“He makes Gozer look like Little Mary Sunshine.”

The Collect Call of Cathulhu

Original Air date: October 27, 1987^[1]

Writer: Michael Reaves

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 5 of 5)

Summary: The Necronomicon, the most powerful spell book in the world, is on loan to the New York Public Library.  A professor was nervous but the library official Clark Ashton, who didn’t believe in all this “silly stuff,” told him not to worry but as fate would have it the book was stolen. 

What must be protected wasn't protected very well.

                The next day the Ghostbusters are reading about the Necronomicon but all Peter can do is talk about his date.  He is very excited but all his hopes are dashed when they get a call and have to leave.  The Ghostbusters get to the library and promise to relocate the famous book.  Egon explains to the rest of the team how dangerous the book actually is.  He states that the book could be used to bring back old gods most noticeably Cathulhu, whom Egon compares to Gozer with Gozer as the wimp. 

          

No fun in the sewers!

                They use the PKE meter to track the book's trace to the sewers where they are attacked by creatures known as the Spawn of Cathulhu.  These creatures have their body parts regenerate after they are hit by proton blasts.  The Ghostbusters are forced to retreat. 

New ally, Dr. Alice Derleth.

                Deciding they need extra help Egon goes with Peter to consult with Dr. Alice Derleth from Miskatonic University, who is an expert on the Necronomicon and the Cult of Cathulhu.  When Peter learns that Alice is a beautiful woman his priorities become messed up as its clear he would like to date her.  Egon keeps the meeting on focus and Alice agrees to help the Ghostbusters.

Focus Peter, focus!

                Together the Ghostbusters and their new colleague track down the Cult and when they find them the Cult summons a Shuggoth to destroy them.  At this point Alice shows off her usefulness by placing a spell that turns the creature into stone.  By the time they escape however the Cult has gotten away. 

More monsters, Alice takes this one down.

                Ray decides what needs to be done is read up on H. P. Lovecraft’s work.  Lovecraft had based his work on the study of the paranormal and wrote a lot about Cathulhu.  They stop by a buddy of Ray’s who has a lot of the old pulp magazines.  The Ghostbusters and Alice research and come up with a way to stop him, it turns out he is vulnerable to electricity.  They also figure out where the cult is likely to summon him and it is by a fairground. 

Reading Lovecraft's work.

                The Ghostbusters head over but the Ecto-1 breaks down because Peter is an idiot.  So they have to go by train.  When they get there Cathulhu has risen.  The Ghostbusters find their blasts are ineffective and none of Alice’s spells work.  They decide to try the electricity thing and attempt to lure the monster to a roller-coaster ride.  Peter gets on the ride and blasts to get Cathulhu’s attention.  While he is doing that the other Ghostbusters are electrifying the ride with their packs.  Cathulhu gets electrocuted and vanishes back to which he came. 

Bringing the legend back!

                The cult, whose leader is revealed to be Clark Ashton the library officer,  is upset and tries to attack the Ghostbusters but the cops come and arrest them.  Back at the firehouse Alice is going to take the powerful spell book back to the university and Peter wanted to know if she would like to go on a date.  She agrees but when she starts talking about what she is interested in doing Peter wonders if he has bitten off more than he can chew. 

Guess whose here.

My Take: The same author that brought us “the Boogieman Cometh” delivers another masterpiece.  When watching this episode it struck me as very familiar.  I reasoned I must have watched it as a kid and now I am just remembering it.  Then I found out another reason: Cathulhu is not their original character.  He has been around since the 1920s and classic of science fiction.  Cathulhu has made numerous other appearances beyond his original creator’s, H.P. Lovecraft, works.  I love the way Reaves used Lovecraft’s original work as the research material on how to defeat this adversary.  The title itself is a tribute to Lovecraft’s The Call of Cathulhu.

You might be a legend but this is our show.

                Now for my stray observations:

·         Peter’s date scenes at both the beginning and end of the episode were very funny.

·         Peter’s lost shoe.

·         “I drove the car around and tires rotated.” There is a brilliant scientist for you.

·         If the Necronomicon is so dangerous why don’t they just destroy it?

·         I really like Alice as a character and ally of the Ghostbusters I would like to see more of her in the future, but I don’t remember if I ever do.

·         As they did their research through the old pulp magazines all I could think of was that this would be a lot easier today with the internet, and faster too.

·         I love Winston’s line when he got annoyed with the project.  “Let’s just blast him.”

·         Speaking of great lines from Winston love the call back to the movie when he says, “I really regret answering that ad.”

·         Didn’t Cathulhu make an appearance of South Park?  Maybe that's where I am remembering this creature from?

This is a great episode watch it.  

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[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

THE GHOSTBUSTERS ARE PLAYING GHOST WHISPERER AGAIN

The Man Who Never Reached Home

Original Air date: October 12, 1987^[1]

Writer: Kathryn M. Drennan

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 5 of 5)

Summary: The episode begins in 1887 at an inn where a man named Simon Quegg, is irrationally angry at the inn’s owners.  Quegg is an important man whom the owners seem quite concerned as to having upset him.  Quegg tells them that he will shut their inn down.  The scared owners beg him not to ride out trying to remind him that there is a bad storm and it is not safe, and he can stay at their little inn.  Quegg refuses; after all he is going to try to have the place shut down.  He yells out, "I'll see home before the night is out or by all that is unholy may I never see home again."  Little does he realize as he said that the horse’s eyes changed to the color red as he rode off.  After he left a phantom rider appears and gives chase.

Poor inn owners worried that Quegg will ruin them.

                In the modern 1987, the Ghostbusters on their way back from a job stop at a local diner.  Slimer is with them and they decide to leave him in the car but Ray tells Slimer he will order him a meal.  As Ray comes back with Slimer’s food Simon Quegg rolls up and asks him directions to Providence.  When Ray informs him it’s nearly eighty miles.  Quegg refuses to believe him and goes into a near panic.  He says he can’t stay that something is gaining on him.  As he departs the phantom rider appears chasing after Quegg.

Riding for over a hundred years.

                Ray runs into the dinner with Slimer telling the others what he saw.  The manager of the diner, who had started chasing Slimer around with a frying pan, stopped and stated that the man he saw was Simon Quegg.  The manger went on to explain that all the locals were aware of him and that he was the ghost of man who got lost in a storm a century ago.  The ghost, the manager continued, is always seen during a storm; he stops, asks directions, refuses to believe what anyone tells him, and rides off.  When Ray asked about the other one the manager panics and says the only people who see the Rider are cursed with misfortune and with that he kicks the Ghostbusters out of his establishment.

Ray meets Quegg.

                Ray wants to find Quegg, but he makes it clear that he doesn’t want to bust him he wants to help him.  Egon is intrigued and convinces both Peter and Winston to agree.  They use the PKE meter to track him to a bridge.  When they arrive Quegg remembers Ray, Ray asks Quegg if he can come down, but Egon says that Quegg is a separate ghost from the horse and buggy, and of the two the horse and buggy is more powerful.  Ray decides to adjust his particle thrower to target only the more powerful spirit but when does this he ends up switching places with Quegg.  Ray, now the occupant of the horse and buggy is pulled away and the rider is chasing him.

The Rider

                The remaining Ghostbusters force Quegg to return with them to the firehouse.  They try to brainstorm a way to get Ray back.  The horse and buggy will only return during a storm so if they are to get there comrade back they have to recreate it.  The Ghostbusters produce a device that will get the clouds in the air to create a storm but they will have to bring the device to the clouds themselves using Ecto-2.  They head out and because Egon created the device he decided it would be himself he would risk to activate it, however he does take Slimer with him. 

Oh, no we lost Ray.

                Returning to the bridge in New England, Egon flies the Ecto-2 in the air.  They end crashing the Ecto-2 into the water but accomplish their mission.  As Egon predicted because they have Simon Quegg with them the horse and buggy return with Ray in it.  The other Ghostbusters all try to blast the buggy but that only results in a lightning bolt coming down and shorting out all their packs.

Slimer being helpful

                When then dark rider arrives Ray convinces Quegg to confront it.  Quegg gets back on the buggy with Ray to confront the rider.  As they get closer they see the rider has Quegg’s face!  He was running from himself the whole time.  Quegg pushes Ray off saying this is something he has to do on his own.  Two Simon Queggs collide and disappear.

Now we're serious.

                The weather clears and it is now bright and sunny, Simon Quegg returns to thank the Ghostbusters for freeing him.  He is grateful that can now go home.  

The reveal.

My Take: This was a great episode it was inspire by a New England legend which originated as a story called Peter Rugg—the Missing Man, written by a William Austin.  There are several differences in Kathryn M. Drennan’s character and the one created by Austin.  For example Simon Quegg rides alone where Peter Rugg’s ten year old daughter shares his curse.  Another difference is Simon Quegg is from a more recent time of 1887, exactly one hundred years before this episode’s time.  Peter Rugg was said to be born in 1730 and went missing in 1770.  William Austin himself died in the 1840s, four decades before Drennan’s character got started.

                One of the reasons I rank this episode so high is the characterization.  Ghostbusters tales are always character driven stories; most of its humor and charm from character interaction moments.  It’s great when they come across situations and they react as you expect they would.  In this episode Ray wants to help out of compassion and Egon out of curiosity.  Peter brings up the whole money angle; once again the Ghostbusters are doing something without pay. 

                Speaking of which, this was also as pointed out in the title of this review, the Ghostbusters acting less like themselves and more like the Ghost Whisperer.  Usually they bust ghosts not try to solve their problems.  Yet, I don’t mind the change because it prevents every episode from being about the same thing.  Also there is some debate that what the Ghostbusters do is actually good and I think episodes like this proves it is. 

Now for my stray observations:

·         I like when Peter defended Slimer from Quegg, Peter always claims to hate him but don’t mess with the spud in front of him.

·         Speaking of Slimer I love the fact that Slimer forgets about his ghost abilities.  Man chases him with a pan and Slimer tries to avoid it for fear of getting hurt while he can always turn intangible and it won’t even be able to touch him.  Another great scene was when the Ecto-2 was spinning and Slimer was holding on for dear life, forgetting that he can fly and is not dependent on Ecto-2 to stay in the air.

·         Poor Ecto-2 they crashed it again. Hopefully we won’t have to wait thirty some odd episodes before we see it again.

·         I think if I was Quegg I would have charged the dark rider long before a century was up.

Nevertheless this was great episode and I highly encourage anyone to watch it. 

---

[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

THE GHOSTBUSTERS ARE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO HAVE A PET!

Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin

Original Air date: October 29, 1987^[1]

Writer: Linda Woolverton

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 4 of 5)

Summary: After along car trip the Ghostbusters stop at a traveling circus.  The reason is Egon saw in their ad that there is a goblin in this circus.  When they see that the Goblin was in fact real the Ghostbusters try to bust him.  However Madame LaFarge, the circus owner, stops them.  She explains that Drool, the Goblin, is part of their circus family and they can’t just take him.  Egon tries to explain that goblins are dangerous but LeFarge is having none of it.  She accuses the Ghostbusters of being trigger happy and asks them to leave. 

Drool is just a pet

                The Ghostbusters are heading home but along the way the Ecto-1 breaks down, little known to the Ghostbusters it was sabotage.  They are forced to stay overnight in a hotel.  During the night they are victims to some paranormal pranks, cats sounding like dogs, mud coffee, everything floating in a room.  The next day they are attacked and run out of town by this entity.  There weapons are useless and they have their butts handed to them.   The Ghostbusters discuss how this was similar to shape-changing ghost they battled a while back who they were never able to defeat.

She is allowed to have a pet too!

Nasty Ghost

                The Ghostbusters come to the conclusion that Drool was behind everything so they head back to the circus to bust him.  They come in, over LaFarge’s objections, and blast Drool.  Drool starts to cry but then they hear that trouble is still going on outside.  They let Drool go and go out to confront the threat.  The Ghostbusters then realize this is the same shape changing entity that they failed to catch before.  It is truly violent and threatens to harm some of the circus goers.  Drool however enters the battle and attacks the ghost protecting the people.  The Ghostbusters fire and have them both caught in the stream, if Drool lets go people may die but if he doesn’t he is trapped too.  Madam LaFarge lets the Ghostbusters know that Drool wants them to do what is best and the trap both of them.  Madam LaFarge asks if they can let him go, but Ray explains they can’t without letting loose the other evil shape changing ghosts.  Ray tries to play sour grapes by saying that Drool will be with his own kind and he may be happier there. 

Okay now what do we do?

Ghost is getting really nasty!

My Take: I really struggled rating this one I kept going back from a three to a four.  On one hand I really like the story, Drool and Madam LeFarge as characters, and Drool emotional sacrifice at the end.  He nobly went down helping and protecting those who despised him, and was never fully appreciated for it. I might have made a five but there were many things holding the episode back and that I will go over in my stray observations.

"Sorry we busted you;re pet. We could try to let him go but we're lazy."

                Now for my stray observations:

·         Okay so who is paying the Ghostbusters?  They aren’t a charity, they are a business.  Sometimes they do free work for a poor client or a world threatening situations, but neither is the case here.  The Ghostbusters weren’t wanted, Egon just saw an ad for a circus saw the word “goblin” and they came a running.  This would be like exterminators showing up at your door because somewhere someone told them your son had an ant farm.  Once Peter questioned going into a building that had opened a door to the Netherworld, why isn’t he questioning this?

·         Where’s Slimer?  Slimer isn’t in this episode which is okay on its own, but there is one problem.  That problem is no one even mentions Slimer.  This is odd because he is relevant here.  The Ghostbusters try to tell Madam LeFarge that it is wrong for them to keep a pet ghost all the while they have a pet ghost.  LeFarge accused them of being trigger happy in their ruthless hunt of Drool, but she didn’t call them hypocrites and perhaps that’s because she didn’t have their personal information.  If she had such knowledge she would be justified to call them that for in this episode that is what they were.

·         So our weapons conveniently don’t work until we reach the part of the plot where they do.  Why do the blasts work on the shape changing ghost at the end when they didn’t at the beginning?

·         What do you mean we can’t release Drool?  Okay maybe you can’t let him out of the trap without releasing the other one but you can get him out of the Containment Unit.  We saw Egon do it in the episode “Xmas Marks the Spot.” Yes it’s risky but considering everything that Drool did for them, especially after the way they treated him, at the very least they owe him a try.

                It was a good episode but generally I prefer episodes where they Ghostbusters aren’t the least likable people.

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[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

VAMPIRE TOWN

No One Comes to Lupusville

Original Air date: October 5, 1987^[1]

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 5 of 5)

Summary: It’s late at night and Janine is playing cards with Slimer.  However Janine caught Slimer cheating and he took off.  Janine started to chase him when she stepped outside she found they had a visitor.  A man named Gregor was looking to hire the Ghostbusters services for his hometown of Lupusville.

Gregor, so really couldn't tell just by looking at him.

                The next day the Ghostbusters head out to Lupusville.  When they get there that evening they found the townspeople a little strange, old fashioned, and not very talkative, with the exception of one creepy little girl named Leda.  Gregor shows up and invites the Ghostbusters into his home.  Inside he reveals that his town has been under the threat of vampires who seek to drive them out.  At first the team tries to politely refuse pointing out to Gregor that their specialty is ghosts not vampires.  However they start to sing a different tune when Gregor offers them a chest full of gold.

All the girls like Egon, even the weird ones.

                With that the Ghostbusters are off hunting vampires.  Shortly into the hunt Egon reveals with the PKE meter that the vampires have them surrounded.  The bats around them transformed into vampires and attacked.  Egon, who had been one of the only Ghostbusters who expressed interest in this vampire job for an opportunity to test their equipment on the undead, learned with the rest that the particle streams were no good battling the creatures.  One vampire managed to activate the overload switch on Egon’s proton pack.  He gets it off and there is an explosion. 

That moment you realize you're surrounded by vampire's and you equipment is designed to fight ghosts.

                Ray and Peter wake up and the other two are nowhere to be found.  They are now the prisoners of the vampires.  The lead vampire informs them that Gregor and his followers are vampires like them, but they are heretics who want to live like humans.   Gregor's vampires stole the town from the real residents,  They give the two Ghostbusters the option of helping them in order to save their friends who were the prisoners of Gregor.   

And here are the vampires.

                Back in Lupusville, Egon and Winston wake up in a cell with Gregor over them.  At first Gregor acts concerned but turns hostile when the Ghostbusters figure out he is a vampire when they see he has no reflection.  When Gregor leaves Leda, the creepy girl, shows up and offers to help.  Egon asks her if she can get the spare pack in the car.  She confirms she can, and Ego then asks if she knew what happened to the real townspeople.  Leda said she can lead the Ghostbusters to them.

Not to be confused with these vampires.

                Peter is doubtful that whoever wins will let them leave but Ray is being helpful and finds a way to alter his particle thrower so that shoots out the same spectrum as sunlight.  The lead vampire is impressed but warns them not to use it on any of their side.  Meanwhile, Egon and Winston have found the townspeople locked in and underground dungeon.  The townspeople ask if it’s a full moon outside and when Winston confirms that it is they ask just to be free so they can do their part.

Look, the locals were all werewolves.

                Outside the Battle of the Vampires is happening.  Ray’s weapon is proving quite useful against Gregor’s vampires.  Then the original townspeople come out.  They reveal that the vampires were attracted to their town because of how isolated it was, it turns out there was a reason for that because as soon as they came in contact with the full moon they transformed into werewolves. 

                The remaining vampires unified and started fighting the werewolves.  Ray wanted to stay and see who wins but Egon thought now would be a good time to get the out of there.  When asked why he reminded them about how a vampire biting someone makes them a vampire and a werewolf biting someone turns them into a werewolf.  What happens when a werewolf and a vampire bite each other?  Ray would probably love to find out but the rest thinks it best to move on.  On the way home they see a dam, realizing vampires can’t travel over water they destroy it flooding the place.  They leave and Leda joins them riding on the back.

My Take: This is a great episode it’s very creative and fun.  After all, if ghosts exist in this world why not vampires and werewolves?  Although I would prefer a more modern interpretation after all with mathematics if being bitten is the only thing that changes you than vampires or werewolves should overpopulate the world in a matter of weeks.  Nevertheless the idea of a vampire or werewolf town makes some sense.

Now for my stray observations:

·         Does Janine ever sleep?  She is there all the time.  The Ghostbusters are up snoozing away and Janine is manning that phone and passing the time playing poker with Slimer.  When she says she wants to form a union, who would she form one with?  She is the only support staff.

·         Egon sends Leda to get the “spare” pack.  But there are lots of packs in that car.  Good, it’s great that they are working on that.  In the second half of season 1 I was very concerned.

·         I love the scenes between Egon and Winston.  Egon is so weird and it’s nice to see one of his teammates react to it.  There entire interaction was full of great character moments that Straczynski is great at.

·         The vampire vs. werewolf fight: was it necessary?  One group of vampires wanted the town the others don’t.  The anti-town vampires were winning so why the need to fight the residents? 

A great episode all around it was entertaining from beginning to end.

              

[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

THE CREEPIEST OLD MAN EVER

You Can't Take It With You

Original Air date: October 14, 1987^[1]

Writers: Durnie King and Richard Mueller

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 4 of 5)

Summary: Mr. Tummell a very wealthy and creepy man came up with a plan.  He didn’t like the idea of building up a fortune all his life to go to someone else when he dies.  He also didn’t like the idea of going on to the next state with nothing just like when he was born.  So he came up with a way to transport his massive fortune and worldly processions into the ghost world.  After he finds out it works he fires his chief scientist—who thought they were doing this just for research—and begins the process immediately.

"Okay, it works. You're fired give me the controls."

                This causes a major disturbance in the spirit world.  Ghosts just start pouring into reality.  At the firehouse, their equipment starts to go haywire.  So the team jumps into Ecto-1 to find the disturbance.  They easily find their way to Tummell Tower by following the PKE meter, which fries upon getting there.  Once the Ghostbusters arrive at the building they battle their way inside.  

                On the inside Peter wants to know why they are bothering since no one is paying them.  Ray just simply points out they are Ghostbusters and there are ghosts on the loose.  Peter however thinks they should just wait for the ghosts to bother someone so they can get called and get paid.  Egon points out that what is happening could jeopardize society itself making the amount of money they had pointless.   

I'm going to live with my money forever!

                The Ghostbusters can’t use the elevator and the stairs would take too long so they contact the Mayor’s office and get a helicopter and flew it to the roof.  Once on top all the Ghostbusters, but Peter, decide to repel down to the lower levels that they need.  Peter just picks the lock and beats them there.  Inside they rescue some of Mr. Tummell’s specialty staff (cook, butler, etc.) who Mr. Tummell decided to take with him.

                The Ghostbusters attack Tummell’s lab and battle his machines.  Tummell has some impressive ghost shields and armaments.  Egon is also impressed with his lab.  The Ghostbusters manage to turn the machine on the building causing it to become unstable.  The Ghostbusters and the rescued staff escape on the helicopter.  Mr. Tummell and his building are sent to the ghost world, but unfortunately for him the size of the building caused all the stuff he sent before (money and gold) to come crashing back.  The Ghostbusters ignore it and go home.  

 My Take:  This was a really interesting episode.  In the Ghostbusters' world, people accept that ghosts are real, and a number of people accept that there is a real afterlife.  This is the first time we actually saw someone try to take advantage of that knowledge.  Mr. Tummell’s problem however is even if he succeeds in getting all his material processions over to the other side his personal fortune is only worth something in a capitalistic society.  How does he know one exists in the netherworld?  Gold and coin are only valuable so long as we all agree they are valuable, something that might not be the case in the ghost world.

              Now for my stray observations:

·         ·         Speaking of money I like that Peter brought up the economic angle from their end.  At the start of this episode I was like “Isn’t Tummell just doing them a favor?”  I also liked that Egon pointed out they have other reasons for needing this to stop.

      ·    Peter was questioning Ray on the use of helicopters. Isn’t he forgetting something?  They all have flown helicopters before.

      ·         I agree with Peter I would have picked the lock too.

      ·         I love that Egon was jealous of the lab.

      ·         Okay so the Ghostbusters are always facing bankruptcy, are forced to go into this guy’s building without pay, and after they save everyone Mr. Tummell’s money falls on the ground and they just leave it? Why?

Other than that last nagging detail it was a fun episode. 

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[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

THE THREE FATES ARE KIND OF LAZY

Hanging By a Thread

Original Air date: December 10, 1987^[1]

Writers: William Rotsler and Richard Mueller

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 4 of 5)

Summary: The three Fates are doing their jobs determining how long everyone gets to live.  Demons decide they wanted this power so they attack with an army.  The Fates, who hold such power yet don’t seem to have much in the way of offensive or defensive weaponry, sends the shears through time and space.  The demons frustrated with the loss go looking.  In their search they show up at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and Ben Franklin’s electric experiments.

                The real shears arrive in disguise in a garment shop in Manhattan in 1987.  The demons sense it and attack the shop owned by a father and son.  The Ghostbusters show up and fight off the demons.  During the battle Ray accidentally picks up the sheers when he needed something to fix his equipment. 

Okay let's hope the river isn't here on our way back!

                The Ghostbusters then head to the station and find it being overwhelmed with demons.  The Ghostbusters fight them again but this time Ray drops the sheers and the demons get it.  Once they have their prized position they leave.  Afterward the Fates appear and explain the situation to the Ghostbusters, recruiting them to go to the Netherworld and retrieve the shears.

If the Ghostbusters ran their business better they actually have money.

                While walking around the Netherworld, the Ghostbusters, using Egon’s PKE meter to find the shears, come across the River Styx and they met Charon.  Charon offers to sell them a ride but all the Ghostbusters had was a rabbits foot and a cheese sandwich.  Charon took the offer wondering why everyone always gave him white bread.

Charon is as happy as can be I see!

                The Ghostbusters find the demons and battle them again recovering the sheers just in time. Then they run as fast as they can back where they have to jump through a well that is a magical portal back to New York.  Once the Ghostbusters are home they give the fates back the Sheers of Destiny.

My Take:  This is very interesting episode it involved good use of some Greek mythology.  The Three Fates aren’t, in my view, overly used in fiction.  In fact I can only think of one other modern thing I saw them in, the animated Hercules movie.  Also Charon and the river Styx were used creatively as well.

                Now for my stray observations:

·         These Fates are extremely lazy.  First they lose the sheers and then blame the Ghostbusters when they were recruiting them.  As if Ray was supposed to know those scissors were magic. Also since the Fates are god-like they should be able to pay for the Ghostbusters’ services, after all the Ghostbusters aren't running a charity operation.  The Ghostbusters are running business, it is true they run that business poorly not even having money for poor Charon.

·         I love Peter’s comments the when the monster fish flops up in the River Styx, “I’m so glad I didn’t see that.”

·         So the PKE meter which often gets overloaded when encountering ghosts off the scale somehow works in Hell?

·         Where did the River Styx go?  When the Ghostbusters are running away they make it back without having to go through the river again.  It makes no sense.

·         The jumping scene was funny.

·         I think the Ghosbusters shouldn’t have given the sheers back to the Fates.  Instead they should have busted them and put them in the Containment Unit.  Humanity doesn’t need Fates telling us how long we can live.  We have a right to control our own destiny.  The Ghostbusters dropped the ball here.

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[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.