The third and final season of the series gets off to a fiendishly good start with a fun, above average entry. This one has it all: sturdy premise, excellent set design, a steady diet of horror-related jokes, and a top five dream sequence.
In the cold open, Gilligan rushes into an 'unexplored' cave to retrieve a wayward coconut and is attacked and bitten by a bat. He and the Skipper believe that since the bat went for his neck, it must be a vampire bat, and Gilligan will turn into a bloodsucker at some point.
The Professor does his best to talk Gilligan down, but the Skip's imagination goes into overdrive. He becomes so unnerved he puts a scarf around his neck so he can make it through the night. Our lead becomes obsessed with the idea of going Dracula; in a nice, dark scene, he sleepwalks to the Howell's hut and sleep bites Mrs. Howell. Another effective gag occurs when he's sent to the girls to get his wound dressed. Glamorous Ginger has left a faulty mirror lying around her vanity, and, when Gilligan looks into it, he doesn't see his reflection.
A familiar trope is revisited when Gilligan goes to the other side of the island to live out his remaining days in seclusion. What he doesn't know is that the bat is captured by the Professor and identified as harmless. Fortunately, he can't deliver this news to Gilligan before our lead has his classic dream sequence.
The dream sequence pays tribute to the Universal Dracula series of the 1930's and 40's, borrowing the easily recognizable plot of travelers who have broken down stopping at an old European castle, staying the night, and becoming victims of the count. Gilligan is a pale, Bela-Lugosi type vampire who retains the sailor's natural klutziness; Ginger is his Vampira-like assistant; and the Howells are their well-to-do dinner guests. Hot on the vampire's trail are the semi-comic relief team of Sherlock and Watney, played dutifully by the Professor and Skip. They are led into the castle by old hag Mary Ann, who has called on them to investigate the strange goings there.
Following that basic plot, the sequence proceeds predictably but is a great deal of fun. Most of the gags land, and a lot of zingers dealing with Gilligan's ineptitude and lack of intelligence are ably delivered by Ginger. The only twist is at the end, when the detectives pass on impaling the vampire, but instead engage in a silly fistfight.
Gilligan awakens back in the cave where the Skip sets him straight on his future in bloodsucking in a last gag that doesn't make anybody forget about Boris Karloff.
COCONOTES:
Love Gilligan's 'glazed' look during his sleepwalking routine.
Wondering why Ginger would keep a defective mirror in her hut.
"Fortunately, I happen to know a little something about bat anatomy."
Kudos to both the set and costume designers for their picture-perfect work in the dream sequence.
In the cold open, Gilligan rushes into an 'unexplored' cave to retrieve a wayward coconut and is attacked and bitten by a bat. He and the Skipper believe that since the bat went for his neck, it must be a vampire bat, and Gilligan will turn into a bloodsucker at some point.
The Professor does his best to talk Gilligan down, but the Skip's imagination goes into overdrive. He becomes so unnerved he puts a scarf around his neck so he can make it through the night. Our lead becomes obsessed with the idea of going Dracula; in a nice, dark scene, he sleepwalks to the Howell's hut and sleep bites Mrs. Howell. Another effective gag occurs when he's sent to the girls to get his wound dressed. Glamorous Ginger has left a faulty mirror lying around her vanity, and, when Gilligan looks into it, he doesn't see his reflection.
A familiar trope is revisited when Gilligan goes to the other side of the island to live out his remaining days in seclusion. What he doesn't know is that the bat is captured by the Professor and identified as harmless. Fortunately, he can't deliver this news to Gilligan before our lead has his classic dream sequence.
The dream sequence pays tribute to the Universal Dracula series of the 1930's and 40's, borrowing the easily recognizable plot of travelers who have broken down stopping at an old European castle, staying the night, and becoming victims of the count. Gilligan is a pale, Bela-Lugosi type vampire who retains the sailor's natural klutziness; Ginger is his Vampira-like assistant; and the Howells are their well-to-do dinner guests. Hot on the vampire's trail are the semi-comic relief team of Sherlock and Watney, played dutifully by the Professor and Skip. They are led into the castle by old hag Mary Ann, who has called on them to investigate the strange goings there.
Following that basic plot, the sequence proceeds predictably but is a great deal of fun. Most of the gags land, and a lot of zingers dealing with Gilligan's ineptitude and lack of intelligence are ably delivered by Ginger. The only twist is at the end, when the detectives pass on impaling the vampire, but instead engage in a silly fistfight.
Gilligan awakens back in the cave where the Skip sets him straight on his future in bloodsucking in a last gag that doesn't make anybody forget about Boris Karloff.
COCONOTES:
Love Gilligan's 'glazed' look during his sleepwalking routine.
Wondering why Ginger would keep a defective mirror in her hut.
"Fortunately, I happen to know a little something about bat anatomy."
Kudos to both the set and costume designers for their picture-perfect work in the dream sequence.
