Thoughts From the Gilligan's Island Episode Castaway Pictures Presents (1965)

Synopsis: After Gilligan (Bob Denver) discovers a sunken ship in the lagoon, the castaways salvage costumes and a movie camera and decide to make a silent movie in an attempt to finally get rescued from the island.

My Thoughts:

I'm no expert on this, but if that camera equipment was submerged in salt water with nothing but a wooden crate protecting it, shouldn't it have been unusable by the time Gilligan discovered the ship? I have a very hard time believing that wooden crate was perfectly waterproof this entire time. Heck, I would think even the costumes would be water damaged.

I feel like the castaways tried too hard in this episode.  I mean, let's face it, all they really had to do was make a short film showing a rescue note. I'm not really sure why they felt the need to make a full-length silent movie that left everything up to the viewer's interpretation, especially since their attempt to show the location of the island was an absolute failure.

Despite what I said above, I feel like this should have still worked. Ginger (Tina Louise) is a moderately successful movie star, and the Howells (Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer) are well-known millionaires. Given the publicity this movie received, both from being in a film festival and from the media coverage, I find it hard to believe nobody recognized them. Mrs. Howell even went as far as to waive at the camera so her friends could see her.

This episode once again confirms a point I've made before. If they can send a movie out on a raft and have it reach civilization, then all arguments against another attempt at sending out another manned raft ring hollow. Not to mention, they filmed the island from a distance, something that obviously required them to be on a raft. If you are going to risk your life doing that, why not take it a step further?

Did they find bodies on that ship? Not to be morbid or anything, but the episode was a bit vague about what happened to the filmmakers that were on it. Did they survive (and, if so, how did they get rescued) or did they drown? I feel like it is an important part of the story that was glossed over a bit.

Final Opinion: The episode has some funny moments but, mostly because their rescue plan is a bit too inefficient and there are some glaring plot holes, I just don't like this episode as much as some of the others.

My Grade: C