Season 4, Episodes 1 - 3: 22 September - 6 October 1972 The Hawaii Trilogy: the second three-parter to kick off a new season and Season Four starts out with all the promise that updated opening titles and another funky new theme arrangement bring with them. From the moment Mike walks in the door with a box of airline tickets and announces that the entire family, inclusive of housekeeper Alice, are heading to Hawaii, it just keeps getting better. You see all of this is thanks to the world's most benevolent boss, Mr Phillips, who's told Mike to "take the whole family along at company expense". Presumably he already knew they weren't a family of four by the time the offer was made. As soon as the Bradys arrive in Hawaii, weird stuff starts happening. Like the way Mike's hair is straight when he gets off the plane but curly by the time they've been driven to the hotel. They must've stopped off on the way for a quick perm. Manperms were 'all the rage' in 1972. Part 1, 'Hawaii Bound', features some beautiful footage shot at various locations around Honolulu and, in particular, at the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor. Bobby finds a small white tiki statue on his father's building site but, unaware of the Polynesian tabu attached to the idol, he claims it's a good luck charm and hangs it around his neck. Later, when Greg hits a heavy wall ornament above Bobby's bed with a pillow, causing it to fall, Bobby believes the good luck charm saved him from being hit. After losing the idol, Alice later finds it and is wearing it while taking a hula lesson, during which she suffers a painful lower-back injury. Having miraculously recovered, she gives the idol back to Bobby, who on-gifts it to Greg as good luck for a surfing competition. Greg's wearing the tiki when he comes off his surfboard and falls onto rocks as the episode's cliffhanger. In Part 2, 'Pass The Tabu', the idol does the rounds a bit before ending up in Jan's beach bag and, shortly afterwards, a dirty great tarantula finds its way in there too. The idol gets whored about some more before landing around Peter's neck as he heads off to bed that night. In one of the series' most iconic scenes, in the middle of the night the giant spider from Jan's bag ends up on Peter's chest, staring at the idol. The boys decide the little statue's been the source of more than enough bad luck and, having discovered how to break the tabu, they head off in search of the ancient burial ground of the kings. Cue special guest appearance of the brilliant Vincent Price as loopy archaeologist Professor Hubert Whitehead as the episode's cliffhanger. Part 3, 'The Tiki Caves', is primarily concerned with the boys' discovery of the ancient burial grounds and the subsequent discovery of their presence within by the slightly insane Professor Whitehead, who wants to claim the burial grounds and its treasures as his own discovery. Paranoid that the boys have come to steal his glory, the Professor consults with one of the giant tiki statues who he names as Oliver. After trying unsuccessfully to scare the boys away, he captures them and ties them to totem poles. They escape multiple times, but never elude their captor entirely. Back at the Honolulu Hilton with it's plush shag-pile carpet and endlessly interconnecting rooms, Mom & Dad break the girls' silence and go in search of the boys. In a thick forest under cover of half-darkness, they still conveniently manage to eyeball a trail of popcorn and assume it to be Bobby's - "Bobby's always eating popcorn", you see. Natural conclusion I guess. The boys are being tied up again just as Mike and Carol reach the end of the trail, but instead of going ballistic and reporting the crazy old Professor to police as some kind of weird-ass twisted kid-stealing freak who shares an intimate bond with giant inanimate timber carvings, the Bradys instead decide to back the Professor up in reporting the caves as his own discovery to the State of Hawaii. Like you do. The whole story's neatly wrapped up with a luau, thrown in honour of "the illustrious Doctor Whitehead's amazing archaeological discoveries". He's also appointed curator of the new Whitehead wing of the museum. Obviously tying a few kids up in some caves does wonders for your career. The Brady family are also honoured as Kama'aina, or 'old Hawaiian friends'. They all sit around blowing the Horn of Brotherhood for a while, before packing up their rubber sandals, floral swim shorts and Hawaiian shirts and flying off into the sunset. Without a doubt, THE best Brady Bunch (three) episode(s) ever!
I'm just a guy who loves words. I discover vast tracts of uncharted enjoyment by chucking words together and coming up with stuff that talks about the things I enjoy and love most. I'm also a massive listaholic, so I'm probably talking about a list, looking at a list or banging away at another What Culture list as you read this. My tone's pretty relaxed and conversational, with a liberal sprinkling of sparkling wit, wilting sarcasm and occasional faux-condescension - with tongue almost always firmly planted in cheek.
