Jencyclopedia

An old man wants one last dance with his dead wife, but he ends up falling in love with Spock’s mom instead.
Adrienne Barbeau wants to be treated like a queen, so Roarke turns her into Marie Antoinette.

They want back to the same old dancing girls shot this episode. What was the point of changing it last time?

I’ve seen this episode before, so I know what happens in this episode, and the way Roarke grants Adele’s fantasy irks me. She came to Fantasy Island because she’s “spent all her time working to support her younger brothers and sisters” after their parents died, and now, she wants someone to wait on her for once. That doesn’t seem to be asking too much; she’s a good person, and she deserves to have a nice relaxing vacation. Instead, Roarke decides to make her into Marie Antoinette.

When someone’s fantasy is like “I wanna be rich and/or famous”, it’s totally fair to teach them that money can’t buy happiness, and fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When people have a fantasy like “I want to meet some historic person”, it’s totally fair to teach them that that person isn’t exactly the way they imagined them. But not everyone who has a fantasy needs to be taught a lesson. Turning this nice girl into Marie Antoinette is such a season 1 Sadistic Roarke thing to do.

This episode was directed by Ricardo Montalban. Apparently, so was 6×6 “The Beautiful Skeptic/The Lost Platoon”, but I guess I missed that at the time. Those are his only directing credits, so I wonder if he didn’t like directing, or if people didn’t like him as a director?

The old guy says that tomorrow would have been his fortieth wedding anniversary. This episode premiered in 1983, so that would mean they were married around 1943. The actor was 75 years old in 1983, and the actress who played his wife was 73, so they were 35 and 33 when they got married? That seems awfully old to get married in 1943.

I like that (like 4×15 “Loving Strangers/Something Borrowed, Something Blue”) this episode takes place during Valentine’s day and it actually aired the weekend of Valentine’s day.

I like this outfit; I guess I just like beige when paired with red.

Roarke: There is something more to your fantasy, isn’t there? Hm?
Adele Anthony: Well, this is gonna sound dumb, but… I’d… I’d kind of like… to be a queen.
Tattoo: A queen?
Adele Anthony: I mean, if it’s not too much bother.
Roarke: Oh, it’s no bother at all. Did you have a preference as to which country?
Adele Anthony: Well, I’ve always wondered what France would be like.
Roarke: France. Splendid choice.

Okay, it is kind of Adele’s own fault for asking to be a queen of France — but she doesn’t know what Roarke’s like. She has no reason to expect him to corrupt her fantasy, and she has no reason to expect him to even be capable of making her into Marie Antoinette.

In past episode, they’ve shown a few shots looking out Roarke’s office window (eg. 2×18 “Pentagram”), but I believe this is the first time we’ve actually seen that window open. And that background is not at all consistent with what we’ve seen in the other episodes.

Rather than a stock photo of Versailles, they use the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria.

I won’t post a screenshot, because nobody cares but me, but the golden Grecian goblets (5×8 “Lillian Russell”; 6×9 “Winning Ticket”) are in Versailles now.

Adele Anthony: I hereby decree that we pass food out to the people on the streets. And if there’s not enough hot food, well, then I say we also let them eat the cakes we were going to have for dessert.

Baroness LaRue: From now on, she shall be known for her words: “let them eat cake”.
Adele Anthony: “Let them eat cake”… where have a heard that before?

This clock appeared in another recent episode, but I don’t remember which one. I think I had this exact same clock in white when I was a kid. (Edit: Nope, I found an old picture of it, and the font is different. The font on the Fantasy Island clock is similar to Eurostile Bold, but the 1 is different. The font on my clock has a Bauhaus feel to it, but it’s definitely not Bauhaus.)

Tattoo: But you know, it’s a shame that Mr. Cook didn’t get his fantasy to dance with his wife.

I don’t like this line. Tattoo doesn’t seem very concerned that Roarke was unable to grant a fantasy. We, the audience, have never seen Roarke unable to grant a fantasy before, and as far as we know, Roarke can do anything. The fact that Tattoo isn’t concerned makes it seem like maybe Roarke has failed to grant other fantasies in the past, so Roarke failing here isn’t that much of a surprise to him. But we know Roarke didn’t really fail, so maybe Roarke just lets Tattoo think he failed sometimes. Which… yeah, that’s very in-character for Roarke — he never lets Tattoo in on everything — so, actually… I guess I’m okay with this.

I feel like half of what I write in these posts (and a lot of what I remove from these posts) is just me complaining about something not making sense, and then twisting things around until they do make sense. I guess that’s why I like this show, because it lets me do that.

John Cook: I think we might even be married when we get back to the mainland.

When I first saw this episode, I thought for sure the way Roarke was going to grant the fantasy in “Midnight Waltz” would be to have the old guy dance with his new wife at midnight, but that didn’t happen. But Roarke made time stop at midnight, so he could have danced with both his old wife and his new wife at midnight!

Tattoo goes to kiss Adele’s hand when she leaves, but I don’t think she was expecting it, and she goes “oh, thank you”, and it’s kind of awkward, and I don’t think he does end up actually kissing her hand.

Roarke: Well, Mr. Willaker, did you enjoy your fantasy?
Mr. Willaker: Oh, you mean did I enjoy being king, and wearing those funny clothes, and being walked all over by a baroness, and almost having my head chopped off? Oh yeah, I loved it.
Tattoo: You being Louis XVI was my idea.
Mr. Willaker: Yeah, kinda thought so. Listen, Mr. Roarke. Next time, please, don’t pay me off with a fantasy for my services. How about cold hard cash?

Mr. Willaker is towing Tattoo’s car, but there’s absolutely no dialogue about it.

There are no end credits for this episode on CTV’s website. Hm.

• Guests:
  • Mr. John Cook, a very successful physical therapist from St. Paul, Minnesota
  • Miss Adele Anthony, a waitress from Des Moines, Iowa
• Tattoo has no faith:
  • Roarke: His fantasy Tattoo, is to have one last dance with his wife.
    Tattoo: But boss, how can he? You said that she was… she was dead.
• Ominous Roarke:
  • Tattoo: That’s a simple fantasy.
    Roarke: Yes… but I have a feeling there is something else she wants from us…
• Roarke’s drink: same old
• Ominous shot of Roarke drinking: no
• Events: Fantasy Island Annual Valentine Ball
• What you really, really want:
  • Roarke: There is something more to your fantasy, isn’t there? Hm?
    Adele Anthony: Well, this is gonna sound dumb, but… I’d… I’d kind of like… to be a queen.
• Magic object:
  • Roarke: That is a very special bow and arrow, Miss Anthony. Very rare, very… very unusual.
    Adele Anthony: I used to take archery in high school!
    Roarke: Oh? Well, then, do you think you could shoot the arrow through that window over there?
    Adele Anthony: You joking?
    Roarke: Absolutely not. When you release the arrow, your fantasy will begin.
• Time travel: Adele Anthony travels to 1700s France.
• Disguise: Roarke wears a French guard’s costume in Adele Anthony’s fantasy.
• Costume change: Roarke wears a black bowtie and black pants to the ball. Tattoo wears a white bowtie.
• All you need is love:
  • John Cook: I love you, Carol, and I always will.
    Carol Cook: I know. It was the strength of your love that brought me here.
• Recurring phrases:
  • Roarke: Your fantasy is over, Mr. Cook.
• Leaving with an extra guest: John Cook with new girlfriend Martha Wilson
• Fantasy Island brand: Fantasy Island towing service (555-5165)
• Someone else had a fantasy:
  • Roarke: Well, Mr. Willaker, did you enjoy your fantasy?
    Mr. Willaker: Oh, you mean did I enjoy being king, and wearing those funny clothes, and being walked all over by a baroness, and almost having my head chopped off? Oh yeah, I loved it.
• Drivers:
  • To the dock: Roarke
  • John Cook’s departure: Wally
  • Adele Anthony’s departure: That Guy
• Age gap:
  • Rosemary DeCamp: 72 / Lew Ayres: 74 = 2 years
  • Jane Wyatt: 72 / Lew Ayres: 74 = 2 years
  • Adrienne Barbeau: 37 / Patrick Wayne: 43 = 6 years
  • Cathryn Damon: 52 / James Coco: 52 = 0 years
• IMDb notes:
  • The character Baronne LaRue should be Baroness LaRue.
  • Rosemary DeCamp was credited as “Rosemary De Camp”.
  • CTV cut out the end credits for this episode, so I can’t confirm any of the credits after Jane Wyatt.