This is one of my favorite episodes! I love the sequence with the Skipper and Gilligan as the dragon--it's hysterical. They're so stupid!

It surprises me that anyone thinks there's a real "monster" near the end (the balloon)!

Ginger's hairstyle looks good in this one, I think. She looks chic.

The trouble I've gone through with the Professor's sexist comment: "...historically, it's the man who decides what is to be done!" My son quoted this against me when he or he and his father disagreed with me and he also used it in conversations with me on topics. He may still think it!

I love Gilligan's mouthwash joke!

Hey, Gilligan just barges into the girls' hut without even a knock (or some kind of request)! I thought they were usually pretty polite with that on the island!

What's up with Thirston's burned dinner? Sometimes it seems as if he's an expert chef, and at others, he can't cook! Maybe he can only make certain dishes--his "specialties."

I don't agree with Lovey's comment that the "men" gave the women the tool that Maryann chose; they didn't look as if they were preventing the women from getting any particular tool.

What's with the sleeping arrangement? I know that this is before they all had separate huts but just because the women have been gone (just on another part of the island) a short while, they all have to sleep together. I know, of course, that this facilitates the whole dream thing. By the way, I love the part when the Professor awakens to hear Gilligan's "Ole!"

Did poor Gilligan have any idea that they could salvage the balloon in some way when he proceeded to make material out of it? Once again, tell the guy what's going on!!

I thought Maryann looked cute in her 60ish outfit in the Professor's dream.

I felt a little sorry for the Professor in his dream; it looked as if all he could do was that same Cary Grant impression he does in "Postman." The
Skipper's and Thirston's dreams seem fitting and true to character--I'm not so sure about the others. Well, they offer a bit of a surprise!

I agree, lm, this is one of my favorites too!!

Along with being funny and highly entertaining, I find it neat since it is one of few episodes that deals with a physcological problem rather than some trouble Gilligan has gotten into. It holds a more realistic quality, until of course, the weather balloon scene. If you are stuck on an island with people you've never met before, there is naturally going to be some tension and I think this episode dealt well enough with that consept.

I find the entire breakfast scene really funny; yes the mouthwash joke does top it off.

As far as the Professor's sexist comment, while it does irk me somewhat, I can't help but find it to be natural for him to have said in that conversation. The division line clearly drawn and the sides taken, an argument easily arrives and naturally, you are going to use whatever amunition you have to stoke the fire and defend your side. Also, it goes along with the Professor's egotism. In considering him a gentleman, I would say that allows him to hold a slightly 'old-fashioned' sort of view towards women. If anything, it might show a brief lapse of tact on his part because I have a feeling he knew full well that it would just stir the pot.
And lm, I hope you pointed out that the men were the first to break and returned to the women instead of vice-versa. :lol:

As much as I admire the three women for putting up with the burdens of island life, I must say I found their attempt to put up shelter slightly pathetic. MaryAnn, at least, would hold some of the practicality needed to put a roof over their heads I would think. However, we do see them having a hut built by night fall; I wonder how long it took them to accomplish that. :lol:

I love Mr. Howell's reply as to what they were having for dinner, "Ashes." :lol: That whole conversation is amazing! I use it whenever I burn something myself! Over all, I would put Mr. Howell as a bad cook but it is his egotism that provides the illusion that he is otherwise. While he might have a taste for what is good, to carry it out into a meal is a different story.

Once again, the castaways' sleeping arangement confuse me to no end! Why, suddenly do all the men share a hut? Whatever the reason, I love the dream sequences! I agree that the Skipper and Mr. Howell have the most realistic dreams. While I find Gilligan's and the Professor's amusing, I think they would have made more sense if the focus had been on just one particular girl for each... but I might just have a bias in that area. ;) And, something I never understood; if the censors were so strict back then, why are the three unmarried men dreaming of Mrs. Howell, Mr. Howell's wife? And why is Mr. Howell dreaming of the two girls? I'm not saying this is unrealistic, but rather that it surprises me that they got away with this since the Howells couldn't even share the same bed!

Finally, this might be one of the view times I'm not extremely annoyed with Gilligan for ruining a rescue. While it was stupid for them all to think that weather balloon was a monster, and even more thoughtless of Gilligan to smash 'the brains', I think given the circumstances, his actions are understandable. Even when he cuts up the weather balloon for fabric, at least his heart was in the right place and he was trying to help. Yet another communication problem on the island.

All in all, however, a great episode!!:)

Heh! "Historically it's the man who makes the decisions!" Has the Professor never heard of Cleopatra? Boadicca? Joan of Arc? Isabella of Spain? Elizabeth I? Catherine the Great?

The Skipper and Gilligan's monster is a riot. Love Howell's comment that the monster really should have two tails when the Skipper insists that he is the brain. And Gilligan's off-the-cuff explanations to the women show remarkable quick thinking!

Note that Gilligan is the first of the men to admit they were wrong - not just that it's less convenient living without the women, but that the men were wrong to deny the women equal rights. Bravo, Gilligan.

The men's dreams are hilarious, and probably pretty indicative of the division between the sexes. I think the Matador dream is the one time that one of Gilligan's dreams ends on a positive note. He's enjoying it so much he doesn't want to wake up. I love when he calls the Skipper a beautiful senorita and then tosses his blanket over his arm like a cape and struts out!

When the Skipper returns from scouting the balloon monster, there's a great moment of comic panic:
Mary Ann: Where's Gillligan?
Howell: Gilligan's been eaten!
Mary Ann: Noooo!
Skipper: Gilligan is fine!

Here Gilligan's "screw-up" is the result of his being tremendously brave and self-sacrificing. They all believed the balloon was a monster, but nobody else was willing to fight it. And as for cutting up the material, exactly: how was he to know?