User Reviews

Remember way back in the pilot when the Skipper remarked to the Professor that he had searched every inch of the island and found no one? Well, he missed a spot.

Gilligan stumbles upon a camouflaged WWI-era biplane in the opening tease. The other castaways gather around to dust off the plane and discover an inscription on the side: The Spirit of the Bronx, which means the plane once belonged to famed aviator Wrongway Feldman. Mr. Howell happens along to provide some backstory on the war hero and how he acquired his nickname of Wrongway.

The guest pilot himself picks this moment to make a dramatic and completely improbable appearance out of nowhere. The castaways are overjoyed to have Wrongway pop up right out of the blue to be their first rescuer.

Despite the fact that none of the castaways have any flying experience, they have no problem working on the plane and getting it ready for takeoff. A mysterious little drama is inserted into the plot when, on his first attempt to taxi, the plane's propeller falls off and, on his second, a strut pops loose. The Professor concludes that someone has tampered with the plane, someone who evidently doesn't want to be rescued.

The second act has the wary castaways guarding the aircraft from unknown forces. Gilligan pulls the duty once again, doing a better job here than in Voodoo, though he is only slightly more competent with a bow and arrow than a revolver. He and the others prevent any further sabotage, but lose track of their brave pilot.

At first the castaways suspect foul play, but then Gilligan runs into Wrongway hiding in the jungle. The war hero admits he purposely sabotaged the plane because he has lost his nerve to fly. He suggests Gilligan as his replacement, largely because Gilligan is the lead of the show, and it leads to a routine involving fruit substituting for the plane's instrument panel that should be funnier than it is.

Fortunately for the sky ways, our lead's ineptitude forces Wrongway to regain his nerve, and he bravely takes off for civilization. Unfortunately for the castaways, he lives up to his nickname.

COCONOTES

This is one of the better episodes of this first season, largely because of the strength of its first guest star. Hans Conreid is perfectly cast as the World War I pilot. With his out-sized goggles, flying scarf, leather gloves, and bomber jacket, he is the excellent exaggeration of a war hero and dominates the scenes he is in.

Especially like the charming scene between Wrongway and Gilligan where they chat about what the pilot has missed out on during his years away from civilization.

Director Ida Lupino rightly keeps the focus on Wrongway and has an overall better handle on the characters this time around.

"Even Lindy had sandwiches!"

The writers inch closer to implying relationships between the Professor and Ginger and Gilligan and Mary Ann. The movie star clearly unsettles the Professor at the beginning of the episode, causing him to perspire, and gives him a flirty good bye wink. Mary Ann gives Gilligan her usual encouragement.

The Professor refers to the Skipper informally as 'Skip' in this episode. Yeah, don't get used to that.

Whether playing maniachal piano teacher Dr. T. or Wrong Way Feldman, Hans Conreid has had a remarkable, if sadly forgotten, career as a portrayer of eccentric, off the wall characters, and for "Gilligan's Island" fans, the character of W.W. is one of the most memorable. Early enough in the series to be believable that there would be another person on the island, his introduction is as funny as anything else in the series. Even though it's never confirmed who the hidden saboteur of the World War I plane is, it's pretty obvious who and why, which is confirmed in a later episode. Conreid is a complete scene stealer, something difficult to do among such a terrific ensemble.

While walking through the jungle, Gilligan stumbles across an old biplane. The rest of the castaways clear away the jungle growth and discover that it is "Wrongway" Feldman's plane, "The Spirit of the Bronx".

What's even more surprising is that Wrongway Feldman (Hans Conried) is alive and well. The Professor manages to fix his plane, but a series of events starting with a loose propeller and a cut strut indicates that someone doesn't want Wrongway to leave...but who?

Thanks to a really inspired performance by Hans Conried, this is a wonderful episode and one of the most famous in the series. Hans plays every scene in an overly-dramatic fashion, yet it's perfectly at home on Gilligan's Island. His performance manages to elevate the rest of the cast as well, particularly Gilligan (Bob Denver) who shares some very funny scenes with him as he tries to learn to fly the plane.

Highlights include the discovery that Wrongway is alive ("You may call me...Wrongway."), Gilligan attempting to guard the plane with a bow and arrow, Ginger and Mr. Howell trying to convince Wrongway to take them aboard his plane, and finally my favorite bit, Mary Ann kissing Wrongway goodbye and Wrongway trying to take her aboard his plane (smart guy), only to be stopped by the Skipper.

This is a very sharp, funny episode that is elevated by the one and only Hans Conried. Certainly one of the funniest episodes of the season and perhaps even the best.

• Hans Conried becomes the first "human" guest star seen on-screen on Gilligan's Island. That is, if you include the "Chimp" seen in the episode "Voodoo Something to Me". Plus, Han's outfit is frankly perfect, a beaten-up, rotted out leather jacket, gloves, goggles and flying cap.

• It does seem a bit strange that given how Gilligan discovers the plane, that no one saw the plane before.

• 64 bottles of scotch? That's an impressive amount to store aboard a rather small biplane. Of course, having a runway on the island long enough to launch a biplane is pretty impressive as well. :)

• The epilogue has our castaways listening to the radio announcer speaking about Wrongway's ticker-tape parade in the Bronx when it is revealed that he didn't know where Gilligan's Island is. This is a little strange, unless Wrongway flew all the way to the Bronx before talking to the authorities...