It's almost Halloween, and the team investigates a spooky case where a wealthy lawyer is found dead in his haunted Victorian mansion, while Captain Wagner surprises everyone with his skills. At home, Elliot plays mediator between Morgan and Ava.
"Chasing Ghosts" was written by Rebecca Kirsch & Jordan Rosenberg and directed by Viet Nguyen
Roman has been watching his family. He maintained a connection to them after he disappeared. That's confirmed in his drawing of Ava's first dance recital. He never reached out to them though. Morgan understands that he must have been there for his daughter. No one quite knows how to process this. They can't make sense of him staying away. Moreover, it appears something has happened that forced him to reach out to Arthur instead. Roman is no longer able to look out for his family. Arthur has stepped into that role now. He has no further information to share with Morgan and Ava. The backpack promised to offer some clues. Morgan has looked through it. She plans on giving it all to Soto as evidence. She shares the most sentimental item with Ava. The teenager doesn't apologize for her behavior that led Morgan to ground her. She simply argues it's what her mother would have done in the same situation. Morgan recognizes that. Ava understands it was dangerous. That's the understanding they reach. It doesn't exactly resolve anything. It simply keeps this ongoing story alive without delivering too much.
Roman has been watching his family. He maintained a connection to them after he disappeared. That's confirmed in his drawing of Ava's first dance recital. He never reached out to them though. Morgan understands that he must have been there for his daughter. No one quite knows how to process this. They can't make sense of him staying away. Moreover, it appears something has happened that forced him to reach out to Arthur instead. Roman is no longer able to look out for his family. Arthur has stepped into that role now. He has no further information to share with Morgan and Ava. The backpack promised to offer some clues. Morgan has looked through it. She plans on giving it all to Soto as evidence. She shares the most sentimental item with Ava. The teenager doesn't apologize for her behavior that led Morgan to ground her. She simply argues it's what her mother would have done in the same situation. Morgan recognizes that. Ava understands it was dangerous. That's the understanding they reach. It doesn't exactly resolve anything. It simply keeps this ongoing story alive without delivering too much.
Captain Wagner presents as a mystery too. Morgan gets more personal information out of him. However, that may just be the narrative setting him up as a potential love interest for her. He could be a fascinating character who changes the leadership structure of this unit. He wants to be the one to interrogate the suspect Morgan and Karadec bring in. He wants to go to the press with the news a suspect has been arrested. The latter is used as a ruse on more than one occasion. He's useful in that way. He's willing to abide by whatever schemes the unit concocts to solve their cases. Each episode since his introduction pointedly has him interacting with Morgan. That's not altogether strange. Most of the characters are defined largely through their relationships with Morgan. She remains the focal point of the show. That doesn't mean the show should always relax into that dynamic. Wagner offers something new. That should be the asset instead of delivering what was previously expected.
Morgan's thrilled to spend her first Halloween with Karadec. She still searches for something surprising and fun from his past. He doesn't let loose during this holiday. He's the same as always. He's skeptical about a house being haunted. An explanation exists for all the strange things that happened. Others play into that ghost story. The narrative has fun turning into a horror piece. Karadec was stalked in the basement. Ultimately, the resolution is exactly what the audience has come to expect from Morgan's brilliance. She calls out the scammer deceiving her clients. Once a new motivation is found for the murder, then it's easy to turn suspicion back onto her. The mystery presents plenty of viable suspects. It's even unclear for a bit whether the case of death was murder. Morgan follows her instincts. Moreover, everyone trusts her. They know when she gets a certain look she has solved the case. That confidence and trust is showing.
Grade: B
