Operation Steam Heat tries to be different. It feels like it has better production values than usual, with creative camera angles and pretty good special effects. It has a serious tone and heightened sense of foreboding. But it still never manages to feel anything more than dry and run-of-the-mill. It especially feels out of place with the more ridiculous, fanciful outings of the second season. The episode belongs back in the first year when every other entry had the castaways experiencing a drought or a blight or some other serious threat to their survival. Even the presence of a volcano fails to blast this one out of the sophomore slump.
There is a hot water shortage on the island. Gilligan has his hands full as the resident water boy, being pulled in every direction by the other castaways, who impatiently demand hot water and are too lazy and pompous to get it themselves. In his travels, he accidentally discovers a hot spring, which, if he can tap into it, will solve their crisis. He and the Skip celebrate the discovery, but the Professor believes it could be a sign of volcanic activity.
Surprisingly, he keeps his theory to himself and conducts a secret investigation. Well, not entirely secret; he does narrate his thoughts to help the audience understand the plot. A helpful title card and a shot of a previously unseen volcano provide further support.
The first act cuts between this dry narration and Gilligan working on a long bamboo pipe to transport the water. With the Professor on the other side of the isle, our lead gets to play inventor, and comes up with a clever three-headed spigot. The Charlie-Brownish aspect of his character from the first year returns as his invention fizzles under a hundred leaks in the pipe. Even with Mr. Howell making his weekly bribe and the girls literally picking his brain, the water boy can't deliver on his promise to provide water.
Soon there are island quakes and what appears to be snow. The Professor picks this dramatic moment to alert the castaways that they are sharing their home with an active volcano.
Better late than never.
His solution is to build a nitroglycerin bomb out of materials that-great surprise-happen to be in large supply around the island. This bomb will somehow counteract the destructive force of the volcano.
Despite the urgency of the threat and the lack of time, the episode remembers it's supposed to have comedy in it. There is a sequence where our lead drinks the Professor's formula for nitroglycerin and believes he will explode on touch. It's long, strains to be funny, and feels like an extended detour. There is also time for a misunderstanding between Ginger and Gilligan about a sacrifice for the volcano. Even though both of these subplots are padding, the volcano is patient enough to stick to the Professor's schedule and waits for the bomb to be completed before it goes off.
An interesting, all-too-rare pairing between Gilligan and Ginger occurs when they fall into a cavern. They exhibit a different, more adult-like chemistry than their usual seducer-seducee relationship. The cavern they explore is of course the same one where the Professor is going to drop the bomb, which they realize a little too late.
The last scenes are suspenseful and kind of exciting. The Skipper drops into the cavern to play hot potato with the bomb; Gilligan's foot gets caught in the Professor's escape vine, and the four castaways skedaddle as the bomb explodes. The final gag, though, is a silly and cheap capper to an overall subdued and low-key outing.
COCONOTES:
Major plot hole: The Professor warns in Water, Water Everywhere that there are underground gases all over the island and something as simple as a lighted match would cause an explosion (which it does). This warning is completely forgotten and contradicted by his suggestion to diffuse the volcano with a nitroglycerin bomb. In reality, they should all be blown to kingdom come.
The bomb is fitted with a helpful timer for the audience.
There is a hot water shortage on the island. Gilligan has his hands full as the resident water boy, being pulled in every direction by the other castaways, who impatiently demand hot water and are too lazy and pompous to get it themselves. In his travels, he accidentally discovers a hot spring, which, if he can tap into it, will solve their crisis. He and the Skip celebrate the discovery, but the Professor believes it could be a sign of volcanic activity.
Surprisingly, he keeps his theory to himself and conducts a secret investigation. Well, not entirely secret; he does narrate his thoughts to help the audience understand the plot. A helpful title card and a shot of a previously unseen volcano provide further support.
The first act cuts between this dry narration and Gilligan working on a long bamboo pipe to transport the water. With the Professor on the other side of the isle, our lead gets to play inventor, and comes up with a clever three-headed spigot. The Charlie-Brownish aspect of his character from the first year returns as his invention fizzles under a hundred leaks in the pipe. Even with Mr. Howell making his weekly bribe and the girls literally picking his brain, the water boy can't deliver on his promise to provide water.
Soon there are island quakes and what appears to be snow. The Professor picks this dramatic moment to alert the castaways that they are sharing their home with an active volcano.
Better late than never.
His solution is to build a nitroglycerin bomb out of materials that-great surprise-happen to be in large supply around the island. This bomb will somehow counteract the destructive force of the volcano.
Despite the urgency of the threat and the lack of time, the episode remembers it's supposed to have comedy in it. There is a sequence where our lead drinks the Professor's formula for nitroglycerin and believes he will explode on touch. It's long, strains to be funny, and feels like an extended detour. There is also time for a misunderstanding between Ginger and Gilligan about a sacrifice for the volcano. Even though both of these subplots are padding, the volcano is patient enough to stick to the Professor's schedule and waits for the bomb to be completed before it goes off.
An interesting, all-too-rare pairing between Gilligan and Ginger occurs when they fall into a cavern. They exhibit a different, more adult-like chemistry than their usual seducer-seducee relationship. The cavern they explore is of course the same one where the Professor is going to drop the bomb, which they realize a little too late.
The last scenes are suspenseful and kind of exciting. The Skipper drops into the cavern to play hot potato with the bomb; Gilligan's foot gets caught in the Professor's escape vine, and the four castaways skedaddle as the bomb explodes. The final gag, though, is a silly and cheap capper to an overall subdued and low-key outing.
COCONOTES:
Major plot hole: The Professor warns in Water, Water Everywhere that there are underground gases all over the island and something as simple as a lighted match would cause an explosion (which it does). This warning is completely forgotten and contradicted by his suggestion to diffuse the volcano with a nitroglycerin bomb. In reality, they should all be blown to kingdom come.
The bomb is fitted with a helpful timer for the audience.
