Peter Venkman is in bed, dreaming about being worshipped in Tahiti, when he falls down, both in the dream, and in real life. Meanwhile, everyone else is already awake — Ray and Winston are arguing over who will win a game show on the TV, while Egon is tinkering with a machine. Peter asks Egon what is going on with Ray and Winston, and Egon reveals that they argue like this every morning.
While Egon fixes his broken machine, Peter reads the news and learns about a prize of a trip to Tahiti, where he wants to go. The Ghostbusters enter the building where the contest is being held and they meet the woman in charge, who is very strict.
The contest starts, and it's a trivia contest called "Race the Devil". The woman summons a man named Dib to host the game, who calls Ray and Winston vs. a couple called Mr. and Mrs. Todd to the stage. The question is who the slowest of the Seven Deadly Sins is, and Ray and Winston win the round (Sloth). Egon feels a bit uneasy, but Peter brushes him off, and Ray and Winston are eventually the finalists against two brothers. They are asked for two additional names for the Devil, and Ray answers correctly (as well as listing a lot more.)
Peter is happy, but Egon is unsure since all the questions were related to the Devil and his minions. Dib makes Ray and Winston sign a contract without reading it, suspiciously noting that it's almost midnight. When his eye flashes red, Egon tries to attack him, only for the man to teleport away. Egon then reveals that the host is a demon, and he shape shifts into demon form. The demon then reveals that if the Ghostbusters lose the next game of "Race the Devil", they will lose their souls.
On their way home, Peter suggests not showing up to the game show, but then Dib teleports them there. He has them play a game called "Spikes", which involves Winston having to guess a word or else Ray will fall off some poles onto some spikes. Winston almost loses, but luckily, when he yells, "YEEAAARRRGGGH!", that turns out to be the word.
The second round is to guess which door has the prize behind it, and survive the dangers that lurk behind all the doors. They ask for door number two, and then three, but both contain copies of door number one behind them. Behind door number one is Samhain, or so it would seem. Ray, reasoning that they trapped Samhain, supposes that this is just a fake, and he's right.
Dib then straps the guys to a roulette wheel for round three and mentions that one of them has an embarrassing secret. He reveals that someone will be squashed to death by the ball unless the one with the secret talks. Winston confesses that he once took $20 in petty cash for his girlfriend's birthday, but that isn't what Dib was referring to. Peter admits that he and Slimer pranked Janine in the shower, but that isn't it either. Egon admits that he once got an A minus, but that isn't it either, and the time runs out. Thankfully, Ray admits that he ate half of a cookie despite it being covered in Slimer's slime and that's the secret.
They win, but then Dib tries to kill them all with the ball. Luckily, they manage to kick the ball away and it crashes through the roof. With the Ghostbusters free, Peter talks Dib into sending them all to Tahiti.
This episode provides examples of
- The B Grade: Egon considers getting an A minus to be a horrible secret.
- Beneath the Mask: Dib presents himself as a friendly game show host, but the mask starts to slip when Ray goes overboard with the Hurricane of Euphemisms and when time is running out to sign the contract.
- Contrived Coincidence: The place where Peter enters to win a trip to is Tahiti, which is coincidentally where he was dreaming he was the night before.
- Crashing Dreams: Peter dreams about falling out of a cart, seconds before falling out of bed.
- Dark Secret: The final game requires one of the guys confessing something so awful that he doesn't want anyone else to ever find out. Winston stole some petty cash in order to buy his girlfriend a present. Peter told Slimer that Janine was hiding some candy while she was taking a shower. Egon once got The B Grade and his parents wouldn't talk to him for a week. The secret turns out to be Ray's; he accidentally ate a cookie that Slimer had covered in slime. The guys are completely disgusted to hear this, as are the ghosts in the audience.Ray: Well, now you can see why I didn't yell ya.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Ray says, "Get stuffed!" to Dib, who is a demon. A "minor" demon, but still.
- Distressed Dude:
- Ray gets put in danger of being dropped on some spikes.
- All the guys get strapped into a roulette wheel and threatened with being squashed by a ball.
- Everyone Has Standards: Peter is offended by the suggestion that he peaked on Janine, while she was taking a shower. He arranged for a Slimer-related prank, but he wouldn't do that.
- Evil Laugh: After Dib is revealed to be a demon, he laughs evilly several times.
- Extreme Omnivore: Ray admits to eating half a cookie with some of Slimer's goo on it.
- Happy Dance: When Ray and Winston win the game, Peter dances happily.
- Hidden Depths: During the game show intro, it's mentioned that biblical studies is one of Winston's hobbies (possibly a reference to his movie counterpart being familiar with the Bible).
- Hurricane of Euphemisms: When Ray is asked for additional names for the Devil, he answers, "How about Mephistopheles, Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, Napoleon, Satan, Lucifer, Diablo, Old Gooseberry, Old Nick, Old Scratch..."
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Egon considers filing fungus samples a "vacation".
- Lightmare Fuel: During the roulette scene, the Ghostbusters are in danger of being squashed to death by a demon, but they also confess to funny secrets, like getting an A minus and pranking Janine in the shower.
- Meaningful Name: The demon is named Dib, which comes from an Irish word for devil.
- Not So Stoic: When Peter points out that something is wrong with Egon's machine, Egon throws down a newspaper in frustration. He later says, "Hi-yah!" when getting ready to attack.
- Our Demons Are Different: It turns out that in this universe, there are "minor" and "major" demons, that demons can shapeshift and teleport, and that demons are attracted to heavy metal.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Dib's eye flashing red is a sign that he's a demon.
- Rule of Three:
- In the "Spikes" game, Winston is given three guesses for a word or else Ray falls onto the spikes.
- In the second game, there are three doors.
- Shout-Out: Mr. Todd answers Sleepy as an answer to the question "Who is the slowest of the Seven Deadly Sins?".
- Sore Loser: After Ray confesses his secret, Dib says the guys win the game and thus save their souls, but he opts to leave them to die in the contraption.
- Stock Punishment: Peter and Egon are put in pillories during the "Spikes" game.
- Take That!: Dib sees claiming the Ghostbusters' souls as his way to improve his status, saying he'll finally be able to deal with heavy metal rock and roll musicians instead of game show contestant wannabes.
- Teleportation: One of Dib's powers is that he can teleport.
- This Cannot Be!: Dib's reaction to Winston (down to his last guess for Spikes) shouting, "YEEAAARRRGGGH!" That turns out to be the correct answer.
- Wham Line: Egon explains the Dib Devlin alias, prompting a realization from Ray.Ray: A proper Irish name derived from the word—
Dib: DEVIL! And you've signed on for my new game show. And if you lose this one, fellas, you lose your souls! - Wham Shot: Dib teleporting when Egon tries to tackle him.
- With Friends Like These...: During Dib's intro for the supernatural audience, he notes how it was Peter who got Ray and Winston "into this cruel predicament" over wanting a simple vacation.
