Thoughts From the Gilligan's Island Episode Mr. and Mrs.??? (1966)

Synopsis: When Mr. and Mrs. Howell (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer) discover the minister that married them was a fake and their marriage is invalid, the Skipper (Alan Hale, Jr.) attempts to correct the situation by conducting a wedding ceremony on a raft. However, an argument causes the couple to call the whole thing off.

My Thoughts:

The more I watch this show, the more I realize just how many themes the series recycled plot devices in its three seasons. In this case, it was the radio announcer reading the wrong name, similar to what happened in an earlier episode involving the Howell's thinking they lost all their money.

That being said, I liked how this episode threw in a new wrinkle. It was very clever how the writers mixed things up a bit with the raft building scene. I fully expected (as I'm sure was intended) some sort of injury to the Skipper and loved how he narrowly avoided it multiple times. I was a nice change up to what would have normally been a predictable episode.

Was it me, or did Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) seem a little too anxious to kiss Gilligan (Bob Denver)? It was just a practice ceremony, and it was mostly for the Skipper's benefit. The fake bride and groom sharing a kiss at the end wasn't even remotely necessary but Mary Ann sure was persistent to the point she scare Gilligan right off of the raft. Was she hoping the kiss would somehow really make them married or something? She did, after all, show up wearing a veil and carrying flowers.

What happened to the raft? This series tends to be a bit inconsistent about the castaways' raft-building abilities but, in this particular case, they built a perfectly seaworthy raft in a matter of hours only to use it for a wedding ceremony. Did they take it apart right after? For a group of people looking to get off the island, it sure seems like maybe they should have considered using that raft to escape. 

Why did the Howell's need to move in with the other castaways? I get them not wanting to live together, both because of their fight and because it would be inappropriate (at least when this show was made). However, was there a reason why one of them couldn't have stayed in their hut and the other one stayed in the supply hut?

I feel like Ginger (Tina Louise) was acting a bit out of character in this episode. As much as I would like to believe she would be the kind of person who would attempt to get a married couple back together, I honestly feel she is more of the type who would have seen the opportunity to seduce/marry a millionaire and taken full advantage of it. In fact, I kind of think having her try to seduce Mr. Howell and have him reject her for the woman he loves would have been a better story, though there obviously would be some implications.

Final Opinion: It's an OK episode but, other than that raft building scene, was a little predictable.

My Grade: C+