This popular and critically beloved show has been available on DVD for years but was MIA on any streaming service until now. 

Homicide: Life on the Street joins two other classic shows, Moonlighting and Northern Exposure, that were lost to streaming until recently. 

Like Homicide: Life on the Street, these two shows had at least been available for purchase on DVD, whereas many other shows from that era weren’t so lucky.

Since streaming is how most people access visual media these days, just how many other forgotten gems of TV history are we missing out on?

A Priority Shift

Streaming services first established themselves by offering as many popular TV shows as they could get, like when Netflix featured every season of Friends and The Office — ad-free! 

Viewers at the time assumed that all of these familiar shows would always be available on the new streaming platforms, but most were only there under limited license agreements. 

The streaming services then began producing their own content, so they apparently needed to make room for that on their digital warehouse shelves.

Subscriptions were the metric for streaming services like “advertising eyeballs” for network television. These services pivoted to original offerings to attract subscribers instead of maintaining or bulking up their classic TV libraries. 

This was a time when the majority of TV viewers had cable packages and not just streaming channels, so they could theoretically scratch their classic TV itch with shows that aired on basic cable’s Nick at Nite or TBS. 

Besides, weren’t most of those old shows available on DVD, anyway?

Forgotten Formats

If one looks hard enough, a fair number of 20th-century shows are available on DVD, but often not in their entirety.

Like the 1989 Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis sitcom Anything But Love, where just the first two of its four seasons were released on DVD, sold together as a “Volume 1” box set that sadly never got a “Volume 2.”

There’s also The Drew Carey Show, an incredibly popular ’90s series that ran for nine seasons, but only its first is available on DVD (however, the entire series can now be streamed on Pluto and Apple TV+). 

While DVD players haven’t quite gone the way of the VHS tape, they’re an added barrier and expense in a world where the cost of streaming channels is daunting enough. 

This makes the availability of classic shows in streaming format critical if they are to find a contemporary audience.

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How Many Shows Are We Talking About Here?

The number of 20th- and early 21st-century TV shows that are currently unavailable to stream (or purchase on DVD) is astonishing — and random. 

Shows you may have watched on their first airing, in syndicated reruns, or clicked through on cable over the years while channel surfing are surprisingly absent from any sort of assumed permanent archive.

In the late ’70s to early ’80s, ABC’s Saturday night “Must See TV” lineup was The Love Boat, followed by Fantasy Island.

You can still catch a ride on the original Pacific Princess via Paramount+ but forget about flying to Ricardo Montalban’s magic island. While the series was on Tubi for a while, it’s nowhere to be found again.

So, if you were in the middle of watching it, and it got pulled unceremoniously, you can’t find it anywhere else.

(However, you can visit the deliciously dark 1998 Malcolm McDowell and the fantastically fun 2021 Roselyn Sanchez versions of Fantasy Island on Tubi.)

The seminal ’80s crime shows Vega$ and Spenser for Hire shared the same vibes, popularity, and even star in Robert Urich, but Vega$ is lost to the neon mists of time while Spenser can currently be hired over at Apple TV+ and Tubi.

Landmark medical dramas of the ’70s and ’80s aren’t immune from going missing, either.

M*A*S*H is available to stream or purchase on several subscription platforms, but Quincy, M.E. (with Jack Klugman as an idealistic coroner) and Trapper John, M.D. (with Gregory Harrison in his prime) are not.

Why Aren’t These Shows Available to Stream?

Music rights, studio ownership squabbles, and contract issues are the main reasons keeping shows in limbo. Money and lack of interest are the others.

Decades ago, songs were licensed for a show’s original live network airings and syndication.

Physical formats like DVDs weren’t included because they didn’t yet exist, and contracts didn’t have all-media rights clauses covering any formats invented in the future, like streaming.

The more songs featured in a series, the more difficult and expensive it is to detangle the song rights for streaming. Then, the question becomes whether potential audience interest in a show is high enough to merit the cost of securing those rights.

Another issue is that studios, networks, and production companies have been bought, sold, or blended so often in recent years that it’s hard to determine who currently has the rights to various shows.

The availability of Homicide: Life On The Street, Moonlighting, and Northern Exposure might be taken as a sign that these legal obstacles are not impossible to overcome.

But it still leaves the question of why more of these classic shows aren’t being salvaged and streamed.

Vanished Versus Difficult To Find

Some classic shows are more “lost” than others. Even worse than just having one season released decades ago, they never made it to DVD at all.

This is the mystifying case with two quirky Y2K-era shows centered around singles: Ed (2000) and Cupid (1998).

Ed dropped Northern Exposure’s city-professional-versus-loony-locals playbook into a candy-colored suburb, a combo that snagged super-high ratings and four seasons for the NBC show.

The show starred Tom Cavanagh and featured future notables Julie Bowen, Justin Long, and John Slattery, among others. But despite a substantial fanbase both then and now, Ed remains unavailable on DVD and streaming.

Cupid bounced between different time slots during its sole season, which didn’t help secure an audience for the admittedly esoteric show about a man who is either The God of Love come to Earth or a deeply delusional mortal.

This early series created by Rob Thomas showcased the innovative storytelling and witty dialogue displayed in his later projects, such as Veronica Mars and Party Down.

Cupid starred Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall and boasted an impressive roster of guest stars, including Sherilyn Fenn, Connie Britton, and Laura Leighton. It also had a fantastic theme song (“Human”) performed by The Pretenders.

Sadly, none of this earned Cupid either a second season or a DVD release, only an odd, single-season 2009 ABC remake starring Bobby Cannavale.

The strong creative pedigrees of these shows, plus diehard original fan interest, make them seem like great choices for a streaming service to pick up.

But for whatever reason, they remain lost to memory.

What’s The Holdup Here

Thirtysomething (1987) is a landmark show that is still in streaming limbo despite a vocal lobby of fans.

The series followed a group of yuppie-adjacent friends in suburban Philadephia as they dealt with having children, mortgages, and compromising their college ideals for money.

Mocked at the time for its navel-gazing monologues and mundane, champagne-problem plotlines, the show resonated with a demographic that hadn’t seen its struggles and sensibilities depicted on TV before.

The show became known for structurally innovative episodes and went on to win thirteen Emmy awards.

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It also featured an episode (“Strangers”) that marked the first time on American network television that two gay male characters were shown in bed together.

According to tweets from Mel Harris, who played Hope Steadman, there are no ownership rights issues that keep the show from streaming; there is just a lack of interest from Amazon Studios.

Why This Matters

The list of lost shows could go on for days: Judging Amy, China Beach (Not having access to these two is downright sinful), Chicago Hope, Murphy Brown, Relativity, and Once and Again, for starters.

The preservation of our television history aside, we’re simply missing out on decades of entertainment by not making more of these shows available for streaming.

Our IP-centric cultural moment seems ideal for mining this potential treasure trove of vintage shows to pad streaming platform libraries and perhaps strike another surpriseSuits nerve, as Suits did for Netflix.

It would also be nice to access the more complete bodies of work of our favorite performers and show creators.

What lost classic shows would you like to stream? Let us know in the comments!

The post Finally, We Have Hope! Beloved, Long-lost Shows That Should Join the Party on Streaming appeared first on TV Fanatic.

They are the dynamic duo behind the FOX hit revival of Fantasy Island, which has just finished its second season with an emotional and satisfying finale.

Speaking with TV Fanatic over Zoom (DAYS before the unfortunate news of the show's cancellation), the pair are as in sync discussing their show as they are in producing the whimsical yet thought-provoking series.

While the Fantasy Island IP has undergone a couple of revivals/reboots since the original series concluded in 1984, this is the first that truly builds on the legacy of Ricardo Montalban and his wish-granting domain.

Fain and Craft are honest about how they were fortunate to have several key pieces fall into place first, facilitating the show's development.

Fain considers what brought them to Fantasy Island to begin with. "For us, the show is successful because we really respect the original. We were fans of the original when we were kids, and I think we took the parts of that show that we loved and then really tried to bring it into today and make it super relevant.

"And it's just been such a fun process. We have the greatest team at Sony and at FOX. Everybody's really on board and so fun to work with."

Craft outlines the operational elements that lead to Fantasy Island's incredible visuals and cast.

"When we settled on shooting in Puerto Rico, where we have these incredible locations – you just can't believe the stuff, we think 'this looks fake!' it looks so good, and it's real.

"Then Roselyn Sanchez coming in… I mean, because, of course, the question is who can fill Mr. Roarke's shoes, right? He was such an icon. I think Roselyn just effortlessly has the charm and the authority and the humor to bring the show into today.

"We can't say enough about her. She's just fantastic. And then, of course, our other cast members, Kiara and John, also oozing with charm and abilities. So we just got lucky."

A core feature of Fantasy Island is how Sanchez's Elena Roarke is supported by Barnes's Ruby and Rodriquez's Javier.

That cohesiveness translates to a genuine sense of family on screen, and Fain admits it was there from the beginning but has also grown over the years.

"It came in fully formed in one way, but they've also worked to build it. They're a really great team. They hang out together.

"Ros will have them over. They'll go to the beach on the weekend. They have created a special relationship, and I think you do see that on the screen."

While no one can imagine anyone but Sanchez in the role now, were there other candidates for the role of Roarke at the beginning?

"So many names were floated and discussed, and then I have to give FOX credit," admits Craft. "They said, 'Hey, what about Roselyn Sanchez?' and then that was it. It's not as if we had her audition.

"It was a matter of us meeting with her, talking to her about the role, wooing her a bit. And she was really enthusiastic because she knew the original and the Ricardo Montalban of it all. It just fell together.

"[The] beautiful thing about it is Roselyn is from Puerto Rico, and we're shooting there. She knew so many of our crew members! She'd be like, 'Oh, yes, this person, I went to high school [with them]… oh yeah, we went to elementary school together…."

"So she was such an incredible Number One on the call sheet. She could just rally the crew. I've never seen anything like it. And that was a huge help for the production as well."

With twenty-three episodes under their belt, do Fain and Craft have a favorite child (as it were) in the bunch?

Fain looks to the one that tapped into great emotional depth and holds some somber significance.

"The one that comes to mind for me is the Day of the Dead episode. [Fantasy Island Season 1 Episode 8].

"It was just such a special way to both get to know our characters and to meet new people. Of course, Leslie Jordan was in it, and he was so wonderful. So that one, I think, is very special."

Craft remembers how a different Season 1 offering provided a signpost for the show's direction.

"Another one that was special for us because it really cracked a code for the show, how we were going to do the show, was [Fantasy Island Season 1 Episode 6], which is where the women came to celebrate their fiftieth birthdays. 'The Big Five Oh'!

"We realized [fantasies don't] have to be a huge thing. One of the women just wanted to sleep. And that was very much based on Sarah, who's an only parent and just longed for sleep.

"It's a small thing, wanting to sleep, but it was so emotional, and it went so deep into that guest character, and it resonated so much with our audience.

"So I think that really cracked the code on the rest of the show where we said, 'Okay, we can do this show for ten seasons,' because these small things resonate so large."

'The Big Five Oh' was a real hit with TV Fanatic readers and Fantasy Island viewers in general as it reunited original Melrose Place cast members Daphne Zuniga, Josie Bissett, and Laura Leighton.

This season, we've had other reunion casts like The Wonder Years' Dan Lauria and Ally Mills on Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 10 and Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher and James Denton on Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 3. These have been delightful and calculated casting choices.

Craft adds, "We also had Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris, which wasn't a reunion, but they are real-life best friends which is how we got them both to do it.

"We realized seeing these people we all love so much through the years come to Fantasy Island brings out this extra layer of emotion. Something the original did so well was to cast these amazing guest stars, right? So that became very important to us. And every time we do it, everybody's just all a-flutter and has the best time."

A major story arc in Season 2 is Ruby's relationship with the mysterious Isla.

As Isla first appeared on Fantasy Island Season 1 Episode 1 when she gave Ruby the tattoo that marked her as an Island-approved denizen, was this a relationship planned way back then?

Fain considers how the relationship evolved. "At that point, it wasn't solid. But what we loved there was the obvious chemistry that the two actors had. They immediately lit up the screen.

"So, as time went on, we thought, 'They have this connection from the tattoo; how can we develop that?'"

Craft connects Isla to Nyah, the mermaid on the original series.

"There was a recurring mermaid character in the original, played by Michelle Phillips, and that was very much our inspiration for the mermaid storyline in our new Fantasy Island.

"We loved the idea that Roarke would say, 'No, there aren't mermaids,' which is what the original Mr. Roarke would tell people. Then, he would go talk to the mermaid. And this idea that the mermaids are always trying to lure guests into the ocean.

"We thought Isla was a great character for that because she is so appealing, and Ruby was so drawn to her.

But the idea wasn't 100% full-steam ahead from inception. "We really debated can we pull off doing a mermaid? Are people going to think it's silly to do a mermaid? Can we do this in a way that feels grounded and 'real'?

"I think we did it because it came so organically out of the story and out of Isla having been the one who gave Ruby that tattoo.

"And we love this sort of mythology that the mermaids protect the Island because people always say, 'Don't people know where Fantasy Island is? How are journalists not showing up?' and all of this.

"We love the idea that the mermaids protect the Island, but then the Island protects the mermaids. So they need each other even if they don't like each other."

(#SPOILERS ahead if you haven't seen the Season 2 finale yet)

On Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 13, Ruby's daughter MJ (Gabrielle Byndloss) must contend directly with Isla's allure to save her mother from joining the mermaids and losing her memories forever.

It's a tense and critical climactic scene where a mother's love proves stronger than the desire for happy oblivion. With Ruby's life at stake, the scene captures all the perils represented by Isla and the ocean.

It's a triumph of production that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, cheering for MJ.

Fain is immensely proud of the finale and how that scene came together.

"I'm so happy it felt like that because that was so hard! That scene! When we have actors in water, you're pulling all of these elements together.

"And then in editing, it's really hard because you're pulling together action on land and sea. Nothing about that was one-take.

"I have to say the actor who plays MJ really brought it. That's a really hard role, and there's a lot of build-up of what she has to do to connect with Ruby, and Gabrielle did such a beautiful job."

Craft adds, "They really brought that emotion, and it just popped off the screen."

Fantasy Island's narrative's episodic yet contiguous nature allows Craft and Fain the freedom to venture into various genres with their guests' fantasies.

Case in point: Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 7 ("#Happy") takes a dark path into a guest's hidden past when she wishes her family to be as "perfect" in reality as she portrays them on social media.

Recalls Craft, "[Regarding #Happy,] we [said], 'We have to do a horror episode,' and on the resort where we were shooting, they were redoing it.

"So they had the mirror resort, this empty building which was all torn apart, so we thought, 'Okay, this is going to be the setting for our horror episode,' and it just worked out.

"And the director was one of the writer-directors of The Blair Witch," Fain adds, "It just all came together."

When TV Fanatic spoke with guest stars Lauria and Mills from "War of the Roses (and the Hutchinsons)," Ally Mills commented on how impressed with how female-led the Fantasy Island production is.

Fain acknowledges that this is a mindful choice. "Yes, for sure. We have — not exclusively certainly — a female audience, but a large part of our audience is women, and we want our audience to be able to connect as much as possible to our characters. And obviously, we're women, so we like writing about women, and we love working with women."

Craft chimes in, "It was great because, at no point did anyone ever give us the note, 'Well, love the story, but can it be a guy?'"

"In fact," remarks Fain, "We pitched one story, and someone was like, 'Oh, love the story, but can it be a woman?'"

"FOX was really supportive of all of our female-led fantasy stories," asserts Craft, "That was just great for us because, of course, that's so much fun for us, and the crew did love it too.

"A lot of these high-level production people are used to working on shows led by men, so I think everyone enjoyed the female-ness of it all."

We've learned much about Elena and Ruby over the two seasons. We've met their past and current lovers, enjoyed their personal quirks, and discovered how they've grown emotionally.

What about Javier and Segundo?

Fain has thoughts about Segundo's true nature. "We love Segundo so much. Daniel Lugo is such a brilliant actor. We think that he has been there kind of forever. We see him as a timeless being who is almost part of the Island, so that's how he got there.

It may seem reflexive to ask the creators of Fantasy Island what the Island can do for them, but both Craft and Fain know exactly what they'd ask for.

Craft articulates, "What Fantasy Island could do for me right now? I just want a fair deal. The WGA is on strike, and we don't want to be on strike.

"We really want to get back to work. I would love to have the strike end and do Season 3. We want being a TV writer to be something we can do the rest of our career, and that's in jeopardy right now."

#Solidarity

Both seasons of Fantasy Island are now available to stream on-demand at FOX.com, on Hulu, and right here on TV Fanatic.

As always, check out our reviews where you can discuss and share your thoughts.

And now, here's your chance to show your love to the wonderful showrunners who have made this fantastic show, Fanatics!

Hit our comments below with your favorite moments from Fantasy Island! Who were the best guests? Which fantasy blew your mind? Tell us EVERYTHING!

And, of course, the question we always ask: What can the Island do for YOU?

The post Fantasy Island Showrunners Share the Magic That Cracked the Code for Them appeared first on TV Fanatic.

FOX announced late Tuesday that it had canceled Fantasy Island.

The news broke less than 24 hours after the Fantasy Island Season 2 finale.

"We were very pleased with Fantasy Island's fun and escapist creative, which we had hoped would gain strong traction among viewers," the network said in a statement, adding:

"We'd also like to thank Fantasy Island's cast, led by Roselyn Sánchez, Kiara Barnes and John Gabriel Rodriquez, crew and executive producers Liz Craft, Sarah Fain and Anne Clements for their partnership on the series."

Fantasy Island averaged 2.8 million viewers and a 0.3 rating in its final season with Live + 7 playback included.

The numbers were very soft for FOX, but the fact that the show had a small group of series regulars meant there was a chance the show could survive.

FOX has been vocal in the past about the show being able to cross-promote other shows on the network, with the possibility of having cast members cross over.

Fantasy Island featured a new wave of guests in each episode.

The series also managed to score some great guest stars in the form of Bellamy Young, Daphne Zuniga, Jason Priestley, Leslie Jordan, Teri Hatcher, and James Denton.

The series was an update of the 1977-84 series, and while it never reached the heights of its predecessor, it had a devoted audience who followed the show wherever it went.

FOX bounced the show around the schedule several times, including delaying the Season 2 premiere at the last minute.

It's hard to sustain an audience when networks pull that schtick, but despite the odds, the series always managed respectable numbers.

It's unclear where the franchise will go next, but it strikes me as the type of series that will pop back up.

TV Fanatic had the chance to speak with showrunners Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain about the conclusion of Season 2 and their plans for Season 3.

Return later today for that.

What are your thoughts on the news?

Are you surprised?

Hit the comments.

The post Fantasy Island Canceled at FOX appeared first on TV Fanatic.

We've never seen Isla frightened before, but MJ's presence on the Island puts her fins in a twist as she senses Ruby's enthrallment may not hold up against a mother's love.

Meanwhile, the trio of Gavin Beck's wives, past and present, prove formidable in their vengeance.

Classic mythology and literature are rife with trios of powerful female figures.

Greek mythology has the Fates, Furies, and Graces. Hinduism, the Tridevi. Shakespeare's Macbeth, the Witches. 

Gavin Beck didn't have a chance.

Granted, the Beck Wives come at their collective fantasy with some wrongheadedness.

Sue: Our fantasy is to get revenge on our husband.

Jenna: We want him to feel as awful as he made us feel.

Brooklyn: We want him to hurt.

Elena: You should know that revenge fantasies don’t always end well.

Jenna: Mm, we’ll take our chances.

_{🔗 permalink: Mm, we’ll take our chances.}

Sue carries decades of damage and betrayal as the first Mrs. Beck. Her injury is not only her own but on behalf of her children. Also, if you want to get meta about it, she hurts on behalf of her younger self.

Sue: Gavin and I met when we were twenty. He was so damn handsome.

Brooklyn: Still is.

Sue: You have to understand. When Gavin looks at you, he makes you feel like you’re his whole world. I didn’t even know who I was yet, so I just became ‘Gavin’s Wife.’

_{🔗 permalink: You have to understand. When Gavin looks at you, he makes you feel like you’re his whole…}

While Jenna feels more vindictive, her anger is just as authentic. Like all predators, Gavin excels at identifying where his victims find their strength and value and eroding it so they depend on him for their confidence and self-worth. With Jenna, it was her intelligence. He made her feel like a fool, and that's a killing blow to someone like her.

Jenna: Unlike Sue, I knew exactly who I was. And Gavin played me like a fiddle. He made me feel like I was the smartest person in the room. He said my ambition was an aphrodisiac.

_{🔗 permalink: Unlike Sue, I knew exactly who I was. And Gavin played me like a fiddle. He made me feel like…}

Brooklyn clearly drew strength from her relationship with her father. That Gavin was able to sever that bond must've been a real feather in his cap.

While the poppet shenanigans are intensely entertaining — knowing the scumbag Gavin is (played with unapologetic bombasity by the evergreen Jason Priestley) — there's a mental rabbit hole to dive down if we were to imagine what other strategy they could've taken with the poppet.

After "marrying" the poppet to Gavin, there are a plethora of potential experiences they could visit upon him using the spells in the poppet manual. It is a "sympathetic" figure, after all.

Sue: We asked to make him hurt, but that’s not really what we want.

Elena: What do you want? Really.

Jenna: I want to make him hurt.

Sue: I want to be free of him. I am tired of Gavin Beck defining me.

Jenna: He’s never going to understand. He’s defective.

Elena: On this island, people’s capabilities often evolve. I believe we can channel yours tears to a more productive end.

_{🔗 permalink: On this island, people’s capabilities often evolve. I believe we can channel yours tears to a…}

Of course, they must see themselves clearly before they can mete out proper justice on Gavin. The Island's logic is just twisted enough that everyone learns to see the world and themselves differently before they can leave. Whether they like it or not.

The wives are initially so intent on vengeance that they cannot see a way to healing.

Gavin: It feels like there’s acid in my chest. I can’t breathe. The pain.

Brooklyn: This is what it’s like, Gavin. This is what it’s like to love you.

_{🔗 permalink: This is what it’s like, Gavin. This is what it’s like to love you.}

Once they realize they crave freedom from Gavin and his toxicity, it's an act of letting go. Seemingly simple but incredibly difficult when one has internalized pain for so long.

Let's take a moment to revel in badass disciplinarian Elena Roake if you please.

When Brooklyn crosses the line with the poppet and nearly drowns Gavin, Elena's host abilities kick in, and she arrives with the splendor of an avenging angel.

I can't imagine anyone but Roselyn Sanchez delivering that entrance, wordlessly rivaling Galadriel's "beautiful but terrible as the dawn" LotR scene, conveying both her displeasure and disappointment in her guests.

Gavin: I just know that I don’t ever want to make anyone else feel the way that I made Sue, Jenna, and Brooklyn feel.

Elena: Well, if you ever want to come back to the Island for a refresher, just let me know.

Gavin: That sounds so generous, but it feels like a threat.

_{🔗 permalink: That sounds so generous, but it feels like a threat.}

But her punishment is tempered with understanding, a unique Island host quality that supersedes basic human empathy in my estimation. Her real ire is reserved for Gavin.

Elena: You know, Dr. Beck, I try very hard not to be judgemental, but people like you who cause others pain with zero consideration, who manipulate and lie to those they say they love… you make it very difficult.

_{🔗 permalink: You know, Dr. Beck, I try very hard not to be judgemental, but people like you who cause…}

Mind you, one can't help but hear some of her anger toward Isla in her admonishment of Gavin's selfish and hurtful behavior.

Odds are the Throne of Tears doesn't work so well for mermaids.

But thankfully, Elena's intuition is also superpowered.

MJ: Javier said, ‘Love is its own kind of magic.’ I guess he was right.

_{🔗 permalink: Javier said, ‘Love is its own kind of magic.’ I guess he was right.}

Stepping into a role like MJ that carries all the emotional and narrative pressure of saving a core character cannot be easy. Gabrielle Byndloss manages it with authenticity and impressive nuance.

MJ: So you’re saying my mom didn’t die. She’s alive and well and twenty-five years old and she lives on this island, but she doesn’t remember me or my brothers or my dad. Oh, and after fifty years of marriage, she is now in love with a woman.

Segundo: Who is also a mermaid.

Javier: It’s a lot. We know.

_{🔗 permalink: It’s a lot. We know.}

The choice to have her walk away from the table rather than flip out on these seemingly insane strangers speaks to the quality of woman her mother raised.

And each time she searches Ruby's face for recognition or any sign of recalled memories, it intensifies her commitment to bringing her mother back.

The moment on the pier is steeped in layers of meaning. The danger of the ocean, the story of Darren nearly drowning, MJ's speech to her mother (in absentia and yet not), there isn't a frivolous word in the entire exchange.

MJ: My mom loved the ocean.

Ruby: Enough to dive in and live there forever? Happens to be what I’m sitting here trying to figure out. Which probably sounds strange.

MJ: I’ve heard stranger things recently. And no, my mom knew how dangerous the ocean could be.

_{🔗 permalink: I’ve heard stranger things recently. And no, my mom knew how dangerous the ocean could be.}

I confess I ugly-cried when MJ's "Mama!" scream pulls Ruby out of Isla's spell. I suspect mothers everywhere will identify with the jolt of hearing their child cry out for them.

The parallel between MJ's story of Ruby pulling Darren from the water and MJ saving Ruby from Isla's grasp is potent. Mother rescuing child turned into child rescuing mother.

Ruby: Until recently, I thought I had friends on Fantasy Island. But I don’t. I have family. Family are the people who fight for you even when you make mistakes, who remind you of who you are when you forget, who save you when you need saving. Or even better, give you what you need to save yourself.

_{🔗 permalink: Until recently, I thought I had friends on Fantasy Island. But I don’t. I have family. Family…}

The fascinating thing is that I believe Isla when she says she loves Ruby and that Ruby would've been happy with her.

I think for a creature like Isla, happiness is hedonistic. It's a pleasure and frolic and novelty.

There is no depth or richness to their happiness. The same may hold true with their idea of love.

Isla: I do love you.

Ruby: You don’t even know me. Mel. My children. My family and friends. They are who I am. And you erased them.

Isla: You would’ve been happy with us. With me.

Ruby: Not real happiness.

Isla: If you change your mind, all you have to do is think of me.

Ruby: I won’t.

_{🔗 permalink: I do love you. I won’t}

I feel like Isla won't be so easy to shake. When Ruby says, "I won't," I interpret it to mean she won't change her mind. It'll be impossible not to think of Isla occasionally.

Also, Isla has unfinished business with Elena.

Isla: You’re playing dirty.

Elena: I’m not playing. This is Ruby’s life.

Isla: I will get what I want.

Elena: If you do, I will never forgive myself.

_{🔗 permalink: If you do, I will never forgive myself.}

While we're still waiting on a Season 3 announcement, there are many plot threads we can speculate on for the future.

There's the mysterious Suite 12, seen last on Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 7, rattling on its locks.

There's the spirit of Elena's malevolent cousin, Fernando, which hangs as a reminder and burden of guilt on Elena.

Of course, there are happier things to look forward to as well.

Ruby: MJ told me what you said about love being its own kind of magic. Very wise. So stop being dumb. Even when you get to do it twice, life is too short to waste time.

_{🔗 permalink: MJ told me what you said about love being its own kind of magic. Very wise. So stop being…}

As far as finales go, seeing Elena and Javier reunite was a satisfying cherry on top, even if the happily-ever-after vibe makes my Spidey-Senses tingle.

Helena and "Dad"-vier never fail to delight as they learn from each other and grow in that trust.

I'd also hope for more scenes with Segundo and some insights into his true nature.

Gavin: Double whiskey, neat. Actually, make it a triple. One for each wife.

Segundo: Sounds like there is a story there, hm?

Gavin: Two former. One current. But I think they’re all here, messing with my mind.

Segundo: I find a heartfelt apology is always a good place to start.

Gavin: Apologize? No. I’m going to mess with them right back.

Segundo: Sometimes, things are bad. And sometimes, things are worse. Better to stick with bad.

Gavin: [laughs] Thanks, old man, but I got this.

_{🔗 permalink: [laughs] Thanks, old man, but I got this.}

As you watch Fantasy Island online, what do you hope to see when we next visit?

Who are your wishlist guest stars? What do you think Suite 12 holds? What can the Island do for YOU?

Drop your bon voyage wishes into the comments below, and we'll see you all at the dock next season!

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 13 Review: MJ Akuda & The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wives Club appeared first on TV Fanatic.

At the dock, Elena welcomes Sue Beck and Jenna Glazer-Beck to the Island. They are both ex-wives of Gavin Beck, united by their interest in seeing him pay for how he’s treated them.

Javier escorts Ruby’s daughter, MJ Akuda, from the plane to Elena. She hopes by visiting the Island where her mother passed away, she’ll feel her presence. Elena promises she will.

Ruby knocks on a suite door and informs Brooklyn Beck that her massage appointment is ready. Brooklyn bids her husband, Gavin, goodbye.

Brooklyn joins the other Mrs. Becks in Elena’s office. The three of them want revenge on Gavin.

He married Sue first and when she suspected he was having an affair, he gaslit her until she checked herself into a mental health facility.

He was having an affair with Jenna, the Head of Marketing at his new company. He seduced her by appealing to her intellect and ambition.

He dazzled Brooklyn with the idea she revitalized his love for life. She disregarded her father’s cautions about Gavin and married him against his wishes. They were estranged because of it and her father died before Brooklyn woke up to the truth of Gavin’s character.

When Brooklyn realized Gavin was cheating on her, he gaslit her too. She ran into Jenna and they called Sue and the three decided to get revenge on Gavin.

Elena warns them revenge fantasies do not always end well. They say they understand. Elena gives them a box and tells them the contents are very powerful and that they should decide together what to use it for. She turns them over to Ruby and goes to meet with MJ.

MJ is brought to meet Elena, Javier, and Segundo at Elena’s home. They tell her about Ruby and the danger she’s in from Isla. The Beck wives open the box and find a poppet they can use to bind Gavin and use to inflict pain (or pleasure) on him.

Brooklyn gets cozy with Gavin so she can steal hair to bind the poppet. She brings the hair to the others and they perform the binding ritual.

At Elena’s house, MJ thinks they’re all crazy and leaves the table only to run into Ruby outside the house. She immediately recognizes her mother, but Ruby doesn’t recognize her at all.

Elena covers for MJ’s shock by making introductions and suggests that MJ and Ruby spend some time together.

The Beck wives toast their new power over Gavin. Jenna bemoans the fact they have to keep hiding from him. She wants to see him suffer with her own eyes. Sue points out the book that came with the poppet provides many spells they can use. She finds one that masks them from Gavin’s sight. He won’t be able to see them even if they are standing right in front of him.

Ruby and MJ take a walk on the beach. MJ tries to reach Ruby, talking about her mother and her family, waiting for Ruby to recognize her. Ruby is sympathetic to MJ’s grief but shows no recognition of her as her daughter.

Isla meets them on the beach. Ruby introduces them. Isla expresses her sympathies for MJ’s loss but then kisses Ruby and asks if they can talk. MJ, a little shocked, excuses herself to give them privacy.

When they are alone, Isla begins to pressure Ruby to make her decision. Ruby agrees to go with Isla once MJ's fantasy is complete and she has processed her grief and found her peace. Isla protests but Ruby insists that she takes care of this responsibility first.

Brooklyn and Gavin are ordering drinks when Gavin starts flirting with the waitress. When Brooklyn scolds him for it, he laughs it off as her insecurity. Jenna uses the poppet to deliver a kick to his butt.

Jenna has an idea and moves upwind of Gavin to get a feather from an arrangement. Gavin immediately notices Jenna’s signature perfume.

When the waitress comes by to take their order, Jenna tickles the poppet making Gavin break into uncontrollable laughter. The waitress says she’ll come back.

Gavin’s confused. Jenna then starts making the poppet do jumping jacks and Gavin mimics the actions without control of himself.

Sue holds the poppet’s hand over a flame and Gavin rushes to a neighboring table and thrusts his hand into their drink pitcher.

He starts to leave and Brooklyn checks on him and asks if she should call the mental health facility Sue went to when she had her breakdown. Sue laughs and Gavin hears her even though he can’t see her. He insists on taking a walk alone.

The women congratulate each other on a productive first day of revenge. Brooklyn suggests they give him a break for the evening.

Isla finds Elena in her office and confronts her with the fact she brought MJ to the Island to bring back Ruby’s memories. Elena points out it’s Ruby’s life and she deserves to live it with all her memories intact.

Gavin orders a drink at the bar. Segundo offers him some advice which Gavin ignores.

Gavin returns to his suite where Brooklyn is reading in bed. When she asks about his confusion, and he says everything is crystal clear.

Ruby sits on the dock looking at the water. MJ sits down with her and tells her how much her mother loved the ocean.

Ruby asks if she loved it enough to live there forever. MJ tells her about how her brother, Darren, nearly drowned when he was eight. She tells Ruby about her family – their names, specifically – and describes how scary that day was.

Ruby comments that MJ’s mom must have been very brave. MJ says she feels like she took her mom for granted and there are many things she wishes she could’ve said to her. Ruby advises her to speak those words out loud now because her mother will hear them.

MJ expresses all her feelings of grief and anger. She can’t help but address them to Ruby, who tries to comfort her, but MJ realizes she’s not connecting with her mother and runs off.

In their suite, Gavin tries to ingratiate himself to her again. When flattery doesn’t work, he tells her he’s been thinking and he wants to have a baby with her. This delights her and they have sex.

In the morning, Brooklyn goes to the others to tell them how Gavin’s changed. They have to break the news to her that Gavin had a vasectomy years ago when he was married to Jenna.

This pushes Brooklyn over the edge and she grabs the poppet, locks herself in the bathroom and puts the poppet’s head under the running tap. On the beach, Gavin begins to drown on his lounge chair.

Brooklyn is determined to kill Gavin. Suddenly, the door flies open and Elena’s there. She revokes their use of the poppet.

MJ goes to find Javier and tells him that Elena should’ve brought one of her brothers. She doesn’t think she’s able to reach her mother and save her from Isla. Javier refutes that, telling her that she’s exactly the right kid for this job.

He tells her her love for Ruby is a magic strong enough to beat Isla.

As Elena’s about to leave, Sue realizes that they asked for the wrong thing. They’d asked to make Gavin hurt but in fact they want him to feel how he made them feel.

Elena offers them a do-over and they ask to be free of him and his selfishness. Jenna thinks it’s futile and that Gavin is defective and will never understand. Elena believes there is a way.

Gavin returns to his suite, looking for Brooklyn. Elena casts a spell over the poppet and Gavin passes out.

He wakes up on a stone chair, chained by vines. Elena and his wives stand before him. Elena explains that he is seated on the Throne of Tears. She leaves the wives to tell him what he needs to hear.

Isla ambushes Ruby on the beach and tries to force her into coming into the ocean with her. Ruby protests that she’s not ready. Isla casts her magic and enthralls Ruby, leading her deep into the water. She insists Ruby says her decision out loud.

Ruby begins to speak the words when MJ’s voice is heard from the shore, screaming, “Mama!”

MJ’s voice gets through to Ruby and wakes her Ruby. Ruby begins to fight Isla who pulls her under the water. MJ dives in and drags Ruby out of the water.

On the shore, MJ begs Ruby not to leave her again. Ruby recognizes MJ as her daughter and they embrace, crying.

Sitting together, MJ quizzes Ruby on her memories. She tries to apologize for disappointing Ruby, but Ruby refuses to let her apologize for being herself and learning her own way. She tells MJ she is her pride and joy, and nothing she did or does could ever disappoint her.

Elena comes in but retreats when she sees how Ruby and MJ are reconnecting.

MJ tells Ruby how much she misses her and Ruby tells her that she misses her everyday and wishes she could be with her. MJ says she understands why she can’t be with her and that she loves that Ruby can live her life truthfully on the Island.

At the Throne of Tears, the women each confront Gavin with the wrongs he visited on them. As they speak their truths, a rain of rainbow-sparking droplets fall on Gavin. They drench him and he begins to feel what the women felt when he betrayed them.

As he understands the depth of pain he caused them and all the women he’s harmed, he apologizes and begs for forgiveness.

Ruby leaves MJ sleeping and walks out to the beach to find Isla. She tells her she does not choose to be a mermaid and never wants to see Isla again. Isla insists she loves her and she would’ve been happy as a mermaid. Ruby tells her her memories, family, and friends are who she is so Isla never truly loved her because she doesn’t know the real her.

Isla pulls a ring off her finger. She kept Ruby’s wedding ring when she threw it into the ocean in case Ruby ever wanted it back. She leaves it on the sand for Ruby and swims away.

At the dock, Elena greets Gavin and his wives and checks in on how they all enjoyed their stay. The women are ecstatic. Gavin hated it but understands he needed it. Elena leaves the door open if he ever needs a refresher.

MJ and Ruby arrive. MJ gives Elena a big hug. Ruby bids MJ a final farewell. They hug and Island magic happens. As they part, MJ has a calmer, more reserved expression. She no longer remembers that Ruby is her mother.

She tells Elena and Ruby that she’s come to terms with her mother’s death. She feels a burden has been lifted. Ruby gives her three letters from her mother for MJ and her brothers. Finally, she gives MJ the wedding ring Isla had returned to her. MJ puts it on and thanks them both.

As she heads for the plane, MJ turns around and mentions to Ruby that her mother’s name was Ruby as well and that she reminds her of her mom. Elena is nearly in tears.

MJ leaves and the women cry on the pier.

Elena and the Island staff and residents throw Ruby a welcome back party at Elena’s beach house.

Elena and Segundo go to see about the music, leaving Ruby and Javier alone for a moment. Ruby tells Javier he needs to stop wasting time.

He makes eye contact with Elena and they walk out onto the beach together. Initially, she apologizes profusely until he’s finally able to get a word in edgewise.

He tells her they need to deal with hard issues together when they come up. She totally agrees. Then he asks to hear the words he read in her mind from her lips. She admits she loves him and he reciprocates the words.

His phone rings and it's Helene on FaceTime. He says he wishes she was here for the party for Ruby. She pulls the camera back to show Ruby peeking over her shoulder. He looks up to the beach house and sees her standing on the porch. Elena arranged for her to fly back to the Island as a surprise.

Back at the party, Ruby makes a toast to her family on Fantasy Island. Everyone raises their glass and then they dance.

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 13 Recap: MJ Akuda & The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Wives Club appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Not so heroic, in my mind, but hero worship can blind one to hard truths — as can love.

Isla's influence on Ruby is horrifying, effectively washing her brain clean of her memories of life before the Island. Will Elena's last-ditch effort to pull Ruby back from the brink work?

It's always fascinating to see how The Monkey's Paw the Island can get with the guests' fantasies.

In Courtney's case, she literally asks that Julia learn her name and recognize her for her value.

All that comes true except that once Julia recognizes the value of Courtney's idea, she fires her so she can steal it.

What Courtney really wishes for is to be the Julia-type business person she studied in school. She wants to be a part of a company that gives back to the world and builds the future she wants for her daughter.

Julia: You are an idealist, Courtney.

Courtney: So are you.

Julia: No. I’m a pragmatist. Ultimately, my top priority is shareholder value. Seed & Spear is a high-end lifestyle brand. It’s not a save-the-world, feed-the-people brand.

Courtney: It could be both.

Julia: But it won’t be.

_{🔗 permalink: But it won’t be.}

Julia's duplicitous nature is subtle even when Courtney starts taking the mind-reading caramels. Her thoughts are full of insecurities which initially are relatable.

The real tip-off for me was her thinking, "That's so sad," about Courtney's Christmas story rather than reflecting on Courtney's resilience as a single mother. Instead of seeing the experience as inspiring or motivational, she had a cold and distanced judgment of the situation.

Meanwhile, there are clever little moments that hint at Leo's more ethical nature.

On multiple occasions, he speaks his thoughts aloud, verbatim, in contrast to others, thinking one thing and saying another.

Courtney: Mr. Campos, almost time for the fire walk.

Leo: Yes, nothing shows more respect for employees than making them trudge across burning hot coals.

_{🔗 permalink: Yes, nothing shows more respect for employees than making them trudge across burning hot coals.}

Of course, his condescending snark is purposefully off-putting to paint him as another of the corporate nasties Courtney has to contend with.

With Disney's The Lion King's Scar's accent, the over-tailored clothes, and the laconic posture, he is almost too perfectly the picture of a villainous antagonist. That probably should've telegraphed his heroic underpinnings to the observant viewer.

This might be a frivolous question, but his fall from grace obviously loses him his seat on the corporate jet — where on the Island does that land? — but why does his wardrobe change too? Was that company property, or was it part of his role as Julia's right-hand guy to dress the part of intimidating goon to her Earth Child warmth?

Courtney's limited perspective on her own strengths, leaning heavily on her 17-year-old to bolster her spirits, is a product of a life externalizing her wants.

It's good to keep your eye on the prize, but there's also a time and place to value yourself.

Alexis: We had nothing, but you gave me everything. It was magic.

_{🔗 permalink: We had nothing, but you gave me everything. It was magic.}

Alexis is an excellent touchstone for grounding Courtney from losing herself to the ocean of anxiety she chooses to swim in.

Elena taps into this and helps Courtney take hold of life after Julia fires her by having her take her own advice.

Elena: Sometimes the wrong door has to close so we can move through the right one.

_{🔗 permalink: Sometimes the wrong door has to close so we can move through the right one.}

Striking the gong is a beautifully appropriate metaphor for waking up to the realities of Julia and her "vision" behind Seed & Spear. While Mason and some of the other lackeys continue to drink the poison punch, many look like they've realized their empress has no clothes.

Elena's involvement in Courtney's fantasy is complex here, and I appreciated how the caramels prove pivotal to the Ruby plotline, woven into Javier's activities as a comical element, only to trigger some powerful honesty as a side-effect.

So much of Isla's power draws on the mythology of not only mermaids but also the Sirens and the Lotus-Eaters.

Her call, the music that pushes out Ruby's memories, is the draw, promising her love in her time of loneliness. Sirens lured sailors to their deaths, stealing their lives.

Ruby's surrender and ability to shrug off the odd absence of history is a testament to the powerful, addictive sensation of Isla's allure. The Lotus-Eaters lived off hedonistic pleasure with no thought for others, friends, or family.

In losing her memories, she does away with the pain of losing Mel and her life with her children, but she forgets there's a lifetime of good memories being thrown out too.

And Isla would probably argue that it can't be a genuine loss if you can't remember losing it in the first place.

Segundo: A shark doesn’t always bite, but it is always a shark.

_{🔗 permalink: A shark doesn’t always bite, but it is always a shark.}

Something the writers have done imperceptively but well is building the community of the Island.

Where the OG had Roarke and Tattoo, we have Javier and Segundo supporting Ruby and Elena, and I can't imagine this world without them.

We may only see Segundo occasionally, but he is a bedrock of wisdom and joy that buoys all around him.

There's a sense that Elena's learned from him as she's grown into her role as Island host.

Furthermore, the fact Isla remembers him and he was old when she, an immortal mermaid, was young means he's probably more than he seems to be as well.

Will Ruby's daughter be enough to sound the gong on Isla's magical hold over Ruby?

Daughters and mothers have potent bonds.

Ruby was in her seventies when she came to the Island on Fantasy Island Season 1 Episode 1. Her daughter is probably in her fifties. I'm curious who they'll cast in the role.

Will learning that her mother's living a second youth on an enchanted island, falling in love with mermaids, and about to purge her entire lifetime of memories for a pink tailfin give Ruby's daughter pause?

Will she reawaken her mother's memories? Tie her to her past? Or will she give Ruby and Isla her blessing?

Remember to watch Fantasy Island online, then head back here to let us know how you think the finale will play out!

Meet us at the dock, Fanatics! The Island is calling!

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 12 Review: Girlboss, Interrupted appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Courtney arrives with boxes of product from her company. She’s eager to join her co-workers who have all already arrived. Elena insists they have time to talk first.

Javier asks after Ruby. Elena gives him a worried look and tells him she doesn’t know what’s happened.

Courtney shares with Elena about her daughter, Alexis, who was born when Courtney was seventeen years old. Alexis is seventeen now. Life has been hard but they’ve made it through. Courtney dreams of being more successful.

She finished college and earned an MBA. Currently, she’s working as a receptionist at her dream company for a woman founder, Julia, she idolizes.

Ruby arrives, apologizing for being late.

Courtney’s fantasy is for Julia to know her name and recognize what she has to offer the company. Elena has arranged for the company retreat to happen on the Island. Ruby makes a snide remark about that. Elena gives Courtney a box with six caramels. She tells her to take one twice a day while she’s there. She warns her there are no more after she’s used up what’s in the box.

Ruby escorts Courtney to the retreat. On the way, Alexis facetimes her to give her a quick pep talk. When Courtney asks Ruby if she has kids, Ruby deflects the question. Courtney pops her first caramel in her mouth.

As Courtney enters the retreat venue, she realizes she can hear the thoughts of people around her.

The founder, Julia, comes out to address the corporate team. Courtney films the speech for social media, still hearing people’s thoughts, including Julia’s internal self-coaching. Julia’s speech includes a promise to sit down with everyone for two minutes at the end of the retreat to let them pitch a new idea for the company. The best pitch will earn a promotion.

Using some of what she overheard, Courtney manages to make an impression on Julia.

Elena sits down with Ruby to check in on how Courtney’s doing. She prompts Ruby to remember what it was like being a young working mother.

Ruby deflects again and asks what Elena wanted to see her about. Elena asks if Isla is the reason she missed welcoming Courtney at the dock. Ruby admits she was and lets Elena know that she hasn’t decided whether she’ll become a mermaid or not. She leaves.

Courtney knocks on Julia’s door to let her know that the video is ready to post. Having heard Julia think about how much her sandal straps hurt, she offers her some blister relief pads. Julia’s impressed and asks Courtney’s name.

Julia’s administrative assistant, Leo, appears and wonders what Courtney is up to.

The next corporate event is a walk across hot coals. Courtney hears Julia’s thoughts about not wanting to ruin her pedicure in the hot coals and fabricates an emergency to draw her away. This leaves Leo to lead the hot coal walk which infuriates him.

As they walk away, Julia offers to buy Courtney a drink which another corporate lackey, Mason, overhears and resents.

Over drinks, Courtney shares some of her life story with Julia to contrast how different their lives have been. Julia’s thoughts reveal her business contacts don’t return her calls like they used to. Julia invites Courtney to a dinner she’s hosting for department heads.

Segundo finds Ruby. Ruby asks why Elena hates mermaids. He explains about a long-time pact between the mermaids and the Roarkes. Once, a mermaid seduced a guest and stole him away to be with her. His family never saw him again and Mr. Roarke lived and regretted that tragedy his whole life.

Ruby asks why Isla should be blamed for something another mermaid had done. Segundo explains that it’s a matter of trust. Mermaids are sirens in Spanish mythology and he compares them to sharks that may not always be attacking but are always dangerous.

Segundo leaves Ruby to think about this.

Before the dinner, Courtney facetimes with Alexis for another pep talk. Courtney eats another caramel.

When she steps into the dinner space, she gets nervous and takes another caramel. Leo tries to intercept her, but Julia steps in and lets him know she invited Courtney. At the table, Courtney is overwhelmed by the thoughts of everyone around her. She gets up abruptly and tries to address the questions and nastiness she’s hearing.

She runs out and runs into Javier. She gives him her caramels and takes off.

Javier, feeling hungry, eats a caramel and heads to the bar. He realizes he’s reading the minds of the people around him.

Courtney knocks on Julia’s door, thinking she’s about to be fired. Julia welcomes her and tells her she needs to keep doing what she’s doing.

Courtney tells her she has a pitch to share. Julia says she’ll give her a slot on the pitch day. In her thoughts, Julia’s praying one of the pitches will keep the company out of bankruptcy. She’s also unkind about Courtney’s nails and hair.

Courtney’s elated to be able to pitch her idea.

Javier brings the caramels to Elena and admits he ate one. She’s extremely self-conscious that she’d been thinking about ripping his shirt off and advises him to take it easy somewhere alone and the effect will wear off by morning.

As he’s leaving, she thinks “I love you” and he hears it.

In the morning, Courtney tracks her down to get her caramels back. Elena says that giving them up was her choice and this is her new path. Courtney insists she needs to know what Julia’s thinking so if she hates the initial pitch, Courtney can pivot. Elena directs her to turn around and walk down the beach.

As she walks down the beach and finds a trail of Christmas ornaments leading to the scene she described to Julia from when Alexis was three and she couldn’t afford a Christmas tree. Her boss let her and Alexis come into the store where she worked so they could open presents under the big store tree.

As she’s watching the scene play out, Alexis as a seventeen year old appears at her side. She tells Courtney that Christmas is still her favorite Christmas memory. She reminds her mother she makes magic without mindreading caramels.

Buoyed by the pep talk, Courtney goes to work on her pitch.

As she heads into her pitch session, Mason exits, feeling like he nailed it. Leo escorts her in with his usual laconic condescension.

Courtney pitches a return to Seed & Spear’s corporate roots, the farm box, only this time priced for accessibility, for everyday people. She provides the numbers and Julia and Leo dismiss her. Not being able to hear their thoughts, she suffers self-doubt. She leaves, missing the meaningful look Julia shoots at Leo.

Ruby confronts Isla about the feud between the Roarkes and the mermaids. Isla says she didn’t tell her because their relationship is about them and no one else. They kiss and Isla tells her to take all the time she needs to decide.

In her room, Courtney is pacing. Julia knocks on her door and once she’s inside, she explains to Courtney that she’s firing her because Courtney’s an idealist while Julia’s a pragmatist.

Elena knocks on Courtney’s door where Courtney’s buried herself in her bed. Elena points out that this doesn’t have to be a failure. She asks Courtney what she’d tell Alexis if she had a setback like this. Her advice is what Courtney would say to Alexis – believe in herself, hold her head high, and move on with dignity.

Elena seeks out Javier. She expresses her concerns about Isla’s effect on Ruby. She voices her suspicion that Isla is stealing Ruby’s memories so she’ll choose to go to the ocean with her.

She gives Javier the caramels and asks him to find out.

Courtney’s packing to leave when Mason comes by to tell her to leave the box of corporate stress balls in Julia’s suite. He crows about Courtney’s dismissal and failed pitch. Courtney tells him he sucks and closes the door in his face.

Javier’s sitting at lunch with Ruby whose mind has no thoughts, only Isla’s music.

Courtney drops the box off in Julia’s suite and finds a notebook on the pile of pitch proposals. She takes a look and storms out of the room.

She rings the gong at the corporate meditation activity and confronts Julia publicly about how the company is in trouble and provides proof that she’s stolen Courtney’s idea and fired her so she can take credit for it.

Leo admits he gave Mason the key to give Courtney, providing her with the opportunity to uncover Julia’s plan. He tells Julia he’s done covering for her. He and Courtney form a partnership.

Elena and Ruby are at the dock when Leo joins Courtney for the flight to the mainland as he is no longer welcome on the corporate jet.

Elena excuses herself to speak with Javier. He reports that Ruby’s thoughts are devoid of any memories of her life before the Island. Elena has one possible way to fix things. Javier supports whatever she needs to do. He also tells her he loves her too.

In the evening, Elena makes a phone call to Ruby’s daughter.

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 12 Recap: Girlboss, Interrupted appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Yeah, I legit cried when Arthur and Melanie owned their suckiness because only on Fantasy Island do we get to see parents turn their crappy parenting around. But I could be jaded about this sort of thing.

Meanwhile, Ruby's response to learning about Elena's interference with Isla is such an authentic reaction I could kiss the writer that wrote those scenes. Talk about respecting the character.

While some might argue that Elena's actions echo that of an overprotective parent, a stronger parallel can be drawn between our Ms. Roarke and the Island's newest guest, the jilted and bereft Laura Turner.

It's not without irony that Jessy Schram, a pillar of the Hallmark Movie Channel, guest stars here as a bride left at the altar.

Elena and Laura have become so used to making decisions for the people around them that they don't even realize the distance it's created in their emotional landscape, costing them the ability to communicate honestly with the people they care for most.

Laura's compulsion to make her parents happy means she's constantly compromising her needs to suit their whims.

Elena's fixation on keeping everyone safe results in her taking on the hard decisions without anyone asking.

Javier: I’ve been thinking about what you told me about Ruby.

Elena: Yeah?

Javier: About how you stepped in, tried to protect her even though she didn’t ask you to or want you to.

Elena: Well, it was a unique situation.

Javier: Was it?

_{🔗 permalink: Was it?}

In both cases, the people around them don't even know what they're doing out of love.

Luckily, both women have people who open their eyes to how problematic their behavior is.

When Laura asks the Island to make her feel completely loved, the Island provides her with the one person who loves her unconditionally, her childhood imaginary friend, Peaches.

Peaches is really a manifestation of Laura's subconscious love for herself that her parents' divorce made her doubt.

Peaches is confident and forthright and validates everything Laura feels.

Laura: I told you what they were like. I mean, they’re pretty much the entire reason you exist.

Peaches: But I was just thinking maybe you were exaggerating. You know, we were kids. And sometimes kids are dramatic. But now I see that they’re really, really bad.

_{🔗 permalink: But I was just thinking maybe you were exaggerating. You know, we were kids. And sometimes…}

Peaches is awesome. As is Kyla Pratt, portraying the teen-turn-thirtysomething emotional-but-IRL bestie.

But Peaches is a childhood bestie, and Laura's grown-up troubles are much more than she can handle.

Proving again that she's Laura's most healthy self, she does what Laura can't and won't do. She calls in the parents.

Not only that, but when Laura still resists the route to clarity, she stages an open mic with Laura's teenage diary entry to blow the doors off of Laura's repressed and hidden feelings.

Laura: You, just go away. I don’t need to take advice from somebody who still fantasizes about kissing Justin Timberlake.

Peaches: Like you don’t!

_{🔗 permalink: Like you don’t!}

Laura's understandably pissed off about being betrayed by her most trusted confidante, but the thing about imaginary friends is that they never really do anything you don't secretly want them to do.

When Laura admits to Peaches what the real straw that broke her engagement was, she accepts that coming clean with her parents is what needs to be done in order to stop being that scared twelve-year-old she's been since their divorce.

Laura: If I ever want to have my own life, and I want to share it with somebody that I love, I need to learn to create boundaries with my parents. What if I can’t?

Peaches: Hey, you were the only girl in the sixth grade who knew all the words to Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s ‘None of Your Business’ without messing up. If you can do that, you can definitely do this.

_{🔗 permalink: Hey, you were the only girl in the sixth grade who knew all the words to Salt ‘n’ Pepa’s…}

Once she stops being that scared twelve-year-old, her heart heals (both physically and symbolically), and all of Peaches's joy and awesomeness is integrated into herself. It's Island Magic at its best.

Elena, being the host and a resident and a Roarke, doesn't get any easy answers to her unappreciated, unilateral decision-making.

What it comes down to for both Laura and Elena is they don't trust their loved ones to do the right/safe/smart thing.

Ruby: You walk around here in your white suits and your cryptic words of wisdom, but you’re a liar!

_{🔗 permalink: You walk around here in your white suits and your cryptic words of wisdom, but you’re a liar!}

Laura, in trying to keep the peace and twisting herself into pretzels being everything her parents want of her, couldn't trust her parents to parent her, didn't trust her parents to love and support her unconditionally.

Elena, in shouldering the burdens of the "hard" choices solo, didn't recognize Javier and Ruby's right to the information they needed to choose for themselves.

Javier: At some point, something happened and you decided that I needed space to get to know Helene. So you took yourself out of the equation.

Elena: It’s much more complicated than that. There was a time loop…

Javier: There’s always a damn time loop. Or quicksand. Or magic mirrors. Or mermaids. That’s part of the deal being with Elena Roarke. Believe me, I get it. And I love it. But I’m not a guest. Neither is Ruby. You don’t get to make decisions for us.

_{🔗 permalink: There’s always a damn time loop. Or quicksand. Or magic mirrors. Or mermaids. That’s part of…}

It's unclear whether there's a fidelity that binds Elena from disclosing about mermaids or time loops to non-Roarkes, but it seems that residents like Javier and Ruby should probably be read in on the details when it affects them directly.

As for Javier and Elena tripping on their "Friend-zone" agreement and falling into bed, those sorts of mixed signals are troublesome.

Hopefully, they come around quickly to a clear arrangement that either re-establishes their romance or sets clear boundaries.

Elena: Okay, listen, I’ll tell you. It means, ‘When frogs grow hair.’ Really? You’ve never said that?

Javier: No. Crazy sayings on magic islands? No, no, no. That’s Roarke territory.

_{🔗 permalink: No. Crazy sayings on magic islands? No, no, no. That’s Roarke territory.}

Part of me kind of blames Segundo for making himself scarce, but I get what he was doing — crazy old Cupid.

Isla's effect on Ruby is terrifying. And Elena's decision to let Ruby choose unencumbered by her influence — especially now that Ruby no longer trusts her — hampers her ability to warn her effectively.

The question that niggles at me like a siren's song earworm is if Isla truly loves Ruby. Or is it that mermaids devour their lovers' identities and memories as a part of the bonding?

The more profound question is whether Ruby losing her memories of her life before Isla is a loss that can be quantified once Ruby's lost them.

If you don't remember something you had, do you mourn its absence?

Ruby: Why does she keep ghosting me?

Elena: I don’t know, Ruby. But my advice? When someone shows you who they are, you believe them.

_{🔗 permalink: I don’t know, Ruby. But my advice? When someone shows you who they are, you believe them.}

As you watch Fantasy Island online, ponder why Isla chose Ruby. Was it truly for love of Ruby? Or was it a way of getting to Roarke?

Hit our comments with your thoughts and theories, Fanatics! With only two more outings before the Island closes for the season, how will we resolve these issues?

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 11 Review: Peaches & The Jilted Bride appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Ruby’s sad that Isla’s ghosting her. Elena advises her to recognize Isla’s behavior as indicative of the type of person she is.

Javier and the staff help Laura Turner out of the plane. She’s hampered by a huge wedding dress.

Laura’s been jilted and is very unhappy. She’s brought no luggage.

They sit down to talk. Laura explains her groom-to-be, Brad, never showed up at their wedding three days ago and had texted that he couldn’t marry her. Ruby recounts how she locked herself in the bathroom three days before her wedding over the color of the napkins at the reception.

While Laura talks to them, her phone keeps ringing. She keeps ignoring the calls. She says it’s her parents trying to find her and she doesn’t want to be found by them because they’re divorced and still fight over her affections and attention. It’s been this way since she was twelve. Back then, her only comfort was an imaginary friend named Peaches. Her fantasy is to feel completely loved.

Javier runs into Elena on the beach. He has Laura’s veil in his hands, returning it after she’d left in on the plane. Elena invites him to a friends dinner to cheer up Ruby. It’ll just be her, Javi, Ruby, and Segundo. He accepts.

Ruby drops Laura off at her suite. Laura sits down on her bed, feeling depressed. Suddenly a giggle is heard and a hand reaches out from under the bed and grabs her leg. Laura screams and jumps away. A girl with braided hair pops out. Laura recognizes her as Peaches, her childhood imaginary friend.

They reunite with great joy and a lot of happy screaming.

Peaches insists on knowing what’s wrong since Laura only needs her when things are going badly. Laura tells her about being jilted and Peaches is sympathetic but certain things will turn around now that they’re together again.

The room changes to look like Laura’s teenage bedroom. Peaches decides they should go to the pool and drink root beer floats.

They order their root beer floats with vodka and trash talk Brad for a while. When the floats arrive, Laura asks for a pair of scissors. They go down to a secluded part of the beach and she takes her dress off and starts cutting it to pieces.

Elena invites Ruby to the dinner. Ruby accepts and tells her she saw Laura with a new friend. Elena explains that it’s an old friend, Peaches. Ruby’s happy Laura has her wingman and expresses gratitude to Elena for being hers. Elena looks a little uncomfortable, knowing she’s the reason Isla’s no longer around.

Peaches is dancing around as Laura cuts up the dress when Laura makes a distressed noise. She’s holding a blue ribbon that was a part of Brad’s grandmother’s wedding dress. He wanted it to be a part of Laura’s dress as the “something blue” from tradition. Laura starts crying and telling Peaches about how wonderful Brad is.

Peaches is at a loss. Laura sinks to her knees, gathers up the dress pieces, and bawls for Brad. Peaches holds her, trying to comfort her.

Isla finds Ruby on the beach. She tells Ruby she loves her even though she has to stay away from her.

Laura wakes up with Peaches’s feet in her face. She discovers her bedside table has everything she used to keep close as a teen, including the BFF necklace she shares with Peaches. The phone rings and in quiet tones to avoid waking Peaches, she agrees to “be right there”. Peaches wakes up as she leaves.

Laura meets up with Elena. Elena points the way into the meeting room where Laura’s parents are waiting. Her mother asks her who Peaches is.

At breakfast, her mother tells her how she called all the family and dealt with the tears over the failed wedding. Her father explains how he dealt with the wedding vendors and that he has a lawyer on retainer. He wants her to right down all the hurtful things Brad’s ever done to her so they can sue. As her parents argue, Laura’s distracted by someone throwing berries at her head.

Laura excuses herself when she realizes Peaches is the one throwing berries at her. They go off. Laura is mad at Peaches for calling her parents. Peaches explains she didn’t know what else to do when Laura had her meltdown.

Peaches thinks this is a good opportunity for Laura to tell her parents how she really feels. Laura gives that a hard pass and tells Peaches to go away.

Ruby and Isla wake up in bed together. Ruby asks why she stayed away. Isla tells her it was Roarke. Ruby doesn’t understand and demands answers. Isla tells her that the Roarkes and her people have long difficult history.

Peaches sneaks into Laura’s room and grabs her diary and the key.

Ruby confronts Roarke. Roarke tries to warn Ruby that Isla is dangerous. Ruby calls her a liar. She storms away.

Elena’s sitting alone with some wine when Javier arrives for dinner. She explains that Ruby and her had a disagreement. Javier insists she explain what happened.

Segundo arrives but makes himself scarce when he sees them sitting together.

Laura returns to her room and finds a note from Peaches, asking her to meet her at the beach bar.

Laura arrives for the “True Storytelling Event” and finds Peaches reading her diary into the mic as her parents listen.

Laura grabs the diary and runs off. Her parents follow. Her mother asks if she still feels that way about them. She tells them they’ve ruined her life and she hates them both. She runs away, leaving them stunned.

The sun’s gone down and Elena and Javier are still talking. They’ve had a good time talking and drinking. Javier gets up to leave and they hug. And hug again. And start kissing.

Peaches finds Laura on the beach in the dark, reading her diary. Laura reveals the reason Brad jilted her was she tried to change the song they were going to have their first dance to because her mom was upset due to the fact her father’s second wife liked it.

She admits that she’s always tried to put her parents’ feelings first to keep them from leaving her. She knows she needs to create boundaries with them if she’s ever going to move on with her own life. She’s afraid she’ll never be able to do it. Peaches reassures her that she’s got it.

She and Peaches reconcile.

Peaches preps her to confront her parents. Laura’s ready and heads out only to find her parents about to knock on her door. Peaches has disappeared. Her parents come in and want to listen to her. They realize they’d ruined her wedding.

Elena wakes up on a lounge. She and Javier acknowledge they slipped up on the “just friends” thing.

Javier’s realized that what Elena did for Ruby – protecting her despite Ruby not wanting or asking for it – is what she’d done for him, removing herself so he could get to know Helene better.

He reminds her that he and Ruby aren’t guests and she doesn’t get to make decisions unilaterally for them.

Ruby and Isla are together in the water. Isla is sharing the feeling of the water’s power with Ruby. Ruby wants to know if she and Isla can be together forever. Isla tells her she would have to become a mermaid too. It has to be Ruby’s choice.

Laura shows her parents the cut up wedding dress. She explains it symbolizes her life. She didn’t want a fancy dress. She wanted something simple. She and Brad wanted a simple wedding but her mother wanted St. Peters and a designer dress. Her father then booked Tavern on the Green.

Laura finally expresses her anger at how her parents have made her choose between them and compromise her wants for their needs ever since they divorced. Peaches cheers her on from the background.

Her mother apologizes and hugs her. Her father calls Brad and apologizes to both of them. They promise things will change. Laura tears up and thanks him. Peaches celebrates with a happy dance.

In her room, Laura’s packing to leave. She promises Peaches she won’t forget her again. They do their special handshake but Peaches disappears on the hug move. Laura realizes her BFF heart necklace is now a complete heart.

Elena knocks on Ruby’s door and apologizes for lying and interfering. Ruby tells her Isla has asked her to join her as a mermaid. Elena states her belief that it’s a bad idea but allows that it is Ruby’s decision.

Elena gives Ruby a ride to the dock to bid Laura’s parents goodbye. They’ve arranged for Brad to join Laura on the Island.

Melanie and Arthur leave. Brad and Laura head to the resort.

Left alone, Elena asks Ruby what color napkins she ended up having at her wedding. Ruby has completely forgotten about the meltdown she told Laura and Elena about when Laura first arrived. She’s even forgotten about Mel and her wedding. Elena jogs her memory and she recalls Mel with some difficulty. She walks away, leaving Elena looking very troubled.

The post Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 11 Recap: Peaches & The Jilted Bride appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Thirty years later, Mills and Lauria return to our television screens as Vivian and Lou Hutchinson, the most recent guests on FOX's Fantasy Island.

In this exclusive interview over Zoom, the pair shares with TV Fanatic how they've sustained both their friendship and working relationship over the decades. (While some of the warmth and exuberance of the interview is lost in transcription, believe me when I say these two are my new #FriendshipGoals gold star relationship.)

Lauria jumps right in when asked if they've kept in touch over the years. "We see each other. Whenever we're doing plays, we go see each other. And we just did a play together. I love working with Alley."

Mills fills in more details about their work together, "[We did] a play together in New York last fall. Morning's at Seven with some wonderful actors. It was really a great experience."

Lauria lists the stellar cast they worked with, "Oh yeah, John Rubenstein and Lindsey Krause…"

Mills adds, "… Tony Roberts…"

Lauria then explains how Mills joined the cast. "And Judith Ivey got hurt, and I called Alley, and she jumped in, thinking she was going to have a week's rehearsal.

"She literally went on two days with book in hand and within three days was off the first act and within four days was off-book entirely. She's a real trooper."

Mills is honest about the experience, "It was fairly terrifying. Quite a reentry into New York theater, that's for sure. Everybody was really supportive. It was awesome."

Both actors are enthusiastic about the joy they find in performing live theater productions.

Lauria's love of it comes down to the flow of the show. "I like that nobody can cut it."

Meanwhile, Mills describes the constant surprise live performances provide. "In the same way that nobody can cut it, you also don't ever know what's going to happen on a given night.

"Dan and I had a scene, and it was pretty much different every night — the scene when I leave.

"I love that, that you just kinda never know what's going to happen. You never know how the person's gonna react. You don't know what's gonna come up.

"You keep the blocking the same because you're lit, but I love that it's live, and also, there's people sitting there having the experience, which is the whole point."

Lauria credits their familiarity with each other with what they were able to bring to that pivotal scene.

"What is a good thing about working with people you've worked with before [is] we may have different approaches and everything, but I'm more relaxed on stage than I am in real life.

"Especially with Alley and only having four days, I said, 'Alley, don't worry about it. Go with it. I'll go with you.' And we had a lot of fun. A couple of nights that was the best scene in the play, I thought."

Mills agrees, "I loved it. Yeah, I loved it."

View this post on Instagram

With their close friendship, it wasn't hard to get them to reunite for Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 10.

According to Lauria, he was simply following orders. "Alley called and said, 'You're going to Puerto Rico.' I said, 'Okay.'"

Mills doesn't dispute his account. "I mean, they just offered it to us. We now have the same agent, which is just odd. So I don't know how it all went down, but they just called and said, 'Do you want to go to Puerto Rico? And I called Dan and said, 'Do you want to go to Puerto Rico?' and we went to Puerto Rico.

"We heard that there was a golf course. I think that had a lot to do with his saying yes."

Filming in the island paradise was a good experience in general, according to Lauria. "Puerto Rico was great. They were a great crew. The woman you know as the star of the show, Alley, she was just a doll. She was just great to work with."

Mills agrees, "Everybody was. It was beautiful there but really hot."

Lauria admits island weather can be tricky. "We were kind of lucky with the weather for the most part."

Mills loves that Fantasy Island is a primarily female-led production.

"The fact that all the creators of this show are women now — all the producers and everything — makes a huge impact on the experience of working on this show.

"You feel a part of a family, and their crew was just fabulous. We love them. My hat's off to this revival team. They're quite something. And our director was a woman. The three [directors] we met that were doing the other three shows were all women. It's kind of amazing. I mean, good for them."

Lauria jokes, "Yeah, Alley had to say, 'No wise remarks, Dan.'"

Mills clarifies, "'Don't be a sexist pig, Lauria!' [laughs]."

Being neighbors can get messy…

Don't miss an all-new #FantasyIsland Monday at 9/8c on @FOXTV, next day on @hulu! pic.twitter.com/FSwwOmplG4

— Fantasy Island (@FantasyIslandTV) April 14, 2023

On The Wonder Years, Norma Arnold embodied a spark of feminist spirit in the traditional housewife. Did Mills' feminism influence the character that way?

"No, not mine," Mills explains, "but the woman that created the show. It was Neil Marlin's and his wife, Carol Black, and Carol Black's mother really was Norma.

"And she said to me, right off the bat, 'Look, you look like a 50s housewife. You're cooking. You're in the kitchen.'

"She said, 'But don't be fooled. My mother could've graduated Summa Cum Laude from Radcliffe and run a corporation, but she didn't.' And she goes, 'But that's who you are, deep down.' She told me that before Day 1.

"I kind of wondered that myself when I read for it. I put some of that in it. But not modern at all. She was a creature from the 50s even though I was already 25 or 30 in the show. But the character grew up in the 50s and was definitely a product of that kind of thinking.

"But she'd broken out of that mold. She stood up for herself with Jack. Y'know, kind of."

Lauria has a more confident take, "No, she did."

Mills concedes that point. "In pottery and everything. It took [her] a while. What I thought was so great is she found a way by softening [and] talking to him into getting her way, to doing the right thing for the family.

Lauria laughs, "And has never stopped."

"She's not a modern feminist," Mills asserts. "My mother was like that. Very old-school but very strong. And that's what Carol's mother was like. They ran the family, but they just didn't let the husband know that.

"She was delicate and wore pink capris pants and put the scotch on the table every day, but really did handle the kids and the trajectory of the family."

With the role reversal in the Hutchinsons' relationship on Fantasy Island, does Lauria get to be the velvet glove guiding the decisions?

"Yeah," Lauria states, "What I got out of the script was I was the guy in the middle, always going, 'Don't holler. Don't holler. Relax. Take it easy.'

"Whereas a total opposite of The Wonder Years. Y'know, Jack, he went out and earned a living and let Norma take care of the kids and all that. She would always have to step in and tell me when I was wrong or tell the kids when they were wrong."

Mills reminds him, "And you were a bit of a hothead. Y'know, you'd come in, and the first thing I'd hand you a drink, and you'd go *grumble grumble*."

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Lauria slips into his Jack Arnold voice, "Work's work."

Mills laughs, putting on Norma's cheery tone," 'How's work?' [lowers voice to a growl] 'Work's work *grumble*' [laughs again]."

The two enjoy the moment, remembering that regular exchange in the Arnold household, and Lauria recounts some of Jack's legacy.

"There's an interesting thing that happened after The Wonder Years. They had a thing in the newspaper about what TV dad would you most want to be your dad. And I wasn't even on the list.

"And then a couple of years later, they said, 'What TV dad was most like the dad you had?' and I was Number One. So nobody wanted me, but everybody had me. And that's a credit to the writing. It always comes down to the writing."

Having seen what the Island was able to do for their characters, what would Lauria and Mills ask for if they could visit a real Fantasy Island?

Lauria gives a lovely bearhug of an answer right away. "Oh, that's easy. I would ask to be on stage with Alley."

Mills is smitten. "Awwww…"

"Well," says Lauria, "I like being on stage with you. I mean, it's fun doing television stuff, but stage is what we do best. So that's easy for me."

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Mills takes a bit more time to consider the possibilities.

"What I was going to say -- because I'm a recent widow -- is that I'd just go sit on that island and feel the peace and the joy of the beauty of that island. We never really got a chance to sit that much there.

"But in terms of what I would ask for if I got my wish and went down there… I live in Venice, California, and it's bad here. It's such a beautiful, beautiful, wonderful old historic town with a lot of history and social diversity and economic diversity, but at the moment, the homeless population in LA is so intense.

"Sixty thousand people are on the street. I lose sleep over it at night. I'm on the council. I just got double the votes of anyone on the council because I went door to door for two months talking to people. The solutions are really tough.

"We have a huge fentanyl epidemic. My beloved granddaughter OD'd last year from fentanyl. So it's personal.

"We've gotta get that drug out of this country, and we have to get people their lives back."

Lauria points out, "It's very easy to bitch about these problems, but actually finding solutions takes an effort. There are few people like Alley that are willing to make a commitment to finding solutions and have some compassion about it."

Mills remains hopeful. "I dream that there's [a solution] out there that somebody on Fantasy Island has. Like, 'WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF THIS?' That's all I want, somebody like that to appear."

A sincere wish and a somber reminder that there are always people who could use some magical island intervention in real life.

As Venice Beach Council Community Officer, Mills continues to work for the future she believes is possible.

Lauria is keeping busy and has several upcoming television and film productions on the go.

ICYMI their episode, remember, you can always watch Fantasy Island online and read our reviews right here on TV Fanatic!

Over to you, Fanatics! What are your favorite memories of the Arnolds? How great was it seeing Mills and Lauria reunited? Fill our comments below with your nostalgic squees!

The post Fantasy Island Guest Stars Alley Mills and Dan Lauria Discuss Their “Wonder” Filled Reunion. appeared first on TV Fanatic.