This is one of our favorite episodes to watch at home--my husband and I both think it is hilarious. There's the Skipper's "knee" joke, the whole Gilligan vs. the headhunter scene and, my husband's favorite, "That's not the Skipper, Maryann!"

I could never understand why Maryann didn't just tell everyone about Gilligan's heroic and unselfish attempt to save her. For someone who sticks up for him all the time, this was weird. Gilligan was suffering greatly over this. Everyone already knew the part about his failing to save her, so why not tell everyone how he bravely tried, Maryann?!?!?!?

My son always asks me (and I'm at a loss too) why Gilligan and Maryann are drowning and why the Skipper comes out ok in the water. Also, what is causing them to drown anyway?

I love Thirston's "showgirl" joke too!

Did Lovey really have to rub it in and have a party for the Professor who (Gilligan is right!) is helped by the two girls in lifting the log!?!?!?

We also love Lovey's look at Thirston when Ginger sits on his lap during the photo shoot.

I think Mary Ann had blanked out the whole memory of her near-drowning because it was so terrifying. She's certainly in an all-out panic there in the water, and Gilligan breaks the cardinal rule of lifesaving: physical contact with a drowning person is the last resort. It's "throw, row, tow, go," or something like that order. A person who is drowning can become so strong in their terror that they can literally drag their rescuer under, as Mary Ann very nearly does. When Gilligan later rescues native girl Kalani, he's all right because she's unconscious.

That's a lovely shot of the island's mountain range in the shot where Mary Ann is plotting with the Skipper. I think it's actually the Waialeale Ridge on the north shore of Kauai, where much of the establishing footage was shot when the crew were on location during the pilot.

This headhunter is a scary fellow, at least until he falls into the fire. The fierce facial tatoos and the fact that he never speaks adds to his forbidding presence.

Gilligan's playfulness here is great: the rhymes as he effortlessly leaps the slashing machete, the faking of his mortal spear wound, and his turning the chase into a game of "In and Out the Windows," complete with the actual song playing in the background. The music kicks in again at double speed for the headhunter's fiery dash into the lagoon.

The Skipper, brave and sure? All right, he was startled here, but so was Gilligan. Pit the Skipper against the forces of nature, like a storm, and he's brave enough, but pit him against a human foe and he falls apart. Here he panics with everyone's life at stake, and it's Gilligan, half his size and unarmed, who charges the headhunter and saves them all.