Okay, when I first saw the commercial for the Fantasy Island reboot, the first thing I said was, “Roselyn Sánchez is HOT!”
I mean, look at her. I don’t make the rules.
Though looks aside, the plot looked super interesting and the scenery ~sigh~ dreamy as h*ll. I know my excitement is coming through here, but let me spend that excitement on giving you a synopsis of the show.
What is Fantasy Island? If the title sounds familiar to you, that’s because Fantasy Island previously aired on television from 1978-1984. At the time, it starred Ricardo Montalbán as Mr. Roarke, the star of the show. Viewing the summary, the reboot has a nearly identical plot. Though this time, Roselyn Sánchez stars in the show as Ms. Elena Roarke, and Kiara Barnes acts as her sidekick, Ruby Akuda. Previously, Tattoo (played by Hervé Villechaize) was Mr. Roarke’s sidekick.
Speaking on the storyline from the rebooted lens, Ms. Roarke manages Fantasy Island and greets guests as they prepare to have the vacation of their lives. Though it’s not just any vacation. The purpose of Fantasy Island is to allow people to live out their fantasies in real time.
Even so, people arrive at Fantasy Island with different objectives, and depending on those objectives, they experience the good, the bad, and the ugly to varying degrees. Remember the Pussycat Dolls lyric, “Be careful what you wish for, ‘cause you just might get it?” Yeah, that totally applies here. For the visitors, it’s up to them on how they interpret their experiences and if they learned anything about themselves from them. And let’s not forget, Ms. Roarke also has her fair share of personal adventures, especially with her friend Javier (played by John Gabriel Rodriquez), who flies guests in.
Now that I’ve given you the show’s synopsis, stop and think: What can this review do for you? You don’t run into this article by accident, but even if you don’t know, that’s okay. Let’s start with the good of Fantasy Island.
The Good: First off, the scenery. This show was filmed in Puerto Rico, and before finding that out, I wondered where the show was filmed. The nature is totally BEAUTIFUL, and I swear that one day I will visit the shooting location. Roselyn Sánchez is from PR in real life, so it’s not a coincidence. Speaking of Roselyn Sánchez, my God, she is so convincing as a stewardess. Her mannerisms, voice, and poise makes her a model of a real life Ms. Roarke. I don’t know if another actress could’ve taken her place, and I like Kiara Barnes playing her laid-back and optimistic assistant Ruby. This reboot of Fantasy Island was really well-casted (though no, I have never seen the original Fantasy Island).
I also like that the storyline continues while introducing new cases. Having the focus be on new cases instead of dragging out old ones brings some freshness, because stories can be dragged out for too long. Also, it’s the magic for me when it comes to the location transitions. It’s like magic, and ohh, I wish I could go from one place to another in a snap.
And one more thing before I move forward. Another highlight from this show? Roselyn’s real-life husband, Eric Winter, appears as a guest star in one episode. Casual viewers likely won’t know that fact, but I appreciate how in the few scenes they appeared together, they acted like strangers and not a married couple. I know it’s like, “DUH!”, but that’s what makes good acting, people.
The Bad: To be honest, the pilot of the show went rather slow. Especially in the first few minutes, the writing was sloppy and not well-executed. That said, it was worth continuing to watch, because it had the potential to be a good series. It still does. Though another thing I hope will come next season is more nuance when it comes to Ruby’s relationship with Dr. Gina. Ruby and her husband, Mel, arrived at Fantasy Island in the pilot before Mel left her behind to allow her to stay youthful (he was battling cancer, unfortunately).
Not long after that happened, she met Dr. Gina and became attracted to her. There wasn’t much focus on their relationship the first season, and without spending time expanding on it further, the portrayal could qualify as queerbaiting. This article gives greater depth on what queerbaiting is, but simply put, it’s a way of showing off LGBTQIA+ relationships in a superficial way rather than a multidimensional way. This is mainly done with more care for profit than genuine commitment to inclusion. Though not everyone agrees with the concept of queerbaiting, as you can read in this short, yet concise BBC article. Romance can be an addicting part of a drama series, but whether the couple is straight or not, there’s more to love than just a kiss on the lips. Let’s just be honest about that.
The Ugly: ~sigh~ The ugly. It’s hard to come up with things about Fantasy Island that belong in the “Ugly” section. Although, there was a holiday-themed TV movie that supplemented the show. I won’t say that I hate it, but if I had to give it a rating, probably a 5.5/10. Why? This may not make sense, but I would say it’s because there are parts of the plot that could have been better executed. There was a lot of drama in it, but a lot of drama going on at once is not always a good thing. I’m attempting to explain this without spoiling it so much, but you know that drama can be addicting, right? Right. But when there’s so much drama going on at once, it can cause a discord between the storyline and the events themselves.
Aside from the drama, multiple parts were rather cheesy or cringeworthy. My rating of the TV movie will not be included in the overall rating for this show, but it wasn’t a necessary extension. The most interesting thing about that movie is the situation with Ms. Roarke’s dog Mr. Jones. It turned out that Mr. Jones was a human that became a dog after visiting Fantasy Island to escape business hardships. Maybe that was a spoiler, but you can see the signs if you watch the TV movie. Otherwise, there’s your summary.
Final Verdict: So like I said, the pilot left a lot to be desired but the show itself had potential. The concept is interesting, though why am I speaking about it as if it’s not a reboot of the late 70s show? Anyways, did the show meet my expectations over time? For the most part, yes it did. Sans the TV movie (which FOX could’ve kept in the drafts), the show was quite entertaining. If you are looking for something to watch in your spare time, I would recommend Fantasy Island. And you should still watch the pilot, because it is a buildup to what happens over the season. You can bypass the TV movie that appears after the first 8 episodes. You won’t be missing anything.
Despite my criticism of the show, I still like it and will be watching season 2. I suppose I’ll write a season 2 review after I watch it? Maybe. I’ll have to see.
