Pete

**Peter "Pete" Martino** is the ghost of a scoutmaster who was accidentally shot in the neck with an arrow by a scout. He appears in the American sitcom *Ghosts*.

## Biography

### History

Pete was born circa 1944/1945. Before his parents announced their divorce they took him to Toys 'R Us and let him get whatever he wanted as mentioned in Thorapy. He mentions that he was bullied constantly when he was a kid in The Perfect Assistant. His mom said it was "cause I was special and the other kids were jealous", he knew it wasn't true but found it comforting. If he could he would have tried to talk to them about what was going on. His dad on the other hand was a distant tough guy who pushed him to solve his problems through aggression. Pete hated it because that wasn't his personality. His dad never listened to him and Pete felt neglected, as he just wanted his dad to listen to him and his ideas. For example, his first advice to handle a bully is to sit down and talk in The Perfect Assistant.

In the episode The Christmas Spirit he mentioned that his family is Italian, and served a traditional Italian-American Christmas meal called "The Feast of Seven Fishes," which is a seven-course meal of fish dishes. They had the entire family over which was his favorite part.

Pete lived in the Hudson Valley area as he would use Woodstone Mansion for his scout outings until his last fatal outing happened in 1985. In addition to being a scoutmaster, Pete was also a travel agent and was a fan of *Newhart*, even finding a way to watch the new episodes after his death.

In the episode The Liquor License, he mentions that he had two light beers in college once and woke up in a trash heap in northern Nevada. He also mentions that he once parked in a loading zone and it ruined 'Goonies' for him.

He was married to Carol in 1971. Pete says that he didn't sleep with his wife on his wedding night. Eventually, the pair had a daughter Laura who he was very close to. They would play make-believe wedding together and he would give her away with her favorite flowers, lilies.

Before he died, he remembered having an argument with Carol because she ate all the donut holes. Pete says that it grinds his gears. That same day he was distracted and handed out the bows and arrows before giving the safety demonstration as shown in Dumb Deaths.

Pete mentions his best friend in life was Jerry, whom he'd called Jerry Bear and they got into funny situations. He was thrown to hear that Carol was remarried to Jerry him but was happy they comforted each other when he died. Pete is upset to learn that his wife was having an affair with him while he was living and thought he knew but he tells the ghosts he had no idea. He later forgives them for the affair in Pete's Wife.

In life, he enjoyed watching sports and was well versed in the games. In Viking Funeral, Pete wants to know the Mets scores for the last 30 years. In the episode Ghostwriter he watches basketball, but only knows about the teams from the 80s. He was a travel agent he let people yell at him when something went wrong as mentioned in Isaac's Book. He mentioned that he worked as a travel agent for 18 years in Spies.

Pete mentions that he built the deck on the house when he was alive as mentioned in Ghost Father of the Bride, but did not get a permit from the zoning board in Ulster County.

### Death

Pete began clubs so that the other ghosts wouldn’t get bored. He remembered his death date and mourned it as it came up. He was thrilled to see his wife Carol and best friend Jerry, however was infuriated to find out they had been having an affair while he was alive. However, he cheered up when seeing her genuine guilt and to see his daughter Laura, now an adult and with a child of her own, a son called Pete (named after him). He adored seeing his grandson play with Carol, and forgave her for the affair. However, he still held a slight grudge in the episode Pete's Wife.

Having accepted his wife’s affair, he hoped to pursue a relationship with Alberta as he had developed a crush on her by Sam's Mom. He explained to Sam about this, but Sasappis overheard and tried to keep it a secret, but ultimately revealed it. Humiliated, Pete claimed he was not in love with Alberta and lied that he was dating a Cholera ghost named Nancy. Nancy agreed to pretend that she was his girlfriend, but went over the top and enjoyed embarrassing Pete. Eventually, she and Pete ended their so-called relationship and Nancy returned to the basement.

In the episode Viking Funeral, he guided Jay on how to shoot an arrow for Thor's funeral through Sam.

Pete is the one who originally thinks of the idea of Sam creating the podcast about Alberta's murder in the episode Alberta's Podcast.

He is quite shocked when Hetty's husband Elias Woodstone ends up in Hell and tells Hetty that her power might not be sending people to Hell but Elias simply refusing to change was plausible in The Vault.

He was tricked into selling his soul and nearly dragged into Hell by Elias Woodstone but thanks to Thorfinn teaching him self-defense, he avoided this fate but he caught a glimpse of the place and believed he saw his deceased Uncle Sal in Hell when he nearly went through the portal in Weekend From Hell.

Sasappis mentions that Pete's death wound was very clean with little to no blood in Ghost Father of the Bride. It gave him nightmares for weeks.

Sam and by extension Pete receive the Martino family newsletter, a newsletter which updates them on Pete's living family. He finds out his grandson is getting a Spider-Man retainer through the newsletter, and also that his daughter Laura is marrying Brian, the father of her child (Pete's grandson). Pete convinces Sam to try and convince Carol to hold the wedding at Woodstone Mansion, so he can attend. Hijinks ensue but eventually Laura's wedding does take place at the Mansion and Pete is able to walk her down the aisle, just like he did when she was a little girl.

Pete has an email address so that he can receive a "joke of the day" from Reader's Digest magazine. He then receives an email from a Nigerian prince, "Prince Jones Dimka," in a classic version of the Nigerian prince email scam. Him, Trevor, and Flower send $5,000 of Sam and Jay's money to the "Nigerian Prince" before they realize it's a scam. Turns out, no harm is done because the "scam" email was actually a trick by Sam and Jay to teach the ghosts a lesson about not using the computers.

## Personality

In the episode Trevor's Pants he describes himself as can-do and selfless and has excellent hand-eye coordination.

Although usually excitable, he has had angry moments such as when he discovered his wife was cheating on him in life and he had no idea, causing him to shout angry words at her. He was spurred into fighting Elias Woodstone after the latter attempted to drag him down into Hell with him, though Thorfinn's teachings helped him avoid an eternity of torture.

## Trivia

* He is the American version of Pat, right down to the manner of how they were both killed.
* Ironically, he likes the smell of the "ghost-repellent" (burning sage), calling it delightful, as seen in the Pilot.
* He's colorblind.
* Besides Hetty and Alberta, Pete is one of the few ghosts who's known to have a living descendant.
* He has seen the film *Ghost*, which was released in 1990, five years after his death. It’s possible he saw the movie as a ghost. However, he hasn’t seen *Ghostbusters*, released in 1984, a year before his death.
* He was part of a barber shop quartet in life as mentioned in Alberta's Podcast.
* Pete got upset when he realized that travel agents are not really a job anymore in the 21st century as shown in the episode Alberta's Fan.
* In the episode Sam's Mom, he says that he has a shellfish allergy and had to carry an epi pen in life. He also mentions that he once ripped a tag off a mattress before.
* In the episode Dumb Deaths, he mentions that he's been to Epcot.
* Pete does improv which was mentioned in Dinner Party. In the same episode he also calls himself an award-winning travel agent. He brings up his improv group in The Perfect Assistant as well.
* In Pete's Wife, Carol mentions that his favorite spot was on a bench in the backyard so he could just take in nature.
* Trevor mentions that Pete taught all the ghosts different knots in Possession. Pete also talks about how much he enjoyed hot pockets in life.
* He mentions he gave Sas "scalp massages while you sleep to stimulate your dreams" in the episode Jay's Friends but that might have been a joke.
* He reveals in Weekend From Hell that he has a deceased Uncle Sal, who he believes he saw in Hell when he nearly went through the portal.
* He mentioned that he used to play the oboe in The Christmas Spirit.
* Pete talked about wearing headgear until he was fifteen in Woodstone's Hottest Couple. He also implies that he didn't have the happiest of marriages, implying he was married before Carol.

## References

1. ↑ Pete says that he'd be 78 if he was alive. It depends on when his birthday was to know which year he was born in
2. ↑ Dumb Deaths
3. ↑ The Family Business
4. ↑ Alberta's Fan