A man arrives at the firehouse (where Janine is daydreaming about Egon) and hands her some flowers. Peter arrives, followed by Ray, who recognises the man as a magician named the Great Strazinski. Strazinski reveals that his assistants have been disappearing (for real) and asks the Ghostbusters to investigate.
At Straztinski's work place, the Ghostbusters and Slimer arrive and investigate the magician's cabinet. Ray tests the cabinet out, but despite Peter and Egon's fears, he doesn't disappear. Then, Egon reveals that the cabinet is actually an interdimensional portal. Strazinski accidentally says a magic word, resulting in the Ghostbusters being sent to another dimension.
At the dimension, it rains snakes, and the guys run into a building for shelter. There, they meet the missing assistants, along with a magician named "The Amazing Gorgani". He does a card trick with Peter, but fails, and then morphs into a demon. The demon, whose real name is Gorgar, breathes fire and demands the Ghostbusters teach him a magic trick, but they fire at him instead. He's immune to the proton packs, so the Ghostbusters flee and decide to teach Gorgar a magic trick so he'll return them.
They dress Ray up as a stereotypical magician, and he teaches Gorgar a card trick, making him cry happily. However, he wants Ray to stay and be his tutor. Peter demands Gorgar send everyone back, and he does, but he arrives in New York too, and then his dimension starts seeping into the city. Egon realises that this is due to "nether energy", and if not stopped, will cause the entire world to become part of Gorgar's realm.
Gorgar wants to learn another trick, so Ray agrees as part of the plan to send him back. Ray takes Gorgar back to the magic palace and sends him back into his dimension under the guise of teaching another trick, restoring New York to normal.
This episode provides examples of
- Actor Allusion: Peter refers to Grogar as "Gonzo" at one point. At the time of airing, Dave Coulier was voicing Animal and several other characters on Muppet Babies (1984).
- All Men Are Perverts: Upon entering a room filled with Lovely Assistants, Peter couldn't be happier.Ray: I got it! They're assistants!
Peter: And I need so much help. - And Your Reward Is Edible: Discussed when Peter, who thinks Ray's admiration for Strazinski is childish, jokingly tells him he'll get ice cream if he's good.
- Another Dimension: The Ghostbusters end up in a demon-filled dimension where it rains snakes.
- Bait-and-Switch: The guys enter the other dimension's spooky fortress, hear strange noises, and anticipate a deadly trap. Instead, they find a room full of gorgeous women all happy to see them.
- Breath Weapon: Gorgar can breathe fire.
- Cyclops: One background demon is mostly eyeball.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a demon prone to maniacal laughter, Gorgar is a surprisingly friendly fellow. He only attacks the Ghostbusters because they tried to attack him first, but he's otherwise well-behaved. Not a single Lovely Assistant complains about being in his fortress. He wasn't even holding anyone captive; he simply lacked the power to send them home. He gets along great with Ray, too. He didn't appear to know what would happen when Peter opened the door, either, looking just as surprised by the results as the Ghostbusters are.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Gorgar may be a demon, but that doesn't stop Peter from telling him to his face that he needs a cleaning lady.
- Evil Laugh: Gorgar commonly bursts into maniacal laughter.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Gorgar has a deep, raspy voice.
- Extra Eyes: One many-eyed demon can be seen in the background.
- Faux Horrific: When overjoyed by "Stanzo the Magnificent" pulling off a card trick, Grogar bemoans how he had been stuck with Lovely Assistants up to this point. His frustration is played this way.Grogar: All those evening gowns, and syrupy smiles, and those DOVES!
- Flight: Gorgar is capable of growing wings and flying.
- Foreshadowing: As Egon scans the assistants, he says the equipment is being affected by the dimension. The proton packs later prove useless against Gorgar.
- The Hyena: Gorgar is prone to evil laughter.
- Lovely Assistant: The assistants are all women in leotard-like outfits.
- Mistaken for Insane: When Strazinski says his assistants have been disappearing, Peter taps his head, indicating he thinks he's crazy.
- Never My Fault: Ray claims it's Peter's fault for merging the dimensions, since he was the one who opened the portal, but he refuses to accept this.
- Nice Guy: Ray so much so that he actually befriended Gorgar.Winston: Ray, you're the only guy I know who could make friends with a monster.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: At one point, the Ghostbusters hide from Gorgar by disguising themselves as statues.
- "No Peeking!" Request: Peter tells Gorgar not to peek during the first card trick. Gorgar does the same when "Stanzo the Magnificent" is doing the same trick.
- No-Sell: Gorgar and other demons from his world are immune to proton streams.
- Not So Stoic: Egon looks visibly scared when Ray tests the cabinet.
- Obligatory Joke: In response to it raining snakes, Peter makes a "raining cats and dogs" quip.
- Oh, Crap!: When the Ghostbusters disappear, Strazinski says, "Oops!" and Slimer says, "Oh no!".
- One-Liner:
- When it rains snakes, Peter says, "I've heard of it raining cats and dogs, but this is ridiculous!" and then later, "What is it with all this crazy weather lately?".
- When Peter sees Gorgar's house, he says, "Talk about a fixer-upper!".
- Peter says he can't stay in Gorgar's dimension forever, because he has overdue library books.
- Before attacking Gorgar, Peter says, "I've got a trick for him!".
- Platonic Kissing:
- Defied when Slimer wants to kiss Janine, but she refuses to let him.
- Played straight when he kisses the Great Strazinski.
- Played straight again when he kisses the Ghostbusters after they arrive from the other dimension.
- Pull a Rabbit out of My Hat: Discussed when, after arriving in Gorgar's dimension, Peter threatens to pull a rabbit out of Strazinski's head.
- Say My Name:
- Egon yells, "Ray!" when he goes into the cabinet.
- Then, Peter does when Ray is missing in the other dimension.
- Shout-Out: Gorgar uses "David Copperfield" as a magic word.
- Sizeshifter: Gorgar can shrink and grow at will.
- Snakes Are Sinister: In the demon dimension, it rains snakes.
- Speak in Unison: The assistants all talk in unison.
- Spell My Name with a "The":
- The magician is named The Great Strazinski.
- Gorgar's magician name is The Amazing Gorgani.
- Tears of Joy: Gorgar cries happily upon learning a magic trick.
- Tempting Fate:
- When it looks like rain, Peter says that the rain never hurt anyone. Then, it starts raining snakes.
- Peter says, upon trying to shoot at Gorgar, "It never hurts to try." Then, he turns out to be immune and breathes fire at the guys.Peter: "Okay, sometimes it hurts."
- This Is Gonna Suck: Egon over them being transported to Another Dimension, one he suspects is ruled by a particularly powerful demon.
- Tuckerization: The Great Strazinski gets his name (with some slight tweaking) from J. Michael Straczynski.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Gorgar can turn into a human and grow dragon wings.
