McHale's Navy (TV Series) My Son, the Skipper (1966) User Reviews

This episode is tough to take.

[kfo9494 · 4/10 · 24 November 2014]

In this Ernest Borgnine lite episode, we have Binghamton advising that McHale is being transferred. In reality, the Skipper has gone to training but the men believe that he is really gone. This plays right into the hands of Binghamton as his plan is coming together.

He promotes Ensign Parker to skipper of the PT 73 and only if he is rough and tough enough to handle the job. So Parker goes into this wild-man type mold and starts working the crew like dogs. When Parker volunteers the crew for a dangerous mission, the crew thinks they have had enough of Parker and put in for transfers. Binghamton's plan has worked. But when they hear that McHale is returning, they want their papers back which Binghamton is not going to return.

This was no where near a good script. Between the child-like antics of Parker and a foolish enemy attack scene, nothing in this episode is believable. It may have sounded like a nice idea but it just never played well on the screen. You also have to deal with Ernest Borgnine saying a few lines before the opening credit and then his noticeable absents the rest of the broadcast. Guess he had to skip the week of filming- too bad the writers did not do the same.

When Parker turns commander, he becomes a tough cookie

[FlushingCaps · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

We begin with the captain delivering sealed orders to McHale, telling him he is being transferred. He is told not to open the orders until he's on the boat. This is because he is only ordered away for a two-week conference. The second part of Binghamton's evil plot in this one is to pretend he has nobody but Chuck to take over command of the boat. He further tells Chuck that he needs to be super tough, hard on his men, so they'll respect him.

So Chuck orders 5 a.m. exercises and even volunteers them for a suicide mission. Then men reject and head to Binghamton to complain. He dismisses them, but waits while they read a notice on the door before they leave, telling about instant transfers they can have. They fall for it and all request transfers-figuring McHale is gone for good and Parker is no good as the head man.

When Parker comes to the office, Carpy blabs about McHale returning, the dumb way he always blabs about info, so Parker tells the men and they are all sorry they fell for it. Gruber comes up with a scheme to get the transfer requests back-the ones Binghamton didn't even trust to his wall safe, only to his inside coat pocket.

They trick Binghamton onto the 73 to get Chuck's transfer request, and while they are below deck, the boat pulls away, with them telling Binghamton they got orders from Comfleet to go to the same place Binghamton's fake suicide mission was to be. They land (with the landing spot looking just like all the times the 73 pulled up next to a South Pacific island) and as they walk away from the boat, insisting Binghamton go with them, machine gun fire bursts out. Parker orders three men to advance, and they all fall down, playing dead. We know it's not the krauts, but Fuji doing his best impression of a German soldier. The other two do the same act, then Mr. Parker does the same, but before he pretends to pass out, he gets the captain to rip up the transfer orders. See, Binghamton is distraught to think the men are all killed.

Right then, a German plane comes by, shooting at them all. So the act is over, they all get up and head for safety, revealing to the captain how they tricked him back.

It was ridiculous that Binghamton didn't see any sign of blood as he looked at the "killed" men, but in these farcical scenes, we aren't supposed to look for realism.

Unlike the other reviewer from 2014, I found several scenes amusing, including Parker being a tough boss in drilling the men. He was also good being buddy-buddy with the captain in his office. This wasn't a great episode, but a pretty funny one-an 8 out of 10.