Episode five of Fox’s Ghosted begins with the crew in the bureau, being briefed on their next case. Lafrey informs the team that two teenagers witnessed a man, Dan Brewster, disintegrate into a pile of dust right in front of their eyes. The catch? Dan was described and photographed as being elderly, despite actually only being 25 years old.
Before he died, the man worked as a caddy for a bunch of wealthy businessmen at an upper-class country club. Therefore, to solve the case, it only makes sense that Max and Leroy would go undercover and try to infiltrate the club.
The only problem is the disguises. Only one of them can pose as an elite suite, the other has to go as their caddy. Max draws the short straw and ends up having to carry around Leroy’s clubs for the day, despite his constant request to re-define the caddy-golfer relationship.
Leroy, however, doesn’t care. He soon discovers his knack for getting the businessmen to like him and soon he finds himself golfing next to Campbell McMasters (Sam McMurray), the President of the Club.
Max, meanwhile, works to try and get in with the other caddies. He doesn’t get very far, partially due to his lack of social skills, but is warned that “caddies don’t last very long around here.”
Max isn’t given very long to mull over that information, as his service is soon requested by Leroy. Leroy — getting more and more into the disguise — uses the opportunity to undermine Max and his class status, much to the amusement of his new friends. He even goes so far as to bring up his missing wife, saying “he still wedding ring, even though his wife ran out on him twice!”
The two wind up heading back to the bureau to work out their differences. With help from Barry and Annie, Max figures that the energy to make Dan rapidly age in the way he did must have come from somewhere.
His theory? A Kronos machine. Don’t feel bad if you don’t recognize the device by name because no-one else in the office does either. It’s basically a contraption from ancient legends built from sacred trees that sucks the life out of one individual and can transfer it to another.
Max is sure there’s a Kronos machine hiding somewhere on the premises of the country club. Luckily, there’s an exclusive party behind held there tonight, and Leroy has been invited by his recent companions. Max, this time, will be going as a waiter instead and Annie will be playing Leroy’s girlfriend.
Leroy and Annie walk in, dressed to impress. They quickly find Campbell and his wife and get to work. Annie gets the wife to admit — while drunk — that there’s a secret room downstairs, to which Leroy goes to investigate. Campbell attempts to follow, so Max creates a distraction by spilling a tray of drinks onto him.
After some investigating, Leroy finds a bunch of old pictures from centuries ago, all of which Campbell — looking exactly as he does now — appears in. He doesn’t get much farther before Campbell busts him, straps him to the now revealed Kronos speech and begins his ‘evil bad-guy’ monologue about how he’s going to suck the life out of him.
In the meantime, Max and Annie have been flirting in the parking lot. They realize that Leroy may be in trouble, and decide to bust in and save him. They free Leroy before the machine begins its process and work together to take-down Campbell — who is far stronger than he looks for his age.
Eventually, he’s defeated due to Leroy destroying the tree in which the Kronos machine sits. They head back to the bureau the next day, at which time Leroy apologizes to Max for going too far with the comments about his wife. Max tries to blow it off but eventually admits that Leroy was right and it’s probably time for him to move on.
The episode ends with the gang discussing what they would do if they were given immortality, with Barry saying he would “want to spend eternity with all of you forever” and going in for a hug, which is met with groans, belittlement and rejection.
Ghosted continues to improve more and more each week. While the lore is all over the place and doesn’t necessarily stay consistent from episode to episode, each outing manages to hold its ground based on the chemistry of the stars. The characters are becoming more established and starting to really go somewhere, a trend that will hopefully continue in the future.
With “The Machine” we’re now over halfway done with the first season of Ghosted. Make sure you tune in to Fox at 8:30 p.m. EST tonight to watch the newest episode and to read all our other recaps before then.