Fantasy Island Season 1, Episode 3 recap: Quantum Entanglement

This week’s episode of Fantasy Island focuses on two people both searching for something they’re missing. Fantasy Island Episode 3, “Quantum Entanglement,” introduces us to Eileen and Professor Charles Wakefield.

When we first meet Eileen (Debbi Morgan), she appears to be a carefree, high-spirited individual intent on having a good time. She blows off Javier’s normal flight plan and hitches a ride on a helicopter instead and then, once she meets Elena, immediately requests a martini. It doesn’t take long to learn that Eileen is wearing a facade in many ways.

She’s come to the island to reconnect with her daughter Theodora (Mieko Hillman), who cut her mother out of her life years ago. One night, Theo left Eileen in charge of her baby son Freddy and Eileen left him alone in his crib to seek out a neighboring party. Theo was understandably furious with her mother for endangering her son that way. And that incident was just one of many.

Despite Eileen remaining adamant that she gave Theo an excellent childhood, the island soon reveals that her version of events isn’t entirely true.

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For Eileen to learn why Theo has so much resentment toward her, she becomes invisible while watching Theo, her husband, and her son enjoys their vacation on the island. When Eileen approaches her daughter, she is shocked that Theo can’t hear her or see her. Elena informs her that perhaps she needs to listen, for once.

Fantasy Island Episode 3 recap: Charles seeks the unexplainable

The other new attendee to the island this week, Charles (Cliff Chamberlain), is a physics professor and astronomer who has always wanted to see something unexplainable. “Everything in the universe is explainable and I find that unbearable.”

Well, surprisingly, Charles’s fantasy is solved by another island guest: Eileen. While Charles can’t see Eileen, he notices something sitting on her bed when he walks by her villa. Then Eileen makes herself known by blowing on the window and introducing herself in the condensation. Spooked, Charles makes a run for it.

But later, they reconnect again and realize that Eileen can communicate with Charles via touch. In a surprisingly heartfelt connection, the two start to bond, and through Charles, Eileen starts realizing the error of selfish ways.

It also helps that Elena transports Eileen to her memory of a trip to Peru. Watching it back, Eileen realizes that Theo didn’t enjoy herself as Eileen had thought. Instead, she sees her daughter crying and a stranger approaches to assist her while Eileen is off tripping on ayahuasca in the past.

Fantasy Island Episode 3 recap: Charles helps Eileen reconnect with Theo

On Fantasy Island, Charles and Eileen get into a spat after Charles sees Eileen’s negative traits. But then Elena stops him from leaving by pointing out that he and Eileen share a few things in common, like their inability to see things from someone else’s perspective.

Charles and Eileen reconnect and share a kiss. He agrees to help her talk to Theo. This time, Eileen apologizes to her daughter and says that even if she isn’t ready to forgive her, she’ll keep trying. Theo and Eileen share a tearful reconciliation, and Eileen becomes visible again.

To celebrate, the family, now joined by Charles, host a big breakfast with Elena, Javier, and Ruby alongside them. Eileen reveals that she and her family plan to stay on the island a little longer to have a proper vacation.

Before Fantasy Island Episode 3 wraps, Elena does something nice for Ruby, who has been struggling and missing her family. She manages to bring a few of Ruby’s favorite items from home, like her old chair, new photographs, and Mel’s letter. It’s all very touching, but given Ruby’s expression, as she walks away, I have to wonder if she’ll decide to return home by the end of the season.

New episodes of Fantasy Island air Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.