User Reviews

We begin the last black and white episode produced for Gilligan's Island with the Skipper and Gilligan collecting coconuts. Gilligan, having climbed way up a tree, slips and falls banging his nose which swells up instantly.

Convinced his nose is broken, Gilligan is not happy. The Professor on the other hand decides to teach first aid to the rest of the castaways in case another accident occurs. With the girls failing to properly "butter up" Gilligan, the Professor decides to operate to fix his nose. The result is rather expected...to all but Gilligan.

A solid episode with plenty of laughs, this one actually tackles an obvious issue that would face the castaways, what happens when one of them gets hurt.

Highlights include Mrs. Howell and Ginger not helping Gilligan's ego any with their descriptions of his nose, the girls turning over the patients rather unsuccessfully, Mrs. Howell, Ginger & Mary Ann taking turns buttering up Gilligan, Gilligan taking in a little too much of the Professor's anesthetic, the Skipper and Mr. Howell creating a clay mask for Gilligan and Gilligan scaring the girls and Mrs. Howell while wearing the rather gruesome clay mask.

After viewing this episode as well as the entire first season again, the one person who really grew on me is Natalie Schaffer as Mrs. Howell. Her actions may not be as pronounced as the others, but if you watch her she is comic gold, especially in reacting to the actions of the others.

Overall, this is a nice final episode to the first season, signaling the end of the black 'n white run of shows. While the color seasons have their charms, there is something rather special and timeless about the 1st season that makes it a real winner.

• As with the last episode "My Fair Gilligan", this one appears to have been shot earlier in the production schedule. One clue is that the Skipper points out the carrying device Gilligan is using at the beginning of the episode is new, yet we've seen variations of it before as early as the second episode, "Home Sweet Hut". Another is that the Professor says Gilligan's accident was the first they've encountered on the island. Well, not really if you include all the concussions that Gilligan and the Skipper have endured and the Professor brings up subject of concussions to Ginger.

• Falling 20+ feet and landing flat on your stomach would probably do more damage than just messing up your nose...but this is Gilligan's Island so maybe the ground is made up of gym mats? :)

• For the only time in the 1st season, Ginger sports a flower in her top.

• A really nice touch is Mrs. Howell grabbing the Skipper's belt to help turn him over.

• Despite the size of the boulder Gilligan sits on before he throws the smaller rock in the water, it moves to the point where Bob Denver actually has to readjust it. Clearly, the boulder is made from Styrofoam. This scene probably should have been re-shot, but considering the how long the take was, they probably just went with it.

• Making a clay mask of the face means keeping as still as possible, yet we hear Gilligan speak which means that the inside of the mask will be ruined.

• We see a number of star's names next to the noses, including James Garner and Jack Lemmon just to name two.

• We actually see the ball take off and just go underneath the camera that Mr. Howell hits in the epilogue scene...he obviously didn't hit it very hard. :)

• Interesting that the final shot of the show features the Professor...a "minor" character. :)

A series as broad and silly and unsubtle as GI doesn't make a whole lot of use of subtext, but it can be found in this entry. However, it's not fully developed or really explored, which is one of the reasons why this episode stays firmly in the middle of the pack and doesn't rise above average. The uneven episode is funny in spots and has an interesting premise, but is another example of a missed opportunity for some genuine character development.

Gilligan and the Skipper are out collecting coconuts with the Professor's latest invention. The Skipper demands an additional six coconuts and sends Gilligan up a tree to collect them. Our lead loses his balance and lands flat on his stomach. He's brought to his feet and examined by the Professor, who diagnoses his injury as a badly swollen nose. Gilligan insists his beak is broken, but the Professor is an expert in medical knowledge (of course he is) and advises him the nose is merely bruised.

Now the subtext is that our lead is dissatisfied with his appearance and would like a change, and is using the injury as an excuse to improve his looks. Unfortunately, that promising thread is dropped soon after it begins for a lackluster subplot where the castaways learn how to administer first aid, an excuse to provide some tired, predictable gags. The bit with the sprained arms goes on too long and makes the episode lose its momentum.

The episode is more interesting when it returns to our lead, still sulking over his nose. Neither his big buddy nor the Professor can get his mind off surgery. Logically, it falls to the girls to massage his ego, and three quick but very effective scenes perk things up. Their compliments soon restore his confidence, especially Ginger's comparison of his nose to Cyrano De Bergerac. Unfortunately, Gilligan later overhears the trio comparing notes in the jungle, and it's back to square one.

With the girls' scheme having backfired, the Professor gives in to Gilligan's demands and proceeds with the operation. First, though, we're given an obligatory scene where our lead gets acquainted with the anesthetic, then we have to sit through our cringe-worthy moment of the episode, a long, draggy scene where the Skipper and Mr. Howell make a crazy large cast of his head that makes him resemble Pumpkinhead, and he carelessly wanders off in a cheap gag to scare the girls.

The cast is used to produce a line of putty noses based on movie stars. Gilligan's excitement at the idea of having a face like Cary Grant or Jack Lemmon brings the episode back to his dissatisfaction and sensitivity over his looks. But the scene gets cut too quickly in favor of moving on to the operation.

The operating scene tries hard to be zany but isn't as funny or original as Music Hath Charm or My Fair Gilligan, and it moves in fits and starts. The end result is predictable, kind of abrupt, and unsatisfying.

COCONOTES:

Gilligan's griping about the Skipper in the cold open is a rare glimpse into how he feels about being a lackey. Would have liked to see more of this dissatisfaction throughout the series. It gives our lead a little more dimension.

The Professor is far too positive that Gilligan's nose isn't broken, even after he yelps when the Skipper touches it.

Love how Gilligan's attitude changes as the girls build up his confidence. It's almost on a par with Don Knotts.

Gilligan's 'come in' delivery to Mary Ann is priceless.

His fainting spell at the mention of surgery isn't.

Writer Elroy Schwartz should've condensed that long cast scene so he could've had more time for Gilligan being consoled by the others after his operation.

Pretty impressive puddy added to Bob Denver's face creates a not bad fake schnozzola after he falls out of a coconut tree. The professor decides that they need first aid lessons which results in three men with arm casts. Gilligan is certain that his nose is broken but the professor is certain that it's only sprained and that the swelling will go down, but in the meantime, he begins to hate how he looks even though the girls falsely try to flatter him. The professor does finally agree to an operation, but what are his motives really?

Bob Denver is very funny when he experiments with the anesthetic, and begins to act silly and dizzy before passing out. Then there's his choice of the nose, and he has a whole cast put over his head that ends up scaring the women thinking that he's a monster.

This memorable season one final makes up for some of the mediocre episodes among the 36, particularly Thurston's confession that he never learned to make mud pies which the butler did for him, but took his spankings as well. Gilligan in his mud mask looks like one of those 1950's drive-in monsters, quite silly and funny.