The Big Five Oh
Episode 6 of Fantasy Island Season 1 begins with tensions high between Elena and Ruby. Still, there’s no time for that given the island has new guests. Three high school friends are ready to celebrate their 50th – Nettie, Camille and Margot. They’re pretty eccentric and immediately take to Javier’s good looks. Elena and Ruby butt heads over what’s to come, as it seems we’re on-course for a big girls night. Each of the women have their own concerns buried under this façade of eccentricity, with cheating husbands, growing kids and mid-life crises in play. So what can the island do for these ladies? Well, Nettie wants to be swept off her feet by a man (a plastic surgeon called Tristan n0 less) while Margot just wants to rest and chill. Both of them see their fantasies come to play, with Camille changes her whole body. As the girls ease up and have fun, one person who’s not having fun is Elena. She’s not exactly thrilled about the idea of drinking and smiles painfully through the girls questioning her about her love life. However, Elena ends up drunk nonetheless and walks away, stumbling into Javier. He confirms that they’ll always be friends, as Elena throws her arms around him and hugs the man. He kisses her on the cheek and reiterates that they’re friends. As we find out later in the episode, there’s been no one in her life since her ex fiancé, James. Ruby pries though, trying to learn more about Elena’s life during their girls night out. Meanwhile, Tristan ends up getting between the girls (sisters before misters and all that) as Nettie clings to him and almost messes up the birthday dinner. Although they manage to get rid of him, the girls all begin complaining and lashing out at one another about their wishes on the island. There’s a lot of pent-up frustrations here and eventually it leads to the girls going their separate ways. At least temporarily anyway. The time away allows both Nettie and Margot to reflect on their actions and toast at the bar, realizing the errors of their way. In their absence though, Camille jumps over to Tristan and believes that he’s destined to be on the island for her. Only, when she leaves the house, she does so at the same time as Margot and Nettie walking past. They immediately suspect the worst and begin arguing with her, butting heads over exactly what Camille has been up to. Elena has heard enough though and shows up to remind the ladies there’s only a little bit of time left. And just like that, they’re whisked off to a vision of Margot’s funeral. This vision is simply to reinforce that the girls need to take some time for themselves and be selfish rather than selfless sometimes. In Margot’s absence, Camille admits to Nettie that she had cancer. She kept it to herself though as she didn’t want her friends to pity her. There’s a really beautiful moment between the pair here, as Margot admits that Cam is inspirational. The only reason she lashed out at her changed appearance before is simply because she feels the need to change and wanted to “divorce” her body again to feel whole. With the girls all healed and seeing the errors of her ways, they band together to celebrate their 50th birthday party – properly. In fact, Nettie and Cam even offer to look after Margot’s kids for a while too. As the friends celebrate, Elena and Ruby watch and reflect on how they’re basically friends now too. Yay!
The Episode Review
Fantasy Island rolls round for another episode, one that centers on the woes of growing older and reflecting on your life choices. The chemistry between our trio of ladies crackles all the way through, and it’s matched by a compelling dynamic between Elena and Ruby too. The pair have had their ups and downs but as this one marches toward the end of the season, it seems like they’re going to become friends by the end. Could we see an emotional farewell for the pair during episode 8? Either way, this episode highlights each of the different problems these ladies are dealing with nicely and reinforces just how important it is to be selfish sometimes. You do have to take some time out to care for yourself before others and it’s an important lesson that’s sometimes lost in the busy humdrum of life. Each of the women have their own problems, which is nicely portrayed across the season, and reinforcing body positivity is always a great inclusion too. The episode ends with lots of intriguing possibilities for the final two episodes, as Fox’s latest reboot delivers one of its best so far.
