IT’S HOT OUTSIDE AND PETER GETS A WIN

The Devil in the Deep

Original Air date December 4, 1987^[1]

Writer: J. M. DeMatteis

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: Necksa, lord and ruler of the sea elementals wakes up after a boat passes by.  In New York City the temperature has risen to over 100 degrees.  One man sitting in his bath tub is trying to cool down as a creature enters his tub to his horror.

About to get a nasty surprise

                At the firehouse the Ghostbusters are being visited by a reporter named Alice Johnson, who is supposed to be interviewing all of them but Peter is the one who keeps talking.  Two hours into the interview Peter is just getting into Gozer.  Janine, who has decided on the 100+ day to wear a bikini to work and look great while everyone else is still fully dressed and sweaty, gets a call from the Mayor who asks to talk with Egon.  It turns out the local water supply is being haunted.  So the Ghostbusters head down and have Alice tag along.

Everyone's fully dressed but Janine is like its 101 outside.

                When they get there the Ghostbusters find the place overrun with spirits.  Ray thinks they are Undine, a type of water ghost, but Egon isn’t sure.  The Ghostbusters have them cornered but it was Peter’s turn to bring the traps and he forgot them.  The Undines escape shouting the name “Necksa.”  Looking up the term in Tobin’s Spirit Guide Egon discovers that he is the lord of the Undine’s and must be responsible for turning the normally benevolent water spirits hostile.

This is not going well.

                They go out in a river boat to track him.  Alice stays behind to observe on the dock.  While out on the water the PKE meter explodes as Necksa reveals himself.  Necksa goes on to explain his general outlook on life and why he hates pollution.  Ray tries to blast him but the monster is unharmed and swallows the Ghostbusters whole.  He does spit Peter out his blow hole and Peter washes ashore.  When the gets there Alice tells him her article is going to be titled “The End of the Ghostbusters.”

Trying to get Peter to explain what he is trying to do!

                Peter goes back to the firehouse to assemble some equipment with the help of Janine, who is still rocking the bikini.  Peter has Janine call Alice to tell her to be at the docks by 10.  Peter then heads out to confront Necksa.  He lures Necksa to some nets and when Necksa is tangled in them Peter blasted the creature with a particle thrower that was amplified by a generator and a microwave emitter.  Peter tells Necska that he need to give up the other three Ghostbusters and pack it up and surrender or else.   Necksa complies by releasing the other Ghostbusters and running away like a coward.  It turns out Peter’s device couldn’t do more than one blast so Peter out-pokered the sea demon. 

Last stand!

              Alice, having altered her opinion of Peter, took a picture of all of them and gave them a great review in Celebrity Magazine.

Well it took the whole episode but Peter was finally able to get her to think he is okay.

My Take: This was probably the best Peter episode so far.  He was overdue in his turn to be the hero.  The only other time he was it was by accident.  This time not only was he the hero but he did it in a way that was very clever and scientific.  It is good to be reminded that he is good at science stuff too even though he is lazy and mostly wants Egon and Ray to handle that department.   Normally Peter is often presented as the main cause of a lot of their problems from getting them kicked out the university and provoking Walter Peck, to not destroying the old uniforms when he was supposed to, and forgetting to pay their insurance bill.  He even had a moment like that in this episode when he forgot the traps.  His normal heroics that make up for his errors normally come from inspiring the team when they have to face Gozer, the Doomsday Door, or the Dark Entity.  But he was in all those instances implementing Egon’s plans not his own.  This time it was he who was the smart one.

                Now for my stray observations:

·         Damn Janine!  Egon really needs to get over his issues.  Not many work places would let her dress quite like that.

"Okay, Peter how else to get Egon to really notice me? I am clearly out of ideas"

·         Why bother to have Janine ring the alarm they’re all standing right there?

·         The water ghosts were all weird.

·         Necksa was such a loser.

A great fun episode. 

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