The Ghostbusters are at a formal evening party, where Peter is trying to advertise "ghost insurance" to a banker. He then starts talking to a woman named Kate, whose boyfriend Bud starts yelling at her and accusing her of cheating on him. Kate explains that Peter is just an old school friend, but Bud won't listen. The argument nearly becomes a physical fight, with Peter nearly joining in, but Egon holds Peter back and Bud runs out of the building with Kate fearing for him inexplicably.
As Bud leaves in his car, he's chased by a ghostly, headless biker. Bud tries to lose the biker in a parking lot, but the biker goes through the door. Bud then goes onto a bridge, where the biker blows up the car by throwing his head at it. The next day, a guy named Lt. Frump enters the firehouse, demanding to speak to the Ghostbusters. He then accuses Peter of sending the ghost after Bud, since Peter has access to ghosts and was against Bud. Peter claims ghosts can't be used as henchmen, but Frump doesn't believe him when he sees Slimer.
The Ghostbusters decide the best way to prove Peter's innocence is to trap the ghost, so they have Peter follow where Bud was in a similar car, with the rest following in Ecto-1. The ghost reappears, and the Ghostbusters try to fire at it but miss. When they reach the bridge, they discover that, because water is an "ionising agent", the ghost cannot cross it. Ray then realises that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow really happened, and thus this ghost is the Headless Horseman himself.
The Ghostbusters ask Kate about the Headless Horseman, who tearfully reveals that she's a relative of Ichabod Crane, who did survive his encounter with the Headless Horseman, then left town, got married, and had a son, but this son was also chased by the Horseman, as were all his relatives and their friends, all the way down to Kate. Back at the firehouse, Frump returns while the guys are building more equipment, revealing he's grown even more suspicious of Peter since he was advertising insurance, and Bud is an insurance investigator.
That night, Winston puts a helmet on Kate and has her read from a script, which transmits the message to the ghost, luring it to her apartment. There, Peter puts on his own helmet, attracting the ghost to him. When the ghost shows up, Kate hides in Ecto-1, while Peter runs off with the ghost chasing him. When they reach the bridge, Egon tricks the ghost into getting onto it by using a hologram to disguise it. The ghost freezes, allowing Peter to trap him, which he lets Kate do. Frump sees, and is finally convinced Peter is innocent, and the Ghostbusters go to another party.
This episode provides examples of
- Adaptational Explanation: In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it's unclear whether Ichabod Crane survived his encounter with the Headless Horseman and if he really was never seen again or if the villagers were just claiming that to make the story scarier. This episode establishes that Crane did survive, but that he truly was never seen again, because he left town.
- Ahem: Peter clears his throat to get Bud's attention when he threatens to fight Kate.
- Captain Obvious: Peter snarks at Kate for pointing out the obvious when she says, "You're here".
- Clear Their Name: The episode follows Peter (along with the rest of the Ghostbusters, plus Kate) trying to prove he didn't try to kill Bud by catching the ghost he was believed to have sent against him.
- Curse: Ichabod Crane and his descendants were cursed to be chased by the ghost, and even their friends sometimes picked up the curse.
- Drives Like Crazy: Invoked when the ghost forces humans to drive erratically to avoid him.
- Evil Laugh: When we first see the Horseman, he laughs maniacally.
- Fat Bastard: Frump is quite round, and he's also snarky and yells a lot.
- I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Peter isn't too sure about being the bait for the ghost.
- Losing Your Head: The Horseman can function with no head. Justified since he's a ghost.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Bud gets really angry when he sees Kate and Peter talking, and assumes she's cheating on him.
- Mistaken for Murderer: Because Peter was angry at Bud and has access to ghosts (and later because he was selling insurance and Bud is an insurance investigator), Frump thinks Peter tried to kill Bud by sending the ghost after him.
- No Indoor Voice: Frump yells a lot.
- Oh, Crap!: Peter looks nervous when he first encounters the Horseman.
- Shout-Out:
- The episode is a sequel to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
- Peter says that ghosts can only obey humans if you "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow", which is what the Fourth Doctor said in an episode of Doctor Who.
- Weaksauce Weakness: All it takes is ordinary water to make the Horseman freeze in place.
