This episode was an excellent lesson for the boys about life in the real world. They buy an old air boat making a down payment with $25 they had saved but the owner holds out for $100 telling the boys to pay the rest off in a year. The bright idea is to run tours into the Everglades. Porter points out that the repayments must come from profit not turnover and that the boys have school, chores and homework first to take care of.
Then the boys find out the boat is falling apart and it does so at the most inopportune time - as Sandy is racing from the Everglades to find Porter to help rescue Flipper trapped in the shallow swamp grass. Sandy must in turn dodge sharks to make it to a buoy where Porter rescues him and then on to rescuing Flipper before an alligator gets him - all the while Bud must try and protect the exposed Flipper from the burning Florida sun. Lots of excitement to go around!
The TV show that was similar that I first remember as a child was Gentle Ben which was set in the Everglades and featured air boats all the time. I didn't see Flipper on TV until it was into re-runs and I associated southern Florida with the Everglades and air boats so it was strange to be well into Season 2 before a single air boat is used. I guess it's because Flipper was set in the Keys and featured mostly Atlantic Ocean, lagoon and Gulf of Mexico water locations. Anyway this episode highlights the unusual beauty and dramatic wildlife of the Everglades as well as its perils.
Finally what happens to the air boat? It's never seen again until the last episode of Season 3 so are we to assume that the boys' tourism plan came to nothing? Given how strict Porter has been up until now, it seemed a little incongruous for him to let the boys keep the boat and not exchange it right away which is what my parents would've done if I was their age and yet he alludes to Sandy being out in the air boat with paying customers as he chides Bud for his laziness.
Coolest scene: Sandy doing what any 16 year old boy would do with a new boat or car - pushing the airboat to its limit slaloming through the Everglades. Funny line: Bud surveys what looks like a sea of saw grass and asks how the airboat could make it across to which Sandy replies "are you kidding, this thing will run on a sponge".
Then the boys find out the boat is falling apart and it does so at the most inopportune time - as Sandy is racing from the Everglades to find Porter to help rescue Flipper trapped in the shallow swamp grass. Sandy must in turn dodge sharks to make it to a buoy where Porter rescues him and then on to rescuing Flipper before an alligator gets him - all the while Bud must try and protect the exposed Flipper from the burning Florida sun. Lots of excitement to go around!
The TV show that was similar that I first remember as a child was Gentle Ben which was set in the Everglades and featured air boats all the time. I didn't see Flipper on TV until it was into re-runs and I associated southern Florida with the Everglades and air boats so it was strange to be well into Season 2 before a single air boat is used. I guess it's because Flipper was set in the Keys and featured mostly Atlantic Ocean, lagoon and Gulf of Mexico water locations. Anyway this episode highlights the unusual beauty and dramatic wildlife of the Everglades as well as its perils.
Finally what happens to the air boat? It's never seen again until the last episode of Season 3 so are we to assume that the boys' tourism plan came to nothing? Given how strict Porter has been up until now, it seemed a little incongruous for him to let the boys keep the boat and not exchange it right away which is what my parents would've done if I was their age and yet he alludes to Sandy being out in the air boat with paying customers as he chides Bud for his laziness.
Coolest scene: Sandy doing what any 16 year old boy would do with a new boat or car - pushing the airboat to its limit slaloming through the Everglades. Funny line: Bud surveys what looks like a sea of saw grass and asks how the airboat could make it across to which Sandy replies "are you kidding, this thing will run on a sponge".
