Originally aired September 28, 1968
Director: Gene Reynolds
Writer: Bill Idelson & Harvey Miller
Guest Stars: Yvonne Craig as Gladys Zimmerman
Jonathan Daly as Harvey Dillman
Rating: 4.5 Bells
Synopsis: (Note - this is the FX version)
An eloping couple, Harvey Dillman and Gladys Zimmerman, comes upon Gull Cottage in the middle of a rainy night as their car has breaks down. They are rather spooked by the house, but go in to find somewhere to stay. Carolyn scares them as she comes down the stairs to investigate. She invites then to stay just as Martha appears from her room armed with a poker. As the couple are not yet married, Gladys is to take the spare room upstairs and Harvey will stay in the living room alcove.
The Captain appears to Carolyn while she makes up the spare room to express his displeasure at their houseguests. He has work to do in the alcove, and Harvey will be in the way. The couple comes in, catching Carolyn "talking to herself". The Captain makes his displeasure known by opening and closing windows, relighting blown out candles, and folding up Harvey's bed. Because of these incidents and other . . . urges, Harvey tries to finagle his way into the spare room with Gladys.
The Captain comes to Carolyn to get her to get rid of the guests. She is sympathetic to the young couple and tells him that they couldn't leave anyway due to the broken down car. So Captain Gregg (in a very humorous little scene) tries to fix the car, and makes a grand mess of the whole thing. When he reappears to Carolyn all smudged and dirty, she can't help but laugh at his "bedraggled" appearance. The Captain muses over how to scare them off, and Carolyn threatens never to speak to him again if he does. Realizing that if the two were only married, he calls on Claymore (quite cordially, by the way) to come to the house to marry the couple.
The entire household is awake by now for the wedding; Candy will be the flower girl and Jonathan, the best man. Martha comments, "At this time of night, you can't be too choosy." The Captain plays the Wedding March as Gladys processes in. Martha is very touched that she is wearing Carolyn's wedding dress. As Jonathan gives Gladys to Harvey, the Captain hits a clinker on the piano; Carolyn flinches. As Claymore begins the ceremony, Carolyn glances briefly towards the Captain as he gazes at her. She looks back to Claymore, then slowly turns back to meet the Captain's gaze which he has kept fixed on her. The ceremony finishes, Carolyn and the Captain look one last time at one another, rather sadly, as Claymore pronounces Gladys and Harvey husband and wife. Once Jonathan locates the ring, Martha shouts tearfully "Well, you're married!" Harvey rapidly grabs Gladys by the hand to head upstairs ("It's late. . . everyone needs to get to bed"), while the Captain returns to his work, pausing thoughtfully to reflect on the night's events.
The newlyweds leave the next morning, their car repaired, amid a shower of rice thrown by the family . . . and the Captain.
Favorite Moments:
When Captain Gregg reappears in the bedroom after messing with the car. Carolyn's laughing at him is priceless.
When the "player piano" makes a mistake. I laugh out loud at that and Carolyn's reaction every time.
And, of course, the longing looks in the wedding scene.
Favorite Quotes:
"You just look so. . .so bedraggled."
Least Favorite Whatever:
This episode has never really come to my mind as one of my favorites, but it really is quite charming. Other than the fact that the actor playing Harvey annoys me slightly, I really cannot cite any other things that I don't like about this episode.
Notes of Special Interest:
Yvonne Craig is best known as Bat Girl from the Batman TV series.
Hope Lange has a shorter haircut in this, the second episode, than the pilot or later first season episodes, perhaps episodes were shown out of order from their original filming.
I find the frequent bedroom innuendo between the couple very interesting for the time that this show was on. Although they are extremely low key by today's standards, I think they actually got away with quite a lot in this episode.
Regarding the progressing romance between the Captain and the Mrs., she has been very sentimental about the couple all along, and I think that during the wedding scene, many feelings surge to the foreground in her mind, both about her deceased husband (after all, Gladys is wearing Carolyn's dress), and the attraction she feels toward the Captain. That whole sequence is rather bittersweet.
And the most monumental thing to note is, of course, the first appearrance of Claymore's wild, red and blue argyle jammies.
Contritubed by Laura Ware