‘Ghosts’: Story Behind Hilarious Alexander Hamilton Feud Finally Revealed

(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

Considering the hit CBS comedy Ghosts just got a two-season renewal (taking it to at least six seasons), star Brandon Scott Jones doesn’t want his character, Captain Isaac Higgintoot to get “sucked off” anytime soon.

OK, out of context this might seem like a curious turn of phrase, but it is how the resident spirits of Woodstone B&B describe heading from earthbound purgatory to the afterlife. Inspired by the British sitcom of the same name, when you talk about Ghosts, you don’t even blink when asking a question using this language, as I discovered when The Daily Beast Obsessed chatted with Jones about Isaac’s most recent attempt at growth this season.

“The moments where he’s not trying to be anything other than good, he’s not doing it with the goal of getting sucked off, he’s doing it with the goal of helping somebody else,” says Scott Jones. “You wonder if that’s going to be the ticket for him as he moves on, but I don’t know, I don’t think he’s gonna get sucked off. I hope he doesn’t, we’ll see.”

At the start of Season 4, Isaac promised to be a better person. This week’s episode, “Alexander Hamilton and the Ruffle Kerfuffle,” offers another chance to work on this pledge by helping Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) get over a one-sided restaurant rivalry. In doing so, Isaac finally reveals the source of his beef with famed historical figure, Alexander Hamilton (played by Nat Faxon).

The first time Woodstone owner, Sam (Rose McIver), saw the eclectic group of ghosts after a near-fatal fall, much to Isaac’s horror, she described him as “a guy dressed like Hamilton.” After 250 years of blissful ignorance, Isaac discovered that Alexander Hamilton was not only famous, but on the $10 bill and the subject of a Tony-winning musical. Ever since, Isaac has been determined to become more than a literal footnote in history. However, it turns out, unbeknown to Isaac, his contribution (while not attributed) is well known.

“He was in the room where it almost happened, and then he ruined it,” says Jones. Yep, Isaac Higgentoot was at the exclusive gathering in 1776 at his mentor John Jay’s home the night the Declaration of Independence was drafted—and then accidentally destroyed by Isaac.

And all because Isaac accused Alexander Hamilton of stealing the shirt ruffle that Isaac had ordered from Henry’s Haberdashery. “It was exactly what I thought it was going to be, in terms of how small and petty it was,” says Jones. “There’s nothing more epically Isaac than a petty feud being this thing that he’s let boil over into something huge for so long.”

Instead of focusing on the history-making task at hand, Isaac spends the drafting process obsessing over the on-trend delicate neckpiece Alexander is sporting because he is confident it is his. During the signing, Isaac is so absorbed with looking for the tell-tale monogram on the collar that he knocks a candle onto the document. “That was the thing I found the most surprising, how close he was,” says Jones.

Jones does wonder if this story is entirely factual because Isaac “has proven himself to be a little bit of an unreliable narrator, a little revisionist history seems to be one of his fortes.” Even if he has embellished parts of this feud, Isaac rarely positions himself as at fault: “He obviously comes across a little awful in this. It’s nice that the selfless act to try to help Jay ends up leading him to finding something out about himself as well.”

Pete (Richie Moriarty) makes Isaac aware that the Declaration of Independence (which Isaac never read), includes a phrase Isaac used when leaving the soirée: “Alexander interfered with my pursuit of happiness.” In the burned draft, only life and liberty were “unalienable Rights.” Pete reveals that Isaac’s “pursuit of happiness” comment is the third. “It’s such a good Isaac moment, where there’s absolutely no etymology that could ever factually prove that he said that,” Jones says. He made a mark, yet “his desire to want other people to know it” remains unfulfilled.

During the “ruffle kerfuffle,” Isaac’s self-destructive choices remind me of Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) from The Other Two. It turns out, I am not the only one. “It was my Cary moment, for sure,” Jones says. Jones played Cary’s long-suffering best friend Curtis in the Max comedy, and the actor pulled from this experience: “I remember thinking to myself, not only ‘Oh, this feels like Cary, but how would Drew do it?’ Because Drew played that seething, obsessive, jealous type so well in those moments with Cary. That’s so funny that you brought that up, it definitely was on my mind at some point.”

Also on his mind was the slew of texts he’d received when it was announced that Faxon would play Hamilton: “Everyone was like, ‘You’re gonna love him. He’s amazing. He’s the best.’ When he showed up, I was like, ‘Okay, well, this guy has a lot of big reputation to live up to, and he genuinely exceeded all of that.”

Alexander Hamilton has had a pop culture resurgence thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, but Faxon didn’t try to emulate that version. “He didn’t try to freestyle rap or anything,” Scott laughs. “He played it in this period-esque way that I thought made it really funny.” Part of this was how well Faxon wore the 18th century attire: “He enters the room, and you’re like, Oh my God, this guy is from that period.”

Speaking of costumes, it isn’t just that Alexander may have stolen his ruffle (spoiler alert, he did), as Isaac suffers the indignity of having to borrow an out-dated and enormous ruffle from John Jay. Jones had a specific ruffle fitting with costume designer Carmen Alie, trying options to ensure it was suitably ostentatious and cumbersome. “As a ghost on that show, you don’t get a chance to play with costumes too often,” Jones says. “So this was a fun opportunity to not only do something with your hair, but get to do something with this enormous piece.”

Jones says the enormous accessory had “a neck brace style to it, where it forced and changed his posture, which made me laugh.” When he refers to it as buoyant, I liken it to a life vest (“If I fell into any body water, I go straight back up,” he jokes). Eating also proved challenging: “Not only was I having to remove it for lunch, but there was also a point where they were draping [purple] capes around me. At one point, I looked like Grimace in this purple wrap, I was walking around with this curly hair.”

By the way, those curls were something Jones pitched showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman when Isaac had his first flashback. “I was like, ‘This is the guy that doesn’t know who he is and never really was who he was authentically,” says Jones. The hairstyle Isaac died sporting was “more the conventional norm, but it wasn’t necessarily the one he wanted.” Jones thought it would be a symbolic choice considering the gay Revolutionary War officer didn’t come out until 250 years after his death.

One wish Jones has is for Isaac to “be confident and not a complete and total mess. He’s so flustered by love and lust.” Isaac’s journey to be a better person this season involved apologizing to ex-fiancé Nigel (John Hartman) for leaving him at the altar in the Season 3 finale. “I can tease that you’ll definitely see Nigel again. I think they’re in a better place than they were,” says Jones.

However, something or rather, someone will come between them. “A new ghost, but a familiar face comes to town, and they both are very enamored with him; I can see that being a little bit of a rift,” says Jones. “Hopefully, Isaac tries to make good in some ways, but who knows. It’s Isaac. He’s always gonna take one step forward, two steps back.”

Ghosts recently wrapped shooting its fourth season (in a blizzard no less), which means it is time to look back and reflect on highlights while also reveling in the double-season pick-up. The renewal was incredibly welcome because work stability shouldn’t be underestimated and the news also eased Jones’ day (“This is an overshare. But I was at the GI’s office [and it was like] ‘Oh this is much better now”).

Jones also cites the time spent in Montreal while shooting Ghosts as a continuing source of joy. “We started all playing pickleball. It’s growing those relationships off camera with the crew and the cast,” he says.

Regardless of if or when Isaac gets sucked off, Jones doesn’t have ideas of grandeur like his TV counterpart. “I hope at the end of this, the memories that I’m gonna take away, no matter how long the show goes, are gonna be the other people we’re working with,” says Jones. “This sounds like such a canned answer, but I’m thinking about it right now, and I’m like, ‘Hey, this is real.”