TUGS: Ghosts

As Halloween draws near, there's bound to be Ghosts in Bigg City Port!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, AND NO ONE ELSE'S

Ghosts

Written and Directed by David Mitton

I like how the episode starts out with Captain Star explaining how the tugs back in the 1920s had to deal with fog; they didn't have the technology back then. Anyway, Big Mac is coming home late from working with Scuttlebutt Pete all day, the latter who had been telling him ghost stories all day. Big Mac soon comes across some white tugboats - the Ghost Fleet from the Great Storm of 1912! When he tells the other Star Tugs - albeit reluctantly - they laugh at him and continue to do so next morning.

However, come nightfall, karma bites back. Warrior leads some shrimpers home, but he swerves violently to avoid hitting a mudbank which the shrimpers hit. After that, Warrior encounters the Ghost Fleet, much to his shock. O.J. also returns home from escorting two trampers out to sea and encounters the Ghost Fleet not too long after bumping into Scuttlebutt Pete. Top Hat gets nervous when a train startles him, and even more so when he spots the Ghost Fleet. (Ya see where this is going?) Ten Cents and Sunshine, while taking fuel for Lillie Lightship, come across the Ghost Fleet, and witness an old galleon rising from the water, causing the two switchers to run off in terror.

There is one scene that very much had little to do with the rest of the episode (this is between Warrior's scene and O.J.'s) - Izzy Gomez tries to sneak into port but Zorran catches him out, and later comes across the Ghost Fleet and is spooked. It doesn't add anything to the plot, and it feels like it's just there and never brought up again.

The following morning, Top Hat is awoken by Grampus spitting water into his face, and the submarine points out that Top Hat isn't too far from the Star Dock - a mere 500 yards! He frantically begins telling everyone his encounter with the ghosts when Hercules shows up; he explains that the tugboats were actually the White Fleet, and they often sail with their engines off to listen for cracking ice. Earlier that night, they encountered the galleon Ten Cents and Sunshine did and it's taken away by Burke and Blair. The Star Tugs are relieved, if not embarrassed, but never forget the night they nearly went crazy.

This demonstrates how fog can sometimes mess with your thoughts, and it seemed to do it a lot better than Flatbeds of Fear did. The one scene that felt out of place was Zorran and Izzy's; no one else brings them up and it feels like they were just there because why not. Also, what caused Neptune's face to appear? Still, it was a good bit of animation.

Rating: 9 out of 10

TUGS Episode Scorecard

1. Sunshine: 9
2. Pirate: 10
3. Trapped: 10
5. Quarantine: 9
6. High Winds: 9.5
7. Ghosts: 9
10. High Tide: 9.5
11. Munitions: 10
12. Regatta: 9.5