Thoughts From the Gilligan's Island Episode Pass the Vegetables, Please (1966)

Synopsis: The castaways are thrilled when Gilligan (Bob Denver) reels in a crate of vegetable seeds while fishing and are even more pleased when the seeds grow at a faster rate than expected. However, what they don't know is Gilligan caught a crate of highly radioactive seeds and, by consuming the vegetables, their lives are in danger

My Thoughts:

Are wooden crates really that waterproof? I may have asked this question before, but it is worth asking again. Those seeds were perfectly dry despite being underwater for enough time to allow the ocean currents to get them to the lagoon. I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying that. Most, if not all, those seeds should have been ruined by the time they got to the island.

Gilligan gets blamed for not noticing the seeds were radioactive but it's not like he put that lid someplace where nobody else would see it. Both the Skipper (Alan Hale, Jr) and Professor (Russell Johnson) walked right past the lid shortly after he reeled in the seeds, and he even went as far as to prop it up against a rock were just about any castaway would have seen it long before he used it to build a chair. If anything, you would think the Professor would have asked to see the lid, purely out of curiosity, to see where the seeds came from.

Am I the only one who thought it was odd the seeds were packaged in a way you would expect to see them in a store display? Was someone planning on selling these seeds before discovering the radiation issue?

I know the castaways were desperate for vegetables, but did they seriously not question why the vegetables were growing at such a rapid rate or why they were so deformed?  I don't know, if it were me, I'd be asking to see the crate lid at least at that point because there was obviously something off. 

The part about the castaways getting superpowers from the seeds is funny but it also left me wondering if they are even trying to get rescued any more. Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) sees a ship in the distance, and they have to build a signal fire from scratch? You would think they would have one made up and ready to be lit at a moment's notice. Heck, since they obviously have a limited number of matches, you would think they would just keep one lit at all times and take turns adding wood to it.

Final Opinion: The premise is a bit weird, especially since it requires an awful lot of people to either not look at the crate lid or not notice the reference to radiation on it. However, this is a genuinely funny episode that is entertaining to watch and easily one of my favorites from the series.

My Grade: A