Jencyclopedia

Laraine Stephens wants to marry the man her father disapproves of, so Roarke has her spend the weekend in disguise as a burlesque dancer.
A man wants to be an Olympic boxing champion before he dies.

Yeah, from the episode title, I just have this feeling that I’m not gonna pay a lotta attention to this episode.

I love that all Tattoo has to say is “my cousin Hugo” and Roarke starts rolling his eyes.

So this woman is an heiress, and her fantasy is to marry her boyfriend, who her father doesn’t approve of, but the story is called “The Stripper”?

I wonder if Roarke kinda works like the reapers in Dead Like Me; like, does he have to touch the person to work his magic? That would explain why Roarke is always up in people’s personal space and grabbing their arms. I like this explanation. It would be so easy to contradict it though, because it’s very likely there are times where he doesn’t touch people, but magical things still happen to them. In those cases, I’ll just pretend he touched them off screen, so this still works for me, and this is now officially A Thing for me.

Roarke: I think you had better leave the hotel grounds.

That’s… new. I don’t think anyone has ever said “hotel” in this show.

Well, at least I’m glad it wasn’t Roarke’s idea to make her into a stripper to evade the detective. Although, nothing happens by accident on Fantasy Island, sooo…

Gaah, this guy keeps yelling my name! Oh my god, this is just like “Getting Davy Jones”; I swear they’ve said “Jenny” twelve times in the past thirty seconds.

Jenny Collins: I can’t work here anymore.
Roarke: Oh, is that so? I was under the impression we had contracted your services to work at the hotel for six months.

Why is it a hotel now?! Aaaah!

I don’t know what jurisdiction Fantasy Island falls under, but I feel like in most first-world countries, you can’t make someone work somewhere against their will. Although, S1 Roarke was so fond of saying “This is my island, and I make the rules”, so.

The bus says “Fantasy Island Charter Service” on the front. I am really upset that this busy is navy blue and not red, to fit with the Fantasy Island aesthetic.

Ooooh, is that the side of the main house?! Dang, nice!

This is not at all what I thought it would look like; I thought the stairs would turn and continue towards the back of the house. Wow, this is big for me! It’s possible they could have shown this area before I started paying attention though.

It’s not totally clear if she’s meant to be actually leaving the main house or if this is supposed to be a different building, but this is the main house, and if they ever showed the side of the main house, this is what it would look like. She’s carrying a garbage bag. We last saw her in Roarke’s office, so I mean, it could be the main house.

Maureen Banning: I know karate. Ha!

Yaaa, continuity! We’ve got the Fantasy Island Daily Chronicle again. It’s 64 pages, and it’s published daily. That seems… excessive.

Do I make a GIF of Roarke saying “I am so sorry, Mr. McCoy” or…

Billy Blake: Jenny!? Jenny?! Jenny?

This is literally all this guy says.

M.V. Banning (Maureen’s father): We’ll be in the audience.

This is dumb; all Michael Callan had to do was put out the news that Maureen was in the burlesque show. He didn’t have to specifically tell her father; the news would have reached him quickly.

Wow! They are really going nuts showing the side of the main house lately!

Like, they can’t really show the other side as much because that’s where the tower is meant to be… unless the entrance we always see them using is supposed to be the back of the house. But right, then that wouldn’t work when Roarke gets the patio, ’cause that has to be the back of the house. I think.

Okay, so there are a few plot lines they haven’t tied up at the end:

• There was no mention of Tattoo being royalty past the opening scene.
• Who’s gonna deliver the fruit baskets and take out the garbage now that Jenny’s gone?

Surprisingly, I actually did pay attention to both stories, since “The Boxer” didn’t have much boxing in it.

• Tattoo’s shenanigans: he’s a direct descendant of kings of France
• Recurring characters: Cousin Hugo traced his and Tattoo’s family tree
• Roarke’s drink: same old, same old
• Ominous shot of Roarke raising his drink: Ooh, kind of? It was very brief, but he squinted a bit and looked kind of ominous. This is definitely the first time this has happened since I started keeping track, but I don’t think this is quite a thing yet.
• Surprise guests:
  • Billy Blake’s old girlfriend, Jenny Collins
  • Maureen Banning’s father, B.V. Banning
• Sadistic Roarke:
  • Roarke: Ah, she seemed quite upset, didn’t she, Tattoo?
    Tattoo: She is, boss, she is.
• Fantasy Island brand: Fantasy Island Charter Service
• Someone else had a fantasy: Russ McCoy wants to bring his little burlesque troupe into the big time
• Meddling Roarke:
  • Roarke: Perhaps you’d like to see the paper… they seem to have vanished from this part of the island.
• Leaving with an extra guest:
  • Maureen Banning with her father, M.V. Banning, and her new boyfriend, Russ McCoy
  • Billy Blake with his new/old girlfriend, Jenny Collins