The Ghost and Mr. Martin

The Ghost and Mr. Martin
Season:	3
Episode:	11 (season) 60 (series)
Production Code:	310
Writer:	Adam Lapidus, Jeny Quine
Director:	Joel Zwick
Previous: "Trouble in Tokyo" Next: "Senior Ditch Day"

"The Ghost and Mr. Martin" is the 11th episode of the third season of The Suite Life on Deck.

Story

Zack has to redo his history paper after he got an F on it, while Cody and Woody set off to explore New Orleans, raving mostly on how interesting the food sounds. Meanwhile, Mr. Moseby explains the story behind a nearby shipwreck, a 19th-century Louisiana steamship: the Jesse Belle, to the cruisers, as Zack listens in. One hundred and fifty years ago, a skipper by the name of Captain Entineel misread his compass because he was so rushed about proposing to his lover, Jesse Belle, that he allowed the ship to run aground on Dead Man's Rock, causing his death—and his infamy.

Later, London and Bailey head to their cabin, only to pass by Moseby's and find him playing the piano beautifully at a small piano. Moseby reveals that he can't play in front of anyone due to his traumatizing experience of having his pants split and reveal his underwear when making his introductory bow at his piano performance when he was 8, causing him to pass out on stage and land on his left knee, and destroying his ballet skills. Later, while Zack works on his paper, paranormal occurrences begin to happen, freaking Zack out. While this happens, London and Bailey try to help Moseby make a comeback by tricking him into thinking he is playing alone on a grand piano while some of the staff secretly listen in, eventually making him faint when the curtain is pulled away. When Cody and Woody pay a visit to Zack's cabin, he frets over how his pile of dirty socks on the left has moved to the right. Firm in the fact that the ghost captain needs his help, Zack is determined to prove his theory by making his twin and his friend stay the night while recording it on his laptop's camera. Again, paranormal things happen, prompting Cody and Woody to believe Zack, though panicking them in the process.

The next day, the Historical Society's Costume Party is taking place on the SS Tipton, booking another lie for Bailey and London to use for Moseby's piano dream. That night, while the trio of a flirt, nerd, and gross-out go on a ghost hunt during the Sky Deck event, London calls a frazzled Moseby pretending to be Bayou Bob(conveniently, he is a real person and entertainer that Moseby knows about), almost convincing him to "take his place", but quickly letting the cat out of the bag after getting too carried away with her character. As Zack looks for Entineel, he finds him standing next to his own picture and has to communicate with him through charades as he is mute(during all this, Zack is quite dense), coming up with the word "compass", just before Cody's highly sensitive energy-detector(originally his electric toothbrush) and Woody's extremely powerful electoplasmic containment-device(resembling a vacuum cleaner)scare Entineel away.

The ghost-hunting trio research recovered artifacts from the Jesse Belle's wreck, but the compass isn't listed, meaning it is still on the boat. Zack finds it within a half-hour time limit of oxygen while the other two discuss New Orleans food names(again). Meanwhile, London tries once more and this time tries to disguise herself as Bayou Bob as the Society await a stunning performance(only receiving off-key drumming notes and horrible scatting), forcing Moseby to play at the piano when people start rising up. The mission is accomplished, but the ghost mystery isn't. Just as Mr. Moseby gets over his fear and warms up, the ghost-hunting trio crash the Sky Deck party by proving Captain Entineel's innocence.

The real story is that Captain Entineel's jealous first mate, Corey Skulley, wedged his iron medallion in the back of the compass(iron interferes with its magnetic polarity), causing the misreading and killing off the entire ship, except for one, none other than the first mate himself. He proposed to Jesse Belle after the sabotage, but she refused(Entineel was her only love)and died an old maid. Zack is praised and Moseby plays a jazz song for everyone in celebration while Zack watches the ghosts of Entineel and Jesse Belle walk off together onto the eerie steamboat swimming right next to the modern cruise ship.

The end of the episode results in Zack getting an A on his new history paper about the Jesse Belle case and Mr. Moseby calling on them for another ghost case on the Sky Deck, actually tricking them into cleaning up the party mess from last night with their ghost gear.

Quotes

• Woody: Who's ready to celebrate Mardi Gras?
  • Cody: (imitating Woody's excitement) Nobody. Mardi Gras isn't for three months!
  • Woody: Dang it! Can I still wear the mask?
  • Zack: I'm sure the people of New Orleans would appreciate it.

• Cody: It's delicious to eat and fun to say. GUM-BO!
  • Woody: And jambalaya.
  • Cody and Woody: JAM-BA-LAYA!
  • Zack: Well, I'm sorry I can't join you JAM-BA-LOSERS!

• Zack: ... and I did a lot of research; I made it all the way to Level 8.
  • Cody: I can't believe you made it to grade 8.

• London: (listens to piano) That's weird. I mean, usually, when I walk by Moseby's cabin, I hear, "Mother, for the hundredth time, I'm married to my job!"

• London: Poor little Marion; so much promise with absolutely nothing to show for it.
  • Mr. Moseby: If you had a five'o clock shadow and a fishing pole in your hand, you could be my father.

• Zack: He's turning off lights and... turning on blenders and... typing on my computer!
  • Cody: Wow, he's got more skills than you do!

• Cody: Oh, oh, yeah. Just what everyone wants to see: eight hours of you scratching your nose and picking your butt.
  • Zack: Actually, I pick my nose and scratch my butt.

• Mr. Moseby: (starts playing piano) I'm doing it, I'm playing! Ooh, and I'm still conscious! Whoo-hoo-ho, oh, that's it, that's it! I'm back! There's no stopping me now!
  • Zack: (walks in) Stop it, stop it!
  • Mr. Moseby: Aw, come one, so I'm a little rusty, give me a break!

Trivia

• The title of this episode, "The Ghost and Mr. Martin", is an allusion to the 1966 film, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
• The suits Zack, Cody, and Woody wore in one scene is a reference to the Ghostbusters. They even have weapons similar to the proton pack, a popular weapon used by the Ghostbusters in the 1984 film.
• One night, before going to sleep, Zack recorded Woody, Cody, and himself sleeping to prove to Woody and Cody that there was really a ghost in his cabin when he suspected his underwear had moved. This scene is a parody of the film Paranormal Activity; the ghost pulling Zack's blanket off is similar to one of its scenes.
• For the rest of the episode, the name of the ship is the "JESSE BELLE", yet the Captain's hat spells "JESSIE BELLE".
• The name of the captain is a homage to Captain & Tennille, a 1970s singing duo.

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