Three best friends set out to track down the missing fourth member of their squad…in 1980s Miami.

CSI Miami, the Fantasy Island edition? This week, Jessica Fletcher’s sisters from another mister dream of a world where they find out what happened to their friend who went missing under suspicious circumstances in the 80s. It’s more like Miami Vice for a few scenes as we get a smorgasbord of shoulder pads, neon, and electric beats in a nightclub scene that’s way too bright and clean to be at all realistic! Not that I was in clubs in the 80s, but the 90s weren’t that different.

The Island’s magic gives each of them their heart-to-heart with their long-lost pal, unlocking issues they’re all currently facing in the real world. As Elena checks in with them soon afterwards, she explains that this is a version of their friend… but they follow the breadcrumbs to leave a lifesaving clue for their troubled BFF, and that’s where the plot loses me – despite the happy ending it enables.

If this is a fantasy, then surely it doesn’t involve actual time travel? As Elena has explained many times, guests see versions of themselves, versions of the past, yes, but it’s never been suggested that guests can actually travel back in time to rewrite events from their lives… in fact, quite the opposite – it’s often been about coming to terms with the past in a healthy way, or learning to make better choices to improve your situation as it is rather than retconning your own history. It’s not really clear at all, and it feels like there’s a breach of the basic ‘rules’ of the Fantasy Island world, a cardinal sin of genre fiction.

Verdict: Strike one, Fantasy Island. You get points for the Prince reference though. 6/10

Claire Smith