Flip Side

Flip Side
Air Date Number:	093
Episode Number Dvd:	092
Production Number:	175001
Written By:	Tony Marino
Date First Aired:	09/17/1988
Season Aired:	Season 4
On Boxset:	Vol. 3, Disc 5

In Flip Side, investigating a bizarre tornado in Central Park, the Ghostbusters are tossed into another dimension, a strange place that is the exact opposite of New York City. In a world populated by ghosts, the heroes must evade capture by their own ghostly counterparts, the human hunting Peoplebusters!

Cast

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Janine Melnitz

Slimer

Peoplebusters

Boo York Citizens

Equipment

Ecto-1

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

Barometric Analyzer

P.K.E. Meter

Radio

Peoplebusters' Packs

Peoplebusters' Throwers

Egon-1

Interdimensional Communicator

Egon-2

Peoplebusters' Containment Unit

Environmental

Central Park Twister

Locations

Central Park

Firehouse

Boo York

Peoplebusters' Firehouse

Plot

At Central Park, children flew kites and adults had picnics together. All of a sudden, a twister formed and scared everyone off. The Ghostbusters, Janine, and Slimer watched a news report on the odd weather. While Slimer sucked up a watermelon in a straw, Egon performed some calculations. Slimer belched and rocked the Firehouse. Egon declared the tornado wasn't a tornado and wanted to find out what it was. Ecto-1 departed and arrived at Central Park. Egon got dangerously close to the tornado to take readings and discovered it was registering P.K.E. leakage. Egon was pulled in. Ray and Peter tried to save him in time with Winston and Slimer close behind.

Egon, Ray, and Peter got sucked into the tornado. Just was Winston and Slimer were about to be sucked in, the tornado dispersed. Winston tried to radio them but got no response. Egon, Ray, and Peter landed in an alternate universe where ghosts trap humans and put them into a Containment Unit! When Ray checked his watch, it burned out. They elected to head to the Firehouse. They arrived and the place was a mess, covered in webs and slime. Ray checked the refrigerator and was attacked by a large octopus. They headed up to sleeping quarters next and found three figures asleep. They were ghostly versions of Egon, Ray, and Peter called the Peoplebusters! Their Proton Packs are rendered useless since in this world instead of firing energy streams they fired streams of ghosts which the Peoplebusters ate happily before attacking with their own slime firing packs. The Ghostbusters retreated downstairs, spooked "Janine," and ran out the Firehouse.

The Ghostbusters flew through a ghostly version of New York called "Boo York", which was nicknamed "The Big Pumpkin" instead of "The Big Apple." They tried to flee the Peoplebusters, who chased them in a giant souped up version of Ecto-1. In the process, the Ghostbusters scared the ghostly inhabitants. Ray was captured first and was thrown into the Peoplebusters' own Containment Unit by his counterpart. Egon and Peter rested on Boo York's version of the Statue of Liberty, which was a witch. However, the Peoplebusters' Egon and Peter soon arrived in their version of Ecto-2 and chased them back into the city. Egon accidentally phased through a wall. He and Peter ended up in a beauty salon and hid among a shelf of heads. Egon eventually sneezed and gave away their position. As they tried to escape, Egon was captured.

Back at the Firehouse, Winston, Janine, and Slimer tried to communicate with Peter, Ray, and Egon in vain until Slimer crossed the wires with his tail. As it turned out this isn't such a bad thing. Just as the Ghostbusters' own Containment Unit had a horror dimension fit for the ghosts, demons, goblins, and ghouls imprisoned within it, the inside of the Peoplebusters' Containment Unit was a beautiful Earth-like environment just right for humans and living creatures. Winston realized that this place was where the dimensions were weakest and, along with all the other humans that have been captured by the Peoplebusters, were able to escape just as their ghostly counterparts tried to stop them. Egon, Peter, and Ray used their throwers simultaneously to jump start to open the doorway through the twister. While the people escaped, they held off the Peoplebusters with their now functioning throwers. The Peoplebusters were covered in their own slime and watched as the Ghostbusters jumped into the tornado. They all landed back in Central Park and reunited with Winston, Slimer, and Janine. Slimer kissed them all.

Trivia

• With this episode, Buster Jones becomes the voice of Winston.
• Ray comments about (compared to New York's turbulence; brought on by the vortex) how Chicago, Illinois is the "Windy City." Harold Ramis, Walter (Vladimir Pavel Maximov) Koenig, Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray all hail from there.
• The Peoplebusters' logo has Egon in it.
• A ghost can be heard sunbathing and singing "When something's not strange in the neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Peoplebusters!", a reference to the Ghostbusters Theme Song.
• Interestingly enough, no Winston Peoplebuster was shown in the episode.
  • One possibility is that Winston's counterpart wasn't recruited yet.
  • It is also possible that he was on vacation when the Ghostbusters entered the Peoplebusters' world.
• When Ray is captured by the Peoplebusters, he retorts the Ghostbusters are the "good guys" and have their own TV show.
• After Ray is captured, Peter mentions Peter Pan.
• The rules for ghosts and humans seem to be reversed in Boo York to a degree as well. Humans can fly and pass through walls, while ghosts can't. Despite the reversed rules for ghosts and humans, Peter's Peoplebusters counterpart describes the escaping humans as "solid bodies" when the Ghostbusters escape the Peoplebusters' Containment Unit.

Gallery

Episode Screen Caps

Collages and Edits

Central Park right before the Twister. (For full size Click here)

Notes from Egon. (For full size Click here)

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