In a ship, the sailors have trouble as they are entering the "New Jersey Parallelogram", which is similar to the Bermuda Triangle. The scene then cuts to the firehouse, as the ship is being reported missing on the radio. Ray wonders if the Parallelogram is haunted and suggests they investigate, but Peter declines because there's no one around to pay them. Then, Janine enters wearing a poncho that's labelled "Venkman's Ghost Repeller" and claims to have been made by Peter's dad.
She finds this cute, but Peter and Egon believe that this is fraud, especially since according to Peter, his father does tend to scam people with products that claim to do things they don't actually. Janine wonders if they work, so Peter calls Slimer over, but Slimer isn't repelled by the poncho, revealing that Mr. Venkman truly was just scamming.
He then shows up, so Peter starts telling him off, but Mr. Venkman doesn't see the harm, since while the ponchos don't genuinely repel ghosts, they don't attract them either. Peter digs his heels in, and insists his father stop selling the ponchos, which he reluctantly agrees to and leaves.
Later, the Ghostbusters are on a job, and when they finish, they meet a man who is delivering things to a ship that plans to sail to the New Jersey Parallelogram. Then, Peter's father, having broken his promise, is selling his ponchos to the captain of the boat. They sail into the parallelogram, and supernatural activity starts happening.
Three days later, a man enters the firehouse looking for Peter, and reveals that the ship went missing and he wants Peter to bring them home. At first, Peter is reluctant, claiming he hates the ocean and gets seasick, but then the man brings up the "ghost repellers", and he becomes onboard, wanting to stop his dad's shenanigans.
The Ghostbusters get on the boat and approach the Parallelogram, and try not to get pulled in but they do. They're alive, but are now in a trippy dimension. Egon, however, reverses his PKE meter so that it will detect "reality" (i.e. an absence of paranormal activity), which should lead them out. Meanwhile, Peter's dad is still stuck on the ship he was on in the Parallelogram, and Egon explains that this dimension crumples reality like paper in origami.
The Ghostbusters tow the other ship out of the Parallelogram, but accidentally leave Peter's father behind, and must come back to retrieve him. They fall into a dome and find Mr. Venkman, trying to fight monsters with an oar. The Ghostbusters trap the monsters, but they accidentally break the dome with their proton streams, letting water in. Luckily, however, everyone escapes and with the monsters trapped, the New Jersey Parallelogram is no more.
At the firehouse, Peter gets a letter from his father, who has not changed his ways.
This episode provides examples of
- Acid-Trip Dimension: The inside of the New Jersey Parallelogram is a random mishmash of colours and shapes.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When first approached about helping find the missing ship, Peter tries to buck off with several excuses, like hating the ocean.Captain: I have two words for you: ghost repellers.
Peter: My dad?
Captain: The same.
Peter: I love the ocean! - "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Peter's dad insists he's not "breaking" the law, but instead "bending" it.
- Blowing a Raspberry: When Ray suggests Peter's father being a conman is "genetic", Peter blows him a raspberry.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Peter tears his father a new one for selling fraudulent products and linking them to him, since he feels that it could put the Ghostbusters in legal trouble.
- Con Man: Peter's father scams people out of their money by selling things that claim to be other things that don't actually exist.
- Damned by Faint Praise: When Peter is claiming to love the ocean when really he just wants to give his dad what for, he pretends to enthuse about how "big and wet" it is.
- Dramatic Irony: While using the rewired PKE Meter, Ray picks up a faint signal. Winston muses it's a lifeboat or some such, but Egon thinks it's just an error and ignores it. Viewers know that Peter's father had already gotten a speedboat and entered the Parallelogram on his own.
- Eldritch Location: According to Egon, the New Jersey Parallelogram crumples reality itself.
- Foreshadowing: At the end of the episode, Peter receives a postcard from his father. The old man's up in Northern Alaska, setting up his return in "Cold Cash and Hot Water" later in the season.
- Hypocrite: Peter is against his father being a conman, even though, as Ray points out, he's swindled people himself before.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Peter was going to turn down the request to help find the missing ship, such as citing his general dislike of the ocean. When the Captain says the ghost repellers put the guys on the hook for this, Peter goes on at length how he loves the ocean and can't wait to take a cruise.
- Irony: At one point, Peter calls Egon of all characters an idiot.
- Loophole Abuse: Mr. Venkman claims he's not technically breaking the law by claiming the ponchos repel ghosts when they don't, since there aren't any laws about ghosts.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon learning of the ship's disappearance, Peter's father is guilt-stricken and rushes off to try to help.
- Mythology Gag: When Peter calls his father a conman, Ray says, "Genetics; it's in your blood". This references the first movie, in which Peter cons a woman into thinking she has ESP.
- Not So Stoic: Egon smiles when Ray points out that they're the first four guys to destroy a natural disaster.
- Oh, Crap!: Egon says, "As long as we don't disappear, we'll be all right!". However, they do disappear, so someone else says, "Ah, nuts!".
- Only in It for the Money: Peter doesn't want to catch any ghosts without being paid.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Winston says, "Who'd want to go [to the New Jersey Parallelogram]?", Ray says, "I would!".
- Shared Family Quirks: Ray says that Peter's father being a conman must be genetic.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Amid an Eldritch Location full of ectoplasmic energy, Egon simply reverses the PKE Meter's polarity to find living beings like themselves. They soon pick up the trail and find the missing ship.
- Theme Music Power-Up: The theme song plays as the Ghostbusters catch the monsters.
- Two Words: Added Emphasis: The guy says to Peter, "I have two words for you, Peter Venkman: ghost repellers!".
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Peter reacts to his father's con with a frustrated "He's doing it to me again!" attitude, suggesting the son's long been cleaning up his old man's messes.
