The Job

Spoiler warning!
alertThis article contains major plot details for **BOTH SEASONS** of Dead End: Paranormal Park. If you haven't seen the series yet, and don't want to know anything, stop reading now.

### Writer

* Hamish Steele
* Nicole Paglia

### Director

Liz Whitaker

**The Job** is the first episode of the first season of the Netflix animated series, *Dead End: Paranormal Park*, and is the first episode overall.

## Summary

Barney and Norma arrive at a haunted house for a job interview. Instead, they encounter a demon king who possesses Barney's pug!

## Plot

In the beginning of the episode, a Pauline Phoenix impersonator runs into the Dead End haunted house attraction, appearing to be running from an unseen presence. After a few minutes of pursuit, the impersonator enters a hall of mirrors. The impersonator breathes a sigh of relief, thinking the moment is safe, only for an eldritch doppelgänger to emerge and takes the impersonator by surprise.

In the present, Barney and Norma go to Dead End for a job interview. After walking to the haunted house and entering, they meet Courtney, a demon who is about to sacrifice them to the demon, Temeluchus. After Barney's dog Pugsley realizes this, he jumps in front of Barney and ends up getting possessed instead of Barney. He flies to an attraction in Camelot Creek to claim a throne.

Barney's scared that Pugsley might get hurt, so he walks to the attraction. Norma follows him after doubting a bit. When they both arrive, Norma turns on the attraction. Barney hops in a boat and Temeluchus/Pugsley follow. The plan is to catch him on a photograph and trap his soul. The plan works along fine, but then Temeluchus turns the camera away from him. Norma then succeeds in turning the camera back. They then capture the soul and head back to the haunted house.

When they got to the haunted house, Barney and Norma give the photograph to Courtney. Pugsley still has a bit of Temeluchus inside him, because of this. He gained the ability to talk and easily walk on two legs. Barney's makes the decision to sleep here, because of the current situation at home. Norma gets picked up by her mom.

## Features

### Characters

* Employees of Phoenix Parks *(Debut)*:
	+ Barney Guttman
	+ Norma Khan
* Pugsley
* Demons *(Debut)*:
	+ Courtney
	+ Gord
* The Demonic Royal Family *(Debut)*:
	+ Temeluchus
	+ Temeluchus' father *(Mentioned)*
	+ Temeluchus' mother *(Mentioned)*
* Guttman Family *(Debut)*:
	+ Roxie Guttman
	+ Grammy Gram *(Mentioned)*
* Swati Khan *(Debut)*
* Pauline Phoenix *(Debut; Non-Speaking Cameo)*
* Jennifer Swan *(Debut; Non-Speaking Cameo)*

### Locations

* Phoenix Parks
	+ Dead End
		- Hall of Mirrors
		- Elevator
	+ Camelot Creek
* Guttman Household
* Khan Household

### Transcript

*Read the **transcript** for this episode here!*

## Trivia

* The original title for this episode was going to be "The Job from Hell."
* This episode first hints at Barney being transgender, before he reveals it to Norma near the end of the next episode.
	+ Additionally, Norma's social anxiety was also hinted in this episode before she reveals it in the third episode.
* It is revealed that Norma and Barney live on the same street, are schoolmates, and lab partners. And, later on, co-workers.

### Cultural References

* At the beginning and end of the episode, the song "Talk to Me" by Cavetown plays. The singer is transgender, and songs by Cavetown are often used by queer people as a code for being transgender. Hence, this song playing in Barney's introduction is the earliest hint at him being transgender.

## Errors

* On the job interview note from Courtney, Phoenix Parks is misspelled as "Pheonix Park."
	+ Additionally, when Norma and Barney read the paper, it says "Opportunity at Phoenix Parks. Dead End Attraction. Please arrive at sundown. Rare opening for the one perfect candidate." This part was not in the paper when it was shown earlier in the episode.

#### Subtitle Errors

* When Norma stops talking about Charlie Bonaparte, the subtitles say "Although, they didn't establish that..." When she actually says "Although, they didn't establish that *until season…*"
* In the scene where Norma's telling Courtney about her resume, the subtitles read "...And proof of visits to Dead End," when what she's says is "…And proof of *yearly* visits to Dead End."
	+ Just after that. the subtitles read "...Ages seven through 15."
	+ When Norma takes out her letter, the subtitles read "…from the very desk of Pauline's..." when instead she says "...from the very desk of Pauline *Phoenix's...*"
* When Norma is talking to Courtney on how to stop Temeluchus, the demon's subtitles read "Or find some other vessel for him to possess." Despite this, she actually says "Or *you* find some other vessel for him to possess."