and it’s entirely possible that we don’t fully understand Hetty’s power or its limitations yet. So, maybe she’ll be able to use it more than we think or maybe even partially use it in some way (as in she could be seen and not heard or vice versa).

I know there’s room to play, and I’m excited to see it. I just hope that they don’t underuse Hetty’s epic power by only making it usable one day a year.