My Thoughts - Gilligan's Island: Forward March (1966)

Synopsis: The castaways find themselves under attack from an unknown assailant possessing machine guns and grenades.

 

My Thoughts - 

This is one of those episodes where a defined chain of command would make sense. Mr. Howell (Jim Backus) declaring himself general ultimately was pointless but also unnecessary. There is no reason why who is in charge in a crisis should ever be up for debate, especially since they've had this debate before.

The castaways sure went through a lot of effort to develop a nurse's corps and a USO performance but didn't make much of an effort to actually defend themselves from the attacker. It seems like putting up some sort of barricade and arming themselves (even with primitive weapons) would have been the best first choice.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schafer)? The way she put Mr. Howell in his place after he claimed to be her superior was fantastic. I kind of feel like, had the show not kept to the traditional gender roles and let her be the one in charge, they would have been rescued almost immediately. It's too bad she didn't get as much screen time as she deserved.

Speaking of their "hospital," what the heck was up with that bunk bed? If they are able to do that, then why not do something like that in the hut shared by Gilligan (Bob Denver) and the Skipper (Alan Hale, Jr) rather than those hammocks?

If the island has that many gorillas, how come we never see them come into camp on a regular basis? I mean, they've been a big part of multiple storylines but yet only seem to appear on occasion. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sense given the size of the island.

Gilligan's plan to get rid of the explosives is actually quite clever. It's one of many ways he has saved the castaways' lives over the course of this show, yet they still only focus on the bad things he's done. They really don't deserve him.

That being said, did nobody notice that atomic explosion? Wouldn't that be something that would draw attention to the island and get them rescued? Of course, to be fair, it probably should have also killed them. So, I guess I'll just declare that a (hog) wash.

What ever happened to the gun? They retrieved a machine gun that still had bullets, but it is never seen or heard about again. There were at least a couple other episodes after this one, like The Hunter, where that loaded weapon would have come in handy. Plus, was there just the one gun? It seems like a weapons stash would have more than one.

Final Opinion: I thought the idea was a good one, but the execution left a lot to be desired, especially since a lot of the episode seemed to be more focused on showing Ginger (Tina Louise) in a tight-fitting outfit. It wasn't one of my favorites as a result.

My Grade: C