The Gulf Between

Ricks (Brian Kelly) is dating wealthy Diana van der Vlis (as Kathryn Terrence), which pleases Sandy (Luke Halpin), but not Bud (Tommy Norden). Bud is distressed with his father's late hours, and is not up for the social amenities required when the Ricks men accept a dinner invitation from the wealthy Ms. Van der Vlis. At her ritzy "Imperial Jade" apartment building, Bud has a vision of the woman marrying his father. Worst of all, Van der Vlis doesn't "connect" with Flipper. Distraught, Bud gets himself wounded, and trapped in a sea cave…

Interestingly, A father and son talk between Ricks and Bud reveals, for the first time, the otherwise obvious fact that Mrs. Ricks has died - though, since she is described as not "still with us" she could be in jail, divorced, or kidnapped by aliens! BUT, probably not... In the end, Bud decides Van der Vlis is "twitch" - a slang word which must have stayed in the sixties. This episode becomes unsatisfying as the story focus changes abruptly. It's not surprising that Ricks will end this romance, but how is it that he doesn't know where Flipper's home is?

*** The Gulf Between (10/10/64) Hollingsworth Morse ~ Brian Kelly, Tommy Norden, Luke Halpin

...and boy, is Bud mad!

It's your classic story. It's just dad and us boys, and God forbid any woman comes between dad and the boys! Bud isn't into girls yet so he can't quite understand why is father would want to have anything to do with the creatures. He still loves his mother, and the thought of anybody replacing her just borders on crazy.

To be quite honest, I did not like this woman. I think Po should have been a bit ticked off on the way she acted around Flipper - especially considering the fact that Flipper IS part of the family. I thought that was quite insulting...Of course, I suppose she's pretty enough that Po doesn't want to risk ticking her off or something.

The ending was sort of...uh...strange. I thought it interesting that the girlfriend jumps in after injured Bud, but not the father. He calmly watches from the boat while the son he loves could be drowning...

It's hard to know what the gulf is - the gulf between how pre-teen boys see romance and how teen boys see it or perhaps it was the gulf between Flipper and Miss Kathryn Terrence - Porter's new girlfriend. This is the first (and only) genuine romance that Porter has despite some pretty women being on the show and liking Porter. Bud and Sandy react completely differently. Sandy thinks Miss Terrence is awesome, is thrilled for his father's relationship and thinks her luxury apartment would be cool to live in. Bud is resistant on all fronts seeing her as not accepting of Flipper, not wanting to even go and have a meal with her and anxious for his father to not marry. This leads to a sweet and tenderhearted discussion over the subject and the loss of Mrs Ricks between Porter and Bud. The show does an awesome job at showing the tight bond Porter has with his sons.

Mysteriously the plot veers in a completely different direction as Bud paddles off on his board and is caught in a weather change. Sandy is worried about Bud and heads out in the skiff where he finds Porter gallivanting about on the launch with his girlfriend. Bud hides in a cave from the rough waves while Porter follows Flipper to the cave. Flipper eventually manages to tow Bud out and Kathryn is the first to dive in the water to help retrieve Bud which endears her to Bud.

Kathryn tells Bud that she and Porter are just friends. The episode ends with the boys covered in paint as they paint a boat and, since we never see Miss Terrence again, we can assume the romance went nowhere. This episode features a rare occurrence: Porter, Sandy and Bud all dressed in suits and ties - evidence of a time when eating out or social visiting necessitated such formalities even in tropical south Florida.