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"Little Island, Big Gun"
Season 1, Episode 17
Big-Gun
A bank robber hides out on the Island and takes the Castaways hostage.
Basic Info
Air Date: 1/23/65
Written By: Dick Conway and Roland MacLane
Directed By: Abner Biberman
Guest Cast: Larry Storch as Jackson Farrell
Episode guide
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Plant You Now, Dig You Later X Marks the Spot

Little Island, Big Gun is the seventeenth episode of the First Season. It first aired January 23, 1965.

Summary[]

A bank robber named Jackson Farrell hides out on the island to elude the police in the middle of the night. His partner promises to come back for him after the police stop looking for him. In the morning, Gilligan and the Skipper smell Farrell cooking breakfast, and when Gilligan goes out to collect dates, he discovers Farrell on the island. Claiming to be a doctor going to help the local natives, Farrell passes off the loose cash he's carrying as donations for his work, and upon noticing the bow and arrow Gilligan was using to bring down dates, he learns from him that the Castaways don't have any bullets for the guns on the island. However, as everyone comes to meet Farrell, Gilligan learns from the radio that Farrell is wanted by the police. He tries to tell the Skipper and Professor about the truth from the radio, but Farrell is outed when the radio repeats the news about him. He ties up the Skipper, Professor, and Gilligan to keep them from being a problem and turns down a check for $100,000 from Mr. Howell painted onto driftwood. Meanwhile, the Skipper follows through on his plan to overpower Farrell with a bag full of coconuts, but Gilligan bungles the attempt. Ginger tries flirting with Farrell to get his gun from him, but he doesn't believe her act and warns her from getting too close to his gun. When a boat shows up, Jackson thinks its his men finally coming from him, but then discovers its his rivals, the Indigo Mob, looking for him. He takes Mary Ann captive and has the Castaways pose as ignorant natives. The Castaways try to communicate with them, but the mobsters mistranslate their signals and depart. When Farrell's accomplices finally come for him, Gilligan, the Skipper and Professor see him off, but he refuses to tell the authorities about them because they are the only people who can identify him. When Farrell tells Gilligan to bring him his anchor, Gilligan swings it over to him, the rope dragging the bag of money into the water where the boat propeller chops it up into fragments. After Gilligan yells a snide comment to him, Jackson swears he has to shoot Gilligan, but his gun is so waterlogged that it just squirts water. The following day, Gilligan learns that the police have captured Farrell and his men. The Skipper finds him gluing the shredded bills into one long million dollar bill which Gilligan tears a portion off to share with the Skipper.

Message[]

  • "Cheaters never prosper"

Highlights[]

  • Gilligan using a bow and arrow.
  • Mr. Farrell lying to the Castaways that he's a doctor.
  • Gilligan discovering the truth about Farrell from the radio and trying to warn the Skipper
  • Gilligan, Skipper and the Professor tied down to their cots
  • The Castaways posing as island natives.
  • Farrell discovering his gun squirting water

Credits[]

Main Cast

Guest Cast

Trivia[]

  • Comedian Larry Storch is best known for the part of the dim-witted Corporal Agarn on the comedy-farce "F Troop" as the sidekick to Sgt. O'Roarke played by Forrest Tucker, who went on to star in "Dusty's Trail" with Bob Denver. He is also known for his voice-acting work.
  • The Skipper slips out of character by having Gilligan gather his things to toss him out of his hut to let Farrell move in with him.
  • The plot of this episode involving a criminal hiding out on the island and leaving the Castaways stranded was repeated in The Kidnapper.
  • When Gilligan shoots the money bag out of the tree, the dollar bills flutter in the air. When the camera pans down to the ground you can see part of the electric fan used to create this effect in the lower left corner of the scene.
  • In the exterior shot of the boy's hut, someone's shoulder appears in the shot.
  • The hammocks in the Boy's Hut are suddenly replaced by three cots without explanation.
  • Mr. Howell writes Farrell a check on driftwood reportedly because he has no checks on the island, but in The Big Gold Strike, he had tried to give Gilligan and the Skipper a paper check. These checks show up again in Take a Dare when he writes George Barkley a paper check. This suggests he was purposely trying to scam Farrell with a check he knew he couldn't cash.
  • The close up of the check shows erased marks where commas would have made the wooden check a million dollars instead of a hundred thousand. In fact, the number shown on-screen “$1000000” with or without commas is neither $100K (stated by Howell) or $10K (stated by Farrell).
  • Mary Ann barely appears in this episode except just before Farrell holds her hostage.
  • It seems kind of far-fetched that Farrell could force the Castaways into their native disguises so quickly after seeing the Indigo Mob off shore.
  • Jim Backus seems to wear in his native garb the same head dress Russ Grieve wears in his appearances as a Native Chief.
  • A million dollars in $100 bills would not fit in a simple burlap bag.
  • The Professor briefly calls Jackson Farrell "Mr. Jackson" instead of "Mr. Farrell" as he is departing.
  • When Farrell tries to shoot Gilligan, his gun shoots only water. Later, in The Hunter, when Kincaid tries to shoot Gilligan after falling into the water trough, his rifle also shoots water.
  • In the final sequence when the castaways are helping the crooks load their boat, the Professor addresses Jackson Farrell as “Mr. Jackson” instead of “Mr. Farrell”. In the same scene, the Professor also has the long sleeves of his shirt uncustomarily rolled all the way down, instead of rolled up.

Quotes[]

  • Skipper - "Ladies, what's for breakfast? "
    Mary Ann - "Take a wild guess and try coconut."
    (sounds of discontent)
    Skipper - "Well, never mind, just dig in."
    Gilligan - "But Skipper, it's always coconut. Sliced coconut, diced coconut, baked coconut, fried coconut, coconut on coconut, coconut..."
    Ginger - "We're gonna have a special treat for Thanksgiving dinner."
    Gilligan - "What's that?"
    Ginger - "Coconut drumsticks."

  • Gilligan - "I smell bacon."
    Skipper - "Sure you do, Gilligan." (leaning over to the Professor) "I think Gilligan has been on the island too long."
    Professor - "You know what? I thought I smelled bacon too." (pauses) "But unfortunately, it must be just a figment of our imaginations."
    Gilligan - "Yeah, well, my imagination cooks them like I like them... well done and crisp."


  • Gilligan - "You mean people donated this money to you?"
    Jackson Farrell - "That's a good way to put it. They donated it to me."
    Gilligan - "It sure was generous of them."
    Jackson Farrell - "Gilligan, you should have seen the way they handed it over to me."

  • Mr. Howell - "Doctor, for that king of money, could you possibly name a disease after us?"
    Mrs. Howell - "Yes. Not the run-of-the-mill disease. Something a little special. For example, something like beriberi."
    Mr. Howell - "Yes, yes. Perhaps you can call it Howell-Howell."
    Mrs. Howell - "Oh marvelous, Thurston! That way, we'd each get separate billing!"

  • Skipper - (whispering) "Leave it a little loose."
    Gilligan - "Leave it a little what??"

  • Jackson Farrell - "Ginger, that song will be "When the Angels Sing" if you get any closer to that gun."

  • Hank - "How do you like that! Even the natives are hen-pecked!"


  • (The propeller on the boat chops up the money in the water.)
    Jackson Farrell - (wet and angry) "It's all chopped up! It's all chopped up!"
    Gilligan - "Cheaters never prosper!"
    Jackson Farrell - (while reaching for his gun) "I gotta get that Gilligan. I gotta!"
    (Farrell fires his gun, but water sprays out of it.)
    Gates - "Your gun is wet, boss!"
    Jackson Farrell - "Thanks for the information!"
    Skipper - "His gun is full of water! Let's get him!"
    Jackson Farrell - "Let's get out of here. With Gilligan on that island, you can't win."
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