Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!
Beetle juice contains many references and Easter eggs to the first Beetle juiceand these two moments in the sequence suggest a brutal reality for Charles and Delia Deetz. Charles and Delia Deetz are never presented as good people throughout Beetle juice franchise, and although Betelgeuse is the main villain of the original, the Deetz parents serve as secondary antagonists. Beetle juice reveals the consequences of their actions from the first film, with their lives becoming much more difficult after the 1988 original.
The cast of Beetle juice manages to mix new characters with returning ones, with the sequel fleshing out the original film's main cast. While Charles Deetz only returns in his deceased formDelia Deetz focuses a lot on Beetle juicewith her mourning the loss of her husband throughout the film. Although Delia had a successful artistic career, the sequel highlights some other important ways in which Deetz's ambitions failed.
Maitland Hardware Store Detail in Beetlejuice 2 Confirms Charles Never Fulfilled His Plan for Winter River
Charles wanted it to be an insect zoo
Beetle juice contains an interesting Easter egg that references the Maitlands, coming in the form of an apparition of the building that housed the Maitlands' hardware store. When the building is viewed in Beetle juicethe Maitland Hardware store was replaced by a coffee shop, tying up a loose end from the original film.
Interestingly, This Easter egg also highlights how Charles Deetz never fulfilled his plan for Winter River. After learning about the existence of ghosts in the first Beetle juiceCharles revealed a plan for his family to buy all the properties in Winter River and turn them into a ghost-themed tourist trap. Although Charles had plans for every building in town, including turning Maitland Hardware into an insect zoo, the fact that none of these businesses can be seen proves that Charles' plan failed.
Delia notices that Charles' old friends are not attending the funeral
Characters like Otho are missing
While the failure of Charles' ambitions in Winter River is sad enough, things only get worse for the Deetz in Beetle juice. At Charles' funeral, Delia asks if Maxie Dean, a character from the original Beetle juiceit arrived. This suggests that Charles' old friends won't even attend his funeral, implying that the family lost all of their friends after the events of the first film.
Even Delia's closest friends, like Otho, don't attend Charles' funeral, showing that everyone went their own way after the first film. Beetle juice implies that Charles and Delia Deetz are devastated and unhappy after the end of the first film, and by the end of the sequel both characters are dead.