Gilligan's Personal Magnetism is anything but magnetic. It is decidedly average, hampered by a plot that meanders all over the place, poor pacing, clunky special effects, and a very uneven tone. At times, the episode is serious, sentimental, comedic, and creepy. And, despite the title, it has no spark.
Gilligan and the Skipper are back to bowling in the cold open, a sport they haven't touched since the first season. An unexpected thunderstorm interrupts their match. Gilligan can't resist getting in an extra strike, but the strike he gets comes from a lighting blast. This cartoonish blast knocks him thirty feet into the air and into the pins. The blast doesn't kill him, or even short out his faculties. What it does do is cause his bowling ball to stick to his hand. The Professor diagnoses that the iron ore in the ball has somehow attached to the iron in Gilligan's body.
O-kay.
Similar scenes to The Invasion follow as he and the others try to remove the ball with similar results. The current running through him causes anyone who touches him to receive a cartoony carpet shock. The Skipper puts him to bed in a ponderous but still funny bit that ends with him getting conked into dreamland. The Howells are convinced it's all in Gilligan's pointy head. In a nod to the first season, Mrs. Howell plays psychiatrist and is no more effective than she was the first time out.
The Professor eventually devises an electrode to separate Gilligan from the ball. By pure sitcom coincidence, another storm materializes to zap Gilligan just as the electrode does. This blast causes him to turn invisible.
So, despite the title, he's only magnetic for half the episode.
Gilligan the Invisible Man is less interesting and fun than it should be. The scenes drag and don't commit to being either completely funny or completely dark. They are undermined by awkward pauses, weak special effects, sinister background music, and general creepiness. Unlike Claude Rains, his invisibility doesn't lead to madness or a thirst for power.
At first stumped, the Professor develops a lead-lined wrapping that makes our lead resemble a mummy. He is slightly funnier in the visual gag when he's half-wrapped and scares the girls; Ginger's comb unravels that plot thread.
Once again, our noble lead leaves behind a note and retreats to the other side of the island to stay out of everyone's way. His sacrifice is undone in the very next scene when he hangs out and eats at the table where the others lament his leaving. His visibility randomly picks that moment to kick in, and we have another overly cute, simplistic ending where everything is wrapped up.
COCONOTES:
Like the special effect of smoke billowing from the bowling ball, the only effect that really works.
So, after being saved by Gilligan multiple times, the girls think his bravest moment is looking glum with a ball on his arm.
If Gilligan had simply chosen the lower bunk, he could have saved the Skip a headache.
The only major Universal monster not represented in the series is the Wolfman.
Gilligan and the Skipper are back to bowling in the cold open, a sport they haven't touched since the first season. An unexpected thunderstorm interrupts their match. Gilligan can't resist getting in an extra strike, but the strike he gets comes from a lighting blast. This cartoonish blast knocks him thirty feet into the air and into the pins. The blast doesn't kill him, or even short out his faculties. What it does do is cause his bowling ball to stick to his hand. The Professor diagnoses that the iron ore in the ball has somehow attached to the iron in Gilligan's body.
O-kay.
Similar scenes to The Invasion follow as he and the others try to remove the ball with similar results. The current running through him causes anyone who touches him to receive a cartoony carpet shock. The Skipper puts him to bed in a ponderous but still funny bit that ends with him getting conked into dreamland. The Howells are convinced it's all in Gilligan's pointy head. In a nod to the first season, Mrs. Howell plays psychiatrist and is no more effective than she was the first time out.
The Professor eventually devises an electrode to separate Gilligan from the ball. By pure sitcom coincidence, another storm materializes to zap Gilligan just as the electrode does. This blast causes him to turn invisible.
So, despite the title, he's only magnetic for half the episode.
Gilligan the Invisible Man is less interesting and fun than it should be. The scenes drag and don't commit to being either completely funny or completely dark. They are undermined by awkward pauses, weak special effects, sinister background music, and general creepiness. Unlike Claude Rains, his invisibility doesn't lead to madness or a thirst for power.
At first stumped, the Professor develops a lead-lined wrapping that makes our lead resemble a mummy. He is slightly funnier in the visual gag when he's half-wrapped and scares the girls; Ginger's comb unravels that plot thread.
Once again, our noble lead leaves behind a note and retreats to the other side of the island to stay out of everyone's way. His sacrifice is undone in the very next scene when he hangs out and eats at the table where the others lament his leaving. His visibility randomly picks that moment to kick in, and we have another overly cute, simplistic ending where everything is wrapped up.
COCONOTES:
Like the special effect of smoke billowing from the bowling ball, the only effect that really works.
So, after being saved by Gilligan multiple times, the girls think his bravest moment is looking glum with a ball on his arm.
If Gilligan had simply chosen the lower bunk, he could have saved the Skip a headache.
The only major Universal monster not represented in the series is the Wolfman.
