#he is precious and needs to be given proton 0 so he can be forced to retire off grid on a private island

[below-average-fangirl]

Attraction is weird because you can have two characters, played by the same actor, both of whom are precious super spies. However, one of them I only want to protect and care for in sisterly kind of way and the other, well there's nothing sisterly about it.

Like, I love Ethan Hunt. He is attractive and caring, and I want to make sure he is well rested and looked after.

But he doesn't excite me and make my heart flutter the same way Roy Miller does.

[tomeandflickcorner]

Episode Review- The Real Ghostbusters: Night Game

Before I get into this particular episode, I should take the time to mention an unfortunate bit of news.  Veteran voice actor Julie Bennet, who voiced the recurring The Real Ghostbusters character of reporter Cynthia Crawford in the episodes ‘When Halloween Was Forever’ and ‘Citizen Ghost,’ has recently passed away at the age of 88, from complications related to COVID-19.  My heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends.  It probably goes without saying that it feels almost surreal to discuss this particular episode with the tragic loss of such a talented person hanging in the air.  Especially since she was not the first person we lost to this virus, and she probably won’t be the last.  But in a strange way, it almost seems fitting that this is the episode that’s next on the roster, given the nature of the episode as a whole.

Late one night, something strange happens at a vacant baseball stadium, with bright blue and red lights shooting up from the pitcher’s mound.  The lights soon vanish as quickly as they appeared.  But since this is occurring in the middle of the night, nobody is there to witness it.  We then cut to the following morning, with Winston entering the Firehouse, sporting a baseball jersey and matching cap.  He announces to his friends that he has two tickets to a baseball game, and asks if anyone is interested in accompanying him.  At first, Ray seems interested as he asks if Winston’s tickets are for a Yankees or Mets game.  However, his demeanor instantly changes when Winston reveals the tickets are for a Jaguars game.  The Jaguars, from what I can gather, are an in-universe minor league baseball team. But they’re apparently not very popular due to their long record of consistently losing.  Winston, however, remains a loyal Jaguars fan.  Regardless, Ray and Peter both turn down Winston’s second ticket. The same goes for Janine, who pretty much compares spending a day at the ballpark to getting fungus in the brain. Of course, Egon pokes his head into the room when he hears Janine mention fungus.  Because, as we know from the movie, he collects spores, molds and fungus.  So Winston tries to invite Egon to go with him to the game.  Egon almost seems interested, as he mentions an old colleague of his from his days at Columbia University once studied the dynamics of the curveball.  But Egon ultimately states he can’t join Winston, as he’s in the middle of an important project.  Finally, Winston turns to Slimer, who has chosen that moment to appear on the scene. Initially, it looks like even Slimer is going to turn down the invite.  Until Winston says the magic words by mentioning the popcorn, ice cream and hot dogs.  Naturally, Slimer is right on board with anything that involves him getting food.

So Winston and Slimer head off together to Jaguars Stadium. And we see the stands are almost completely empty, with only about ten people in attendance.  Sadly, most of the other spectators are not even paying attention to the game.  One guy is focused on reading the newspaper, and another person is clearly taking a nap. (Obviously, this was meant to further illustrate how unpopular the Jaguars are, buy why would you even pay for a ticket if you’re not going to bother watching the game?)  Winston, on the other hand, is still enjoying the game, telling Slimer (who is surrounded by a large amount of ballgame fare) that it doesn’t matter if the Jaguars lose.  Because regardless of the outcome of the game, the team did their best.  And that’s all that really matters.

Out of nowhere, the same spectral lights that appeared on the field during the night appear again.  This time, Winston was there to witness it.  (It’s unclear if anyone else saw it, since nobody else seemed to be even watching the game at this point.)  As Winston watches, the spectral lights caused a baseball to fly through the air at super speed, resulting in it hitting the ground, preventing the Jaguar Infielder(?) from catching it.  When the game ends, Winston heads back to the Firehouse to tell the other Ghostbusters what he saw.  But they’re all skeptical of Winston’s account, with Peter commenting on how he’d have an easier time believing something supernatural happened at the game if the Jaguar player actually caught the ball.  (Did they not hear the part where the spectral lights appeared?) Winston insists he knows what he saw and, to back up his story, he reveals he stopped by the library on the way back and found a book that discussed an old Native American legend that seemed to fit with what he observed.  According to Winston’s book, the supernatural forces of good and evil fight a battle on a certain site every 500 years.  And it turns out that the site mentioned in the legend coincides with the location of Jaguars Stadium.  Which is an interesting development, I must say.  Usually, it’s housing developments and hotels that are built over sacred Native American land.  This is the first time I heard of a baseball diamond being built over one.

Egon soon agrees that they probably should look into this. But first, they’ll need to get a special permit from Mayor Lenny.  Winston argues against waiting, as the permit process could take days, and who knows what could happen in the meantime?  For all they know, a major supernatural manifestation could emerge before the permit could arrive.  Regardless, Egon states that it’s too late at night to do anything, and the best thing for them to do was get a good night’s rest.  However, Winston insists on staying up a bit longer, as he wants to read more about the legend.

Sometime later, though, it appears Winston wasn’t willing to wait until morning to do anything, as he donned his Ghostbusting gear and elected to head back to Jaguar Stadium on his own.  Which is probably not the smartest move, but you still have to admire his dedication.  Upon arriving at Jaguar Stadium, Winston manages to convince the security guard to allow him access to the empty stadium.  Which the security guard agrees to on account of him being a big fan of the Ghostbusters.  When Winston and the security guard make it onto the field, they witness the spectral lights returning once again.  Jumping into action, Winston makes an attempt at firing his Proton Pack at the lights, giving the security guard the chance to get away and call the other Ghostbusters down there via a payphone.

By the time Peter, Ray and Egon make it down to Jaguar Stadium, they find the field has been encased within an ectoplasmic barrier. Egon soon comes up with a plan to blast a hole into the barrier by aiming their Proton Packs at the same exact spot.  The plan works, and they’re able to make it past the barrier, which closes up behind them almost instantly.  Upon getting past the barrier, they find Jaguar Stadium has been transformed into an ethereal looking baseball diamond.  Though they’re initially focused only on the rather tall ghostly figure standing before them.

The Ghostbusters demand that the figure, who is currently dressed like a baseball umpire, state what he did with Winston.  But at that moment, Winston appears behind them, completely unharmed.  Though he is now wearing a baseball uniform.  Winston proceeds to explain that, as the legend says, the supernatural forces of good and evil always choose their battle by the form of their surroundings.  And since Jaguar Stadium is currently located over the designated site of their battle, it was decided that their battle would take the form of a baseball game. And it turns out that, since Winston was present when the battle began, he has been allowed to play as a shortstop for the Good Team.  Because, as the Ghost Umpire states, when Good and Evil choose sides for battle, no one can be neutral.  Although, the Ghost Umpire states it’s too late in the game for Peter, Egon and Ray to join, so they should leave.  However, it’s ultimately decided that they’ll be allowed to stay and watch.  Especially when Egon seems to realize that they have a personal stake in this game.

It’s also established that, while nothing will happen to the losers of the game, the two differing sides are fighting for the fate of one human soul.  And if the Good Team loses the game, then Evil will torment the soul for the next 500 years.  Initially, Peter voices his disbelief that they took over an entire baseball stadium and probably caused a city-wide panic, all for one single human soul. But the Ghost Umpire counters this, by delivering one of my favorite lines of the episode:

“Just one soul?! Is there anything on this puny earth as important?  Isn’t even one soul worth all this effort?  And more?”

Words cannot describe how much I loved that line! Because it is absolutely true! Every single soul (and life, for that matter) is precious.  And it therefore deserves to be protected and saved, whenever it’s possible.

Anyway, as Winston heads back towards the field to resume his position as shortstop, Egon informs Peter and Ray that he’s surmised that the soul that’s at stake must be Winston’s, which is why he was allowed to participate in the game.  Peter voices his concern that the players on the Good Team don’t exactly seem like they’re well-equipped to play baseball, though Ray points out that they can’t have been performing too badly, as the scoreboard reveals that it’s been a steady 0 to 0 for the past 8 innings.  Although, this indicates that the game is currently in the final inning.

And so the game commences, with the Evil Team up at bat. The first batter strikes out, but the second batter manages to hit the ball.  Winston runs out to catch the ball, but the baseball apparently multiplies as it begins to fall.  Regardless, Winston still manages to catch one of the balls, so the Ghost Umpire declares that the second batter is out.  After the Ghost Umpire makes that call, Peter, Ray and Egon approach him to state that, while they’re not disputing his call, they feel that he should declare the game a forfeit, as the Evil Team clearly cheated and should therefore be declared the loser by default.  But the Ghost Umpire points out that the Evil Team is expected to cheat, as it’s in their nature to do so. That’s why they’re called Evil. Only Good is not allowed to cheat. Because if Good adopts the ways of Evil, it becomes Evil.  Okay, fair enough.

The ballgame continues, and eventually, the Evil Team manages to gain a single run before they reach their third out.  So it’s now 1 to 0, meaning that if the Good Team doesn’t manage to get at least 2 runs before the inning is over, then the Evil Team is the winner.  As the two teams switch, Winston takes his chance to approach his friends to let them know that he’s glad the Ghost Umpire allowed them to stay and watch, as they have no idea how important this game really is.

Before long, the Good Team manages to have a man on first and second.  At this point, the Evil Team calls for a time out so they can bring in a relief pitcher. This relief pitcher ends up being a gigantic ghost with an elephant-like trunk, and he manages to strike out the current batter out almost instantly.  Ray notes that the Good Team only has one more out to go, so they can only hope that the Good Team has their best hitter coming up.  To their surprise, it turns out that Winston himself is now up to bat. So the Ghostbusters are understandably nervous, especially when the Ghost Umpire informs them that Elephant Nose is Evil Team’s best pitcher.  Peter states that it’s not right that Winston’s fate should be decided by the outcome of a baseball game, and that there has to be something they can do. At this point, the Ghost Umpire casually comments that perhaps Winston would have an easier time against a different pitcher.  Upon hearing this, Peter gets an idea.  He points out that they’re not playing in the game, and nobody said they couldn’t cheat.  So, when they see Winston is one strike away from losing the game, he tells Egon that he and Ray will shoot Elephant Nose with their Proton Packs before he can strike Winston out, and that Egon should be ready with the Ghost Trap. Because if they catch Elephant Nose, then the Evil Team will have to use a different pitcher.  However, Egon is deep in thought, and right before Peter and Ray could activate their Proton Packs, he jumps in front of them to stop them from interfering.  Egon reminds them that the Ghost Umpire stated quite clearly earlier that nobody is neutral in this battle between Good and Evil.  Which means they’re not neutral, either.  And if they cheat, then Evil automatically wins the game.  So they can do nothing other than hope Winston can hit this last ball.

Naturally, Winston is indeed able to hit the next ball.  Not only that, he actually manages to hit a home run, resulting in the Good Team winning the game, 3 to 1.  With the game over, both teams vanish from sight, leaving only the Ghostbusters and the Ghost Umpire behind.  Egon turns to the Ghost Umpire, asking him if he was indeed trying to test them, and the Ghost Umpire more or less confirms this by stating they had to choose between cheating to help their friend, or trust in fair play and let Good win on their own terms. With those words, the Ghost Umpire disappears, cryptically stating that they might meet again someday.

After the Ghost Umpire departs, Jaguar Stadium returns to normal.  Egon voices his regret that he hadn’t been able to study the Ghost Umpire more closely. Though Peter states the fact that they saved their friend’s soul is reward enough.  Winston is visibly confused by this statement, asking Peter what he means by that.  Ray tells him that they figured out that the baseball game was to decide Winston’s fate, but Winston informs them that they got it all wrong.  It was actually Peter’s soul they were playing for.  Upon hearing this, Peter sinks to the ground in shock, having realized that, by nearly cheating, he came dangerously close to dooming himself.  He declares that, from now on, he’s only going to attend Mets games.  As for how the rest of this conversation goes, it’s not very clear, since the closing music drowns out their dialogue as the camera pans out.  But I believe they proceed to discuss the pros and cons of other baseball teams, as I distinctly hear Egon mentioning the Toronto Bluejays.

If you’re a fan of baseball, I can see you thoroughly enjoying this episode.  And it’s also quite entertaining from a philosophical standpoint, considering it involves a battle of Good vs Evil.  In addition, the artistic design of the players in the Good Team and the Evil Team are all very creative and unique.  For instance, the pitcher for the Good Team was a red skinned centaur, and another player had an almost dog-like face.  Although, the most interesting character was definitely the Ghost Umpire.  Especially since he was the most enigmatic ghost involved in the game.  As he clearly said, nobody was a neutral player. Which meant he couldn’t have been neutral, either.  But that left the question if he was one of the Good Spirits or the Evil Spirits. The fact that he did tempt the Ghostbusters to cheat might suggest that he was one of the Evil Spirits, but one could also argue that he was one of the Good Spirits, since Evil knew that Good would never make an unfair call while Good could not trust Evil to be impartial. Either way, the episode pretty much leaves it up to the viewer to decide, which is something that I did appreciate. Though, to my knowledge, the suggestion that the Ghostbusters might have another meeting with the Ghost Umpire someday never actually goes anywhere, as they never encounter him again.

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