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| Episode 13 – Season 1 |
Isn’t it such a joy that we get so many J. Michael
Straczynski episodes early on in this series?
The combination of Charles Dickens ‘The
Christmas Carol’ and the Ghostbusters is fantastic! I have always loved that story and now come
to know that Straczynski also did. He
gives a brief introduction to the episode on the DVD collection, which you MUST
own if you’re a fan. I certainly liked
this one and hope you will too as I go over it.
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| The past can haunt, even on Xmas. |
The Ghostbusters are returning from an upstate call on Xmas
eve through a terrible snowstorm in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like a wonderful way to spend the
holiday doesn’t it? Egon showed a bit of
displeasure about something Ray did on that call. Ray goes on to mention, “I told her to keep the cat out of my way.” Poor Ray, at least it’s not dead based on what
he says. Winston is bummed out about
working on Xmas eve but Peter claims otherwise, “It doesn’t bother me, Christmas is just another day.” It would seem Peter has some underlying issue
about this holiday let’s be aware. They
come up to a fork in the road that none of them remembers so they pick the left
route. It turns out that they are in for
a longer night than they might have expected.
Ecto-1 dies so they have to go out on foot. In this weather that’s the last thing they
wanted to do. Peter gets sour over the
holiday talk and walks ahead. It’s now
learned that his father wasn’t around for this holiday much and it hurt him
more than he’d like to show. Don’t you
love character development? I do,
particularly of Peter and these early episodes.
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| Busting the 3 ghosts of Xmas! |
As they push on they get caught in a wild whirlwind of snow
that sends them sprawling everywhere.
When they emerge from the snow they see an old town in the
distance. Questions abound as to why it’s
here but Peter just races down the hillside assuming they have a phone. Remember the late 1980’s when a cell phone
sounded so alien? They walk into the
town and see a ghost in chains darting away into the sky from a home. Egon pulls out the PKE meter and gets strong
readings as three more ghosts speed into the upper floor of the building. Are you noticing anything at all about this
yet? The theme music kicks in and they
race upstairs to face the ghosts! An old
man is frightened on the bed and screams for help. They immediately fire upon the three ghosts
capturing them quite easily and without a fight. The old man becomes extremely happy and then
puts up a fight about paying for the ghost capture. He sounds a bit greedy wouldn’t you say? Ray threatens to release the ghosts without
payment but the old man finally gives in and tosses a single coin from 1837 to
them!
The old man heads to the window with high confidence upon
the ghosts being taken away. He reveals
himself to be Scrooge! He vows then to
fight Christmas with all he has. The
guys decide to leave town since no phone could be found I assume. That crazy whirlwind of snow befalls them
again and they find ecto-1. Ray tries to
start it and it works this time so they head home. Egon has a moment of thought that he gets throughout
the series where you know he’s onto something but he shrugs it off for the time
being.
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| If you can't make bail... |
Back at the old firehouse Egon heads to put the ghosts into
the containment unit as the others go to pick up a Christmas tree. You guys don’t have one yet? Why did you wait until now to get one? I thought they loved Christmas so much! They were posing! Janine and Slimer show no interest at all in
Christmas which makes Egon wonder. I
tell you he’s onto something! Meanwhile
Ray, Winston and Peter put together the pieces of why Christmas is suddenly
non-existent. I love how Scrooge has
become so popular and even has a bestselling book on the streets. It’s apparent he took all the credit for
defeating the three Christmas ghosts and has invoked his hatred for the holiday
into the lives of all mankind. That’s
quite a feat to accomplish; he’s even more dreadful than I’d ever imagined him
before. Since Egon is about to put the
three ghosts away they rush back to stop him.
Peter wonders what the big deal is though. He hasn’t come around yet.
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| Sandman and 'negative energy' form ghost |
Egon has already cleaned the trap when the others meet back
with him. They go upstairs to view the
containment unit through a scope as Egon questions what is going on. Peter asks if there is a way to release just
those three ghosts but that’s not possible.
It is possible to travel back in time and capture them though! I’m not bashing its just funny but that’s
what makes it great! The sorrow sets in
that Christmas is forever gone. The
scene cuts and when we return they are in their jumpsuits. This isn’t the time to be changing we must
save Christmas! They develop a plan to
get the ghosts back where they belong which includes Egon going inside the
containment unit! How cool is that? Well Peter checks Egon’s wrist when he
suggests it and says, “Pulse seems
normal. Are you sure you didn’t hit your
head?” He thinks Egon has lost his
mind, great stuff.
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| Samhain lurking |
Ray, Peter and Winston head back to the time warp area while
Egon heads inside the containment unit. Egon
asks for Janine’s help which she is always willing to do but not for
Christmas. Whenever Egon says Christmas
she blurts out ‘Bah Humbug’ which he
finds ‘fascinating.’ So Peter dresses in drag to try and convince
Scrooge that Christmas isn’t all that bad.
It’s a bit funny but it’s not quite my taste as far as how the episode
has come along to this point. I do like
the part in which Scrooge explained that in his childhood all he needed were
his books. Peter doesn’t agree claiming
he needed more than just books. He’s
most likely referring to his father’s presence.
I really enjoyed Egon searching for the ghosts in the containment unit
though. He rigs up a device that opens a
hairline incision that he can pass through.
He changes his molecular density so as to fit inside as well. It’s explained in a way that makes it sound
believable enough.
Egon finds the three ghosts and makes it out just as his
rigged up device explodes. Everything
seems to be getting cut close as he makes his way back to the other
Ghostbusters. Eventually the original
spirits get things set right and Peter learns to appreciate Christmas for more
than just some bad memories in his past.
If it wasn’t for his character development in this one I’m not sure I
would have liked it so much. It has a feel
good aura to it that I just enjoy we’ll say.
In the end you can hear Santa’s voice and wouldn’t it be awesome if they
busted him too? Here’s to Christmas in
July!
I loved to see all those ghosts from the previous 12 episodes that I'd like to share them here before I wrap up this review. The containment unit always interests me to no end due to it's environment and appearance. How did it get to look like it does? It's creepy because the space seems infinite. They really captured how dreary it would be with all these evil spirits wandering around. I was surprised to see so many familiar ghosts from the series so far so without further delay here they are.
Links
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