Voice Cast
Years after the original Ghostbusters voluntarily disbanded, supernatural activity in New York has gone quiet. Egon Spengler now teaches Paranormal Phenomena 101 at New York City College and lives with Slimer at the old Firehouse on North Moore Street.
The episode begins in 1997 when a crew excavating the new Crosstown Subway tunnel breaks through an ancient sealed chamber. A vapor escapes and a multi-armed ghost materializes, freeing itself from its thousand-year imprisonment.
At the college, Egon's 10 am class introduces the four core students: Garrett Miller, an athlete who uses a wheelchair; Kylie Griffin, an occult expert who has already read Spengler's Spirit Guide six times; Eduardo Rivera, a self-described skeptic looking for an easy A; and Roland Jackson, a machinery enthusiast who once saw Ecto-1 at an auto show. A fifth student arrives: Janine Melnitz, recently downsized and pursuing continued education. She and Egon share an awkward reunion.
Slimer, still at the Firehouse, notices the P.K.E. Meters spiking. He locates Egon's class schedule, travels to the college, and interrupts the lecture. Roland volunteers his Mustang to get everyone back to the Firehouse, where the students see the original Ghostbusters' equipment for the first time.
Meanwhile, the escaped entity, Achira, seeks a willing host to infect. She targets a man in a park but releases him when his terror makes him unwilling. The Ghostbusters learn from a news report that the tunnel breach has created an ecto-triangulation breach. Egon heads to the site alone to take readings, but the Mayor dismisses him publicly and refuses to seal the tunnel.
Kylie, curious about a Ghost Beacon she spotted at the Firehouse, takes it home to try to contact her deceased Great Grandma Rose. Achira detects the beacon's ultra-parasonic frequency and poses as Grandma Rose to find a willing host. Her cat Pagan senses the deception, but before Kylie can react, Achira possesses her.
Egon, realizing the threat, suits up and heads out in Ecto-1 alone. He picks up a Class 6 entity reading, encounters one of Achira's Appendage Minions, and chases it into an alley. He acknowledges he is breaking the first rule of ghostbusting before the appendages overpower and electrocute him. Achira, inhabiting Kylie, infects Egon and moves on.
The next morning, the rest of the class finds Egon at the Firehouse covered in ghost zits, technically a cross-dimensional dermal-transmogrification. Too weak to act himself, Egon explains Achira is a disease-spreading entity and that the missing Ghost Beacon was likely taken by Kylie. Roland and Garrett volunteer to handle the situation; Eduardo joins when Garrett calls his courage into question. Slimer hangs an "Open for Business" sign on the Firehouse door. The episode ends on the city streets, where Achira-as-Kylie smiles devilishly.
Achira
Achira is the episode's central antagonist and the first new ghost faced by the Extreme Ghostbusters team. She is a Class 6 Symbio-Apparitional Entity, meaning she requires a willing host to operate at full power. Her name derives from the Mesopotamian phrase "Achira-Teema," roughly translated as "Destroyer of Civilizations," and she is described in records as the bringer of the Great Plague. Achira was imprisoned approximately a thousand years ago using incantations and talismanic objects. Her method of destruction is possession followed by infection: victims develop boil-like growths on their faces that are in fact her offspring.
Achira is voiced by guest actress Susan Tyrrell. Her design was a collaboration between designer Fil Barlow and executive producer Richard Raynis, who together sketched her multi-armed form. Raynis sketched Achira's face and Barlow designed the snake arms, hair, and body, then continued to design her later stages.
Achira also appears in "Darkness at Noon, Part 2," and is referenced in the Insight Editions Tobin's Spirit Guide (Section IV, page 75), where she is classified as a Class 7 noncorporeal possessor and credited as the source of the Black Death and numerous historical plagues.
Characters
Equipment
- P.K.E. Meter
- Proton Pack and Particle Thrower
- Ghost Trap
- Ecto-1
- Ghost Beacon (a.k.a. Spectral Proto-Capacitator): emits an ultra-parasonic frequency capable of summoning a ghost. Kylie steals it from the Firehouse, accidentally attracting Achira.
- Spengler's Spirit Guide
Locations
- Crosstown Subway (excavation site)
- New York City College (lecture hall)
- Firehouse (North Moore Street)
- Times Square
- Kylie's apartment
- Central Park
- Rockefeller Plaza
- World Trade Center (establishing shots)
Trivia
- Some markets broadcast "Darkness at Noon" Parts 1 and 2 back-to-back as a premiere special. In syndication, the only distribution method available in many areas, they were always aired as two separate half-hour episodes.
- "'Darkness at Noon' was originally a one part script. It made it all the way through storyboards before we realized it was far too long -- either eight minutes needed to go on, or I think about eleven minutes had to go. Going into detail about building the new equipment is where we bought most of the time, though there's other additions scattered throughout. The actual production numbers are 101 (part 1) and 140 (part 2); this was at my suggestion because it was just easier to deal with. Otherwise part 2 would have been production number 121 -- that's how far along we were when the splitting decision was made -- and I found that to be a lot less neat. Thankfully those with the power said okay." - Shannon Muir
- "Janine's original character design called for her to have slacks. They went back to a skirt just as the boards for 'Darkness at Noon' went overseas and not all the panels were changed. I had to spend late into the night pasting a miniature picture of Janine with skirt onto all the storyboard pages as a sidebar and note to make her ON THAT MODEL." - Shannon Muir
- "You notice Kylie's clothes design also changed? She was originally supposed to have the outfit she wears in 97% of 'Darkness at Noon' but it was agreed that the costume needed to be simplified. I don't know why we didn't do the same thing to her that we did to Janine on the storyboards, maybe because Kylie had so much more screen time. However, if you pay attention, there is ONE SEQUENCE in 'Darkness at Noon' where Kylie wears the casual clothes she'll have for the rest of the series -- when she summons Grandma Rose. This was originally a mistake on the part of the board artist not using (either by ignoring or not being supplied, I forget) the right model that neither I nor the director caught. I didn't notice until I saw the animation. In hindsight, I really like it. It gets you used to the new costume, and is in a stand-alone sequence where the continuity isn't broken. So it's not jarring when you see it later." - Shannon Muir
- The episode title references Arthur Koestler's 1940 novel of the same name. The novel's theme of opposing forces meeting is echoed in the episode, where four very different students converge on Egon's class and form an unlikely team.
- The subway construction incident mirrors a similar outbreak from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Knock, Knock."
- Roland mentions he once saw Ecto-1 at an auto show. Ecto-1 previously appeared at an auto show in the RGB episode "Follow That Hearse."
- A calendar visible on the Firehouse refrigerator when Slimer checks the class schedule establishes the year as 1997.
- The scene where Kylie summons Grandma Rose is the first appearance of what becomes Kylie's regular season costume, used in the scene by mistake and never corrected. Shannon Muir later noted she was glad the error went uncaught.
- Egon's Paranormal Phenomena 101 was scheduled at 10 am. He had only two students last semester.
- Kylie reveals she has read "Spengler's Spirit Guide" cover to cover six times. When she steals the Ghost Beacon, a copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide is visible next to it.
- Egon gets nosebleeds when underground.
- Eduardo first uses his recurring line "Maybe he's dead" when the class speculates on Egon's absence.
- Garrett refers to Kylie as "Vampira," a reference to the cult American variety show host.
- Egon references the original Ghostbusters motto, "Who you gonna call?" as he heads out alone to confront Achira.
- In Times Square, advertisements visible in the animation include those for Minolta, Sony, and Fuji (slightly altered names).
- Books visible in Kylie's stack near the start of class include "Ghosts Walk Among Us" and "Government Cover Up: Ghosts." Both appear later on page 23 of Ghostbusters Annual 2018.
- On page 18 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #4, the middle top monitor screen shows the P.K.E. Meter display from this episode.
- On page 4 of Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Extreme Ghostbusters, the Extreme Ghostbusters appear in their civilian clothes from this episode.
- The events of this episode are summarized on the 24th Crossing Over Virtual Trading Card, published May 10, 2018.
Quotes
Egon Spengler: "I'm breaking the first rule of Ghostbusting, never go solo."
Achira / Kylie: "Feel my disease."
Gallery
References
- Fandom Ghostbusters Wiki, "Darkness at Noon, Part 1"
- Fandom Ghostbusters Wiki, "Achira"
