Bang! Bang! Bang!

'''Bang! Bang! Bang!' is the 97th episode of Gilligan's Island'' and the 29th episode of the third season. It first aired on April 10, 1967.

Synopsis
The Central Intelligence Agency has developed a brand new top secret plastic explosive that is safer in its malleable state but just as volatile when it is hardened into practical objects. They have a small supply of it, but they learn a crate of it has gone missing off a ship far off from any known islands. It actually washes up on to the Island where Gilligan and his pet monkey discover it and show it to the Professor. He believes everyone would be able to make use of the plastic in a variety of objects, including nails for the Skipper, dishes for Mary Ann, jewelry for Ginger, golf balls for Mr. Howell, and even fillings for Gilligan after he loses two of his existing fillings. Meanwhile, the monkey has discovered the plastic's explosive properties and becomes amused by the ability to create explosions. Shortly after it steals their new plastic golf tees, the Howells blame the resulting booms on thunder, but at dinnertime, it shows up again and steals a plate, tossing it and blowing up a tree. Everyone is shocked as the Professor deduces the serious ramifications; the Castaways have no recourse but to get rid of all their new plastic objects. The worst ordeal is for Gilligan who is stuck with plastic fillings with the Professor trying to figure out how to safely pull them. Unknown to anyone, the monkey has collected all the plastic objects on the roof of the Girl's Hut. That night, the Skipper gives Gilligan gum to keep his teeth from grinding, but he just blows a big bubble in his sleep that pops loudly. When the monkey starts tossing plastic again, everyone runs to see if Gilligan exploded, just as the monkey starts bombing the camp site with everyone running around trying to get to safety. Gilligan finally takes charge, marching into the line of fire and a small explosion that shreds his clothes. Climbing the ladder to get the monkey, he sneezes and hits his head on the ladder, his fillings loose with his saliva hit the hut and blows it and the last of the plastic. The monkey drops out of the sky a bit charred but unhurt. Gilligan is okay too but disappointed no one said, "Gesundheit." After a few days, the Professor replaces Gilligan's fillings with melted copper, but the monkey is still trying to make explosions by smashing Mary Ann's good plates.

Message

 * "Innocent objects can sometimes turn out to be deadly weapons."

Highlights

 * The monkey as Gilligan's best friend.
 * The Castaways reactions to the discovery of the clay's explosive properties.
 * Gilligan's reaction and realization when he thinks he "exploded"
 * Mr. Howell's "Nice catch, Skipper."

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
 * Rudy Larusso as Agent Michaels
 * Bartlett Robinson as Agent Hartley
 * Kirk Duncan as Professor Parsons

Trivia

 * Syndicated versions of the episode omit the ending where Gilligan's monkey smashes another of Mary Ann's good plates.
 * The interior footage of the government building at the start of the episode has beige walls, but the corridor of the resulting set has grey walls.
 * It's a bit odd that the Professor recognizes the plastic as made from phenol formaldehyde without realizing it has explosive qualities.
 * The clay plates should have created enormous explosions, given the amount of plastic involved, but instead, it's shown making a smaller blast radius with lighter detritus than the golf balls.
 * When the Professor tosses the plastic cup, the tree that falls over from the explosion is the same one Eddie Little Sky chopped in Topsy-Turvy.
 * Although the Professor goes through the effort of creating a dental chair, he doesn't make another effort of pulling Gilligan's teeth.
 * It's kind of odd that no one makes any effort to bury their clay objects very deep or beyond the easy reach of the monkey.
 * When Mary Ann feeds Gilligan in the boy's hut, their hammocks are missing.
 * Mary Ann feeds Gilligan mashed up halibut, flounder and tuna; he calls it fish mash.
 * When Gilligan sleeps, his breath causes a balloon to form from his teeth brace, a gag repeated from Pass the Vegetables, Please.
 * When the explosions start, the surrounding huts (as seen in Love Me, Love My Skipper and Feed the Kitty) are no where to be found.
 * The monkey blows up the Girl's Hut; yet, all of their clothes, belongings and other items survive intact in later episodes.
 * At the end of the episode, all of Gilligan's clothes, including his hat are blown to shreds. It's never explained how he sources exact replacements, but in Ghost a Go-Go, it's suggested that both he and the Skipper have extra copies of the same outfit.
 * Filling cavities with copper is medically unsafe.
 * When the monkey throws the last good plate in the teaser, Gilligan, the Skipper and the Professor do the "See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil" poses.
 * This outfit is basically a retread of Forward March where another type of monkey was also waging a pretend war on the Castaways out of fun.

Quotes
Skipper - "I don't know... I don't care if he makes a flying saucer out of it."
 * Gilligan - "Where'd the monkey go with the plate?"

Gilligan - "Isn't it too soft for fillings?" Professor - "It's soft now, but once it hardens, you can chew your head off."
 * Professor - "Gilligan, you're a very fortunate young man. That plastic you found will make excellent fillings for your teeth."

Mr. Howell - "A golf ball doesn't explode, it was just plastic." Mary Ann - "Plastics don't explode." Professor - "But plastic explosives explode!" (The Professor hurls a clay cup that explodes.) Ginger - "My jewelry!" Mr. Howell - "My golf ball!" Skipper - "My nails!" Mary Ann - "My dishes!" Gilligan - "My teeth!" Mrs. Howell - "My goodness!"
 * Skipper - "The golf ball! It exploded!"

Gilligan - "Yes, it did." Ginger - "Your teeth hurt?" Gilligan - "No, my legs - I got charley horses in both of them from pedaling!"
 * Professor - "Your fillings are all in, and that didn't hurt one little bit, did it?"

Professor - "Well, the fillings have hardened. If I try to pull them, they could explode." Skipper - "What happens if you drill?" Professor - "They'll explode." Gilligan - "That's some choice!"
 * Skipper - "Well, Professor?"

Gilligan - "That's easy." Professor - "Don't even put your teeth together." Gilligan - "That's easy." Professor - "Don't trip or bump into anything." Gilligan - "That's impossible!"
 * Professor - "I'll have to find some other way to remove those fillings. In the meantime, you have to be very careful. Don't bite down on anything."

Gilligan - "Why not? I'm always shooting off my mouth."
 * Professor - "You can't go through life with a mouth full of explosives."

Ginger - "Be extra, Mary Ann, or else you could turn me into the next Venus de Milo." Mary Ann - "Hold still or else you'll get your ears pierced the hard way."
 * (Mary Ann is helping Ginger remove her clay jewelry.)

Mr. Howell - "A Howell never runs in the face of danger." (Another explosion happens.) Mr. Howell - "He walks very fast!"
 * Mrs. Howell - "Thurston, don't just stand there, run!"