Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Mystery in Miami

Fantasy Island Season 2 Episode 4, “Mystery in Miami,” explores a group of women desperate to find their friend who went missing years ago. 

This is also the first time we see Ruby off the island, and it is such a refreshing sight. 

Lynn Whitfield, Brett Butler, Daphne Reid, and Maureen McCormick star as four women who have been friends for almost their entire lives until a disappearance upends their lives. The ladies come to the island for answers and discover truths about themselves they’ve never been able to see on their own. 

The very best episodes of Fantasy Island are and have always been, ones with a singular fantasy involved. 

Spending an entire episode devoted to a specific fantasy removes the clunkiness that often comes with switches between stories. 

“Mystery in Miami” works both ways as we explore a fantasy of Ruby’s within our island visitors’ fantasy. 

The exploration of grief the audience and guests experience is something Fantasy Island doesn’t usually delve into, but this episode is better for it. 

Even with a seemingly small group coming to the island, their time never feels unnecessary or wasteful. Whether the ladies are bickering or putting on their amateur detective hats, every moment between them is worthwhile. 

Whitfield, Butler, and Reid are delightful together and individually. They pass as best friends better than most of the other guests on this show, and I’m almost sad we won’t see them again. 

The show often grapples with our characters facing similar challenges to the visitors, and this episode is no different. 

As the women explore themselves from an outside perspective, Ruby is finally given a chance to see herself inside the decision she’s made to stay on the island. 

There’s also a chance for Ruby to experience queerness in the ’80s, which I would love to see more of. Unfortunately, from what we’ve seen, Ruby never got a real chance to be fluid, to have the options she wants. 

Ruby realizing she wants to go after Isla is meant to be heartfelt, but only two episodes ago, Ruby was crying over Gina. It would be nice to see Ruby on her own for a bit. 

It’s also upsetting to see Ruby lessened to just her relationships — even if we saw more of her this week, it doesn’t feel like it, with the payoff being her love life being the focus. 

While “Mystery in Miami” presents a big ask in being able to find a missing person, that’s precisely what Fantasy Island is about. 

This episode comes together because the story is rooted in one thing: love for each other. However, the show would do good to remember it is meant to be a fantasy and a bit outlandish. 

Stray Thoughts:

• This is the start of my formal request for a “Ruby in different decades” spinoff. 
• If my friends don’t go to a magical island to bring me home after I disappear, they’re not my true friends. 
• The former Cheetah Girls stan in me was screaming seeing Lynn Whitfield in that leopard-print dress. 

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Fantasy Island airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX.

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