NOW FEATURING...AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

[lm]

I never liked/was puzzled by the way Gilligan changed gears during the "missing Maryann" scene. He is so worried about her fate and suddenly stops to ask the Professor in a normal voice about a vocabulary word ("abducted"). What did you think of this? It seems to undercut the original concern or almost make it seem phony.. Girls actually scared in last scene?
I always wondered about the time down there in the hole--especially for Ginger and Maryann, who were down there overnight! It's a pretty horrible and curious situation. Maryann was trapped down there the longest and when we first see her she is pretty calm. What did she do all that time? What was it like for her? This would be a good fanfiction. Any takers?
It is ironic that Gilligan, the usual klutz, is the last one to fall in the hole.
The dream is great. One or 2 questions about it, though. OK, they are all characters from English lore but who/what is Ginger supposed to be? She looks/talks similarly to a Gone With The Wind era call-girl type. Also, re: Dr. Gilligan's anti-Professor Higgins treatment of Eliza Doolittle/Maryann. Eliza started out as a miserable guttersnipe (some have suggested, though, that she wasn't as bad as Maryann's character here)--so do you think it is suggested that Dr. Gilligan's "beastliness" includes other forms of lowering her morals or character (You have to remove any puritanical blinders here).I love that little line, "Congratulations, Mrs. Howell" in the looking for brides bit.Why, in the opening scene, are both Gilligan and Maryann doing the laundry? Doesn't just one person usually wash or hang clothes?

[JWood201]

He switches gears so abruptly in that scene because it's a good joke. He's so horrified that it's funnier when the audience finds out that he has no idea what he's talking about. Classic comedy writing ploy.

Hmm, that's an interesting fanfic idea. I'd never thought about it before, but you're right - it must've been pretty miserable down there, especially overnight. Yikes!

Dream Sequence: This one is ok, it's not my favorite, but not my most hated either. I don't know if there was anything specific implied about lowering her morals or whatever, I think the joke was that he was just really bad at making her into a lady. (Although I wouldn't put it past them after some of the awful inappropriate things in Season 1 - love it).

A friend and I do have this awful joke, however, where after she goes, "He made me a real lady, he did!" we go, "OH REALLY - how's that?!" Like along the same lines of making an "honest woman" out of her. It's gross, but sometimes it's the worst jokes that make us laugh.

They're both doing the laundry b/c he's being a gentleman and helping. Or maybe the basket was just really heavy that week. Or because you couldn't do the scene logistically with only one character - when MA disappears, no one would see it happen. (Being a screenwriting major ruins everything for me - I always see the practical reasons why things happen, lol).

[Teebs]

Being an Englishwoman, and therefore a real lady I have to say that Mary Ann's 'cockney' accent in the dream was THE worst one ever, on a par with Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (or "Miyory Pawpins" as he'd say.) It's so atrocious that even Bob Denver looks like he's about to start laughing. Whether it was intentionally terrible or she just couldn't do it, it doesn't really matter, because it is hilarious. I agree with JWood201, he was just really bad at making her into a lady.
Gilligan's, The Professor's and even Ginger's 'British' accents aren't bad. Mr. Howell wisely doesn't bother with an accent. He just pulls his usual faces- which look enough like a haughty British judge anyway, even when he's not being a haughty British judge.
I'm impressed with the way Ginger manages to make a list of unappetising foodstuffs sound positively pornographic.
I thought it was lovely to see Gilligan helping Mary Ann with the laundry. They needed a scene where Gilligan was alone with her in order for him to end up thinking he'd been responsible for her 'demise', but I think it's something he'd do anyway.
The whole falling down into a cave routine is always a bit unbelievable, because no-one ever breaks a leg or kills themselves in the process. Everyone on GI lands on their feet. The girls don't even get their clothes dirty- or even seem to need restroom breaks...

[callensensei]

Im, you mentioned something about all of the characters in the dream sequence being recognizable British figures. "Mary Poppins" is actually named and "Eliza Doolittle" is pretty obviously Mary Ann's alter ego. Judging by the lillies, elaborate hairstyle, fancy costume and the fact that he's on trial for morals charges, I'd say Gilligan is supposed to be Oscar Wilde.

The Professor, the Skipper and Mr. Howell just appear to be British. I can't recognize any particular fictional or real life personalities they're supposed to represent.

And as for Ginger...I cringe at how bad her accent is! It certainly isn't British, and whatever it is, she can't even keep it consistent from one sentence to the next.

I like the dream sequences where they follow some kind of recognizable story trope: the western, the swashbuckler, the fairytale, even the horror story. But this sequence seems completely random and nonsensical. I can't figure out what's going on. Gilligan's make-up transformation is marvellous, though, and very scary!

As for the rest of the episode, it's true that it doesn't seem as though the castaways suffered any hardships from being down in that hole with no water supply or, as Teebs politely puts it, bathroom breaks! They also seemed to have scrounged up a light source from somewhere.

I'm always impressed that it's Gilligan who comes up with the idea that the headhunters have abducted only the girls because the headhunters are boys. This solution made a lot of sense - though the Professor's term "brides" is an awfully nice euphamism for a far less pleasant fate. Shades of "The Searchers!"