DON’T GO INTO THE ATTIC!

The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic

Original Air date: November 4, 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 4 of 5)

Summary:  An old woman, Agatha Faversham, is disturbed by the noise of her haunted attic.  In her desperation she turns to the Ghostbusters.  Unfortunately she doesn’t have much money to pay them.  Lucky for her she reminds Peter of his mother.  So he decides to reduce their fee to a smile and go inspect the attic anyway.

Looking like Peter's mother saves money!

                When they get there it doesn’t look all that haunted.  It’s not until they enter the attic that things go strange.  The attic is much larger on the inside as it would appear on the outside.  Also objects in the attic come to life as the controlling entity, the Thing; demands the Ghostbusters bring him Faversham (Mrs. Faversham’s father).  The Ghostbusters fight their way out and retreat to the firehouse to ask Mrs. Faversham for some more details. 

Okay here we are!

                Turns out her father had spent a lot of time up there until one night during a storm she heard him arguing with something and declared that he banished it.  Egon concludes that Charles Faversham was summoning dark forces to increase his fortune but couldn’t control them as we would like, so he banished the Thing into the attic forever.  That’s why no one had been up there in seventy years.

It's going for Peter!

                Since the Thing doesn’t know how much time has passed they decide to disguise Slimer as Mr. Faversham, since Slimer’s a ghost he can’t be hurt by the Thing.  Once Slimer goes up there to confront the Thing, the Thing shows its true form and tries to attack Slimer and is angered when it realized it has been duped.  It’s too late for the Thing for it is already over a ghost trap, and that is the end of it's story. 

All for one!

                The Ghostbusters bring Mrs. Faversham home and Peter decides to stay with her a little while to keep her company.

Scary stuff!

 My Take: Growing up I was never scared of any place in my house, but I knew kids who were.  They were scared of their attics or basements.  Any place that wasn’t well lit or might have been a feature in some horror movie scares kids.  So it is a good idea to have the Ghostbusters fight one of these things.  I think Mrs. Faversham is supposed to remind everyone of their grandmother.

Slimer sees the real Thing!

                Now for my stray observations:

·         Peter the one who is the most concerned about writing the bill waives their fee out of hand because she reminds him of his mother.  This is the second time we have seen a Ghostbuster outright waive their fee without consulting the others.  Maybe they should come up with a rule about this: no waiving the fee until we all discuss it.  Otherwise they can be victims to Egon being fan boy and Peter seeing his mom in some old lady.  It should be pointed out that the Ghostbusters. especially Peter, don’t make a habit of performing free services to old ladies with their haunted houses. In fact Peter relished charging Mrs. Rogers for what he considered a false alarm, but Mrs. Faversham reminds him of his mother so she gets a break no one else gets.

·         Once again Slimer doesn’t remember his own ghost abilities.

·         So did Mrs. Faversham take her maiden name when she became a widow or did she marry a cousin or something?

·         What was Charles Faversham’s long-term plan?  He told his daughter she could never sell and never go into the attic.  So what was going to happen when she died?  Mr. Faversham could not have predicted the Ghostbusters.

·         Why wasn’t the attic bordered up or something?  It was so dangerous it seems odd that it was so easy to access.

·         Okay so Mrs. Faversham reminds Peter of his mother.  Is his mother still alive?  I thought she was but this episode makes me think she is not.  But Peter’s father is not this old.  Peter strikes me as being in his thirties and has a father who is in his fifties.  His father might be sixty but his not close to Mrs Faversham.  Was his father's whole marriage a con of an older woman?  That could explain Peter’s anger to his father more.

·         Egon tells Peter they will meet him at the station.  How is Peter going to get there?

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