Previously on The Flying Nun, Revisited…
“The Flying Nun is a hip sixties woman named Sister Bertrille from New York and she just began working at a convent in exceedingly windy San Juan, Puerto Rico. She weighs ninety pounds and her cornette is shaped in such a way that makes it aerodynamic when countered with a large gust of wind. She sings songs to children like The Sound of Music and there’s a local sleazy rich jerk named Carlos that Sister Bertrille is always running into whenever he’s about to kiss a woman. She usually gets into some sort of scheme that involves using his vast wealth or losing his vast wealth. The Flying Nun has a warm but begrudging friendship with the Reverend Mother. She’s also a good mechanic, and allergic to Hibiscus. Her real name is Elsie, and she comes from a family of doctors. She’s good friends with Sister Jacqueline, who narrates the episodes, as well as Sister Sixto. And she’s friendly with birds, whether they talk or have crushes on her.”

Who’s that? It’s Sister Bertrille! What’s she doing? Flying everywhere! Where will she fly next? Let’s see! Cut to present day!

The Flying Nun IMDb

Introduction –
In the modern day, no concept, TV show or movie is ever forgotten. Everything, no matter how stupid, has a fanbase of some kind and ends up getting a sequel, a revival, or a recap podcast with people laughing at jokes they made five to thirty years ago. Why has the long forgotten Sally Field sitcom, The Flying Nun, been left behind? People say we’re in an era of prestige television, and they rant and rave about The Sopranos or Game of Thrones. I’m personally partial to Stranger Things, Parks and Recreation, Severance, and Community. But I feel that we as a society have done ourselves a disservice by walking away from multi-season shows with thirty episodes apiece that aren’t really about anything and have insane plots. Why not give this show, of all shows, the credit it deserves, and celebrate the spiritual sequel to Sally Field’s Gidget, right here and right now? It’s 2025. Let’s ignore all the arguments and chaos and intolerance. Let’s talk about 1967’s The Flying Nun.

The Flying Nun, 2.16: “The Great Casino Robbery, Part One”
We’re starting off with a two parter this time, folks! And the introduction of a non-genetically related Uncle who is very much a swindler and a scoundrel. Uncle Reggie. He’s so clearly a criminal. And he looks like a beefier Colonel Sanders. He soon starts working at Carlos’s casino and bringing in a ton of cash, which then leads to the introduction of a couple of swindlers, who plan to steal said money. The two hatch a plan involving rare coins and being one of those set of probably famous at the time guest stars with unlikable faces and acting ability. The female burglar pretends to be a visiting nun who was working as a missionary in Africa and has Malaria. The man who looks like Superman saunters in while she pretends to have a Malaria attack and nabs the money. You see, Reggie the scoundrel was a red herring so these idiots who end up in a freeze frame shot looking stupid could make their own heist! At the end of the “suspenseful” part one, the sisters are being questioned by… sigh… Captain Fomento, Sister Bertrille is flying off to look for her Uncle, who has mysteriously disappeared, and I am disappointed because my brain kept reading “Train Robbery”.
Episode Rating – 6.6 Sally Fields

The Flying Nun, 2.17: “The Great Casino Robbery, Part Two”
Fomento is interrogating Sister Bertrille and trying to add up the numbers of the times when things happened, a clearly futile act from an unbelievable dunce. God, I hate that man. He’s made this watch-through a lot harder. Sister Bertrille knows her Uncle couldn’t have done it and sets up a sting with Fomento. Once her Uncle turns himself in, they leak to the press that the criminal has been caught, so the real criminals will think they can escape safely. Unfortunately Sister Bertrille reveals this plan to the “visiting Sister” and soon both are tipped off to each other’s true plans. One thing leads to another and Sister Bertrille follows the two of them, steals their car, and captures the crooks when they attempt to leave via boat. That’s not the end, though. Uncle Reggie tries to convince Sister Bertrille to join the Barnum and Bailey circus. Based on very little research I can’t tell if there were descendants running the circus back then. But I don’t know. P.T. Barnum was a bad guy and they made a bad movie about him.
Episode Rating – 6.0 Sally Fields

The Flying Nun, 2.18: “The Boyfriend”
This feels like an episode from a different show. A flu runs through the Convent and lays everyone but Sister Bertrille low, so she does all the work for the Convent for 24 hours, and the Reverend Mother sends her and Sister Jacqueline on vacation. We see, for the first time, Sister Jacqueline’s hair without her habit on. This episode, in addition to the last two, have started the trend of very odd kinds of shots, this one has some slo-mo and some sharp zooms. Weird stuff. Anyway, on vacation, Sister Bertrille runs into an old acquaintance, Randy from summer camp, who now runs a toy company and has a wispy mustache. And these two, who have very different views on the reality of their time together, remember their pasts. In Randy’s reality he was the suave head counselor, the cool guy who wooed the diminutive and desperate Elsie Etherington, and dumped her after eight months. He now believes Sister Bertrille became a nun and joined a convent because she loved him so.
In her version she was attractive and charismatic and played the guitar with such sultry smoothness that she wooed the acne-ridden weirdo, Randy. So Randy, who has a fiancé, starts sending Elsie gifts nonstop asking her to forgive him. He also breaks his engagement and starts seeing his psychiatrist even more after he “thinks he saw Sister Bertrille fly”. The different clips of their perspectives are interesting and it shows a different side of the show. It gives us a romantic side of Sister Bertrille without betraying her station. And it has a nice conclusion, even though it ties into Randy’s delusion and self-importance. Sister Bertrille pretends she still loves Randy via puppets so, without shattering his psyche, he can realize he loves Liz. And to thank her, in advance of his wedding, he makes a Flying Nun toy with a little jetpack, and the two Nuns fly together. This was quite the episode.
Episode Rating – 7.9 Sally Fields

The Flying Nun, 2.19: “The Kleptomonkeyac”
Carlos brings a monkey named Pepe to stay at the Convent. To quote Stan Lee, nuff said. Meanwhile, Captain Fomento is trying to get to the bottom of a crime wave. Someone is stealing worthless objects from nearby houses. And based on the title of the episode, you’ll never guess who it is. Of course there’s already been an episode with a thieving animal. Interesting that we’ve seen this twice now. God, I hate Captain Fomento. The way he talks, the way he waves his stupid switch. The bumbling nature he approaches life with. But here’s the wonderful news, there’s only one more episode with him after this! Hallelujah!
Due to a series of misunderstandings, Sister Jacqueline and the Reverend Mother begin to believe Sister Bertrille is the thief, despite, as I said, the precedent of the thieving dog. What I appreciate is that the Chief of Police calls Fomento to account for accusing the Nuns of crimes five times now and being wrong and incompetent each time. Side note, I googled “Flying Nun Captain Fomento is a terrible character” to see if anyone else has watched this show and talked about it, and I found only links to my blog. That means I really am the foremost modern authority on The Flying Nun. In the end the monkey is caught, and everyone forgives Fomento again. Fomento asks that they put in a good word with the Chief, since his badge has been stripped from him again. They do forgive him, even though he’s an incompetent boob.
Episode Rating – 3.3 Sally Fields for Captain Gaspar Fomento

The Flying Nun, 2.20: “The Moo Is Blue”
The Convent buys a cow! And we get an answer to the age-old misogynistic question, “Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?” Because the farmer needs to move and the milk wasn’t really free to begin with. The farmer, Honest Gonzalo. Like Honest Hernando, the car dealer, I suppose. It seems none of these people are truly honest. The cow won’t produce milk. It’s lonely. Which leads to a funny sight gag of the sisters holding mirrors around the cow and mooing.
This episode also marks the return of Carlos being a childish playboy. He refuses to help Sister Bertrille bring the cow to her original owner to get the milk working. But his current beau is very much on board with the plan. Carlos screams and cries more than he has in the history of the show, falls in the water, gets knocked out, and complains the whole boat ride over. The answer ends up being you need to sing while you milk. Which means we get ANOTHER STUPID MEANINGLESS SONG WHERE EVERYONE CLEARLY SANG SEPARATELY IN A STUDIO AND THE LYRICS MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE!!! I am starting to think this show will drive me insane. Oh, and in the end the Convent still own a cow, so if we don’t see Alicia the cow again it’ll be a massive plot hole.
Episode Rating – 5.4 Sally Fields

Well, we’re flying (Nun) through this season! Next time season two will be at an end! Soon we’ll be done with this terrible wonderful and captivating TV show!