Gwenivere of Glendale
Episode 9 of Fantasy Island season 2 starts with Ruby and Elena on their way to greet their next guests. Elena realizes that Ruby seems happy and in love. Ruby admits she feels light and is hoping to introduce Elena to Isla. The conversation soon turns to Elena and Javier, as Ruby encourages Elena to go for it again.
Soon, Javier and the guest arrive and her name is Gwen. Her fantasy is to be a princess as she thinks that she won’t have to make any decisions. Who can fault her really? Decision-making is never an easy task. Gwen quit medical school and moved in with her parents for the past three years. She is unsure about which career path to take and the pressure has been weighing heavy on her. Ruby tries to comfort her, drawing on her own life experience with kids.
After settling in, Gwen is ready for the pampered life of a princess but the Island throws in a curveball of its own. She wakes up as a Cordovan princess in medieval times set to be engaged to Prince Anton in a few hours. Besides her are two servants, Bea and Fern who have a hard time understanding Gwen’s strange way of speaking.
Upon meeting her fiancé, Gwen is taken by his handsome and seemingly gentlemanly manners. Unfortunately, an attempt on the princess’s life causes Fern to be poisoned when tasting her food. Suspicions fall on the Northern Kingdom who are apparently unhappy with Cordova’s decision to align with the West through marriage. Gwen uses her medical knowledge to save Fern.
Amid all this chaos, Elena visits Gwen in her fantasy and checks on her. Obviously, Gwen is not exactly pleased with how her fantasy is going. She wanted pampering and jewels and saving her handmaid from cyanide poisoning was not in her fantasy plans.
In the middle of the night, Prince Anton sends his servant Lance to bring Gwen to him. Prince Anton insists on them expediting their marriage. He makes it clear that Gwen has no choice but to get married to him the next morning to save Cordova. He orders Gwen to convince her father or else there will be trouble. Not so much the charming prince we first met!
Away from Gwen’s fantasy, Elena asks Javier for a chance to explain the circumstances of their break up when he is free. On the other side of the island, Ruby finds herself sleepwalking along the beach when Isla spots her. Later, Ruby seeks clarification from Isla about the status of their relationship.
Back to Gwen’s fantasy, Bea advises Gwen to put aside her concerns that Prince Anton is up to no good and get married. Lance arrives and informs Gwen that Prince Anton requests her presence. At first, Gwen is hesitant but Bea pushes her to meet him.
It turns out that Lance uncovered that Prince Anton was the one who attempted to kill Gwen. Prince Anton wants to launch a war against the North and kill Gwen. He intends to blame it on the North and justify his war. He also needs Cordova’s port which will give him a great strategic advantage for an attack by sea. She is merely a valuable pawn in his game.
Lance is determined to save her and helps her flee the palace into the woods. They have to cross the Northern Border to be safe from Prince Anton but night soon rolls by. They set up a place to rest and Gwen and Lance bond with each other. Lance believes that Gwen is a strong, impressive woman who can rise from this. They end up sleeping together.
In the middle of the night, Gwen wakes up to fetch more firewood for their fire and Prince Anton’s men find Lance. They arrest him and take him back to Cordova. Gwen decides to go back as well and save him. She disguises herself in her clothes and enters the palace. She quickly finds her way to Bea and asks her for help. Bea finds it hard to believe that Prince Anton is trying to kill Gwen. Gwen asks her to summon the King when she goes to rescue Lance in the dungeon.
Away from the Fantasy, Ruby starts getting suspicious about Isla’s true identity. She tries to talk to Elena but she is also venting about Javier. Elena starts paying attention when Ruby says she keeps hearing a melody in her head every time she thinks of Isla. She thinks Isla might be a siren or a mermaid. Elena seems disturbed to hear this and tells Ruby that mermaids aren’t real.
Elena later finds Isla and asks her to stay away from Ruby. It seems they have bad blood between them and she won’t let her take Ruby. Isla challenges her to do her best as she feels sure that she has Ruby hypnotized and Elena can’t save her.
Back to our Princess Gwen, she makes it to the dungeon and rescues Lance but he is badly injured and can’t keep up. Gwen knows how to save him from bleeding out but she is scared to perform the procedure. She is still traumatized by what one of her ill-natured professors in medical school who she idolized once told her.
Thankfully, Elena appears and sets her straight and gives her the breakthrough she was looking for. Ultimately, Gwen saves Lance and Prince Anton and Bea are arrested. Cordova’s peace is restored. Gwen realizes that she is strong and she can’t let other people’s words deter her from her future.
The fantasy ends and Elena introduces to Lance who, as it turns out, was a comic book artist who completed his own fantasy. Lance’s fantasy was to be a hero. They hit it off immediately and look happy together.
Night rolls by and Elena spots Ruby waiting for Isla along the beach. She suggests they raid the resort kitchen and have a fun girls’ night. By the next morning, Ruby can no longer remember the tune she had in her mind every time she thought of Isla. Elena is pleased to hear it, so they send off Gwen and Lance off with best wishes. Gwen is excited as she decided to return to medical school.
The episode ends with Javier telling Elena he doesn’t want to hear an explanation of what led to their breakup. He says it doesn’t matter and he wishes to stay mad at Elena for hurting him and won’t give her a chance to do it again.
The Episode Review
This episode kind of reminded me of The Legend of the Seeker, which was a good show. I am glad that Gwen moved past the trauma and made a decision for her future. She even got a boyfriend to boot, so hopefully the relationship goes well too!
Elena keeps making decisions for the people she loves without talking to them about the issues at hand. Javier is right, it is a hurtful thing to do because the decision affects them all. They have the right to weigh in on such decisions. She is doing the same thing with Ruby and Isla.
I am sure Isla is trouble but Elena should have told Ruby the truth. This is not the way you protect the people you love in these cases!
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Episode Rating
(3.5)