Wrongway Feldman (Episode)

Wrongway Feldman is the fifth episode of the First Season of "Gilligan's Island." It first aired October 24, 1964.

Synopsis
While carrying food, Gilligan comes across an airplane, but he's not totally sure if it's real until he touches it and later shows it off to the other castaways. The Professor thinks the engine can be repaired, but when they see the name on the plane, "The Spirit of the Bronx," everyone starts remembering the pilot, Wrongway Feldman. Hearing them talk about him, Wrongway himself comes out of the bushes, confessing that he gave up fixing the plane after getting stranded, but the Professor says he'll try to fix it with parts left over from the Minnow. The Skipper and Professor, meanwhile, work on the plane while Gilligan and Wrongway swap stories and history. When the Professor and Wrongway go to get some oil to remove the rust from a bolt, Gilligan goes to help the Skipper, but he just annoys him by taking the rear wheel off and allowing the plane leading to crush the Skipper's foot when he puts the plane down on top of it.

That night, Ginger tries to charm Wrongway into taking her in the plane with him, but he resists. Mr. Howell also tries to bribe Wrongway for a spot on the plane, but Wrongway just shrugs him off to get some sleep. When the plane is ready to fly in the morning, Wrongway inspects it, but after he starts the engine, the propeller falls off when the plane tries to take off. He suspects someone on the island doesn't want to be rescued, but the Castaways scoff at the idea. Meanwhile, that night, a shadowy figure walks to the plane and sabotages a wing brace.

The next day, Wrongway tries to take off again, but the brace breaks apart and he scuttles the flight. Realizing someone sabotaged the plane, the Skipper and Gilligan take turns standing guard by the plane with an arrow at night. The following morning, Gilligan discovers Wrongway is gone, and everyone searches for him. When Gilligan finds him at his old campsite, Wrongway confesses to being a coward and unwilling to fly again, even up to sabotaging his own plane. He confesses that he refuses to fly because he's lost his confidence but Gilligan suggests that Wrongway teach him to fly. Using a banana, pineapple, papaya, and a coconut as the controls, Wrongway tries teaching Gilligan how to fly the plane in secret at night, but Gilligan just keeps getting confused by his instructions. In the morning, Gilligan replaces the Professor on guard duty and gets ready to fly, but he just annoys Wrongway again by looking for fruit in the cockpit.

When the other castaways hear the plane take off, they rush to see what's happening. They find Gilligan who confesses that Wrongway took off the plane. When he mentions his admiration for Wrongway, he also adds his admiration for the Skipper, which impresses him.

A few days later while gathered around the radio, the Castaways hear that Wrongway made it to New York after 35 years after all. Unfortunately, even after mentioning the Castaways, it's revealed that Wrongway's directions are so far off course they won't be found any time soon.

Message

 * "People who are consistently wrong are usually wrong again."

Highlights

 * First visitor to the island

Credits
Main Cast
 * Bob Denver as Gilligan
 * Alan Hale Jr. as The Skipper
 * Jim Backus as Mr. Howell
 * Natalie Schafer as Mrs. Howell
 * Tina Louise as Ginger
 * Dawn Wells as Mary Ann
 * Russell Johnson as The Professor

Guest Cast
 * Hans Conried as Wrongway Feldman

Trivia

 * Wrongway Feldman may be loosely based on Douglas "Wrongway" Corrigan, a celebrated Forties pilot. His plane seemed to have been named after "The Spirit of St. Louis," the plane of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
 * In the episode, Feldman's biplane is a one-seater. In fact, the real type of this aircraft, a Kreider Reisner KR 21, was a two-seater biplane!
 * According to Mr. Howell, Wrongway got his nick-name after getting lost while flying to Minneapolis from Chicago; he instead landed in New Orleans.
 * The Professor wonders if there might be someone on the island, and there is; in later episodes, the Castaways find the Japanese Sailor, Jungle Boy and Alexandri Gregor Dubov living on the island.
 * When Wrongway leaves the island, the footage shows mountains in the distance.
 * On the radio, it's revealed Wrongway left the Bronx 33 and a half years before this episode. Going by the episode date, this suggests he vanished from civilization in May 1931.

Quotes
Skipper: "Me." Gilligan: "Who's 'me?'" Skipper: "It's me." Gilligan: "Stay where you are, 'me.' How do I know it's you?" Skipper: "All right, it's not me. It's the Count of Monte Cristo." Gilligan: "I knew it!" Skipper: "Gilligan, it's the Skipper. I forgot my lantern." Gilligan: "Say something the Skipper would say." Skipper: "Put down that bow and arrow, you idiot, or I'll break you in half." Gilligan: "Yeah, it's the Skipper, all right."
 * Gilligan: "Who's there?"

Gilligan: "Was he good?" Wrongway Feldman: "Good? They still talk about one flight he made. He downed three German planes and then strafed a railroad yard." Gilligan: "That sure is a great story. He must have been decorated." Wrongway Feldman: "No, he was court-martialed." Gilligan: "Why?" Wrongway Feldman: "This was three years after the war was over. Poor Bucky certainly upset the President."
 * Wrongway Feldman: "You should have seen my wingman, Bucky Lorenzo."

Wrongway Feldman: "The Second World War? So that's what that was. I always wondered what that noise was."
 * Gilligan: "And you missed the Second World War."

Gilligan: "Then we're saved. We can fly it out of here." Professor: "There's only one problem, Gilligan. None of us knows how to fly." Gilligan: "We can learn. because the Skipper was on an aircraft carrier." Skipper: "A lot of good that will do us, Gilligan. I was a cook." Ginger: "My roommate was a stewardess." Mary Ann: "I knew a crop duster once in Kansas." Gilligan: "You see, with all the experience, we can do it."
 * (The castaways find a plane.)


 * Wrongway Feldman: "Forget the moonlit nights, you're not going with me."