In Review: Fantasy Island (S1 – EP5) Twice in a Lifetime

Synopsis: In Twice in a Lifetime. Nisha wants the Island to help her decide between marrying her parent’s proposed match, Savin, or her longtime boyfriend, Josh.

The Story

When Nisha has to choose between her longtime boyfriend Josh and Savin, the man that her parents have selected for her. She goes to the Island for help in deciding who she should spend the rest of her life with. However, she doesn’t quite expect to be living out two lifetimes in order to help her make the decision. And as issues arise in both relationships. Nisha begins to learn a few important life lessons.

Elsewhere, Elana’s jeep breaks down while she is driving home and she ends up calling on Javier for some help. As the two spend time together a romantic spark ignites but is this Javier’s fantasy taking shape or is it a real thing?

The Acting

Anuja Joshi puts in a solid performance as Nisha who seems to be very goal orientated as she has a list for pretty much everything. We also get solid performances from her two husbands Josh (Andy Favreau) and Savin (Dhruv Uday Singh). There’s a scene in this episode where Nisha is looking to move her mother in with the family. Josh is reluctant to do so whereas Savin who is from a traditional Indian Family like Nisha suggests that they take care of her mum. For a fleeting second. I thought this scene was going to decide who Nisha chooses. But thankfully that wasn’t the case.

We also get fun performances this week from Roselyn Sanchez and John Gabriel Rodriquez as Elena and Javier get to know each other as they spend a night under the stars. It’s been apparent that there is an attraction between Elena and Javier since the first episode. So am glad that the writers got to play with it a little here. However, I’m a bit annoyed by the ambiguity of whether their play date was real or just Javier’s fantasy.

Overall

Twice in a Lifetime is not a bad episode, but it’s not the best we have seen thus far. After last week’s story. I was kind of hoping that this show was going to pick up its game a little bit. It seems to be that the writers are lacking in the imagination that the original series had. As we seem to have had three week’s worth of romance storylines. Don’t get me wrong. I like the odd romance story, but three weeks are on a trot is a bit much. Where is the one about the footballer whose career ended because he blew his knee? And his fantasy if to score just one more touchdown. Or any number of other fantasy’s that you could put a dark twist on. Like the millionaire slimeball that wants to be president.

Overall. A fun story, but I kind of guessed the ending within the opening five minutes. The actors did a good job with it. But as far as the story went. It was a little predictable.