Janine, Louis, and Slimer are shopping at the mall, but a sign disappears. Then, Janine and Louis are sent aggressively down an elevator by a demon. Slimer, meanwhile, sees the elevator turn into a big mouth, then into a wall, which he flies through and ends up outside.
Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters are decorating the firehouse, revealing that it's Janine's birthday. Slimer enters and frantically tells them about Janine and Louis. A ghost appears on TV, revealing that he and other entities have Janine and Louis tied up. He threatens to kill Janine and Louis if the Ghosbusters don't turn their job over to him before midnight. Egon does research and finds the ghost is named Poso, and he works for another ghost, Shifter, who they caught two weeks ago.
Peter sends Slimer to get Shifter out of the containment area so that he can help them deal with Poso. When Shifter is freed, he tries to escape, but the Ghostbusters restrain him. Shifter reveals that Poso wants to be the "Ghost Father" — the boss of all the ghosts. The Ghostbusters bribe Shifter into helping them save Janine and Louis by promising to set him free permanently.
Shifter reveals where Poso is, and then reveals that he must only bring one person along with him. Peter is chosen via drawing straws and is covered in something called "psychoactive slime", which responds to thoughts and emotions and grants ghostly powers.
That night, Peter and Shifter head out, and Peter finds out the slime can make him fly. They go onto boats, where Peter is flirted with by a ghost woman and lands on a garbage scow. Shifter leads Peter to Poso's town, then disappears as two ghosts pick up Peter and put him in jail. He breaks through the bars, but gets stuck to the wall with slime.
Meanwhile, Ray, Winston, and Slimer are in their helicopter when a group of ghosts flies up to them. Several ghosts clog the helicopter's vent, making it crash. Ray tries to tell Egon via walkie-talkie, but he's being hounded by Poso's minions. They ask him how the containment unit works, so he shows them... and then imprisons them.
Shifter walks up to Peter and frees him, but then the two refuse to work together anymore. However, Shifter has his own reasons for finding Poso, since he blames him for being caught, so they don't physically split. The jailer ghosts chase after Peter, but he escapes.
He then breaks into where Poso is holding Janine and Louis and puts Shifter's restraining collar on Poso. Then, Peter sends Shifter out to rendezvous with Winston, Ray, and Slimer, whose helicopter is now working again. Peter frees Louis and Janine, then everyone traps Poso. The other ghosts leave and Shifter says goodbye. Egon drives off with a towel for Peter to wipe the slime off, but it doesn't work, annoying him to no end.
This episode provides examples of
- Abhorrent Admirer: A ghost flirts with Peter, much to his disgust.
- Anthropomorphic Food: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is briefly seen.
- Badass in Distress: Peter gets locked up and threatened with death by ghosts.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Janine ends up being harangued by a demon on her birthday.
- Casually Powerful Giant: Slimer almost gets hit by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's giant yoyo.
- Compliment Backfire: Shifter tells Peter he might "make it as a ghost yet". Peter's response is "Thanks, but no thanks".
- Covered in Gunge:
- When Slimer goes to alert the Ghostbusters about the missing Janine and Louis, he gets ectoplasm all over Peter's front.
- Peter is coated in psychoactive slime to give him ghostly powers.
- Cyclops: A woman with one eye can be seen in the ghost town.
- Damsel in Distress: Janine ends up being tied up by Poso and his minions.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Even while being held captive by him, Janine and Louis sass Poso and tell him that the Ghostbusters will defeat him. Then, when Peter sees him, he says, "Rub a dub dub, you big slimy tub!".
- Distressed Dude:
- Louis gets tied up by Poso et al.
- Peter gets locked into prison and threatened with death by two ghosts.
- Ectoplasm: Slimer leaves his green gunk on walls, a mailbox, and Peter's uniform.
- Elevator Failure: The demon makes the elevator go so fast that Janine and Louis fly up to the ceiling.
- Evil Laugh: Poso laughs evilly when revealing where Janine and Louis are, as does Samhain when dealing cards, the jailer ghosts when locking Peter up, and several ghosts while mocking Egon.
- Extra Eyes: Some of the background ghosts and demons have multiple eyes.
- Fake Boobs: When impersonating Janine, Slimer grows bumps on his chest.
- Flashy Teleportation: Shifter disappears with a flash of light and a noise.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Poso smokes a cigar.
- Happy Birthday to You!: Peter sings an Elvis-esque song about being a birthday girl, since when the episode was written, "Happy Birthday to You" was still under copyright in America.
- How Do I Shot Web?: When Peter first learns to fly, he's a clumsy flier and has trouble getting himself to fly.
- Implied Death Threat: When the jailer ghosts call Peter a "live one", one of them says, "Live for now!".
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: When a ghostly woman flirts with Peter, he claims that he "wash[es his] slime" every Tuesday nights.
- Last-Second Joke Problem: Poso is trapped... but Peter still can't wipe the slime off, and his anger at the situation makes it grow tentacles, worsening the problem.
- Losing Your Head:
- The elevator demon can still talk after removing his own head.
- One demon or ghost or similar can be seen chasing its stolen head in the background.
- Mythology Gag:
- Peter calls Slimer "spud", which is what Ray calls him in the movie.
- Egon mentions Vigo, the villain from Ghostbusters II.
- Narrative Shapeshifting: Slimer makes himself grow a bob haircut and breasts to talk about Janine, then morphs into a box with an arrow-shaped tongue to talk about the elevator.
- Not Quite Flight: Psychoactive slime can make people fly if they're coated in it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Apparently, Janine is a bit of a mall rat, so Peter considers it very serious that she disappeared from a mall during a clearance sale.
- The Pratfall: Slimer accidentally knocks Peter on to his rump.
- Pun:
- The demon takes his own head off and says, "Sorry, ma'am. I must've lost my head".
- When Peter sticks to a wall, Shifter tells him to "stick around".
- The flirty lady ghost says that it's "dead" around here.
- When Shifter asks Peter how he likes the jail, Peter says he's getting "attached" to it, referring to him being stuck to the walls.
- Shifter says that the ghosts are moving back to their old "haunts" after Poso is trapped.
- Pun-Based Title: The episode puns on the phrase "partners in crime".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: One of the evil, imprisoned entities has red eyes.
- Say My Name: When Peter busts in, Janine and Louis gleefully shout his name.
- Shout-Out:
- Speak in Unison:
- When Shifter reveals that Poso wants to be the "Ghost Father", the Ghostbusters say, "Ghost Father!?" in unison.
- Janine and Louis yell, "Peter!" in unison when they're happy to see him.
- Sticky Situation: Peter accidentally glues himself to a wall with psychoactive slime twice.
- Stock Sound Effects: Justified — a foghorn is heard as Peter lands in trash, but he's on a boat.
- Theme Music Power-Up: The main theme plays as Poso is being defeated.
- Trash Landing: Peter is flung through the air at one point and lands in a garbage scow.
