Mrs. Rodger's Neighborhood

Episode 3 – Season 1

Innocent old lady calls to the Ghostbusters to get her haunted house checked on.  The house is indeed crawling with supernatural activity by a spirit called “What”.  The race is on as the Ghostbusters must escape the house and save their own firehouse before What unleashes all the captured ghosts in the containment unit.  These writers’s at last create an episode worthy of Ghosterbuster lore.

Hope you kept the receipt!

The Ghostbusters arrive at Mrs. Rodger’s house when Egon notices the PKE meter going spastic.  It would seem the ghost was behind the door all along until the nice little old lady opens the door.  Peter settles them as he ignores the PKE meters reading which is common for him to do.  Egon dropped the PKE meter anyway so they couldn’t be 100% sure at this point about it, since it broke.  Ray takes Mrs. Rodger’s to the firehouse for safety while the rest of the guys investigate the house.  At least now we know what happened to Mr. Rodger’s right?  I always knew that house was creepy.

Peter relaxing while barking some orders out claiming he will do the important duty of writing up the bill.  I like how they really bring Peter’s character to fruition.  He’s lazy and just sees this call as an opportunity for money.  It translates nicely from the movies.  Shortly after though the realization it is haunted shows itself with chants of “What” and the guys questioning who said “What” in a comical manner.

It takes more than that to intimidate Janine

Ray dumps the old hag off with Janine to give her a tour of the firehouse.  Slimer is suspicious as Mrs. Rodger’s little bird she brought along turns into a fire breathing ghost bird!  Janine shows the containment unit to the old lady which now can only be turned off by the Ghostbusters through hand identification.  You see the old lady transform into the hideous “What” spirit but revert to her old lady form as Janine explains she can’t open the containment unit.  Janine never notices as her back is turned, it’s done well actually.

The Ghostbusters realize Mrs. Rodger’s is “What” and must rush back to the firehouse to save Janine.  They make their escape with some iffy 80’s music playing in the background.  At the door they are all dangling vertical as the house has changed shape considerably.  Ray drops a trap into this furnace looking ghost and it explodes, I’m not sure why.  Maybe when it ate the trap, the trap blew up?  It’s shaky but it doesn’t hurt the episode much.

What knows how to throw a party

When they arrive back at the firehouse Janine is sitting at her desk whittling away with a file on her finger nails.  What is loose in the building and they must find it.  Peter gets possessed by What in the bathroom which is fantastic!  His hair spikes up and he gets a yellow tint across his face.  He goes to the containment unit to gain command of all the ghosts therein.  I really like all the episodes so far using the storage unit as an attacking plot point, it brings a heightened suspense to the show!

De-possessing Peter

The rest of the guys arrive to find Peter attempting to release the ghosts.  Winston was going to blast him which was very hilarious!  Egon uses some smart logic to adjust the throwers to rip apart What from Peter.  The one drawback is that the theme music doesn’t trigger in this final scene.  It would have put it over the top for excitement.  With a classic spirit god like What being captured it should have been played.  I always enjoy it when this show takes the time to explain where the ghost came from.  In this case the underworld.  What is the leader of a legion of demons and wishes to conquer the mortal world.  It provides some pressure on the Ghostbusters to stop What at all costs, even blasting Peter!  If you are going to watch any of this show to this is one I’d recommend.

Rating: 10 of 10

Links

The Real Ghostbusters Episode Listing 

Next Up: Slimer, Come Home - Episode 4   

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