Recap / Gilligans Island S 3 E 1 Up At Bat

While moving supplies into a cave, Gilligan disturbs a bat, which bites him. A series of circumstances and the Skipper's superstitions convince him he's turning into a vampire.

This episode contains examples of the following tropes:

• Actually Not a Vampire: Gilligan can't see his reflection in Ginger's mirror and he almost bites Mrs. Howell while sleepwalking. There's actually a completely normal explanation for everything. Namely, the silver has worn off the back of Ginger's mirror, making it useless for that purpose, and his fear and growing conviction that he's becoming a vampire has a strong nocebo effect on his subconscious.
• Afraid of Blood: When he and the Skipper are telling the Professor what happened, Gilligan says he'd fail as a vampire (and die of starvation) because he passes out at the sight of blood.
• Dream Sequence: Gilligan has a dream of being a vampire.
• Easily Forgiven: Only a few seconds after a sleepwalking Gilligan tried to bite her neck, Mrs. Howell stops paying attention to it in favor of settling her alarmed attacker.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: In the dream, Ginger is the wife to Gilligan's vampire. She's sensible about how to get the drop on potential victims and keeps expressing irritation over Gilligan's incompetence.
• Hypocritical Humor: In Gilligan's dream, Watney (the Skipper) calls Dracula's maid (Mary Ann) an ugly old lady. Sherlock (the Professor) criticizes his rudeness and apologizes to her, addressing her as "ugly old lady".
• Innocently Insensitive: When Gilligan starts to become distraught over apparent signs that he's becoming a vampire, Mrs. Howell tells Mr. Howell to make him a bloody Mary to calm him down.
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • In the dream, Mr. Howell asserts that even a five-year-old could tell you that there's no such thing as vampires, just as Gilligan appears in the background.
    Mrs. Howell: There's a vampire.
    Mr. Howell: That's the last time I listen to a five-year-old child.
  • Sherlock asserts that his investigation proves there's not a vampire within a thousand miles of the castle, only to hear the screaming upstairs.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: When Gilligan is sleep-walking and enters the Howell's hut, he's got his blanket wrapped around himself, a la Bela Lugosi. Somehow, though, the doors to the hut open without him touching them.
• Placebo Effect: The Professor plans to give Gilligan a mild tranquilizer and tell him it's an anti-vampire concoction so that he'll be cured of his false belief and stop experiencing symptoms.
• Police Are Useless: The maid had sent word to Inspector Sherlock asking him to investigate the strange happenings at the castle. It took five years for Inspector Sherlock and Colonel Watney to arrive, saying they had to walk all the way from England. It also takes the two a good bit of time to react to the Howells screaming for help upstairs or to Gilligan the vampire leaning over Mrs. Howell to drink her blood.
• Shout-Out:
  • Inspector Sherlock and Colonel Watney are obvious spoofs of Holmes and Watson.
  • During the fight with the vampire, a Hit Flash appears with each blow, as in Batman (1966).
• Superstitious Sailors: The Skipper and Gilligan have both seen vampire movies and believe that vampires actually exist, so they panic when Gilligan (apparently) gets bitten by a vampire bat.
• Surrounded by Idiots: The Professor is openly irritated by everyone else believing in vampires and thinking that Gilligan turned into one.
• The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Gilligan leaves a note telling the other castaways when he runs away, believing he's become a vampire. The Skipper finds it and, with semi-affectionate exasperation, asks why Gilligan had to do something stupid like this. Then he finds a post-script saying that running away was the only stupid thing Gilligan could figure to do.
• Vampire Episode: Gilligan gets bitten by what the Skipper thinks is a vampire bat, convincing him that he will turn into a vampire. This causes Gilligan to dream a Bela Lugosi-like vampire story.
• Wake Up Fighting: Gilligan has a dream sequence where he (as a vampire) gets into a fight with the Professor and the Skipper (as Inspector Sherlock and Colonel Watney). When the Skipper wakes him up, he gets punched in the gut.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: Gilligan believes in existence of vampires so strongly that after being bitten by a bat, he nearly bites Mrs. Howell on the neck, which further cements his fear that he's becoming a vampire.