"Can you see us?" was a question that Ghost Whisperer posed a lot. As trapped, frightened, or confused (and sometimes angry) ghosts popped up in Melinda Gordon's place of work, the streets she walked down, or even her own home, audiences were invested in the emotional storytelling that went on in the beloved supernatural TV drama of the 2000s.
The Jennifer Love Hewitt-led drama premiered on CBS in 2005 and it quickly became a staple of the weekly schedule, with it somehow managing to hit new highs in its fourth season. Although it ended prematurely with its fifth and final season, the show has remained a fan-favorite over the years, with fans still championing a revival.
Melinda experienced a lot of unique and original adventures during her time on our screens, thrilling audiences (and quite possibly confusing the Grandview residents) along the way. But which of those five seasons took the show to its greatest heights? That's what we're here to figure out, as we rank Ghost Whisperer's five seasons from worst to best.
5. Season 5
The final season of Ghost Whisperer wasn't intended to be the final season but a premature cancellation from CBS meant that it was. Set five years after the events of the previous season, this one allowed the show to move on from its game-changing twist and explain away a lot of the logic behind Jim's miraculous return. It also had a major new addition to the cast, as Melinda and Jim now had a son named Aiden.
The premise of season 5 revolved around two mysterious forces working against each other, with Aiden caught in the middle. The "Shadows" wanted to turn Melinda's son into a ghost, while the "Shinies" tried to protect him from harm. It made for a unique approach to the story that very quickly allowed season 5 to set itself apart from the four previous seasons.
Although it wasn't a perfect season (in terms of being a final season at least), it did function as a strong season of television in its own right. Ghost Whisperer was never far off the money, so the only reason that this one is coming bottom of our list is down to the fact that the show is up against itself.
4. Season 2
The second season of Ghost Whisperer was a bit of a shock to the system. It had evolved from the quaint, family-friendly (albeit occasionally frightening) emotional drama of its first season to adopt a more mainstream US network TV feel. It was more glamorous, ambitious and a bit more grown up to boot, and it also featured some of the best episodes in the show's whole run.
This time around, Melinda Gordon had to contend with Gabriel, a man who had a similar gift to her's but a very different motivation. What complicated things further was that he was also her half-brother, and that created a lot of drama for Melinda and Jim. The show did well with that, balancing the overarching story with the episodic nature of the series a bit better than the first season did. It also benefitted from the introduction of Delia Banks - Melinda's new partner at her antiques store, who quickly became her best friend - as she and Melinda had a very different, but equally strong dynamic to that of Melinda's previous friendship with Andrea.
There were some issues, particularly the fact that the overarching storyline from season 1 involving the wide-brimmed-hat man was never wrapped up, but season 2 was another strong outing from a show that had quickly become one of the most consistent on TV at the time.
3. Season 3
Every show has a season when it decides to take a bit of a darker turn and the third season of Ghost Whisperer is when the CBS series had its own version of that. Centering on the history of Grandview, it revealed that some dark secrets lay below the quaint town that Melinda Gordon called home - literally! Melinda discovered that the original town actually lay underneath the current version of Grandview and decided to venture into it through a secret entrance in the town's archives.
This was the season in which Ghost Whisperer actually developed its own lore, building upon the foundations of its concept instead of just relying on its procedural nature. The series itself wasn't always able to fully captialize on that, but season 3 made the best attempt at doing so, offering up some thrilling new ideas and storylines along the way. Its standalone episodes were also more mature than its predecessors, with the Bloody Mary episode in particular being regarded as one of its most frightening.
Ghost Whisperer is a family-friendly show at heart (and it always will be) but it wore the horror aesthetic well whenever it dabbled with that genre, which did leave some viewers wishing it had dove into the darker lore of Grandview a little more regularly.
2. Season 4
The longer that Ghost Whisperer ran for, the more it began to focus on overarching storytelling. The procedural nature was still there for the most part, but the characters' primary storylines were beginning to get more of a focus. Season 3 opted to prioritize the show's lore and the darker tone but season 4 honed in on the show's emotional heart: Melinda Gordon and Jim Clancy's relationship.
The fourth season is the most divisive because of Jim's death midway through the season, and that's understandable because it didn't really need to happen. But the series stuck the landing by delivering some of its most powerful storytelling (while also taking on some more ambitious plot developments) to showcase that love really does conquer all. From Melinda's struggles with Jim's death to the powerful moment in which "Sam" (Jim in Sam's body) remembered his life with Melinda, season 4 is an emotional rollercoaster that was so utterly compelling that it saw the series reach its highest viewing-figures ever.
Its greatest aspect, though, was Jennifer Love Hewitt's powerhouse performance, which was nothing short of phenomenal.
1. Season 1
The first season of Ghost Whisperer has such a unique tone and presentation that it doesn't really feel like any of the other seasons that came after it. In many ways, it doesn't even feel like a typical US broadcast TV series. Introducing us to Melinda Gordon, her husband Jim Clancy, and her business partner Andrea Marino, it allowed us to get to know each of them very well very early on, ensuring that we were invested in their character arcs right from the very beginning.
The pilot was a tad darker than the rest of the series ended up being, but it had a pretty solid foundation right out of the gate, showing us the extent of Melinda's gift as she helped the dead who reached out to her find peace and provided comfort to many families in the process. Ghost Whisperer might have been about the idea of life after death, but it was also very much focused on the living, providing it with plenty of emotional heart along the way.
It was as much about family as it was about Melinda's abilities and that made it unique, heartfelt, and accessible to viewers of all ages.
Ghost Whisperer is streaming on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.