'Fantasy Island': How does Elena help Christine? Episode 1 addresses body dysmorphia
For the guests that arrive on 'Fantasy Island', it's a place where your wildest dreams come true. However, as with everything that goes on here, what you want might not always be what you.
Fox's reboot stars Roselyn Sanchez as Elena Roarke, the island stewardess who helps guests understand where their deepest desires stem from and how it affects their mind, body and soul. In the first episode of the series, Elena helps two guests -- Christine Collins and an elderly couple named Ruby and Mel.
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When news reporter Christine Collins (played by Bellamy Young) shows up on the island, she has but one wish -- to eat without gaining a single ounce. After a meltdown on national TV over a box of donuts, Christine reveals that she is under a lot of pressure as a TV personality. Competition is tough, and he has to be slim, prim and proper or else she'll lose her job.
After years of eating nothing to maintain her figure, all she wants to do is eat. Elena begins to probe and ask her what she wants, to which Christine responds that she wants to eat without consequences and certainly doesn't need a therapist, she already has one. She recounts an incident when she had a fun date during her younger years and ate some pizza and dessert. However, when a viewer pointed out that she had put on weight soon after, Christine's battle with food began.
Christine continues to consume a copious amount of food, with the menu often being things she's always wanted to try, like the dragon rolls the girls in her office eat and more. However, when she sees a childhood snack that her mother made for her, she is startled and claims she doesn't want it. Elena reminds her that the island is aware of her wants and desires and thus presents her with food that comes with a sense of familiarity.
As the buffet changes, a giant cake makes its way to Christine. She is startled at its imposing structure and claims she doesn't want it. In an attempt to push it away, she gets stuck in a flashback. Here, she is transported back to her mother's wedding, which she was present for as a young girl.
However, Christine is a much different person back then -- she's a young girl whose real name is Crystal Jo Stephens. Christine watches as her former self seems happy with her mother and now has a new stepfather. Although they don't have much, Crystal was happy. However, it is soon revealed that her mother is gravely ill.
A young Crystal expresses her dream to become a TV news anchor. Her mother is supportive, but her stepfather points out that she would have to get her teeth fixed and lose weight if she wanted to pursue this dream. He helps her change her appearance to fit society's standard of beauty, but it gravely harms her self-esteem in the process. Christine wakes up in the present day and is shaken by the whole memory, but Elena later reminds her that the island shows her what she needs to see.
Christine continues to consume food at an alarming rate until suddenly, a physical manifestation of Landon, her stepfather, appears. He berates her and reminds her that she is a 'trailer park hick' and so is her late mother and everything she is today is because of him.
Christine is distraught, and this image of her stepfather doesn't leave her. He confronts her again, but she smashes a tumbler on his head in a fit of rage this time. On seeing what she did, she runs out. Elena meets her, and while Christine tries to explain that she has done something terrible, Elena brushes it aside and invites her to her final feast. Here, Christine notices Landon being spit-roasted over an open flame.
The following day, after her 'final feast', Christine wakes up and realizes that she is not hungry anymore, and for the first time in a long time, she is happy. As she prepares to leave the island, she talks to Elena, thanking her for everything. She realizes why Landon showed up after all these years -- it was because her terrible relationship with food started at such a young age, she needed to address the root cause. She spent so much time trying to keep him happy, her viewers happy and more, that she lost sight of what matters the most -- her health and happiness. Elena is glad she finally found what she was looking for, and Christine leaves the island a new woman.
Watch new episodes of 'Fantasy Island' on Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox.