"Bob & Nancy" is the fifth episode in the first season of City of Ghosts. It is the fifth episode overall.
Synopsis[]
Zen and her mom Atomic Nancy, a fluffy ghost with a punky past, help the kids investigate strange noises at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
Plot[]
We start with Zelda explaining that this episode is off of a special request from the Ghost Club's friend, Zen. She talks about her mother, Atomic Nancy, who is actually a ghost; she is very loud and energetic, constantly being an annoyance to Zen.
Now at Zen's house, Zelda is interviewing Nancy, who talks about how she got her name; her dad's cafe was called the "Atomic Cafe" because nobody forgot about the atomic bomb, and nobody would forget about their food either. This story is conveyed by wooden blocks and peg dolls. She then talks about how her family was sent to internment camps, and that even when she wasn't at the camp, she was heavily discriminated against. She says that her cafe was for the punks, misfits, and weirdos, but now it was gone, and replaced by a metro station. Zelda gets Zen and Nancy to talk through their problems, but as they argue, Zelda gets a call from Peter, saying that he also found a ghost. So they got in the car to meet at the library.
Now at the library, Peter beatboxes before telling them that a ghost is interrupting a children's theater construction at Echo Park (formerly located in Highland Park). On a video, a strange noise followed by sobbing can be heard many times. Nancy recognizes that the sound is a record player. They decide to go to the Bob Baker's Marionette Theater to investigate the ghost.
Now at the theater, Eric De La Cruz explains that the theater is in construction because the owner sold it before he passed away, and that they haven't had a show yet because the ghost keeps interrupting them. During the interview Peter interrupts multiple times, until Jordan tells him to (be cool, will ya?). He explained that he used to rake Bob Baker's leaves, and then fell in love with the theater. After they say "The Show Needs to Go On", the ghost cries. They repeat this phrase over and over until they find the ghost in a record holder. He begins talking in "record player", and Peter, who understands that language, translate to tell everybody that he wishes they played more EDM. The ghost then reveals itself, and also reveals that it can really talk. He says his name is Walter, and he misses the shows. He was trying to play music, but all he had was an empty record player. Nancy then finds a record, and decides to perform a live show.
They finish the setup of the theater, and open it for their first show in the new theater. Eric talks about his love of theater while he performs a puppet show. Zen talks about how she was goth in the 8th grade, and her mother tells her she was glad how brave she was.
Zelda sums up everything that happened, and the episode ends.
Characters[]
Major Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
Mentioned or Pictured[]
- Minoru Matoba (mentioned, and pictured as a peg doll.
- Jordan (voice heard)
- Bob Baker (mentioned and pictured)
- Uncle Alex (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- This episode has a different set-up than those before it; instead of trying to find the ghost and figure out why they are causing the problem, this episode starts with the ghost explaining why she was causing the problem and then going from the start of the setup with the first ghost tagging along.
- Nancy is the first ghost to have two recurring forms.
- Pendleton Ward, the creator of Adventure Time, which Elizabeth Ito had worked on as a storyboard artist and later a supervising director, worked on this episode.
- Nancy, Zen, and Eric were all based off of their voice actors of the same name.
Episode Connections[]
- This episode, like "Venice", has two ghosts as opposed to one.
- It appears as though Jasper has joined the Ghost Club since "Tovaangar", as he is seen gathered with them at the library.
Cultural References[]
- Nancy talks about the Japanese-American Internment camps seen in the USA during WWII, and how she felt discriminated against (like most of the Japanese-American community in that time).
- The Atomic Cafe was a real cafe in post-WWII Los Angeles, and it was really owned by a man named Matoba (Minoru Matoba).
- Nancy is also the real daughter of Minoru, and her nickname was "Atomic Nancy". What she said about the cafe being for the punks and misfits was also true.
- Footage of a black car driving is seen to juxtapose Zen driving calmly, which appears to be from a 20th century movie or tv show.