"The New (Para)Normal" is the first episode of the second season of The Ghost and Molly McGee, and the forty-first episode overall.
It premiered on April 1, 2023 on Disney Channel and Disney XD.[1]
Synopsis
When a new family moves in across the street, the McGees are put in a sticky situation. Scratch avoids his duties in the Ghost World.[1]
Plot
The intro to the series fades into Molly and Scratch rocking out in the living room, only for the two of them to be distracted by the arrival of new neighbors next door. The McGees are excited and curious to see who they are, but fail to notice Scratch getting sucked back into the Ghost World. The McGees meet their new neighbors, the Chens, consisting of "cool" dad Ruben, spice obsessed wife Esther, autistic tech genius Juniper "June", and handsome helping son Oliver "Ollie". The McGees immediately fawn over their new friends, especially Molly who takes joy in learning that Ollie is interested in helping the community the way that she does.
Scratch learns from the Ghost Council that because he defeated the Chairman, he has to take his place. He simply tells the ghosts in the Ghost World to do whatever they want, not knowing that in doing so, he has released the Frightmares (truly terrifying ghosts who exclusively followed the original Chairman's orders that were kept in the Flow of Failed Phantoms for the safety of both worlds). While the McGees continue to show their admiration towards the Chens, Scratch is shocked to see the Ghost Council in his home and at a loss over what to do. Through the song, he convinces them to pursue activities that they have always wanted to pursue, even in life. However, this seems to make things worse as they refuse to leave him alone and as they, ironically, refuse to listen to him.
The McGees, seeing the Chens as the next step in their forever home, invite them over for a barbecue where they once again connect with Ruben showing Pete his self-made root beer, June causing trouble with Darryl, and Esther and Sharon sharing spices. Molly and Ollie go off by themselves and learn that they have much more in common. As Molly is about to show Ollie her room, he reveals that he and his family have been moving around because, as it turns out, they are ghost hunters and have a web series called Ghost Chasing Chens. Molly is shocked and warns Scratch about them before warning the rest of the McGees. They are forced to "stuff their faces" to get rid of the Chens while Scratch has to deal with the Frightmares while not getting noticed.
The McGees finally send the Chens home while Scratch reluctantly dons the Chairman's cloak to order the Frightmares away. He then returns to the Ghost World to tell the rest of the ghosts to not cause any trouble before getting rid of the Council for good. The McGees are saddened at the revelation that the Chens hunt ghosts, but they decide to maintain their friendship with them so as not to arouse any suspicion from them. While Scratch is annoyed at the prospect, Molly and the McGees promise to look out for Scratch in case anything goes wrong. Later, the Chens come home to see their ghost alarm go off. Realizing that there are ghosts in Brighton, they suit up to go hunting.
Cast
Main article: The New (Para)Normal/Credits
- Ashly Burch as Molly McGee
- Dana Snyder as Scratch
- Sumalee Montano as Sharon McGee
- Jordan Klepper as Pete McGee
- Michaela Dietz as Darryl McGee
- Alan Lee as Ollie Chen
- Sue Ann Pien as June Chen
- Stephanie Sheh as Esther Chen
- Leonard Wu as Ruben Chen
- Grey Griffin as Lucretia
- John DiMaggio as Sir Alister & Heidi Hairylegs
- Greg Baldwin as Bartholomew
- Kari Wahlgren as Grimbella
Non-speaking cameos
Songs
Titles in other languages
| Language | Title | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Spanish (Latin America)
|
La nueva (para)normalidad | The New (Para)Normal | |
 Spanish
|
La nueva (para)normalidad | The New (Para)Normal | |
 Japanese
|
新しいご近所さん | New Neighbor |
Trivia
- This is the first episode to premiere simultaneously on both Disney Channel and Disney XD.
- This is the second episode to not feature a title card, following "The Curse".
- Coincidentally, these episodes are both season premieres.
- This is the first episode to air in 2023.
- This marks the first 22-minute special of the series.
- Though it can be picked up on in this episode alone, Frightmares On Main Street indirectly confirms that the Ghost Council were purposefully trying to summon the frightmares by causing chaos in order to force Scratch to take on the role of Chairman. This was then directly confirmed by Bill Motz in a Discord AMA.
- While the scenery in the song "Enjoy Your Afterlife" is mostly symbolic, one of the moments where Scratch gets to know the members of the Ghost Council involves the five of them soaking in a hot spring, which may or may not be inspired by Spirited Away and other anime scenes involving a scene at the bathhouse.
Production notes
- Although this episode premiered in the United States on April 1, 2023, it was actually produced in 2020-2021,[2] and finished around the summer of 2022 according to the script and credits.
- This episode was originally going to be titled "The New Normal".[2] It was probably changed due to Amphibia having an episode of the same name, which was also made as a season premiere for the show.
Revelations
- Scratch becomes the new Chairman.
- This episode properly reveals the Ghost Council members' names.
Continuity
- The events of "Molly Vs. The Ghost World" are mentioned.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Videos
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 April 2023 Programming Highlights. Disney General Entertainment (March 20, 2023). Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved on March 20, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Motz, Bill (May 24, 2023). "Here is the title page to the script that introduced Ollie. You can see it was begun in November of 2020 and completed in May of 2021. The series premiered October 1, 2021.". Twitter. Retrieved on May 30, 2023.
- ↑ Disney Channel Japan (September 20, 2023). "＼新シーズンスタート／ ゴーストハンターと禁断の恋!? 少女とゴーストの奇妙な友情物語から、 新展開の新エピソードが2話続けて登場 特別編成「ゴースト&モリー ドキドキ新展開！」9/23(土・祝)朝11時～【日本初放送】". Twitter. Retrieved on September 23, 2023.