WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, now playing in theaters.
Following the disastrous 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, the franchise opts for a sequel to the originals in the shape of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. There are many plot points connecting Phoebe (McKenna Grace) to her grandfather, Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), as she leads a new generation of Ghostbusters to use his Summerville farm in Oklahoma to stop the demonic Gozer once and for all. However, while they achieve victory, there are a few scenes in between and after the credits that expand the series outside of the girl’s mission.
Peter And Dana Are Still A Thing
The mid-credits scene is quite amusing and made for nostalgics who love the ’84 movie. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) is still happy in his relationship with Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), clearly moving past her being turned into the Terror Dog, Zuul, to bring Gozer to life in New York. They endured a breakup in the second Ghostbusters film five years later, but now they’re cozied up with each other in their apartment.
She controls Venkman’s electroshock device, using the cards in the guessing game as Venkman admits he uses this trick on male students in his university teaching job. She tests his precognition, with Venkman predicting all the cards like he’s psychic: the three wavy lines, the five-pointed star, and such. However, after a few shocks, he confesses he’s marked the back of each card and is indeed a cheater. Director Jason Reitman said Murray riffed all the dialogue as this scene hewed so close to home, showcasing how he and Dana never stopped being in love.
Janine And Egon Have Their Moment
The post-credits later starts with a deleted scene from the ’84 flick, with former secretary Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) offering Egon a souvenir medallion from the ’64 World’s Fair. This was just as Egon and the guys headed off to Dana’s building — an evil beacon built by Ivo Shandor atop Central Park West — to battle Gozer. It fans the flames that they may have had an affair that fans didn’t know about as they had so much romantic tension.
It then cuts to the present, with Janine holding the other medallion she mentioned having. She remembers the good, old Doctor Spengler in the wake of his death, with a smile on her face. It seems like she’s glad Callie (his daughter) and the grandchildren got closure, as well as how the old gang — Venkman, Ray and Winston — teamed up and went to Summerville to help them banish Gozer.
Winston Has A Big Plan For The Ghostbusters
She’s actually in Winston’s high-rise as he explains how he made money on the financial circuit, backing up Ray’s words how he was indeed a shrewd businessman, and now, a millionaire. They reminisce how fun the Ghostbustin’ days were, with Winston admitting he’s been paying the rent for Ray’s quaint Occult Books in the Lower East Side for decades, and someday his buddy will turn a profit.
However, the real kicker comes when Winston’s spotted in what looks like a new firehouse, as the old one they operated out of was turned into a Starbucks. He has Ecto-1 wheeled in and touches it with an air of sentimentality. He hinted to Phoebe’s team he wants to refurbish it, so this suggests he’s going to do it and perhaps turn this new spot into their base as Gozer’s return may have awakened more ghosts. Seeing as he’s got places all over, Winston could now be eyeing a global movement to trap ghosts and make the world safe again.
To see the old gang up to their hijinks again, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is in theaters now.
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