Who Can it Be Now? Vicki Lawerence and Kaye Ballard are repeat cruisers. I was also thinking how in the opening some people seem to be “in character” for their 3 second circle feature. Then I wondered if people were coached on how to act or just got to choose? And what would I do? Then I realized you aren’t here for that! Storylines please…
That Old Gang of Mine Harry (Jesse White), Fingers (Jack Gilford), and Babe (Kaye Ballard) are reuniting to steal money from the Love Boat vault. Has time sharpened their skills or were they better off staying retired?
Love with a Skinny Stranger Phil Manning (Charles Siebert) lost weight. Why isn’t his girlfriend, Patty Beller (Vicki Lawerence) happy about that? Also featured: Sheena Wilson (Cindee Appleton)
Vicki and the Gambler Wade Hubbard (Gene Barry) is a gambler. (As our storyline title suggests.) Vicki is Captain Stubing’s daughter. When Wade wins, that’s good. When he loses, not so much. Will Vicki see Wade’s lifestyle as something to emulate or realize there are highs and lows to everything? Crew assist: Vicki and Captain Stubing
A beautiful musical introduction plays as we see the Love Boat at Port, it’s a sunny day.
The Love Boat is Much Nicer Than Prison…The three people in this storyline are all former criminals. Harry (Jesse White) was the handy hold up. Babe (Kaye Ballard) was the proficient pickpocket. Fingers (Jack Gilford) was the consummate cracker of safes. Both Harry and Babe have invited Fingers on this cruise after his release from prison for one last heist, but Fingers doesn’t know that yet. It’s a little sad to see Fingers experiencing life outside of prison again at such an advanced age. He really seems to be enjoying himself and promises he will never break the law again, stay tuned.
Patty Beller (Vicki Lawerence) is here and waiting for her fiancé, Phil (Charles Seibert). Phil was portly, but he’s spent three weeks at a “fat farm” and is now seeing Patty again on the cruise. He’s half the man he used to be, physically, and Patty doesn’t recognize him at first.
When Patty asks what caused Phil to take such drastic action about his weight he shares, “you and everyone else making fun of me.”
Here comes Captain Stubing's good friend and professional gambler, Wade Hubbard (Gene Barry). With his charm and stories of gambling success he makes a big impression on Vicki. The beautiful pearl necklace he brought as a gift for her also helps. Throughout this episode we’ll get scenes of Vicki and Wade doing things together (like betting and discussing gambling profits) and Captain Stubing making a concerned face. Later in this episode, Wade and Merrill will have a discussion about which values the Captain is hoping his daughter will learn, and how making “easy money” may not be on the list.
Lido Deck Lampooning…Vicki saw a nice watch for her father in the gift shop. She'd like to buy it to celebrate their two year anniversary as a family, but she doesn’t have enough money.
Wade suggests they do some research together. He takes Vicki to a table and explains how he systematically chooses which horse to bet on. Vicki likes the horse named, “Merry Mermaid.”
So, Wade decides they’ll give it a go! For the sake of clarity, Vicki did absolutely no research, she just liked the name.
Harry is planting hints for Fingers about the increases in the cost of living. Fingers can’t believe how much gas prices have gone up since he’s been in prison. Fingers decides he may have to adjust some of his “after incarceration plans” to compensate for this change.
Conveniently there’s a safe onboard the Love Boat with half a million dollars in it! And Harry and Babe have that soft sided plaid zippered suitcase that is the same style that held a bunch of money starting all the way back in Season 1! Apparently, those are perfect for stuffing with money! Harry insists that the only way Fingers can live a good life is to steal enough money so he doesn’t have to worry about stealing money. There’s a certain perfect logic about that statement, I guess.
Patty is noticing lots of changes with Phil. Not only does he have more energy, but he’s also got more attention from the ladies! One who keeps showing up and making comments is Sheena (Cindee Appleton). Patty needs a break from all the activity and Sheena is happy to help Phil by filling in for his fianceé.
There’s Lots of Money in There… Vicki goes to see Wade in the casino. Amazing news! The horse Vicki picked (Merry Mermaid), won! And from her winnings, that Wade bet on her behalf, Vicki has enough money to buy the watch she’d been eyeing in the gift shop for her Dad. Expect a concerned face from Captain Stubing everybody.
There’s an additional layer to Fingers being someone we feel bad for. Not only is he out of prison and needing to adjust, but he’s not very smart about much besides safe cracking. Harry and Babe give Fingers an empty envelope so that Fingers has an excuse to have Gopher escort him inside the safe. Harry has to explain this to Fingers as he doesn’t understand why an empty envelope would need to be kept in a safe.
Good news though, I guess, after Gopher and Fingers secure the envelope, Fingers knows exactly what kind of safe the Love Boat has. I’m not sure what it’s called when you're really smart and skilled at one thing but are low on wit or common sense, but I’d say that describes Fingers.
Happy Family-versary! To Captain Stubing and Vicki, two years! The crew, Vicki, and Wade are at the Captain’s table for dinner. The Captain gives Vicki a nice gold necklace and whoa, what’s this? It’s an expensive watch! How did Vicki get the money for this? Betting on a horse! *Insert Captain Stubing concerned face here*
I Love the Nightlife, I’ve Got to Boogie…Look at Phil, go! He sure can dance now. He learned at the fat farm where they had dance exercise class. When Patty gets pooped, two other beautiful babes are ready to boogie! You get down with your bad self, Phil and two ladies. Patty is going to bed. In Patty’s defense, it took two gals to replace her.
Harry and Babe are talking about their post criminal life with Fingers. While Fingers was in prison, Harry became the manager of a car wash and Babe is a hospital receptionist. They have a little house and begonias are mentioned. Fingers asks if it’s ok to excuse himself. He met a nice lady and he asked her to go dancing. Here she is! She has a gorgeous blue gown on and she’s ready to dance.
She and Fingers are disco-ing. These two have got boogie fever! I hope they’ll be ok.
Cabo San Lucas. Our port stop is located in Mexico’s Southern Baja Peninsula. It has famous beaches, including two named, “Lover’s,” and “Divorce.” Also, incredible rock formations like “El Arco.”
Wade and Vicki are going to sightsee together at this port stop. And probably doing more gambling. More concerned looks from Captain Stubing, this time with somber toned music.
On the Ship…Fingers is laying on a deck chair.
Patty is also passed out on a deck chair. Wow. Phil has so much energy. It’s so different from how things used to be.
And on the Lido Deck, Doc is giving Phil rope skipping routine lessons. Doc is in his yellow tank top and shorts and it’s dazzling. Look at Doc go!
Oh, and Phil’s there, too. Doc completes his routine and leaves like a boss, deservedly. Phil is going to have lunch with the two dancing ladies after all that exercise. Bye, Phil!
I’ve Something I’d Like You to Think About…Captain Stubing talks with Vicki after she returns from her port day. Vicki is obviously enchanted with Wade, and the idea of how he seems to make money so quickly without working. The Captain’s concerned look is back (the music hints at Vicki’s youthful exuberance). The Captain shares some wisdom about work and the work ethic. Vicki is trying to listen, but she’s gotten a taste of easy money and it’s hard to concentrate. “Promise me you’ll think about it,” The Captain urges. “It’s very important to me.”
When Phil returns to the cabin, Patty has moved out. This definitely gives Phil something to think about. I’d just like to mention it’s a good thing there are available cabins. Otherwise, Patty would be spending nights on the Lido Deck with the Blue Coverall Maintenance Crew.
Night time is the Right Time…Babe, Harry and Fingers are ready to steal the money from the safe. Babe thinks she can use her womanly wiles to convince Gopher to leave his post so they can “do the job.” Umm, well... Thankfully it’s closing time at the reception desk so Gopher was leaving anyway. We didn’t have to watch a painful scene where a much, much older woman tries to entice Gopher to spend time with her. I cannot guarantee that for every episode moving forward though. Good news, the plaid zippered suitcase is here!
We are treated to Harry and Fingers working together in the dim safe room. I think Harry’s job is to unzip the plaid suitcase and put the money in it. Fingers is trying to crack the safe but his hearing aid needs new batteries.
Since Harry knows nothing about the subtlety of sounds from a safe, their only option is to get new batteries for Fingers.
Meanwhile, on the Bridge…Captain Stubing and Wade have a talk about Vicki. And the Captain’s concerns. I’ll break it down:
Captain: How can I teach Vicki that work is important, if all she sees is you making it look easy? Wade: I guess I’ll have to lie to teach Vicki being a professional gambler isn’t all glitter.
I Found It! Fingers got new batteries and now the plaid suitcase is full of money.
Everything Looks Better in the Moonlight…Patty is standing by the railing. Julie joins her, and says, “I’d like to introduce you to someone special.” It’s Phil! And he has a big pillow stuffed in his suit coat so he looks fat. I think that’s what he’s trying to do, I mean, unless he’s going roller skating later and wants a cushion in case he falls? Patty smiles. “Do you think how much you weighed mattered?” I’d like to go on record this very moment and admit, yes, I seriously thought that’s what Patty had been saying almost from the start, but I was wrong.
The two talk. Phil wasn’t used to attention from women so he confesses he didn’t navigate it as well as he should have. Also, fat or skinny, Phil wants to be with Patty and Patty wants to be with Phil. Yay.🎉
Meanwhile in the Casino… Vicki joins Wade in the casino. Wade is going to convince Vicki being a professional gambler isn’t as awesome as he’s made it look so far.
Wade: Remember how you gave the beautiful necklace I gifted you back to me so I could get the clasp fixed? Vicki: Yes. Wade: Well, I sold the necklace for money to gamble more. (LIE) Vicki: *tears*
Wade respects Captain Stubing’s goal of helping Vicki learn that work is a good thing, so he pretends to be a jerk. (Please see Dee’s recap of Hometown Doc, S4:E21 for a situation where lying is employed to teach someone something.)
Speaking of Easy Money…Fingers, Babe, and Harry are in Babe and Harry’s cabin with the plaid suitcase. It’s full of money. After some discussion, Harry and Babe realize this money isn’t worth it. Harry and Babe like their life, with the car wash, the hospital reception job, and the small house and begonias. What about Fingers? And the price of gas? Well, the nice woman Fingers was disco dancing with is a widow, Hildegard. She owns a Mom and Pop store and she’s looking for a new Pop. Fingers can be the Pop. The gang decides to put the money back!
Harry wonders if they are making this decision because they’re old. Babe encourages him, the gang isn’t old, they’re wise!
Adiós! Good-bye to Patty and Phil. Phil weighs less, but that wasn’t the point. The point was…much happiness to you both! There go paper flowers, a guy wearing a sombrero and the parrot with a hat piñata. Also, a straw purse and serape.
Captain Stubing and Wade have a talk about Vicki.
Captain Stubing: I know you didn’t sell Vicki’s necklace. Wade: You’re right. Captain Stubing: Let me tell her that. Wade: No, I want her to learn about working for a living, since that is important to you, and I respect you’re her father.
In conclusion, The Captain understands that Wade is being supportive of his parenting goals for Vicki, and the two part, still good friends. So it’s good to lie, sometimes, maybe, according to the Love Boat.
I want to mention there goes the parrot wearing a hat piñata again!
The Key! Babe, Harry, and Fingers say a special good-bye to Gopher. Babe gives Gopher a hug. Fingers reminds Gopher of the safe combination. After the three leave, Gopher finds the office key he thought he’d lost in his pocket! (Proficient Pickpocket Babe strikes again, in reverse!) The gang hasn’t lost its “touch.”
Though it may reserve the instances in which it chooses to employ it, obviously. That’s wisdom, folks!
Rating: Mid-Size Cruise Ship for me. I got lost a couple of times, but the crew pointed me back in the right direction.
That Old Gang of Mine: Storyline highs: Jack Gilford did a great job catching my sympathy almost immediately with his portrayal of Fingers. I’m still a little afraid of Harry, I’m not sure why, so sombreros off for Jesse White’s acting as well. The plaid suitcase for money holding made a return appearance. Hildegard, Fingers’s disco partner. Storyline lows: I felt bad for Fingers a lot more than the writer probably wanted. Three out of three anchors. This storyline did everything it was supposed to predictably. Extra anchor was for the return of the plaid suitcase. Lots of fond memories associated with its previous appearances holding money.
Love with a Skinny Stranger: I was literally surprised that Patty said the issue wasn’t Phil’s weight? So I must’ve missed something. Or a lot of somethings. Storyline highs: The recently redecorated Acapulco lounge. Vicki Lawerence brushing her hair and it still looks perfect? One out of three anchors. An anchor just for Doc’s jump rope routines on the Lido Deck.
Vicki and the Gambler: Season 4 for Vicki’s character appears to be she is becoming a young woman. She’s interested in having a boyfriend (S4:E18). Makes mention of understanding what more “adult” references mean. She is jealous of the idea that Captain Merrill may introduce a stepmother into their family (S4:E15) (although in S4:E2+3 she was pushing for one). She’s wearing a little more makeup. And here she may be easily lured into getting the wrong idea about money and work. She’s considering things from a grown up perspective and forming her own opinions as she starts her teenage years. I’m going to take a cue from how thoughtfully written the differences between Merrill and his friend Wade were handled in this episode. Merrill didn’t condemn Wade’s way of living, he simply asked his friend to respect the influence this would have on his daughter in a formative time of her life. Wade didn’t condemn Merrill’s values or wishes for his daughter. Man, this storyline made me realize how rare support like that has been in my life at times (present company excluded) and how important it is for me to treat others with whom I differ with respect. Two out of three anchors.