Plot
At the Firehouse, Janine Melnitz calls the Ghostbusters over to her desk and hands Peter Venkman the monthly financial report. Once again the company is in the red, with the usual culprits: overhead, property damage, utilities, and food. At the mention of food, Slimer appears. Peter scolds him for taking and never giving anything back; Slimer insists his gift is love. Peter asks Slimer to make himself small, then tries to mail the folded-up ghost to a friend.
Stung by Peter's complaints, Slimer heads out into the city to find work. He comes across a boy named Mike, nicknamed "the Mouse" by the gang leader Rick because of his timidness, who is being bullied by a teenage gang. The gang trips Mike and scatters his stack of monster magazines and books, including copies of "Fantastic Monsters of Film World," "Sci-Fi Times," and "The Frankenstein Papers." When a Doberman chases Mike, Slimer hears his scream and rescues him. Because Mike has spent years reading about ghosts and monsters, he is not afraid of Slimer and thanks him. Mike pays Slimer to be his ghostly bodyguard, takes him home, and coaches him on how to be scary.
Back at the Firehouse, Janine and Ray Stantz search for Slimer without success. Meanwhile the gang corners Mike again near a Recksall pharmacy after he insults them, and Slimer scares them off. The gang's leader, Rick, refuses to give up and starts hatching a plan. As Slimer's absence drags on, everyone but Peter grows concerned. Egon Spengler admits he is worried only because he had planned to run electrothermal tests on the ghost. An envelope arrives in the mail; Peter opens it to find money covered in slime, and the others turn on him again. Ray suggests they begin their search at the post office's zip code.
Rick and the gang break open a sealed entrance to Subway Station 13, which Rick says was closed years ago because of the creatures living down there. They release a group of Barrow Wights, supernatural creatures that cannot leave their underground nests unless invited. The Barrow Wights' leader suspects a trap, but Rick convinces him to side with the gang. While searching, the Ghostbusters find no trace of Slimer, though the P.K.E. Meter registers a broadband spike of psychokinetic energy too diffused to pin down, sending Egon to recalibrate the device.
One of the bullies lures Mike into a warehouse, and Mike orders Slimer to circle around in case of trouble. The Barrow Wights then turn on all of the teenagers. Slimer flags down Ecto-1 and warns the Ghostbusters about the creatures. Before the Barrow Wights can get rid of the teenagers, the Ghostbusters break in. Prompted by the team, Slimer works up his courage, forms a baseball bat out of his own slime, and joins the fight. Rick and Mike call a truce once the Barrow Wights are trapped. Ray praises Slimer as worth his weight in gold; Peter is less convinced, and Slimer chases him around in response.
Cast and crew
The episode was written by J. Michael Straczynski. The regular voice cast included Lorenzo Music as Slimer, Frank Welker as Ray Stantz, Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler, Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore, and Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz. Guest voice Matt Plendl played Rick, and Jonny Solomon played Mike. The episode was recorded on December 17, 1986.2
Characters and creatures
Mike "the Mouse" is a teenage boy with a deep interest in the occult and monster culture, reading publications like "Fantastic Monsters of Film World," "Sci-Fi Times," and "The Frankenstein Papers." The nickname "the Mouse" was given to him by the gang leader Rick as a taunt for his timidness. Mike is the only client Slimer takes on in the episode, and his lack of fear around ghosts is what makes the partnership possible. He is voiced by Jonny Solomon.
Rick is the gang's leader, voiced by Matt Plendl. He has childhood knowledge of Subway Station 13 from stories told by his father, which leads him to seek out the Barrow Wights as muscle. The Wights' betrayal leads directly to his truce with Mike at the end of the episode.
Barrow Wights are the episode's main antagonists: supernatural underground creatures similar to trolls, found in the sealed-off Subway Station 13. They cannot leave their underground nests unless explicitly invited above ground, a rule analogous to the vampire-and-threshold rule Ray and Egon reference in dialogue. The nest leader is visually distinct, with orange mane and cyan blue skin, and demonstrates limited English speech and a form of telekinesis (shattering a flashlight's glass). The Barrow Wights refer to the surface as the "Up Above World." They are based on creatures from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth (which were in turn drawn from Draugar of Norse mythology). Two Ghost Traps are used to capture the full nest. The episode's booklet in The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection misspells the creatures as "Barrow-Whites."1
Subway Station 13 is an abandoned New York City subway station that was sealed after the Barrow Wights took up residence. Rick breaks the boarding to access it. Once the Wights are invited out, they are free to move through the surface world.
Continuity and notes
Egon and Ray compare the Barrow Wights to trolls and vampires, both kinds of creatures the Ghostbusters have faced before, noting that like vampires the Wights cannot enter a home unless invited. Ray credits his ability to understand Slimer to a childhood spent watching Lassie movies. One of the books Slimer knocks over early in the episode is titled "Barrow," foreshadowing the Barrow Wights that appear later.1
Mike counts six bullies in the gang, but the episode shows seven. The episode aired between Captain Steel Saves the Day and Buster the Ghost in broadcast order.
References
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Eatock, James and Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 17. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "They Call Me MISTER Slimer" (1986).
