This is my favourite episode. Its brilliant plot is rife with dramatic irony: none of the characters ever truly understands what's going on, though the audience does. Gerald Fried cleverly alternates the Russian folksong "Korobushka" with Gilligan's Irish sea-chanty as leidmotifs to clue the audience in as to which of the two "Gilligans" is on screen.
Though the double schtick is a popular conceit in sitcoms, Bob Denver does the best job of it I've ever seen. His Russian spy definitely comes across as a completely different personality, while his Gilligan remains consistent.
Contrast this with Tina Louise's double roles in "All About Eva". While her Eva Grubb is totally convincing as a different person, Tina overcompensates in her performance as Ginger in that episode, using an overly breathy Marilyn Monroe-style voice and constantly batted eyelashes in an attempt to contrast the two characters. Consequently, Ginger just doesn't seem like Ginger.
The Skipper and the Professor do come across as rather nasty in the early part of this episode. Even though Gilligan's arriving with the empty pieplate is very incriminating, they assume he is lying about his innocence even though he rarely ever lies. I admire the fact that Gilligan refuses to confess just to mollify them.
The spy's advances towards Ginger are a hilarious reversal, and it's touching to see how forgiving of "Gilligan" she is here. Ginger keeps saying, "Sweetie, I don't want to hurt your feelings," even as she's struggling with him. I don't think there are many men whose unwanted advances Ginger would treat in such a way!
I do find the ending just a bit confusing, though. Did the discovery of the pocketknife convince them that Gilligan had been right about his evil double? As that why Gilligan hides at the end - at his realization that he could have been killed?
Help me out, folks!
