Tear Jerker / Ghostbusters: Afterlife

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• When Phoebe calls Ray and mentions Egon, Ray, still bitter about what Egon did all those years ago, tells her that he can rot in Hell. Then Phoebe explains Egon passed away, and Ray's entire demeanor changes; he looks completely heartbroken. It's clear that despite his anger, he still cared about his old friend deep down, and now he's upset that they'll never get the chance to reconcile. Thankfully, he gets that chance when he meets Egon's ghost.
  • Ray was generally a kind-hearted person, and he must have felt horrible when he realized he had told Egon's granddaughter that her grandfather could rot in Hell. He may not have known who she was at the time, but he would have felt guilty for saying that to her.
  • Just seeing the Heart of the Ghostbusters reduced to an embittered, old failure of a man is wrenching. Poor Ray lost nearly as much as Egon did, when their business collapsed and his science bro deserted the team, and he never understood that there was a legitimate reason why until the film's end.
  • It's even worse when you consider that Ray is one of the more spiritual of the Ghostbusters, and he just wished damnation on a recently deceased man. Even if he didn't mean it literally, that still has to sting.
  • It also must be kept in mind that out of all the Ghostbusters, Ray was always the closest to Egon. To hear him be the one to deliver the line makes it a much bigger gut punch than if it were Peter or Winston.
  • On a more positive note, this phone call likely roused Ray to getting into contact with Peter and Winston in order to head to Summerville and finish what their old friend couldn't do alone.
• Ray's account of how their Ghostbusters fell apart and how depressingly mundane it was. There was no villain or final battle, they just ran out of business and the group could barely keep going. Egon running off with most of their gear was just the final nail in the coffin.
• When Phoebe and Callie get into a fight over the lies she told about Egon, Callie angerly/bitterly states that while she's happy that Phoebe has found herself in Summerville, being there just keeps reminding Callie that she, apparently, never meant a thing to her father.
• A bit of a one with Janine; we never hear what exactly was going on with her and Egon, but she evidently followed him into "exile" in Summerville and tried to take care of him. One hopes she didn't spend all those years just pining over him.
  • The fact that Ray only found out that Egon had died when Phoebe contacted him suggests that Janine herself was no longer in touch with her former bosses, either. Just how bitter was that separation, that she didn't feel any need or duty to let them know?
• The final shot before the end credits: a frame showing the night sky with text that simply reads "For Harold".
• Egon's entire story can qualify as this. Egon foresees Gozer coming back, and way more powerful than the Ghostbusters previously encountered. He tells his friends, who think he's gone nuts, and believes he has no choice but to go at the whole situation alone. He ends up stealing equipment and abandons his friends and family so he can try to protect them, in so doing ending the Ghostbusters business. And after years of managing to get everything set, his plan fails, and he ends up dying alone. He is then stuck as a ghost, trying to get help from his youngest grandchild, unable to speak to her directly and acting as a poltergeist to communicate with her. And then he has to hear his daughter express how much she thinks he is an asshole or that he never cared about her. And he shows her that he did, but again, isn't able to tell her how much she meant to him. Just when he starts to get through to her at last, he's forced to watch her get possessed by a Terror Dog far too powerful for him to stand against. And it's not until the end he is able to finally be seen by his family and friends, getting his chance to say goodbye and ascend to the afterlife, knowing that they'll be okay.
• The look on Egon's face when he sees Callie at the end. In combination with the wall in his lab dedicated to her, it's clear that having to leave her was his biggest regret of all.
• The rest of the Ghostbusters' final moments with Egon:
  • Peter's last line to Egon ("I had a feeling you might show up"), while glib, is totally in keeping with Peter's tendency to cover up his emotions with humor. He did the same thing with Oscar the first time he met him ("You wanna play with a big kid? You know, I should have been your father... I mean, I could have been."). Indeed, the shot of Peter as Egon reconciles with Callie and ascends to the afterlife is telling. There's no final smart-ass remark or smirk from the sidelines from Peter; he's silent and visibly struggling with his emotions.
  • Ray, who had a big grin on his face when he saw Egon's spirit, becomes sorrowful and apologizes: "I'm sorry. I didn't believe you". The Ghostbusters lost a dear friend for twenty years because they were unable to apply their own motto ("We're ready to believe you!") to one of their own. Ray also looks like he's about to start crying when Egon and Callie hug (and knowing how close Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were, those tears are likely real).
  • Egon's reaction to Ray's apology? He seems surprised, as if he never imagined his old friend would ever forgive him for breaking apart the team.
  • Winston looking at Egon and saying "I miss you, my friend". It's likely that it's Ernie Hudson speaking from the heart, not him simply playing a role.
• Though Ghostbusters: The Video Game is the final time we get all four of the original crew together voicing lines, the final scenes in this film will be the last time we see all four of the original Ghostbusters characters together on the big screen.

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