Plot
A legion of demons from the Underworld gathers around a cavern shrine, ordered by the Lord of the Stench to steal the shears and thread of the Three Fates, which determine the life of all mortals. If the demons recover the items for their master, the Lord of Evil, he can turn the world to evil and destroy his enemies. The Fates send the shears scattering through time and space, and the demons give chase. Several demons end up stealing scissors from significant moments in history, including the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and Benjamin Franklin's experiment proving that lightning was electricity. Most of the demons, however, track the scissors to the right place and era: the Garment District of 1980s Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Ray is quizzing the others on identifying entities when Janine takes a morning call about the demons. The creatures ransack the Garment District until the Ghostbusters arrive and scare them off. The demons regroup and converge on the firehouse after Ray accidentally picks up the Shears of Fate while repairing his Particle Thrower's hose. The Ghostbusters use a move called the Seismic Ripple against the demons, but Ray is knocked backward and the shears are revealed. The Lord of the Stench grabs them and escapes.
The Fates appear and teleport the Ghostbusters to the Underworld to recover the shears, warning them they have only one hour. There they meet Charon, who ferries them across the River Styx to where the shears are held. Short on payment, the Ghostbusters give Charon a rabbit's foot and a cheese sandwich on white bread. They trap the Lord of the Stench, retrieve the shears, and return to the Underworld lobby for extraction by leaping over the rails. The shears are handed back to the Fates and the team takes pride in a job well done. Egon then admits the whole plan was a wild gamble, and Peter faints.
Cast
Regular voices: Lorenzo Music, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Arsenio Hall, and Laura Summer.
Guest voices: Barry Dennen, Lewis Arquette, Matt Plendl, Kathy Garver, and Ann Sebastian.
Featured characters include the Three Fates, the Lord of the Stench, the Legion of the Stench, Charon, and the Ghostbusters themselves: Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, Janine Melnitz, and Slimer. Historical figures Grover Cleveland and Ben Franklin appear in the time-travel sequences. Lewis Arquette voices two roles in the episode: Arnold Lieberman, a dry-goods business owner in the Garment District who takes pride in his collection of "going out of business sale" signs and hopes his son Sheldon will inherit the shop, and the Lord of the Stench, the head demon who commands the Legion.1
Equipment and items
The Ghostbusters carry their usual gear: the Ecto-1, the Proton Pack and Particle Thrower, the Ghost Trap, and the P.K.E. Meter. The episode also features the Standard Ghosts and Demons Identification Test that Ray uses to quiz the team, and the central object of the story, the Shears of Fate.
Notes
The episode was recorded on November 19, 1986.2 Lewis Arquette makes an uncredited cameo as the voice of the head demon.1
The Fates are based on the Parcae of Greek and Roman mythology. One running gag has a demon stealing scissors from Benjamin Franklin during his lightning experiment, forcing him to improvise with a key. While busting demons in the Garment District, Peter gives his suit size, 38 Long, asking, "Anyone find a nice tweed in a 38 long?" On the way back from the Garment District he also quips that crazy things happen at President's Day sales. He reminds Ray that he melted a statue by mistake a week earlier, and at one point refers to Ray as "Tex."
The Ghostbusters previously visited the Underworld in "Chicken, He Clucked," and the lobby looks much the same in both episodes, down to a horned demon with a visor seated behind a desk. On arriving in the Underworld, Peter remarks, "People are always saying I should come here." Charon, meanwhile, is hungry and full of requests: he longs for pastrami, lean roast beef, and corned beef, is tired of white bread and would prefer wheat or rye, and shows interest in an outboard motor and a Captain Midnight decoder badge. Captain Midnight was a WWII-era adventure franchise centered on an Army pilot turned secret agent; the decoder badge is a callback to that era's radio-premium merchandise.
Broadcast and home video
In the original air-date order, "Hanging By a Thread" falls between "Station Identification" and "Transylvanian Homesick Blues." On the DVD ordering it sits between "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?" and "You Can't Take it With You." It is included on Volume 2, Disc 1 of The Real Ghostbusters box set.
References
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Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 13. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "Hanging By a Thread" (1986).
