User Reviews

Mary Ann sends out messages in bottles meant for her boyfriend, Horace Higgenbothem on a regular basis. When the other castaways discover that the boyfriend in question is going to get married, the single men on the island decide to "woo" Mary Ann to help ease her pain...well, as soon as they tell about her boyfriend of course. Meanwhile, Mary Ann misinterprets their actions and thinks she may be dying from eating poisonous mushrooms.

Highlights include the wonderful recharging machine complete with coconuts, wires and the Skipper running the bicycle device, the Skipper and the Professor using the "democratic" way to have Gilligan tell Mary Ann, the "Old Doctor Young" radio broadcast, Mr. Howell explaining why he can't be Mary Ann's "dream man", Mrs. Howell teaching Gilligan to be more romantic, the professor's "load" comment to Ginger (very nice), Gilligan trying to be Charles Boyer, the Skipper like Marshall Dillon and the Professor as Larry Storch imitating Cary Grant, the Skipper beating Gilligan at arm wrestling over and over again, the dream sequence is well done, particularly Jim Backus and his wacky wig and the old "walk this way" joke.

Overall, an interesting premise, although it is rather funny that Mary Ann never mentioned Horace before now, especially after considering the possibility of hooking up with Gilligan in the previous season. The silliness reaches new heights with all three bachelors acting like...well, idiots in trying to be Mary Ann's "dream man". Plus, the episode is stretched when the dream sequence basically repeats the previous scene of the men trying to "woo" Mary Ann in her hut.

Still, if you can take all the silliness, it's not a bad episode and at least features Mary Ann which is something rather rare for the three seasons of Gilligan's Island.

Tidbits & Trivia

• The first time we see Mary Ann, we see her bellybutton as well. This was a big no-no for television censors at the time, but for some reason she got away with it many times, including in this scene.

• So, Mary Ann has been sending out a bottle a week? Just where do all the bottles come from and why use them for that? Later, Gilligan says it's "every day"...that's a lot of bottles.

• As Gilligan leaves Mary Ann in their first scene, she smiles and "grits" her teeth while opening her eyes really wide. It would seem that Dawn Wells thought the scene was over, yet they kept this really odd reaction.

• We see the Skipper utilize a seemingly more practical way to recharge the batteries, but why are they still in the radio? You can't recharge them unless both the positive and negative pole are connected to the recharger...oh well, this is Gilligan's Island after all.

• This episode does continue Mary Ann's obsession with radio dramas. Interestingly enough, in last season's episode "X Marks the Spot" she talked about another radio drama she enjoyed which was the same episode in which the radio batteries were recharged, just like this episode.

• So, all three of our bachelors attempt to "woo" Mary Ann at virtually the same time? Well, the episode is only a half-hour I suppose.

• We hear Gilligan mention that he has a sister for perhaps the first time in the series.

• When Mary Ann Wakes up from her dream, Ginger, Gilligan, Skipper and the Professor stand in her room in a similar position to the farmhands in "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy wakes up from her dream.

For the first time in the series, the Kansas farm girl is the central focus of an episode. Too bad it isn't anything special. Even though she plays a greater role than usual, Mary Ann still is mainly an observer of what happens and doesn't drive the action or the comedy. The plot she gets is pretty ordinary, leaning heavily on the use of misunderstanding; the humor is hit-and-miss, and even the dream sequence fails to deliver.

A bombshell is casually dropped in the opening; Mary Ann mentions she has a boyfriend, which is news to anyone who has watched the series from its beginning. With Gilligan's help, she has been sending love notes by bottle to a Horace Higgenbotham of Horner Corners, Kansas. Another bombshell occurs when Gilligan and the Skipper learn over the transistor that this same Higgenbotham is getting hitched back home, and is two-timing poor Mary Ann.

We revisit that same old schtick of Gilligan having to deliver the bad news. This time there is a moderately amusing bit where he chickens out when she is tuned in to Old Doctor Young, her favorite soap opera. The Professor similarly fails to use the direct approach; he sidesteps the issue and instead tells her the mushrooms she's cooking may be poisonous, a plot point that will be important later.

The men are at a loss as to what to do, so Ginger gets the plot moving by suggesting the isle's three eligible bachelors woo Mary Ann to get her mind off old Horace. So we take another trip to her charm school where she attempts to make the Professor more romantic, more like Cary Grant. This schooling isn't as funny or memorable as the earlier one, though it once again ends with the scientist flat on his back. Mr. Howell works on the Skip, who prefers to court her as a bow-legged Marshal Dillon. And his wife gets stuck with Gilligan, who dusts off his French accent to be a suave Charles Boyer.

All three bachelors converge on her hut in these guises to force some zany humor into the episode. After a while, they seem more interested in jousting with each other than in courting Mary Ann, who is reduced to playing a confused straight woman to the crazed trio. Later, there is more misunderstanding when she overhears them talking about her lost relationship and confuses it with the mushrooms being poisonous and that she's living on borrowed time.

Mary Ann vows to be strong at the start of the second act. We have a short, unamusing bit where she mistakes the others casualness to her apparent demise to antipathy, then we move on to the dream sequence. Disappointingly, it turns out to be a near repeat of the earlier scene in the hut, just transported to a blah hospital setting. Oh, there are three newcomers, but the only one who makes an impact is Mr. Howell's Dr. Zorba Gillespe. The jokes are mostly stale and repetitive and don't land; but at least we get the Professor's famously silly 'roomus degloomus' diagnosis.

Once she awakens, Mary Ann comes clean about her alleged affair, learns the truth about the mushrooms, and returns dutifully to her role on the sidelines.

COCONOTES:

Major plot hole: Mary Ann has never mentioned a boyfriend ever, not even an acquaintance, and the idea she was with Horace contradicts her obvious interest for Gilligan in season one.

The castaways have an endless supply of bottles in this one. Maybe they should save some for, I don't know, SOS messages?

"You look very healthy tonight."

Gilligan must've saved his chapeau from the Goodbye, Old Paint episode for just this occasion, no?

Jim Backus is a welcome addition to the dream sequence. With his wild, mad scientist fright wig and over-the-top accent, he steals the show.