Flop Fashion recap of Ghost Whisperer Season 1, episodes 13 and 14
These episodes are plot dense, but are they dress-sense-dense?
I’m going to tell you that one of these episodes is dark cinematically and one of them is dark thematically. But which is which? Well, the one about capital punishment is actually quite well lit.
Ghost Whisperer Season 1, Episode 13: Friendly Neighborhood Ghost
In her spare time, Melinda enjoys scaring the neighbourhood children into thinking that the vacant house across the road is haunted by getting her ghost dog (that’s right, her ghost dog is still hanging out).
She won’t be able to do that anymore, though, because in the middle of the night someone is moving in very suspiciously.
Melinda is just wearing a big cozy coat, but she does also have her hair in braided pigtails. It’s ok! It’s not a high school flashback! It’s just a choice a canonically 26 year old woman made.
These two are the nosiest neighbours alive, so Melinda just has to find out what his deal is. I relate to this, but I’d probably wait til a few days after he moved in instead of the next day.
She rocks up at the door in a gorgeous printed coat with a hot breakfast. He’s way more reluctant to take a fresh breakfast from a beautiful woman than any ordinary man would be, so Melinda barges on in anyway and what would you know, spots a ghost.
Over the course of the day, it becomes clear the old guy ghost is trying to kill this new neighbour. He starts up a chainsaw, pushes over a ladder, just causes general mayhem and mischief.
That night, Melinda awakens and sees the old guy ghost on the road between the two houses. Feeling chipper, she throws a coat over her nightgown and goes for a chat.
She’s basically like “What’s your deal?” and, in short, he says “That guy killed my daughter.” So now that’s Melinda’s issue.
He tells her how he had a big fight with his daughter years ago, and she ran off with her boyfriend (the new neighbour). She then went missing, and all they found were some bloody clothes in the woods.
Melinda pulls her usual “mama let’s research” and spends her office hours the next day researching this missing daughter.
The locket necklace is comically huge, and I have to laugh thinking about these lightweight dusters we used to love which essentially served no purpose. That’s not keeping you warm! It’s just a big doily! Which I think is why Melinda loves it.
She finds a spooky hunting cabin and her neighbour shows up, so she’s obviously like “my neighbour is a murderer!” and then ghost guy rocks up and starts doing one hell of a haunt.
Now Melinda’s gotta get to the bottom of this girl’s murder. So she follows her neighbour out at night, and finds him meeting up with a woman who looks suspiciously like the runaway that is supposed to be dead.
It turns out she and her boyfriend made a plan to fake her death to escape her father, and he died not knowing she was still alive.
Remember wearing jeans like this in the rain and how that would instantly become the worst day of your life?
So now she’s got to tell this couple that her father blames the guy for her death and that he feels terrible for how he treated her, forcing her to feel like she needed to run away, etc.
And everyone does their forgiveness ritual and it’s all fine and dandy.
Flop Fashion report card: D
Not enough outfits! Melinda spends all night wearing the same thing and it’s boring! Gets points for two key favourites: an absurd duster jacket and a full length nightgown.
Ghost Whisperer Season 1, Episode 14: Last Execution
In this episode Melinda gets hanged. In jeans! Truly startling television.
It all kicks off with what is genuinely one of my favourite things Melinda has ever worn, right up there with the tablecloth dress from episode 4.
Personally, I think Melinda should go full Wild West madam more often because this look really suits her. Corsetry! Bustles! Bump-it! What else would you wear to an art exhibit?
It’s an exhibit of works of an artist who was the last hanged in Wherever Grandview Is. The artist’s daughter rocks up and complains that she was told this was going to be an exhibit to honour her father but instead it’s exploitative. Really this whole plot felt a bit overwrought to me.
Prior to the next scene, Melinda’s hair gets caught in the garbage disposal while she’s doing a sink wash. Just to explain how that looks next because it’s a lot.
The most offensive thing about this outfit is definitely the double width belt. You know this is sitting on top of her jeans because there’s no way it fits in her belt loops.
Basically on this day, after being haunted by the spirit of creativity (who does a painting in Melinda’s basement), she goes to visit the art gallery owner who denies any wrongdoing, and the artist’s daughter who tells us what she knows about her dad.
The ghost keeps making her feel breathless and then puts her through experiencing his actual hanging, which seems aggressive.
He didn’t even give her the luxury of putting on a cute outfit for her murder at the hands of the state!
Jim’s also got his own b-plot going on, where he did some life-saving CPR while off the clock but now the woman is suing him for breaking her ribs. So that’s causing so generalised strife.
I can’t decide how I feel about this shirt. It’s crochet, which is intriguing, and wouldn’t be out of place in 2025 - but the sheer fabric used over the bust is giving me pause.
They make out, and Melinda encourages Jim to just go and use his never-ending charm on the woman who is suing him. I think this is pretty poor advice, and it proves to be when Jim gets a stern talking to the next day.
Meanwhile, Melinda pays the artist’s daughter another visit.
This shirt is a nightmare, Melinda. Let’s not mince words. There isn’t enough contrast between the main fabric and the fabric of the cuffs and paneling and it just looks muddy. You’re probably thinking “oh, she’s wearing it with low slung jeans” but you’d be mistaken:
Just a full length skirt, wide belt and chunky cuff. Very cute and casual.
Anyway we learn that the artist was defending the honour of his wife and that he was wrongfully convicted of his crime. He wanted to leave all of his art to his daughter, but she didn’t understand as an 8 year old child.
She tells the art gallery guy this, and he’s reluctant to hand it all over. She also accompanies Jim to the hospital again, and finds out from a ghost that the woman suing Jim is lying about her injuries.
There’s a whole scene here which Jennifer Love Hewitt filmed obviously missing a fake nail, and that’s superstar behaviour.
There’s a lot of back and forth and eventually we get a happy resolve where the girl’s dad moves on into the light and the art gallery guy hands over all the art and she reopens a new gallery space to honour her father and clear his name.
Love this neckline on her for opening night, love the full skirt, just a really glam finish for a big episode.
Flop Fashion report card: A-
Not a lot of outfits this episode, but so many high impact moments. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, I’m obsessed.