1x7 "The Romance & The Bromance"September 16, 2021
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)June 19, 2021

1×8 “Día de los Vivos”

A dead man wants to get out of purgatory.
Ruby’s husband Mel comes to visit.

I don’t know much Spanish, but I know about Día de los Muertes from Dead Like Me, so when Mel showed up, with the episode title being very similar to Día de los Muertes, I hoped that didn’t mean he was dead, but he was.

Elena: It sounds as though you are in purgatory.

I think I need to watch that interview with Ricardo Montalban where he supposedly talks about Fantasy Island being purgatory. Although, I do still have two episodes of the original series I haven’t seen, so maybe not just yet.

The guest in Elena’s office was from Miami, and so is the guest from the plane, so they probably have something to do with each other.

Elena: Today is Día de los Muertos.

It would have been neat if 4×8 “Three Feathers” aired on Día de los Muertos, because then we could explain the supernatural element to the fantasy that way, but the episode aired on December 20. The original series episodes generally seemed to take place on the day the episode aired (4×6 “Jack the Ripper” and 4×15 “Something Borrowed”; 2×7 “Let the Good Times Roll/Nightmare/The Tiger” was off by about a month), so since this episode aired on September 19, that means it’s not the same on this series.

Elena: On Fantasy Island, our loved ones, they return to us as more than spirits. They can come in bodily form, just like they were in life.

So how did Jasper show up on Fantasy Island? He’s not anyone’s loved one? Can dead people just pop into Fantasy Island any time, like it’s Oda Mae’s shop?

I’m concerned about this episode and all the talk of bringing loved ones back. I hope they don’t try to bring Mr. Roarke back. I can’t see them possibly using a lookalike/soundalike actor and a faceswap, and re-casting is out of the question. I don’t seriously think they would do anything like that but… there’s always a chance.

Elena mentions her cousin Fernando. I hope she makes references to Cousin Fernando’s shenanigans every once in a while, like Tattoo’s Cousin Hugo.

Elena: That’s the key to your first apartment, 1988.

The actor playing Jasper would have been 33 in 1988, and I feel like most 33 year old men would have had their own place by then, especially in 1988. Unless she means this was Jasper and his roommate’s first apartment together.

Elena: That is the first painting that Ramon forged for you.

Okay, so this is “Art, for Monkees’ Sake”.

Jasper Dawson: Oh no. I’m in H-E-double hockey–

Jasper referred to it earlier as “the bad place”, so I guess you still can’t say [cuckoo] on television.

Does Javier live in this trailer when he’s on the island? Why wouldn’t he stay in a nice bungalow? I like that his trailer and cooler are red and white though.

The music playing when Mel and Ruby make up reminds me of something, possibly “Paper Planes” by M.I.A.

Mel Akuda: Since I’m dead, we are no longer married, and you have no excuse not to go forward and live your life.

I guess they did have to kill Mel off for that reason.

Mel Akuda: When I come back next year, introduce me [to Gina].

I was wondering whether they were planning on bringing Mel back next year (if there is a next year).

When Mel disappears, they play a bit of the original series theme, which they do occasionally on this show, but I feel like most of the time, they just play the first four notes, and here, it’s a bit longer.

Javier: I wanna take you out. On a date.

Elena owns the whole island though. Seems kinda weird to take her out to a restaurant or whatever that she owns. Although, I suppose they could go to a neighbouring island.

Ramon Abila: I didn’t finish painting the gazebo.

Wait, is this the gazebo that collapsed from weight of snow and ice in 5×16 “A Genie Named Joe”? I’m gonna pretend it is.

[There’s a photo of Mr. Roarke in Elena’s house.]
Ruby: Oh, is that your great uncle?
Elena: It is. Wasn’t he dashing?
Ruby: Wow, very handsome. Oh, Elena. You got a note here.
Elena: From who?
Ruby: Well, I don’t know. Let’s see. It says it’s from Tio? Oh, wait a minute. Is that him?

For a second, I was very angry, because they are not allowed to give Mr. Roarke a first name, but I quickly realized that Tio probably means “uncle”. And it does. Phew.

My dearest Elena,

My apologies for missing you. I had a lovely talk with Segundo. Sounds as if you’re doing a wonderful job. You should be proud, and I’m so pleased to hear you finally accepted a right hand. No one should do this job alone.

One word of caution: I know you love your cousin Fernando, but leave him be, child. He’s not ready.

Hope to see you next year.

With love and respect,

Tio.

I can’t think of any episodes where we would have seen Mr. Roarke’s handwriting, so I have nothing to compare this note to. (We did supposedly see Tattoo’s handwriting in 6×9 “The Winning Ticket” though.)

“One word of caution” is very Roarke, although I wish they could have worked in the classic “but I must warn you” instead. I can’t picture Roarke saying “child” like that though. Honestly, I feel like the only person who can get away with calling people “child” is Kai Winn.

Elena: I told you that I tried to say no to this position, but I didn’t tell you that I did say no. I was so in love with James. I was engaged. I… so my cousin, Fernando, he stepped in. And the island wasn’t happy. It didn’t end well. Fernando, he blames me. I blame me too.

I don’t think I like this. They were touting this series as being very happy and light, ie. not dark and gritty like so many modern reboots are (including the 2020 movie and supposedly, the 1998 series). I still don’t like the island being sentient, but I especially don’t like the island having negative feelings. The island was certainly never unhappy in the original series. It never killed anyone — unless they were a bad person.

Elena: I will tell you about my uncle’s right hand. He went by “Tattoo”.
Ruby: He had the same tattoo as me?
Elena: Yes, he did.

I already talked about this a bit in 1×1 “Hungry Christine/Mel Loves Ruby”, but they’re saying explicitly here that Tattoo had a tattoo. I’m not going to re-watch 3×3 “Tattoo: the Love God” just to see which parts of Tattoo’s body aren’t shown, but I feel like if we’re going with Tattoo having a tattoo, then it being on his butt does seem appropriate for Tattoo.

Elena: And they were inseparable.
Ruby: Just like us.
Elena: I suppose so.

I like to look through the #FantasyIsland hashtags after the episodes and see what people tweeted about. Someone seemed to take this line as meaning Roarke and Tattoo were lovers, which… no. If you said Kirk and Spock were lovers? Yep, I buy that. But Roarke and Tattoo? There was nothing indicating that.

Elena: He took the arrival of the plane very seriously.
Ruby: Oh.
Elena: He’d ring this gigantic bell.
Ruby: Really?
Elena: Yes.
Ruby: That’s cute.
Elena: Everybody loved him. He would always say “the plane! the plane!”

The original series started with “the plane! the plane!” and this season ended with it. Hopefully the show get renewed, and the series doesn’t end with it, but if it does end that way, that’s a nice way to end it.

This article said the first season would have ten episodes, but we’ve only had eight. At the end of the previous episode, the announcer said something about “catch the summer finale on Sunday”. It seems unlikely they are going to bring the show back later this year for two more episodes. In the behind the scenes featurette, there was a scene with Mr. Jones (the dog) and someone named Noah, and I don’t think we saw that scene in this series. There was also a shot of Elena saying “the plane! the plane!” in a preview after an episode earlier this season; that shot didn’t appear in this episode, but it obviously came from this episode. So I wonder if there are two episodes that they held back, maybe for next year?

And if you’re eager to hear more about Elena’s connection to the original Mr. Roarke, you’re in luck. “She talks about him from time to time and remembers coming to the island as a child,” Fain says. “There’s a very cool story in Episode 8 that involves him and also another Roarke relative. We tease it out and dabble in the Roarke family history a little bit.”

Fantasy Island Reboot EPs Explain the Premiere’s Nod to Tattoo, Tease Future Reveals About ‘Roarke Family History’

I saw this article a while back, and I was curious what was going to happen in this episode. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was a little disappointed. I don’t know what they could possibly have done that would have been better though; like, I probably wouldn’t have been satisfied with anything short of an announcement that Ricardo Montalban has actually been alive and in hiding all this time, and he just really wanted to make an appearance on this show.

So I’ll be eagerly waiting to hear whether this show gets cancelled or renewed. I’ve got five more episodes of the 1998 series to watch, which I’m not really looking forward to like I looked forward to this show, but at least there’s not a lot to write about those episodes, so they go by quickly.

1x7 "The Romance & The Bromance"September 16, 2021
Annie Get Your Gun (1950)June 19, 2021