Thoughts From the Gilligan's Island Episode The Hunter (1966)

Synopsis: A big game hunter, Jonathan Kincaid (Rory Calhoun), lands on the island. When he learns there is no other game for him to hunt, he decides he wants to hunt one of the castaways instead, with Gilligan (Bob Denver) being his intended prey.

My Thoughts:

What do you mean there's no game on the island? Various other episodes have shown the exact opposite, whether it was the castaways capturing a wild boar or interacting with a variety of apes. I'm not so sure Kincaid wouldn't have chosen to hunt Gilligan anyway, but it wasn't as though there weren't any other options, contrary to what the castaways claimed.

Why was Kincaid on the island to begin with? Despite evidence to the contrary in other episodes, this is supposed to be an uncharted island, yet Kincaid seemed to specifically choose it. It seems like a waste of a trip (especially via helicopter) if you don't even know if anything worth hunting is on it.

OK, I am going to say it, Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer) is a bad ass. Native with a spear? No problem, just send her to put him in his place. Honestly, the Skipper (Alan Hale, Jr) and Professor (Russell Johnson) should feel terrible for not making the effort themselves. I mean, he had a spear, it wasn't like the two of them couldn't have won that fight.

Speaking of weapons why don't the castaways have any by now? I get they don't have a gun, or at least any bullets for a gun, but with the variety of hostile visitors they've had, ranging from headhunters to wanted criminals, you would think they would at least have created an arsenal of primitive weapons to defend themselves. In fact, I am pretty sure they had a bow and arrow at one point. What happened to that?

Kincaid's reason for not rescuing the castaways doesn't make sense. He claims the authorities would arrest him for trying to commit murder. What authorities? The island doesn't exactly fall within any country's jurisdiction. If he would have said something like "failing to kill you will damage my reputation," I would have found that a bit more believable.

I liked the ending to this one. A lot of these guest-star episodes end with the person not receiving any sort of repercussions for the stuff that they did (including leaving the castaways stranded). This was one of the rare ones that gave the bad guy the punishment he deserved.

That being said did nobody ask his assistant, Ramoo (Harold Sakata), about what happened? Or was he just a one-time hire for this specific hunting trip?

Final Opinion: This is actually not a bad episode. It has some surprisingly suspenseful moments, especially toward the end, with enough comedy mixed in to keep it from becoming too serious.

My Grade: A