Thorfinn, the ghost of a 1,000 year old Viking, is the oldest spirit haunting the Woodstone. Thorfinn is from Norway. According to actor Devan Long on social media, ‘Norwegian Vikings were the most ferocious in battle and generally thought to be the most skillful sailors.’
Thorfinn and his fellow Vikings landed near or in close proximity to the Hudson Valley region where the Woodstone would eventually be built. His time spent in the area consisted of expeditions up and down the coast to find game and explore the area. Thorfinn’s true story as it connected to Woodstone unfortunately begins in sorrow for him, as he returned to camp after an expedition to discover his fellow Vikings sailing away, leaving him alone on the shore (‘Viking Funeral’). It is unknown whether Thorfinn had been forgotten or deliberately abandoned. Not long thereafter, Thorfinn is electrocuted in a thunderstorm and dies on the grounds of the future Woodstone mansion, his spirit becoming indefinitely tied to the area and later, the mansion (‘Viking Funeral’).
As a ghost, Thorfinn was aware of where he was buried (‘Viking Funeral’). He also had recollections of observing the living individuals who would later die on the grounds themselves, including Sasappis and Hetty, who Hetty recollected as ‘Gordon,’ a house servant who sang lullabies to her as a child (‘Alberta’s Fan’).
At the Woodstone, Thorfinn haunts the mansion as a spirit gifted with the ability to cause minor disturbances with the light fixtures (‘Pilot’). He spends his days recollecting about his life as a Viking warrior and spending time with Sassapis watching trashy reality shows (‘Pete’s Wife’). Despite his age, he is growing more aware of the use of technology, such as the television, within the mansion (‘Sam’s Mom’). He recently achieved his dream of having a modified Viking funeral, but longs to connect with a woman (‘Viking Funeral’).
Recently, Thorfinn received therapy, with Sam as an intermediary, after experiencing night terrors and attacking Sam and Trevor upon being wakened (‘Thorapy’). He confessed to having killed and eaten his squirrel bestfriend, Oskar. In fact, after his shipmates abandoned him, after being alone for months, he met Oskar and they teamed up; they hunted together, camped together. Then, as the winter deepened, both got hungrier, hungrier. One day, Thorfinn was so hungry and wasn’t able to properly think, he took a rock, killed his bestfriend and ate him. Thorfinn blamed himself enormously and admits that after talking about it out loud, after confessing this secret to Sam, Alberta, Pete, Trevorand Isaac, he didn’t feel so bad. Later, Thorfinn made another surprise revelation: he seemed to have developed feelings for Flower, who expressed her love for him but back-tracked when he was not ‘sucked off’ after his Viking funeral (‘Thorapy’).
Possibly due to the therapy Thorfinn has been receiving with assistance from Sam, in ‘Trevor’s Pants,’ Thorfinn gently confronts Flower about her telling him she loved him when everyone believed he was about to be ‘sucked off’ at his Viking funeral. Flower tells him she does have feelings for him but also says she has intimacy issues, which requires the participation of a ‘third person’ in order for their relationship to be successful and to keep things from becoming too ‘intense.’ Thorfinn suggests they find a ‘buffer’ to accommodate her needs; from there, the couple work on finding their buffer, which begins with interviewing the other ghosts in the house. When the interviews prove unsuccessful, Flower brings in Crash’s headless body as their buffer. Thorfinn rejects Crash, but says he is willing to wait for Flower for as long as it takes.
As season 1 came to an end with ‘,’ Thorfinn makes the confession to Sam and Jay that the unfortunate events occurring in the Mansion may actually be due to his placing a Norse curse on them when they were planning on opening the B & B but before the spirits had gotten to know Sam and Jay. A remorseful Thorfinn tells Sam that the curse could be reversed with a concoction of cinnamon and sugar — but says there could be a chance that the spell could also reverse Sam’s ability to see and communicate with the spirits as well. Considering this, Sam decides not to go through with the curse reversal and live with whatever additional consequences of Thorfinn’s curse come their way.
As Season 2 began, Thorfinn’s personality has been expanding in many areas, particularly where it concerns his relationship with Flower and his developing friendships with the other ghosts. When Thorfinn’s boisterous nature becomes uncomfortable for Nigel, Isaac’s approach in addressing the issue drives Thorfinn to the basem*nt to join the cholera crew (‘Spies‘). When Isaac brings Nigel down to the basem*nt to apologize to Thorfinn, it gives the Viking and the British officer an opportunity to bond over the ants occupying the basem*nt. He harnessed a new singing ability inspired by Alberta (‘Alberta’s Podcast’) and also demonstrated exceptional knowledge of the show ‘Friends’ (‘Jay’s Friends‘).
As the season progresses, Thorfinn makes winning Flower’s heart his main priority (‘The Tree‘). With Trevor’s help, he becomes environmentally conscious, to the degree of confronting Hetty over her factory’s use of coal, but his aggressive ways are still of concern for Flower. By the end of the episode, Thorfinn encourages his oldest friend Sasappis by helping him to focus on the future of other trees grown from the seeds of the beloved tree that was cut down, which moves Flower.
One of Thorfinn’s major developments of the season is the discovery of a son, Bjorn, who is haunting the Farnsby’s home (‘The Baby Bjorn’). Sam and Jay arrange for a reunion, albeit from the upstairs windows. When Thorfinn discovers that Bjorn took a Danish wife and had a family with her, Thorfinn becomes enraged and threatens to disown him. It is only the memory of his infant son, and with the intervention of Flower and Isaac, that Thorfinn accepts Bjorn and moves forward in establishing a relationship with him.
As the season progresses, Thorfinn makes great progress in developing stronger relationships with his long-lost son Bjorn and with Flower, but not without complications. In ‘A Date to Remember,’ Thorfinn and Flower go on a dinner date featuring classic Nordic cuisine for them to smell, which Jay cooks and tastes for them, twice.
In ‘The Perfect Assistant,’ when Bjorn is being bullied by Judy Farnsby, Thorfinn tells his son to respond with aggression, whereas Pete encourages Bjorn to use communication. Once it’s revealed that Judy is bullying Bjorn because she likes him, Thorfinn accepts the gentle nature of his son and goes the route of giving him instruction on sex.
One of Thorfinn’s most notable events in Season 2 was in ‘The Christmas Spirit, Part One’ and ‘The Christmas Spirit, Part Two.’ In part one, the household has to deal with his distaste for Christmas and how he feels it has corrupted his Nordic traditions. But after he accidentally possesses Sam, he comes to realize the many wonderful and moving elements of the holiday. By the end the episode, he joins the other Ghosts to serenade a carol to Sam and Jay, and he tells her that Christmas is for spending time with people you love.
The fearless Viking ghost finds himself in another unusual situation when he finds himself caught in a Latvian ghost trap purchased by new Woodstone B&B manager Freddie (‘Ghost Hunter’). Flower soon joins him in the trap, where the two share their first kiss, and are rescued by Pete, who voluntarily enters the trap in order to free the couple.
By the end of Season 2, Thorfinn makes significant progress in winning Flower’s heart, to the degree of allowing some of the Ghosts to test his ability to control his temper (‘Isaac’s Book‘), but his bottled fury is unleashed in fierce comments directed at Danish B&B visitor Soren and his opinions about Norwegians. Flower later confesses that she liked his strong show of anger.
Moving into Season 3, Thorfinn is found to be in a state of vocal grief over the supposedly ‘sucking off’ of his girlfriend Flower. While none of his fellow Ghosts’ condolences seem to help him, Thorfinn does listen to the insight on reincarnation offered by Jay. When an owl is discovered in the barn that needs to be relocated, Thorfinn takes Jay’s words to heart and becomes convinced that Flower has been reincarnated as the owl. When Jay refuses to deviate from their plan to relocate the owl and proceed with construction, Thorfinn threatens to burn down the barn.
Once Sam moves ‘Flowl’ into the mansion, to dwell in a birdcage, it takes Jay to tell Thorfinn that Flower was a free spirit who would not be happy in that cage, as he encourages the grieving Viking to let her go.
With the other Ghosts gathered, Thorfinn movingly eulogizes Flower at her memorial service.
