A Middle-East Sultan is about to visit Taratupa, along with his three young adult daughters. The way Taratupa had so many visiting dignitaries I'm surprised Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin didn't have one of their famous conferences there at some point.
To keep McHale away from them, Binghamton sends them on a remote mission to some useless island far from the base. But airplane trouble forces them to land on a remote island and the admiral needs Binghamton to send someone to pick them up. As Binghamton tells the admiral he doesn't have a boat in that area, Elroy corrects him by reminding him that the 73 is near there. Binghamton knew that but didn't want McHale anywhere near the sultan. But the admiral overheard, so McHale is radioed to pick up the VIPs.
On meeting the sultan, he makes it clear to McHale and his men that if anyone touches/or otherwise gets too close to his daughters, he will behead them. En route to the base, we see Chuck and two of the daughters at the bridge, and Chuck rises the ire of the sultan when he steers a sharp turn and leans into the girls by accident, but he insists he kept his hands off, and the sultan just glares at him. Surprisingly, the sultan seems unconcerned that one of the three daughters is nowhere in sight. We get a glimpse of her coming up from below with Virgil, aka "Lover boy" right behind.
McHale charms the sultan, including letting him steer the boat. Everything is good when they arrive at the base. The sultan even insists McHale be invited to the party that Binghamton is giving him that night.
As McHale leaves, we learn the Virgil has scored a date with that daughter where he plans to take her out on the 73-just the two of them. The men all scheme to get Parker to not see how they get Virgil away with the boat.
At the party, the sultan tells the admiral how much he liked steering the boat and it is suggested that he do so again before dinner is served. When McHale phones to have them bring the 73 over to the base, he is shocked to learn where it is. It gets worse when Virgil reports that the engine's conked out and he is stranded out on the ocean with the daughter.
Parker goes to the guest hut to tell the two sisters what happened to their other sister, just before Binghamton, on instructions from the sultan, goes to their hut to tell them the sultan has moved dinner up and they are to come right away to their father for the dinner, instead of an hour from then.
What to do about the missing daughter? Viewers of this series could see this coming. Chuck, thanks to the sisters' idea, will be disguised as the third daughter. He thinks he is just supposed to go there and eat. But as soon as they arrive, father commands them to dance for everyone at the party.
Chuck isn't in sync with the others, is awkward with his tambourine, and turns away from the audience at all the wrong times. The sultan, inexplicably, spends most of the dance trying various appetizers, not really watching. At one point, Chuck's veil falls down revealing his face to Binghamton.
Binghamton tries to show the sultan that one of the three is not his daughter, but McHale whisks the girls outside the room before he can do so. About two seconds after Chuck and the girls exit, three figures comes back into the room, and we viewers can see clearly that Chuck is not one of them. Binghamton is ready to show the sultan that one of them is an imposter. He shocks the sultan by pulling the veils off the first two girls, and then the third.
He further offends the sultan by saying that one of the girls looked just like his nitwit ensign. The sultan leaves in a huff, smashing a tambourine over Binghamton's head.
There is a further piece of silliness involving Binghamton and Parker-still clad as one of the daughters, that was just a throwaway scene, a tag ending.
I thought this was one of the too-dumb-to-be-funny plots. Virgil happily making a date with the daughter, knowing the sultan would literally kill him if he caught him-come on, he's lover boy, with all the pretty girls happy to date him, why does he need this forbidden one?
The two sisters getting Chuck to pose as the third sister was dumb. They should have expected their father to command them to dance, and obviously Chuck wouldn't know what to do. Not knowing the particular dance, Fred Astaire would look awkward trying to dance along with them.
And what proud father has his adult girls dance for a crowd without really paying any attention? The sultan should have spotted the imposter immediately.
What's with these faulty navy engines? In one episode, an airplane and a PT boat both have engine trouble.
Not horrible, but not a very funny one either-a 5.
I wish to note that Happy was on this episode, suggesting it was filmed as part of season 2, but not aired until season 3 when he had left the case. It is the only episode, according to IMDB, he was on that wasn't part of the first two seasons.
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