I see the original 1977 Fantasy Island through nostalgia-colored glasses, making it hard for any island-come-lately to compete in my eyes. So I was happily surprised when I enjoyed the premiere of the 2021 revival, complete with a relative or the original Mr. Roarke and a new sidekick named Ruby. In the second of the episode’s two subplots (“Mel Loves Ruby”), there is even a bit of time-related fantasy when the island makes Ruby young again (although without sending her back in time).

As with the first episode of the 2021 Fantasy Island revival, the second has no actual time travel, but the side-plot (“The Heartbreak Hotel”) does have a time-related phenomenon when Elena and Mr. Jones try to connect with a grieving widower who wakens only once every five years to see whether life is worth living.

The new Fantasy Island inches closer to actual time travel when Elana helps “invisible” Eileen understand her relationship with her grown daughter by acting as a Dickensian guide and showing Eileen how her daughter experienced growing up. And young Ruby receives news of how her family is managing without her.

Finally! Some Actual Time Travel™ as Elena takes young drummer Alma Garcia back to 1967 Havana to learn the real story of the musical grandfather who abandoned his family decades ago—and the role Alma played in that single, static timeline.

The Island takes Nisha into two different versions of her future life in order to help her decide which man to marry. Only the Island knows whether Nisha is actually time traveling or merely experiencing potential futures, but the story’s ending suggests the latter. And meanwhile, out in the Island wilderness, Elena and Javier share intimate moments.

Lifetime friends Camille, Margot, and Nettie are celebrating their 50th birthdays on the Island along with a bit of time-slowing for Margot and a non-interactive trip to view a potential future for all three.

Brian Cole, a hard-core survivalist, faces his greatest challenge: working with and understanding his own young self.

To help Miss Marshall find her way in the real wrld, the Island sends her to Victorian England to spend time with her favorite author.