The Invasion

The Invasion is the 79th episode of Gilligan's Island and the eleventh episode of the third season. It first aired November 21, 1966.

Synopsis
While fishing in the the lagoon, Gilligan pulls in a military briefcase that incites the curiosity of the Castaways trying to look inside it. They try various stunts to take the case and peek inside, but the Professor foils each of them. The following morning, the case has vanished, having been passed one by one covertly through the Castaways trying to hide it until Gilligan gives it back to the Professor, who pounds it in disgust only to discover it has secret military papers in it. Gilligan handcuffs himself to it to protect it, but the Skipper realizes Gilligan would be killed when the men after the case find him with it. That night, Gilligan has a dream he's a secret agent, and the others are spies trying to get the briefcase, with Mr. Howell as the head of the evil organization after it. When Gilligan wakes from a start after the dream, Mr. Howell comes running and scares him, opening the case and revealing the key to the cuffs. The files, however, turn out to be from World War One, which means no one would be after them after all. Deciding to toss the briefcase back into the lagoon, Gilligan tells the Skipper and Professor about his dream, adding that the Skipper was an impostor of his mother and the Professor was the head of the good guys and that the briefcase was rigged to explode. Upon tossing it, it really does explode, surprising them.

Message

 * "Wine may get more valuable with age, but not secret plans."

Highlights

 * Gilligan has a dream where he plays a secret agent with the other castaways trying to kill him
 * Mr. and Mrs. Howell play the heads of a secret spy agency

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
 * None

Trivia

 * Episodes now start with an opening teaser scene.
 * The syndicated versions of this episode delete the tag scene where Gilligan remarks on the briefcase self-destructing and the resulting explosion.
 * When Gilligan offers to throw the case back into the lagoon, the Skipper stops him. This is contrary to the events in Bang! Bang! Bang! when he harangues Gilligan from bringing in more junk (the Plastic Explosives).
 * During the episode, the briefcase goes having from two hinges to three hinges and back again with the cowhide label coming and going implying there were at least two versions of it on set.
 * During the dream sequence, Ginger says, "Sorry about that, Chief," which was a known catch phrase of character Maxwell Smart on the TV series, "Get Smart." Coincidentally, she mentions another of his catch phrases, "Would you believe..." in Splashdown.
 * In Gilligan's dream, the Professor is Gilligan's superior, Mr. Howell is the head of EVIL, a covert espionage agency, and Mrs. Howell, the Skipper, Ginger and Mary Ann are EVIL agents.
 * As the villain in Gilligan's dream, Mr. Howell has a bald head similar to criminal mastermind Ernst Blofield in the James Bond film franchise who appears a year later in the 1967 film, "You Only Live Twice."
 * This is the first episode where Alan Hale Jr. appears in drag, the others being Lovey's Secret Admirer and Gilligan the Goddess. Russell Johnson was enormously amused by him in costume, comparing him to Jonathan Winters as the character "Maudie Frickert."
 * Gilligan also describes his dreams to the others in And Then There Were None and The Secret of Gilligan's Island.

Quotes

 * Professor - "Perhaps it's not Grand Central Station, but everyone is trying to claim the same piece of luggage!"

Professor - "Oh, on the contrary, if the Government finds it open, we could all be in serious trouble. No, I'm afraid this case is top secret." Gilligan - "Well, turn it over and open it there. Maybe it isn't bottom secret."
 * Gilligan - "Professor, Open it, open it, open it!"

Skipper - "No, Mary Ann... I've already had a dozen." Ginger - "Eat another dozen and walk them off." Gilligan - "If he eats another dozen of those seagull eggs, he can fly them off."
 * Mary Ann - "More sea gull eggs, Skipper?"

Gilligan - "It's okay if you want to hide it, Professor, it is your turn."
 * Professor - "Now, do you all know what I'm going to do with this case?"


 * Gilligan - "They're going to kill me for knowing too much... That's the first time I've ever been accused of that!"

Head Good Guy - "I didn't know Beethoven was a secret agent!" Agent 014 - "You see how good he was."
 * Agent 014 - "You're talking to the greatest secret agent since Beethoven."

Agent 10 - "Of course, the steak is covered in arsenic, and the sauterne is filled with strychnine." Boss Howell - "Oh, ghastly, no! No!" Agent 10 - "What's wrong? Do you object to poisoning him?" Boss Howell - "No, I object to white wine being served with meat."
 * Boss Howell - "Good Guy 014 is on his way to see you. You have plans to dispose of him I hope, of course."

Agent 014 - "You do?" Mrs. Howell - "Yes, you're twice as smart as 007!"
 * Mrs. Howell - "Now I know why they call you 014."