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tomeandflickcorner · 5 years ago

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Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Doctor, Doctor

Eep. This was a suitably creepy episode. Not to mention somewhat intriguing. Though also a bit frustrating at times.

We jump right into things with the Ghostbusters in the middle of a bust. This time, they’re pursuing a purple humanoid ghost. Even though they refer to this ghost as a Class Three Vaporous Apparition, this ghost seems to be proving to be a bit of a challenge, as the Ghostbusters are clearly out of breath from pursuing it. In an attempt to get away, the ghost slips into a chemical factory plant. The Ghostbusters, perhaps foolishly, storm into the chemical plant after the ghost. For a while, they simply walk through the plant, which is surprisingly vacant of employees. But before long, they spot the ghost hiding near one of the chemical vats. In an instant, Peter fires off his Proton Pack at the ghost, with Egon shouting a warning a little too late. Because the ghost was too close to the chemical vat, Peter ends up hitting the chemical vat instead. As a result, the chemical inside the vat undergoes some sort of reaction, and it explodes. Rather explosively, too, as a large chunk of the roof gets blown off. And the Ghostbusters get completely drenched in chemical goo.

Despite the mishap, the Ghostbusters are still able to successfully capture the ghost as it tries to make a break for it. To their confusion, however, the readout on the Ghost Trap, as well as the PKE Meter, state the ghost they caught was a weak Class 2, even though it had previously registered as a Class 3. Of course, there’s no time for them to really dwell on that mystery, as the employees at the chemical plant choose that moment to appear on the scene. They are clearly not happy about the Ghostbusters being there, as the chemicals that were in the vats were experimental. Fortunately, Peter is able to smooth talk their way out of trouble by informing the angry workers that they had been given permission to be there by the owner of the chemical plant. So the workers all back off, and the Ghostbusters return to the Firehouse to unload the Ghost Trap into the Containment Unit, and to scrub off the chemical gunk.

Turns out getting the chemical sludge off was easier said than done, as the next scene shows the Ghostbusters lounging about in their bathrobes, bemoaning to Janine about how they must have lost multiple layers of skin trying to wash the stuff off. Egon goes so far to say he can physically feel every single molecule in the air around him, which is clearly his way of saying that his skin has been effectively rubbed raw. Even Peter is feeling pretty sore, as he announces that he never wants to be touched again. Out of nowhere, Egon notes something strange is going on. The skin around his wrist has started to bulge outward, and it begins to pulsate, as if something was trying to break out from beneath his skin. And Winston, Ray, Peter and Janine can only stare in shock.

Strangely, they don’t seem to actually do anything about that, as the very next scene shows Janine calmly returning to the Firehouse, carrying paper shopping bags filled with things to make lunch. And when she comes across Slimer as she’s making her way upstairs, she asks him if the guys are back yet. This seems to suggest they simply went out on another job, but maybe we’re supposed to conclude they went back to the chemical plant to ask what exactly was in the gunk they came in contact with. It wasn’t very clear. In any event, Slimer is visibly upset and fearful about something. He even states that he is not hungry, which is obviously a first. The reason for his demeanor becomes clear when Janine makes it upstairs and sees the Ghostbusters. Their bodies are now almost completely coated with a heavy layer of red sludge, with only their heads visible. Ray states that they tried to call the chemical plant to ask what exactly the stuff they got hit with was, but it turns out that, when the explosion happened, a lot of the chemicals got mixed together. So even the people who work at the chemical plant aren’t sure what the Ghostbusters got drenched with. (Okay, so they called the plant. Guess that means they didn’t go down in person. But that suggests they did indeed head out on another Ghostbusting job. Seems like an odd thing to do when you see your wrist reacting the way Egon’s was. Isn’t that a bit like going to work when you notice your skin is turning purple?)

So to try and figure out what’s going on, the Ghostbusters admit themselves into the local hospital, in the hopes that the doctors can help. Which isn’t a bad plan, but… we just established that even the people who were working with these experimental chemicals weren’t sure what was in that sludge. How’s a doctor going to do any better, since they’d probably only have a database of known illnesses and conditions to work with? Still, I can acknowledge that there’s not a lot in the way of alternate ideas. Even so, it’s made rather clear Dr. Gould isn’t quite sure where to begin, as he rigs up a stethoscope onto a lengthy pole since he doesn’t seem to want to get too close. Ray, realizing that they might be in real trouble, comments that at least their health insurance is paid off. Upon hearing this, Peter starts whistling a little too innocently. Which suggests that Peter has neglected to take care of the health insurance payments. While I’m sure I could make a joke about the crummy state of the American health care system here, I’m just wondering why Peter seems to be in charge of paying for health insurance for all four of them. Isn’t this something the four of them needs to take care of individually? Or did they get some sort of group health insurance, since they are an established business. Can you do that?

Anyway, the Ghostbusters are all given a private hospital room to share, and Janine stops by to drop off some things for them. For Egon, she has a bowl of chicken soup with mushrooms, which she states is Egon’s favorite. (Though I suspect Egon was slightly disappointed, as he seemed to have been hoping Janine was bringing some of his technological toys, such as the Spectrometer, the Ecto Diffusitron and the Plasmometer.) She then gives Ray a box of doughnuts, and Winston receives two books, one by Herman Melville and the other a Charles Dickens novel, as well as a Walkman and cassette tape of The Allen Parsons Project (a British progressive rock group). Peter then asks what Janine brought for him. In response, Janine states she’s going to let him live, simply because she knows he won’t enjoy it. Okay, granted Janine and Peter never seemed all that close, but did they skip a scene that explained why Janine is seemingly so angry at Peter here? Is it just because she’s holding Peter personally responsible for the current situation the Ghostbusters are in? Of course, there’s no time for the show to really explain it, because just as Janine is getting ready to slap Peter for a smart aleck comment he made, they are interrupted by the sound of Ray screaming. When Janine and the others hurry over to Ray’s bed to see what the matter is, they discover that a large yellow eye has formed on the sludge coating his body.

As one might expect, Dr. Gould, despite his claim that he knows exactly what to do, is clearly at a complete loss. Nevertheless, he informs Janine that he can indeed cure the Ghostbusters, though he admits it might take a five to six years. However, he adamantly instructs Janine to keep Slimer away from the Ghostbusters, as the green ghost would contaminate the findings. He then walks off, muttering about running more tests on the Ghostbusters.

And so the tests commence. After a rather confusing bit with Egon and a nurse (the nurse instructs Egon to fill a beaker, and when he fills the beaker with water from a nearby pitcher, the nurse says ‘I warn you, I know karate.’ Why exactly would she say that? While I get the implication is that Egon was supposed to fill the beaker with his own urine, and that Egon was trying to be funny by filling it with water instead, the nurse’s response still seems to come out of left field.) Dr. Gould proceeds to poke and prod the Ghostbusters, even going so far as to inject them with who knows what. When Winston points out that Dr. Gould has punctured them ten times in the past five minutes, Dr. Gould states that he IS the doctor, so there’s not much they can do about it. In response to this, Peter, Ray and Winston start chasing after him, with Winston carrying a rather large syringe. Can’t say I blame them for that response. Dr. Gould seemed to go a bit too far with that comment. In any event, despite the endless tests, the Ghostbusters bodies are still covered with the sludge. And eventually, Peter, Egon and Winston’s sludge-covered bodies start sprouting various body parts too. With Peter, it’s an ear, Egon, a nose, and Winston, a mouth with pointed teeth. And the doctors are all taken aback by this, as well.

Eventually, Dr. Gould apparently tries to cut the sludge off Ray with a blowtortch, but to no avail. Janine and Slimer, who had been watching this procedure from outside the room, both go over to check on how Ray’s doing after the blowtorch attempt fails. Upon seeing this, Dr. Gould nearly blows a gasket, shouting that he’d told Janine to keep Slimer away. At that moment, however, a large chunk of the sludge flies off of Ray, momentarily freeing his hand. The sludge launches itself at Slimer, who manages to dodge out of the way and darts away. When Slimer disappears around the corner, the sludge returns to Ray’s body, covering up his hand again. Hmm, I wonder what THIS could indicate. Could it be the Slimer’s presence is the answer? And that allowing him to get in close proximity to the Ghostbusters would solve their sludge-covered bodies problem? Of course, Dr. Gould doesn’t even seem to acknowledge this possibility. Instead he tells Janine to listen to him next time.

As time goes on, it seems the Ghostbusters’ predicament has now become public knowledge, as there are news reports on the matter, with the latest word being that their condition may be incurable. Ray, however, states that he’s not giving up. He asks Egon if the people at the chemical plant had been able to offer any insight. Egon goes on to state that the chemical that exploded had been experimental, and it had been designed to absorb a wide spectrum of energy. He then goes on to explain that’s the reason why the ghost they were chasing at the beginning of the episode seemed to go down from being a Class 3 to a Class 2. When the ghost passed through the vat containing this experimental chemical, it absorbed some of its ectoplasmic energy. And, when the chemical then came into contact with a blast from their Proton Packs, the ectoplasmic charged chemical got the spark it needed to come to life. Ray speculates that this means that it might be possible for them to zap the sludge, if they were able to remove it from their bodies first.

No sooner than this is said, the sludge starts to react, to the point when it comes close to covering their mouths. Janine starts to hurry off to fetch Dr, Gould, but Egon stops her. He notices that Slimer is watching them through a window nearby, and that the sludge seems to be responding to his presence. (Did Ray and Janine not tell Egon what had happened before?) Upon realizing this, Janine is about to take Slimer away, but Peter tells her to allow him to come into the hall with them instead. Because they’ve finally figured out the obvious solution.

So Slimer heads over to the Ghostbusters. And as he gets close to them, the sludge starts to remove itself from their bodies. Egon concludes it’s because the sludge is responding to Slimer’s ectoplasmic energy, as the sludge needs that energy to stay alive. Before long, the sludge has completely removed itself from the Ghostbusters. However, it then reforms into a large sludge monster that proceeds to lumber after Slimer, in order to consume the little green ghost. In order to save Slimer, and make sure nobody gets hurt by the sludge monster, the Ghostbusters slowly force themselves to their feet (the episode makes it clear that they’re all feeling particularly weak from being cocooned within the sludge for all this time). They then make it down to the hospital parking lot, where the Ecto-1 just happens to be, with their Ghostbusting uniforms and equipment waiting inside. Well, that was sure convenient that they had all of their gear waiting for them on hospital grounds, wasn’t it?

The Ghostbusters catch up to the sludge monster just as it’s about to eat Slimer. Of course, they acknowledge that it’s not actually a ghost, so they can’t simply trap the sludge monster. Egon concludes their one chance is to try and continue shooting their Proton Packs at the monster, in the hopes that, since this monster absorbs the Proton Streams, they might be able to overload it. This ultimately works, and the sludge monster explodes, coating the entire hallway with sludgy residue.

Fortunately, it seems the sludge has now been rendered inactive, as a week goes by and the Ghostbusters are showing no indication of a relapse. So Dr. Gould declares them officially cured. He then gives them their bill for their treatment at the hospital. However, Peter doesn’t bat and eye, and announces that, coincidentally, they were just about to give Dr. Gould the bill for their services in stopping the sludge monster from harming anyone at the hospital. And wouldn’t you know it, both bills come out to the exact same amount. So, as Peter states, that makes them even. And he proceeds to rip up both bills. With that, the Ghostbusters head off, leaving Dr. Gould standing there, completely flabbergasted.

Gotta be honest, I’m not sure if we were supposed to feel bad for Dr. Gould here. Because I have to admit I didn’t. Because he didn’t do ANYTHING! In fact, his insistence at keeping Slimer away from the Ghostbusters turned out to be a hindrance, as going against that order was what fixed things. In fact, I’m actually kinda wondering if he WAS trying to cure them at all. Maybe I was just reading too much into things, but at certain points in this episode, I got the distinct impression that he was just using the Ghostbusters as guinea pigs, and that he was only interested in using their conditions to become famous within the medical field. Case in point, this scene when he’s informing a nurse that the Ghostbusters are responding well to his treatments. Even though it’s glaringly clear that his treatments haven’t done a blessed thing. All things considered, Dr. Gould really struck me as the sort of doctor who became a doctor for all the wrong reasons. The kind of doctor who pursued the career out of a desire to make a lot of money and receive the prestige of the profession rather than a desire to actually help people that were in need of healing. For that reason, I didn’t have a problem with how the Ghostbusters got out of paying the bill Dr. Gould tried to stick them with. He should just consider himself lucky they didn’t try to sue him for malpractice.

That aside, the plot itself was very interesting. And it was suitably creepy when the sludge covering the Ghostbusters started sprouting body parts. I’d go so far to say it was very John Carpenter-ish. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

(Click here for more Ghostbusters reviews)

#the real ghostbusters #rgb episode review #ghostbusters franchise

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