Dia De Los Vivos
How is Mel back on the island?
Episode 8 of Fantasy Island begins with Ruby’s husband Mel back on the island. He’s young again and inexplicably here with her now. Ruby susses out that this is Elena’s doing. Well, it turns out the island is intrinsically linked with the Dia De Los Muertos – the Day of the Dead. It would appear that Mel has passed away as his spirit is passing through the island before leaving this plane of existence. When Elena breaks this devastating news to Ruby, she’s beside herself with grief and begins crying. After all, she’s only got 24 hours with Mel until he fades forever. When Mel finds out, he denies the truth and questions whether he should even be on the island or not. Before Ruby can press him further, he walks away.
What’s going on with Jasper and Ramon?
Our guest this week is another deceased patron, Jasper. He’s stuck in purgatory and believes he should be in Heaven. Elena wants to help him get there but he has 24 hours to try and change his fate, otherwise he could end up in the bad place. No pressure then! Well, Jasper’s reference point happens to be Ramon who arrives on the island the conventional way. Despite Jasper passing away, it’s clear there’s animosity between them. It turns out Jasper double-crossed Ramon with his work, which he learned thanks to some files on the computer. Rather than facing the truth, Jasper simply skips away. Or at least he tries to anyway. Elena finally interjects and confronts Jasper, bringing him back into the purgatory he’s been stuck in since dying. He struggles to see the error of his ways until Elena shows him all the cheats and frauds he’s been involved in. And just like that, Jasper is teleported back to confront Ramon.
Do Jasper and Mel make amends and end up in heaven?
He tries to apologize but Ramon is having absolutely none of it. When Ramon leaves, Jasper winds up running into Mel. Golf clubs magically sprout up too, and the pair wind up together, discussing their personal issues. As fate would have it, this is exactly what both of them needed as Mel’s wisdom helps Jasper apologize to Ramon – properly this time. In order to show this, Jasper enlists Elena’s help to grab every single art-piece that Ramon has painted and to hang them up around his gallery. Jasper admits that he loves Ramon like a son and implores the boy to use his gift and not waste it. This is enough for Ramon to soften up and forgive him, sitting with Jasper as they await midnight striking and their time drawing to an end. Meanwhile, Mel uses his remaining time to be with Ruby. She reverts back to her elderly self during this time too, as the pair embrace in bed. Mel tells her to live her best life, content with who she is and what they’ve shared together. When midnight hits, both Mel and Jasper fade and – presumably – end up in Heaven. It’s not explicitly told but it would seem like this is what’s happened. As they leave, Elena tries her best to get through to Fernando. He’s having none of it though and as strong gusts of wind pick up, Elena ends up with a scratch on her face and wilted roses. I guess that’s a no then!
Who is Fernando?
With Jasper and Mel gone, Ruby decides to stick around on the island for the time being. A note from Tio confirms Elena is doing a good job and implores her to leave Fernando alone for the time being – he’s just not ready. Ruby, now officially recognized as Elena’s right-hand woman, quizzes her over who Fernando actually is. Through Elena we learn that she was engaged at the time and due to leave the island. When Fernando stepped in to fill her shoes, the island was not happy and lashed out. This explains why he’s mad at Elena, while leaving enough questions open for this to explored in more detail during a possible second season.
The Episode Review
Fantasy Island bows out with a thematically relevant episode tackling death and moving on. With the rate of Fox cancellations and how quickly they chop shows after one season, this seems like an ill omen for this fantastical reboot. However, this one’s undeniably popular and some of these episodes have been well written, tackling a myriad of different issues. Here, the final issue between Ramon and Jasper feels like dressing on what’s otherwise a pretty straightforward chapter designed to wrap up loose ends. Mel has now passed away, although he does get a final farewell with Ruby which is nice touch. The situation with Fernando though is still a loose end that’s yet to be explored, and it seems like the script writers have intentionally left that thread dangling in the hopes of a renewal. Either way though, this chapter bows out with a pretty decent final episode, leaving lots of room for a second season follow-up.
