Jencyclopedia

A man wants a few minutes to talk a major hotel dude to try to convince him to become his partner.
A man wants to be irresistible to women.

Roarke: My dear guests, I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island. Welcome indeed…

Aw, why didn’t they keep that ominous ending?

I don’t remember seeing Roarke’s office in the last episode, but it does show up here, but it’s that room again, with no doors to the patio.

I think this is the first magic object episode.

This episode feels really familiar, so I’m pretty sure I saw the first twenty minutes or so when my local station was playing the episode before. Yeah, I remember this casino reminded me of the one in “Monkees on the Wheel”; like, I know it’s not, but it’s got the same vibe, which is weird, because this is ten years later, and you would think they would update their decor.

Ugh, yeah, why does Roarke wear this pink vest sometimes? How do they decide which vest he wears when?

Roarke: Your fantasy was to spend a few minutes in the company of Mr. Otis Hayden. Now, the circumstances for such a meeting were not prescribed.

Ooh, ouch. If I was paying six thousand dollars for a fantasy, I think I’d ask for a little more than “a few minutes”.

These early episodes keep giving the island girls names and lines; that doesn’t happen at all in later episodes. It would have been nice if they had some recurring characters; all we’ve really got are the mute, nameless drivers.

In the middle of the episode, a woman comes up to Roarke and thanks him for granting her fantasy of performing in Swan Lake. Tattoo glares at Roarke while this exchange is happening, but I’m not sure why. I guess the joke is supposed to be that this woman is fat, and Roarke says something to her like, “oh, it was nothing”, and Tattoo is thinking pfft, what a liar. Even if the joke wasn’t offensive — like if they had just swapped the heavy girl for a clumsy girl — it still didn’t work for me.

Chuck Hoffman: They don’t care anything about me as a person. All they’re interested in is my body!

So it turns out that this guy’s fiancee paid for his fantasy, but I didn’t catch why? This fantasy would fit well in season seven, along with like “Castaways” and “The Ideal Woman”.

Oh my god, staaaap. This guy is insane. Why would you keep gambling? I would leave him if he was my husband. Why is Roarke letting this happen? I keep thinking he’s going to stop, but they just keep going.

Roarke: If you insist on another hand, um, I’m afraid the only wager I can offer is the ownership of Fantasy Island itself.

Obviously, Roarke doesn’t lose Fantasy Island, or I woulda heard about it, but I’m still really anxious here.

Whoa, what? They’re saying goodbye in front of Roarke’s house instead of by the dock.

These early episodes do a lot of low shots, like up Roarke’s nose. I think they’re doing this because of Tattoo, but I don’t think it’s necessarily because they’re having trouble keeping both of them in the same shot; I think it’s just a stylistic choice. I don’t really like it.

[Roarke wants Tattoo to give him back the bottle of love root juice.]
Tattoo: Not even a little drop?
Roarke: It wouldn’t make any difference, Tattoo; it’s only scented water.
Tattoo: But all those women! How did you do it?
Roarke: You live here. Need I remind you anything is possible on Fantasy Island?

I haven’t noticed Tattoo calling Roarke “boss” at all, but I don’t know if that’s because I just haven’t been paying close enough attention.