Fantasy Island Review: Hungry Christine / Mel Loves Ruby (Season 1 Episode 1)
On Fantasy Island Season 1 Episode 1, “Hungry Christine/Mel Loves Ruby,” we’re introduced to the magical realism of Fantasy Island in a slow but steady premiere.
First, I have to admit that I’ve never seen the original Fantasy Island — and after this premiere, I most likely never will. Not for the reasons you’re probably thinking though.
Entering the first episode, it’s pleasantly surprising to notice the balance the show strikes when it comes to general introductions and new, exciting information. For example, when we meet Christine and are then shown the real magic of the island.
The cast of characters feels a bit off at first, but the show makes it easy to love Elena and Ruby; two characters who will stick around for several episodes. Whereas, the others will simply be guests of the week.
To begin the show as a whole with a sapphic romance is bold — especially on a network like FOX, who, just two years ago, ranked second to last when it came to queer characters on their network.
While bold, it’s also amazing to know the show will have a queer regular who’s introduced organically, rather than in a showy, clickbait-y type of way that sometimes happens (See: Avengers: Endgame.)
Ruby seems like a wonderful character, too. There’s clearly a lot to learn about her and there are hints that we’ll get to see that moving forward.
With Christine’s story, though, something feels off. The writing and the character feel too small for Bellamy Young to play her, and to base an entire episode on. Her story is absolutely relatable, but the character is too drab to enjoy.
The show itself is about a resort you visit to obtain your deepest fantasy.
Of course, they have to be somewhat tangible, but the sky really is the limit and because there’s always a catch here, it seems you must face the hidden traumas that led you to the place you are now.
Instead of letting us learn Christine’s story solely through flashbacks and inferring, the show spells it out for us in the dialogue — multiple times.
Even at the end, the dialogue actually has Christine saying that her stepfather shielded her from her mother’s love and that she’s not hungry anymore.
This is a large con of the episode. However, with some growth in the series hopefully, the script will be less stiff and descriptive.
The show feels slow and fast-paced all at once. Christine’s story seems to happen extremely quickly, and it really doesn’t have to. Meanwhile, Ruby’s story is much slower to reveal itself to us.
This, again, is an issue when it comes to writing. The script spells out every single thing Christine is doing or saying at any given time while, at the same time, not daring to utter the word “lesbian.”
Ruby and Christine are on a very similar journey; self-discovery, and self-love. Yet with Ruby, we’re forced to infer and while this doesn’t seem malicious, it does seem intentional.
It’s also very bold of the writers to try and convince us that Elena and Javier will have something successful in the future when even Elena acknowledges that there’s something different about Ruby.
That’s chemistry, babe.
Though the episode has some cons, it also has the pros of a great starting story and things to look forward to when it comes to Elena, Ruby, and the future guests they’ll be dealing with.
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What did you think of this episode of Fantasy Island? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Fantasy Island airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX.
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Laura Wanberg
Laura is a homebody who loves everything about TV. Some of her favorite shows include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Parks and Recreation, and The Morning Show. With her ever-growing list of new shows to watch and books to read, her favorite thing to do is to cuddle up with her cat and get lost in someone else's world.