Lars Pinfield

Lars Pinfield is the resident parabiologist of the Ghostbusters Engineer Corps who develops new ghostbusting technology.

History[]

Primary Canon History[]

Before Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire[]

Lars Pinfield sought out Winston Zeddemore and joined the Ghostbusters Engineer Corps.^[1]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire[]

In the summer of 2024, a day after the Containment Unit was hit by the Death Chill, Lars Pinfield took readings of the Containment Unit. Gary Grooberson tried to make small talk and asked if his headphones helped him hear the ghosts in the unit. Lars replied silence helped him hear the ghosts. He was startled by a klanging sound. Janine Melnitz, Winston, and Lars met with the new Ghostbusters team on the second floor and went over Egon Spengler's original designs for the Containment Unit. Lars explained it was essentially a large Ghost Trap that fired articulated streams of protons that could stabilize the particles of the ghosts. He turned to the problem of the unit having compiled 40 years worth of spiritual waste and running out of space. Trevor Spengler asked why another Containment Unit couldn't be built. Lars was surprised they didn't know already. Winston admitted his engineers already did. Winston introduced them to the Paranormal Research Center and its mandate to think about the future, answering the questions ghostbusting poses. He presented the new Containment Unit. Gary recognized a Sony Walkman Sport and grabbed it but it munched at his fingers. Lars took it away and revealed it was possessed by an evil Spin Doctor CD. He demonstrated the Ionic Separator with the Haunted Discman and extracted the ghost. Phoebe Spengler inquired if they tested it on living possession yet. Lars replied they were still tweaking. He took the Trap containing the Haunted Discman's ghost and deposited it into the new Containment Unit.

That night, Lars Pinfield and Lucky extracted ghosts from several spirit-loaded objects. After a Haunted Doll was exorcised, the Possessor, while in possession of a folding chair, tapped on its enclosure to get Lars's attention. Lars informed it he was too busy to play but promised if it was good, he would give it a tennis ball. It stopped tapping. Lucky chose the Orb of Garraka next but it resisted extraction in the Ionic Separator and the center lost power. Lars was able to restart the Proton Fields before any ghosts escaped. Lars grabbed the orb but it started to freeze his left hand and he dropped it to the floor. His arm was placed on a sling. The next day, Ray and Podcast returned to the Paranormal Research Center and learned about Lars's findings regarding the orb. Lars used a grabber claw to pick up the orb and placed it up against the Puft Terrarium. The Mini-Pufts inside jumped towards the glass, smashing themselves flat. Ray was amazed by the Zero Kelvin temperature, extreme thermodynamic excurions, and thought transference.

Lucky, Lars, and Trevor paid a visit to Nadeem Razmaadi, the person who sold Ray the orb. He let them in once Lars clarified they weren't interested in a refund. Lars took a reading of the apartment with the Ghost Sniffer then inquired about the orb. Nadeem showed them the secret room he found the orb in. Lucky asked Lars if the whole room was brass or copper. Lars recalled brass was believed to be a magical alloy that trapped demons and tales dated back to the time of Solomon. Trevor noticed the room had no echos like a dead room. Lucky teased grandma could be as loud as she wanted. Nadeem asked them to stop making sex jokes about his recently deceased grandmother. Lars speculated the room kept the orb quiet. Everyone became concerned when Lucky picked readings off Nadeem with a P.K.E. Meter. Nadeem was taken back to the Paranormal Research Center for testing. Peter Venkman, Lucky, and Lars soon realized Nadeem had latent pyrokinetic abilities after he unknowingly manipulated the flame of a Bunsen burner in a heightened emotional state.

Lars, Trevor, and Lucky took Nadeem to the Firehouse. The Ghostbusters soon learned the police really did confiscate their Proton Packs. Lars noted it was called "civil forfeiture." He went down to the basement and scanned the Containment Unit with his Narda Monitor but he was startled when Nadeem came down and shouted in amazement at how trashed the room was. Lars tried to convey it was a sensitive area and he was trying to get some readings. Nadeem noticed the room was a disaster zone and frozen. Lars noted it wouldn't be if a certain orb was left in its rightful place. The next day, the demonstration of Nadeem's fledgling pyrokinetic ability failed to inspire any hope. Lars and Lucky unloaded Ecto-Z of all the equipment they brought over. Lars suited up in a Parka Uniform and strapped on an upgraded Proton Pack. On the third floor, he heard a window shatter in Trevor's bedroom and armed his Particle Thrower. He was relieved it was only Pukey and asked how he got there. He realized what Pukey was about to do but it was too late. Pukey vomited ectoplasm at him. After Garraka was trapped, Lars stepped outside the Firehouse, still drenched, and asked Nadeem if they won.

Tertiary Canon History[]

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord[]

Lars Pinfield, Podcast, and Lucky were dispatched to San Francisco to help the San Francisco Ghostbusters look into Gustav Hookfaber's research to find more information on trapping ghosts in objects.

Personality[]

Lars is very serious about his job, ghosts, and ghostbusting. If he thinks someone doesn't match is level of seriousness, he doesn't respect them.^[2]

Behind The Scenes[]

On March 24, 2023, it was announced James Acaster was in the cast.^[3]

On June 3, 2023, Dan Aykroyd was a guest on the "Saturday Kitchen." Around 1 hour, 20 minutes, 5 seconds into the episode to 1 hour, 22 minutes, 19 seconds, Aykroyd mentioned James Acaster's character builds new equipment for the Ghostbusters saying, "James is in our show, he plays one of the developers of new equipment. He's great, he's very funny, and what a gentleman, he's wonderful."^[4]^[5]

On June 6, 2023, during an interview at the 42:27 mark, Dan Aykroyd referred to James Acaster's character as "one of the new lab technicians."^[6]

On January 15, 2024, James Acaster was revealed to be portraying Lars Pinfield, "a man responsible for some of the fresh tech being funded by Ernie Hudson's Winston" and "really falls in line with the Egon Spengler ‘type’" according to Jason Reitman.^[7]

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Trivia[]

In his first scene in the movie, Lars Pinfield is wearing Sony DR-4A Stereo Headphones from 1968 and using a Narda Electromagnetic Radiation Monitor 8616 with an Isotropic Probe.
The device in Lars's belt holster is an RS 612-849 (V7490) LCD Thermometer/Clock.