Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Boogiman Cometh

Episode 6 – Season 1

The beginning of the episode starts up with the theme music as ecto-1 chases down a semi-truck, minus the trailer, driven by a ghost gangster named Louie.  The Ghostbusters corner him and blast him as he tries to elude the ghost trap’s pull.  It’s one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.  The intro to this episode is classic.  The animation is done very well too.

Classic gangster Louie
They return to the firehouse to put Louie in the containment unit with all his new ghost friends.  They’re all tired and want to go to sleep soon.  Peter lays his head onto his pillow in the darkened bunk room to a pile of slime!  He screams “Slimer” as the slime is dripping off his head, very gross.  Slimer does show up in a happy manner, responding to being called by Peter.  Peter gets an idea to activate the new ghost bomb Egon has been developing.  He states it can disintegrate ghosts within its range.  Slimer freaks out and slimes back through the floor.  I always enjoy how Peter treats Slimer.  He even screams to him, “Your days would be numbered if you had any”

Is the Boogieman or their prices scarier?
Janine allows in two kids named Megan and Kenny Carter.  What’s wrong with you Janine?  Peter gave you explicit instructions to not let anybody in!  Kick those children back out into the night!  Relax I’m only joking, you’re so sensitive.  They claim the Boogieman is living in their closet, Egon shows an excited and shocked look on his face.  Either Egon is instantly horrified or he just pooped his pants.  Peter teases the kids as he fiddles with their piggy bank they offered as payment by stating it cost $1500 for their service.  They decide to happily look into the case for the kids.  They’re nice guys after all, even Peter is sometimes.  They drive back to the apartment the kids are from… wait a second, how far do the kids live from the Ghostbusters?  Did they walk in their freaking pj’s all the way, in the night, in New York City to the Ghostbusters firehouse?  They really were scared of the Boogieman to do all that.  You definitely have to check out the closet for them now.

Past hauntings return to Egon
The PKE meter picks up some activity, so at least the Boogieman can be detected.  The Boogieman comes out of the closet to see the kids and the Ghostbusters.  Egon is frozen in terror as he sees the Boogieman right upon him.  The Boogieman says he remembered him then the Ghostbusters blast him.  The beams have no effect as Ray says the Boogieman isn’t a ghost.  They have no choice but to blast him back into the closet.  That doesn’t work as the Boogieman screams toward them and forces them all away then returns to the closet on this own.  Powerful lungs for the Boogieman I’d say.  Rock bands everywhere would want his vocal talents.  And now the band you’ve all been waiting for, introducing “They came from the closet” featuring “Boogieman”!  I can see the corporate raiders signing them already!  Where was I?  I wandered again.  The parents come to the room wondering why four grown men are disturbing their household.  Luckily for them they are told to leave and not get the police called on them.  Peter even points that out on the ride home.

Why couldn't the Boogieman haunt a penthouse?
At the firehouse they read up on the Boogieman as Egon explains the Boogieman used to scare him as a child.  He goes onto say that’s what made him get into this line of work.  I really enjoy learning a reason as to why one of the Ghostbusters does what he does.  I’m a sucker for any origin or back story so that really interested me.  They also learn that the Boogieman feeds on fear from children.  It nourishes him and makes him stronger.  I’m glad I don’t have to feed like that; pizza is enough to make me stronger.  They need to try to find the Boogieman but that’s extremely difficult when he lives in another domain.  Peter comes up with the idea to bring the Boogieman to them.  Hey Peter is useful in practical things.  They find an apartment in a terrible part of town that Peter says even a karate expert would be afraid to live in.  It costs $1500 to rent it which is absurd but it’s the only potential closet to lure the Boogieman.

Love to see Peter lose it!
Ray is used as the bait for his childlike tendencies.  The others wait in the hall for the Boogieman to come.  Ray drives Peter crazy mad as he bugs him for water and a story.  It’s really funny to see Peter get that way.  Winston tries to calm him by telling him Ray is just getting into the role.  The Boogieman shows up but recedes back into his domain upon seeing the Ghostbusters.  The guys blast the portal opening to get through it.  How they dodged the blasts when they entered is amazing.  After arriving in the other domain they need to find a way to seal it up.  The Boogieman is pissed and tells them they shouldn’t have come here.  They chase him through closet portals all over earth, even Hollywood, until they lose him back in his domain.

Boogieman: Failed to make the BOMB squad
Egon then decides to use the ghost bomb to imprison the Boogieman here.  He hooks up all their proton packs, in a throne room by the looks of it, to the ghost bomb to give it all the power it needs to lock the Boogieman away.  They’re defenseless now so this better work.  The Boogieman arrives as the timer ticks away and Egon faces his fear.  He tells the other Ghostbusters to run for it and he’ll take Old Boogie on solo.  Egon gets quite heroic here.  The Carter kids end up coming at the right time to give the Boogieman the slip with some marbles.  The guys need some help since and it’s appropriate to see the kids also face their fear of the Boogieman.  The Ghostbusters run by the Boogieman through the Carters closet as the Boogieman recovers from a fall to chase them.  The ghost bomb is moments away from blowing when the Boogieman turns away from the closet to go back to the ghost bomb!  Why?  You were nearly free in the real world but chose to try to dismantle something you had no idea what it was?  It would have been awesome if the Boogieman passed over to the real world.  The Ghostbusters had no defense; they would be powerless to stop him.  It would be great to have the Boogieman loose in New York as a temporary reoccurring foe.  Alas his incompetence is his undoing.

The parents finally believe the Ghostbusters as a huge explosion bursts from the closet sealing the Boogieman up tight.  I hope he can scare himself because he won’t be frightening children anymore.  Egon assures the kids there safe now and rectifies a haunted childhood he had at the same time.  In the end Slimer pretends to be the Boogieman by swiping Peter’s jumpsuit from his hands then going back into the closet.  They discover it’s Slimer but Peter wants to blast him anyway.  The look on his face is priceless.  It’s one of the best endings in the series.  And so ends one of my favorite episodes that I highly recommend to any who wonder what this show is about.  Remember who to call!

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