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In I Am the City, Marduk, the Babylonian god of the city, has come to live in New York, the ultimate city in the world. But his age-old enemy has followed him, intent on mass destruction![2]

Cast[]

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Slimer

Marduk

Tiamat

Equipment[]

Ecto-1

Containment Unit

P.K.E. Meter

Tobin's Spirit Guide

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

Radio

Ecto-2

Locations[]

Firehouse

Midtown Pier

Central Park

Grand Central Station

Plot[]

Late one evening, while Egon tinkered in the garage bay and the others slept upstairs, the city is rocked by an earthquake. Winston headed down the fire pole and checked on Egon. Elsewhere, a police squad car flipped over. Two officers stumbled out and attempted to radio for aid. They spotted a nearby subway stairwell lit up. The younger officer grabbed a camera from the car and took pictures as a red orb flew out of the subway. The earthquake stopped soon after. The senior officer ordered the other to take the film to the police station while he stayed behind to guard the car. The red orb landed on a balcony, turned into a giant entity, expelled flames, and transformed into a well dressed gentleman. He then strode into the party inside the building.

The next morning, the guys cleaned up the mess in the garage bay. While the others joked around, Egon explained the line recorders picked up a psychic energy reading that went off the scale. Ray is intrigued by the protonic anomaly but Peter predicted the Ghostbusters would take the blame for it. Almost on cue, two police officers arrived. They were the pair who witnessed the entity the previous night. The senior officer handed them a photograph of the red entity. Peter assured them they could catch it. After the officers left, Egon was irate at Peter's bold declaration. Peter nonchalantly announced all they had to do was look it up in Tobin's Spirit Guide.

At the Midtown Pier, a dock worker ate his lunch as a steamer passed by the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. The steamer collided into another ship and prompted the worker to transform into the red entity. He then flew the steamer to the docks before it sunk. The passengers waved and cheered at the entity as it flew off. Back at the Firehouse, Peter and Winston watched a news report about the crash as Egon initiated a search on a new computer version of Tobin's Spirit Guide. The search yielded one result: Marduk, Babylonian god of the city. Winston isn't pleased it's another god but Ray pointed out he seemed to be a force of good. Before they departed, Egon expressed a concern over Marduk. He had an eternal adversary, a giant five headed dragon named Tiamat.

In Central Park, a mounted officer woke up a man asleep on a park bench. The horse was drawn to the man and he walked off. The man then transformed into a sailor and hailed a taxi cab. A green orb landed in Central Park and revealed itself as Tiamat. Ecto-1 was stuck in the middle of a giant traffic jam. The divariable universal atop the Ecto-1 was jammed and Egon decided to fix it on the spot. An angry motorist confronted the Ghostbusters but Peter directed him to the roof where the universal was aimed at him. Mistaking it for weapon, the motorist backed off. The universal was fixed and picked up Marduk's emanations again. As Ecto-1 zoomed off, Egon picked up something else on the P.K.E. Meter. Peter advised him they could only handle one at a time.

Back at Central Park, people ran in terror as Tiamat marched around. The Ghostbusters arrived at Grand Central Station in search of Marduk. After setting their P.K.E. Meters to infinite, Peter picked up Marduk, in the form of a sleepy guard. Egon and Peter chased after him but he turned into a nun and gave them the slip. Winston chased after a boy who turned into a businessman and vanished in a crowd. Ray picked up a signal and pursued it to a door. However, it was just feedback from Egon, who was on the other side. Winston spotted a Santa and the Ghostbusters surrounded him. Egon attempted to greet him in a proper manner. Marduk then changed into a more appropriate form.

Marduk declared he liked it in New York and planned on settling down. He apologized about the subway and promised to fix it. However, when Egon brought up Tiamat, Marduk became irritable and revealed he lost Tiamat in ancient China. Tiamat then flew over Grand Central. Enraged at the development, Marduk changed to his true form and vowed to defeat the dragon. The Ghostbusters offered him an alternative that wouldn't wreck New York City, strategy. Central Park was shut down and cleared out. Police officers surrounded the park perimeter and kept watch. Egon drove Ecto-1 in, Peter watched from a tree, Winston observed from the ground, and Ray took off in Ecto-2. Ray opened fire on Tiamat but was blasted and forced to land in a pond. Marduk pounced on Tiamat but was tossed away. Peter vacated his hiding place and shot at Tiamat. Winston appeared on horseback.

Tiamat was led to Ecto-1 where Egon and Ray awaited. Egon was on Ecto's roof behind a cannon. The Ghostbusters opened fire on Tiamat and forced it to disperse. They concluded Marduk did as well, due to an ecto symbiosis - one couldn't exist without the other. As they left the park, the horse Winston rode transformed into a blonde male police officer who breaks the fourth wall by smiling, tipping his cap to the audience then waved, turned and walked off.

Quotes[]

Ray: This new computer version of Tobin's Spirit Guide is great!

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on September 24, 1986.[3]
  • Marduk assumes twelve different civilian forms.
  • The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 makes a cameo at the Midtown Pier.
  • Peter impersonates John Wayne and refers to the angry motorist as "Pilgrim."[4]
  • In an homage to the first movie, Marduk asks Peter, "Are you gods?". Winston stops Peter from answering.[5]
  • In Central Park, Peter refers to Smokey the Bear after Tiamat scorches a tree.[6]
  • Janine doesn't appear in this episode.
  • "I Am The City" is also the title of a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA.

Animation Errors[]

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "I Am the City" (1986).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 22. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "I Am the City" (1986).
  4. Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "I Am the City" (1987) (DVD ts. 10:57-10:58). Time Life Entertainment.
  5. Marduk, Winston Zeddemore (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "I Am the City" (1987) (DVD ts. 17:06-17:13). Time Life Entertainment.
  6. Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "I Am the City" (1987) (DVD ts. 19:30-19:32). Time Life Entertainment.

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]

RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

 
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