A cargo ship is being unloaded at a harbour, with a professor warning the foreman to be careful with one crate, as it contains an old statue. However, the crate is struck by lightning and falls. The statue is intact, however, smoke exits it and transforms into a demon named Ral, who eavesdrops on the humans.
While Slimer is preparing to eat a sandwich and the Ghostbusters are watching a Lassie-esque show and wanting a dog, an actual dog shows up at the firehouse. Ral encounters the dog, who is then brought inside by Slimer. Noticing that the dog doesn't have any tags, the Ghostbusters decide to keep it.
Slimer makes some food for the dog, but to his shock, it refuses to eat it... in English. It then gets on its hind legs and throws the meal away, then steals Slimer's sandwich. Slimer flies into the bedroom and tells Peter that the dog scared him. Peter tries to show him that the dog is not scary and tells it to do tricks. However, the dog grabs Peter by the collar and refuses to, scaring Peter and Slimer both into the bedroom. Then, the dog puts on a proton pack and leaves in Ecto-1, vaporising the firepole.
Janine then shows the guys some fish in a fishbowl, who are also talking and acting more anthropomorphic. Ral then enters the zoo, and the Ghostbusters are called there soon after. They get into a cab (since Ecto was stolen), but the driver is a gorilla, who drives the wrong way. Then, they find more vehicles driven by animals, that create a traffic jam. The guys see Ecto-1 and, despite being charged at by the animals (who they can't blast as they're not ghosts), they manage to get to it and drive to the zoo.
At the zoo, they find all the animals gone but a high P.K.E. reading. The animals then show up, attack the Ghostbusters, steal their equipment, and lock them in a cage. Ral then arrives and rallies the animals to take over New York. Janine arrives, with Slimer tagging along, and she frees the Ghostbusters. Janine and Slimer then drive off in Ecto-1 to distract the animals, while the Ghostbusters fire at Ral (with Ray and Winston in Ecto-2), but they miss.
Peter and Egon put on some flying shoes, and then Egon tells Winston and Ray to send a radio frequency out like a dog whistle. This succeeds in distracting Ral and they trap him, which causes the animals to return to normal. The dog then runs back to its real owner, a young girl, who reveals that its name is Sydney. Janine then shows the Ghostbusters a toy dog named Buster, but they run away, mistaking it for a real, cursed one.
This episode provides examples of
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal:
- The fish wear headphones.
- The gorilla driver wears a hat.
- A rhino wears a police hat.
- Achilles' Heel: Due to Ral's animal motif, Egon reasons that he's sensitive to high frequencies. A dog whistle substitute incapacitates Ral long enough for Peter and Egon to trap him.
- Ambiguous Gender: It's unclear if Sydney is a male or a female dog, though when cursed, it does speak with a male voice.
- Artistic License – Animal Care: The fishbowl looks too small to realistically be an adequate habitat for the fish.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Locked in the cage, Winston demands the animals' boss show himself. Ral gladly introduces himself in his true form, much to the guys' surprise.
- Bizarre Dream Rationalization: When Peter sees the talking fish, he wonders if he's dreaming.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: While the animals never kill anyone in their mind-controlled state, they do develop a superiority complex, and Sydney threatens to kill the Ghostbusters.
- Conforming OOC Moment: Even the usually-stoic Egon runs in fear of the toy dog at the end.
- Covered in Gunge:
- In the taxi, Slimer gets ectoplasm on the Ghostbusters' faces.
- After failing to trap Ral, Peter and Egon get covered in trash residue.
- Dagwood Sandwich: The sandwich Slimer prepares to eat is quite tall.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Peter teases Ral and calls him things like "pal".
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: Discussed when Winston claims that fire hydrants excite dogs, unlike humans.
- Dramatic Irony: While Slimer learns that Sydney can talk at the same time as the audience, Peter doesn't find out until later.
- Ectoplasm: Slimer gets his slime everywhere in the taxi.
- Edible Ammunition: A monkey throws a peanut at the Ghostbusters.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Outside the firehouse, Sydney growls as Ral approaches. When Ral gets closer, though, Sydney starts whimpering and scratches to be let inside.
- Evil Gloating: Ral at one point explains his plan to make the animals take over.
- Evil Laugh: Ral is prone to devilish laughter.
- Faking the Dead: Defied. Peter tries to command Sydney to play dead, but it refuses.
- Funny Animal: Invoked — Ral hexes the animals to walk on two legs and talk.
- Hero of Another Story: Ral imprisoned in the statute 3,000 years ago by a group of humans.Winston: Lets hear it for the humans.
- Heroes Love Dogs: The whole group is only too happy to take in a shivering, hungry dog off the street. It turns out Ral was counting on that.
- The Hyena: Ral is prone to doing loud Evil Laughs.
- I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Peter isn't sure if the flying shoes are safe.
- Jealous Pet: When Peter wants a dog, since they're "man's best friend", Slimer sulks, "Why can't I be man's best friend?!".
- Motive Rant: Ral rants to the guys about waiting for his moment of triumph ever since he was imprisoned in the statue 3,000 years ago.
- Not Quite Flight: Egon invents flying shoes.
- Not So Stoic: Egon runs in fear when mistaking the toy dog for a real, cursed one.
- Obligatory Joke: How Ral concludes his Motive Rant.Ral: You might say it's been my pet project! [laughs]
- Platonic Kissing: Slimer kisses Janine in the car.
- Punny Name: The toy dog is named Buster, and Janine bought it for the Ghostbusters.
- Quaking with Fear:
- When the cursed Sydney scares Slimer and Peter, they shake under the bedclothes.
- When the animals are chasing Janine and Slimer, they cling to each other and shake.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When Ral is threatening the Ghostbusters, his eyes turn red.
- Repetitive Audio Glitch: Upon being knocked over, the toy dog says, "I've been busted!" then keeps repeating "busted".
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Ral was trapped in the statue 3,000 years ago. The episode kicks off with it being dropped while moved off the cargo ship. Though the statue appears perfectly intact, there was just enough damage for Ral to slip out.
- Security Cling: Slimer clings to Janine when he's scared of the charging animals.
- Shout-Out:
- The Ghostbusters watch a black-and-white show about an adventurous collie, referencing Lassie.
- After the guys get locked in the cage by the animals, Peter quips they could really use Marlin Perkins (the co-host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom).
- Silly Simian: When the Ghostbusters are locked up, a monkey throws a peanut at them.
- Single Tear: Ray is so moved by the adventurous collie that he has to wipe away a tear.
- Tears of Joy: Ray cries when watching the Lassie-type show.
- Tempting Fate:
- Peter asks what could go wrong, right before the animals show up.
- He then is told the animals won't lock the Ghostbusters up, seconds before they do.
- The doctor overseeing the statue says it's intact and no real damage was done, all as Ral slips off to enact his plan.
- Terms of Endangerment: Peter calls Ral "bud" and "pal".
- Trauma Button Ending: At the end, Janine gets a toy dog, but the Ghostbusters think it's a real one and run in fear that it may be cursed.
- Visual Pun: The gorilla yells, "Watch where you're going, you turkey!" to an actual turkey.
- You Can Talk?: Slimer is surprised and scared when Sydney speaks.
