Jencyclopedia

7×2 “The Big Switch”, but not terrible.
Pierre Chang wants to sleep.

After Ruby stepped outside, there was definite a hint of the original theme song.

Elena: Oh, there’s the plane. Okay. Let’s go.

The guests arriving in parachutes reminds me of the hot air balloon in the Sunday specials.

I still kinda can’t believe this show has two women as the main characters. Like I know this isn’t the first show to do that, but most shows that feature women as main characters are like Desperate Housewives or Gilmore Girls, and they’re about families or relationships. This show has two women in charge of an entire island.

Okay, I do hear the original theme in the new theme, now that I know that the short bit before the commercial break is the new theme song. I don’t like it though.

Elena: Also, we have one other guest today, so keep an eye on the east bungalows this afternoon, please. Room 112.

Did they mention bungalows in the first episode? I don’t think so. Eeee. I’m glad they are still called bungalows.

These guests want “the ultimate adventure”. That sounds a lot like one of the fantasies in the 1998 pilot.

The episode opened on Ruby’s eye AND Francois Chau is in this? Hmm.

Elena: Adventures on Fantasy island can be dangerous.

Ooh, a warning.

Oh my god. The magic fog. 😍

Elena: Good afternoon, [to Daphne] Mr. Randall, [to Zeb] Miss Madden. Has your fantasy begun?
Zeb in Daphne’s body: Oh, you know it has.
Daphne in Zeb’s body: You called us by the right names.

Roarke coming to check on the fantasy, and asking questions she already knows the answer to. Classic.

The restaurant doesn’t have anything specific that reminds me of the old tiki restaurant, and yet it is still very reminiscent of the old tiki restaurant. Maybe it’s just the colours, the browns and reds.

Zeb in Daphne’s body: I get what you liked about watching me put makeup on.

This line feels like a slip; like Zeb should already know that he enjoys watching Daphne put on makeup, so Daphne in Zeb’s body should be saying this? Or maybe I’m just not interpreting this correctly.

Brent Lee: Hope it’s alright to give him people food.
Elena: It’s perfectly fine.

Elena: A lot has changed in five years.
Brent Lee: Been catching up. Tablets got better since last time. They still feel like Star Trek to me.

Brent Lee: I’d like to go back to sleep right now in fact. I’ve seen enough.
Elena: That’s not the deal my great uncle made. You’re allowed to sleep on Fantasy Island for as long as you wish. But every five years, you have to spend at least forty eight hours awake.

Well, this is very classic Fantasy Island — explaining what the guest already knows. I understand that sometimes this is necessary to avoid showing a long backstory, but I don’t have to like it.

Zeb in Daphne’s body: Where are you going?
Daphne in Zeb’s body: I’m a man; I can go wherever I want.

Yuuup.

Elena: Ruby, I’d like to invite you for an official welcome dinner tonight at my hacienda.
Ruby: I would love that!
Elena: Great.
Ruby: Wow, you have a hacienda?
Elena: It’s been in the family for generations.

What is a hacienda? Could it be… is the Queen Anne cottage a hacienda? Are we gonna see the Queen Anne cottage?! Honestly, it would be weird it see the Queen Anne cottage, because it would look so out of place on this show. It’s very clearly not in Puerto Rico.

Elena: Brent Lee. He came to the island 35 years ago after his fiancée was killed in a car accident. You know, his fantasy was to sleep until he could face life without her. Every five years, Mr. Lee’s required to wake up for 48 hours and contemplate whether he is ready to return to life. And so far, he’s chosen to go back to sleep every single time. This will be my second time seeing him make that choice.

This is 2021 (and Ruby does mention in this episode that it’s 2021), so the last/first time Elena saw him was in 2016. Which would mean someone else was overseeing his fantasy five years earlier, in 2011, and the earliest Elena could have become the host is sometime in 2011 and the latest is sometime in 2016.

Mr. Lee came to Fantasy Island in 1986, which is two years after the show ended in 1984, and Elena said earlier that Roarke made the deal with Mr. Lee, so we know Roarke was the host at least until 1986, and possibly until 2016 at the latest. We don’t know if there was another host from 1986-2016, but I would assume there was not, because Elena mentions her great uncle a lot. Also, Ricardo Montalban died in 2009 if that matters for anything.

Also, I wonder if there was a transition period between Roarke and Elena? Like did he have time to tell her like where all the best plants for making potions are, and about longstanding fantasies like Mr. Lee’s, for that matter? Or was she just thrown in with no warning?

The poooool! I love that we are getting to see all the classic locations. The decor is very white and not gaudy, so it does not look like the classic pool. There are some red and white striped pillows though.

Ruby looks so cool in the sunglasses. Elena does too.

Javier: These things tend to work out, one way or another.

He’s seen Fantasy Island before.

It’s so weird watching Fantasy Island, but it’s actually good.

I relate to Elena being all upbeat and inviting Ruby over for dinner and then regretting it later because she realizes that means she’s gonna have to socialize with people.

Elena is wearing a blue shirt… ehh… I mean, I know Mr. Roarke wore other colours too but… mm…

Bartender: He got into a fight with some regulars, so I tossed them all out.

At the beginning of the episode, Elena said “we have one other guest today”. But obviously, there are other guests on the island, because there were other people in the restaurant and bar. And it was obviously the same in the original series too, because there were always people hanging out at the restaurant and pool who weren’t involved in the fantasy. I wonder what “the regulars” pay to come to Fantasy Island.

Ruby: So you’re human. I mean, totally human?
Elena: You know, I’d prick a finger for you, but the napkins are new.
Ruby: The island is magic, and you’re like a conduit? Okay, but are there rules? You know, like do things always turn out?
Elena: Depends on your definition of “turn out”.

Mr. Lee’s fantasy reminds me of The Postman Always Rings Twice.

There’s the little original Fantasy Island tune again as the car drives up to the dock. Although, the original series had different music for this scene, and it would have been great if they did a little play on those little tunes as well.

Oh no, am I gonna have to start tracking the drivers on this series too?

Ruby’s got a jacket now, woo! And I like the flower.

I also like this shot. And they wave!

It’s so weird to see the guests from different fantasies in the same shot.

Oh, so Laurence Rosenthal is in the credits for writing the theme. That name seems familiar… yep, he wrote the original theme. Nice! Why didn’t the mention that in the behind the scenes featurette?

In the preview for next week, Elena is talking to Ruby, and Elena goes, “The plane! The plane!”

• Guests:
  • Miss Daphne Madden and Mr. Zeb Randall
  • Mr. Brent Lee
• Locations:
  • east bungalows
  • the bar at the other end of the beach
• Can’t help you:
  • Zeb in Daphne’s body: Daphne and I are blown away by this adventure, we really are, but ready to switch back now.
    Elena: Well, the thing is every fantasy runs a natural course, and yours has just begun.