As the 6th episode of Around The World In 80 Days begins, Thomas Kneedling (Anthony Flanagan) tells someone to put the bill on Phileas Fogg’s account. We see a small boat with Phileas (David Tennant), Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma), and Abigail (Leonie Benesch) on it. Fogg screams at the top of his lungs hoping to get help, but nobody hears them. They begin discussing Thomas who seemed to know them and their names. Passepartout tries to change the subject while saying they should make the best of the situation although Fogg says there isn’t one because they’re lost at sea. After the intro, Phileas wakes up on a beach on the 47th day of his journey. Once he stands up and takes a swig from his flask, he begins screaming for Abigail and Passepartout. Abigail begins running toward him and they agree that Passepartout likely survived as well. They find his jacket on the ground and Abigail starts worrying that he could be dead.

She doesn’t know why she is crying since she often found him irritating. They near him before looking over and spotting him hanging onto a piece of wood in the water. Since they don’t know where they are, Phileas suggests following the beach until they find signs of civilization. As they walk along the beach, Phileas speculates they’re somewhere on the coastline of Japan, Philippines, or Formosa. He tells the others about an article he read saying there could be isolated tribes in the area that had never encountered an outsider. Abigail Fix continues eyeballing and thinking about Passepartout as Fogg rambles. They walk for a long time while Abigail reveals her desire to have a soak in a hot bath once they reach civilization. They realize they’re quickly running out of water. Phileas says the sun has moved from their left to right and back again as Passepartout finds footprints in the stand.

Although Passepartout and Abigail are excited, Phileas isn’t because he knows the footprints belong to them. He confidently says they’re on an island and walked all around it. Phileas begins proving his theory. As Phileas curses, Nyle Bellamy (Peter Sullivan) enters the club and gets a letter from Wellington. When he opens the letter, he is told that the wager is won so he can stop. Bernard Fortescue (Jason Watkins) asks if he has good news. He confirms his small business venture has turned remarkably favorable. Abigail says they have to survive until they’re rescued. She is going to forage for food while Passepartout gets water. Phileas will be responsible for finding shelter although he seems less than optimistic. Passepartout quickly finds a waterfall, takes a drink, and returns with a flask full of water. Abigail has found fruit for them to eat and Phileas’s tent is still a work in progress. When Abigail opens the fruit, the odor is repugnant causing Passepartout to worry it could be poisonous.

They try to eat it but can’t because it is so vile. They hear a storm approaching in the distance. Before long, it is dark and rainy. Abigail tells him to move closer to get warm. He begins apologizing to them while blaming himself for getting marooned on the island. Bellamy warned him, but he allowed his ego and pride to cloud his judgment. He claims the wager and everything else is done for now. He will never forget the loyalty they showed him and hopes they will be able to forgive him. They say it is all in the past. Although Passepartout doesn’t think he needs his forgiveness, both accept it. Abigail insists things will seem better in the morning. When they wake up, Phileas Fogg sits alone while Passepartout tells Abigail he is going to find something else to eat. She is worried about Fogg because he continues blaming himself for this. She goes on to say they’re both somewhat to blame for bringing him to this low ebb.

Passepartout isn’t sure they can do anything except wait for him to realize it isn’t his fault, but Abigail says it isn’t always that simple. She tells him how her mother suffered terribly from melancholy when she was younger and it often took hold of her for weeks. Passepartout listens as Abigail explains they cannot let that happen to Phileas because he could die here if he stops fighting. Passepartout tries to talk some sense into him. He starts by promising this isn’t all his fault before saying the person who put them in the lifeboat is the one to blame. Passepartout reveals his name is Thomas Kneedling and he has been trying to sabotage their journey for weeks. Phileas learns about their conversations in Aden and Hong Kong as well as how he offered Passepartout money to delay their journey.

Fogg wishes he’d told him sooner since he could’ve told the authorities about Thomas. Passepartout apologizes. Phileas asks if he took the money. Then, he tells Passepartout to get away from him before Abigail overhears them. She says she already knows, but she only ends up making matters worse by telling Fogg about Passepartout stealing the White Dragon and getting him locked in prison. Phileas tells her about Kneedling and the fact that Passepartout took a bribe from him to sabotage their journey. Although Passepartout knows he was wrong, Fogg says he only had this epiphany after he already poisoned him. Fix realizes Passepartout was responsible for Fogg’s sickness in Narupani. Phileas becomes even more enraged as he begins blaming Passepartout for them being stuck out here and that he accepted his apology last night.

Phileas says he will not share company with a man who has behaved like Passepartout so he orders him to leave now. He screams for him to go several times before Passepartout turns around and walks away. Abigail tries to calm Fogg who insists he will build a raft strong enough to withstand the journey and help them reach civilization. He claims he is going to build it so he and Abigail can sail from the island and leave Passepartout all alone. Passepartout starts collecting food while Phileas tries to find enough wood to build a raft. Abigail tries to convince him that Passepartout had good intentions and did it to help them, but Phileas would rather not have help from a man like him. When Passepartout approaches them, Phileas instructs her to ignore him before telling him he has come close enough. Passepartout says the beach belongs to all of them so Phileas makes a line in the sand. Passe says he is sorry and Phileas says he is sorry too, but for employing him.

Passepartout admits he didn’t really know Phileas back then and thought the trip was ridiculous. He believed it was a gentleman’s folly since they were betting more money than most people will ever have. Phileas denies it and claims this is so much more than that. Passepartout realizes that now. If the trip is important to Phileas, it is important to him as well. He wants to make amends for that, but Phileas says he just wants him to leave them alone. Although Fogg wants him off his beach and out of his life, Passepartout says his relationship with him and Fix is too important to be ruined by this disagreement. He goes on to say he is willing to fight for it although Fogg doesn’t want to give him a chance to do so. Later that night, Abigail tells Fogg that Passepartout has lit a fire and he is cooking something. Phileas can’t figure out a way to tie the wood together since they don’t have a hammer or nails.

Passepartout offers to help and agrees to give them some of his lobsters, but Fogg quickly turns down the offer. Abigail decides to break from Phileas, give up the awful fruit, and have dinner with Passepartout. Bellamy has dinner with Bernard and seems confident that he is going to win the bet now. They’re interrupted as Bernard learns someone from the Foreign Office is there to see him. The man approaches and explains they’ve received correspondence from the Consulate in Yokohama about Phileas Fogg. It seems the captain of the SS Carnatic has reported Fogg missing at sea and suspects her fell overboard. There was no mention of his daughter, but a female passenger using the name Miss Abigail Fix is missing as well. After that revelation, Bernard realizes his daughter is missing as well. Abigail and Passepartout finish eating as he begins to explain he is indeed sorry.

They start talking about Thomas who said he had a friend who wanted them to fail. Passepartout insists Bellamy is the only person who will benefit if Fogg doesn’t return in time. Phileas orders him to retract that remark and can’t believe he’d blame this on one of his oldest friends. He says that is low even for a Frenchman. Passepartout says he might not understand how English friendships work since he is French, but Bellamy was constantly humiliating Fogg at the Reform Club. Phileas threatens him so Passepartout says he hopes Bellamy is worthy of his loyalty. They argue about that friendship a bit longer before Phileas climbs into the tent to be by himself. A bit later, Abigail joins him in the tent and admits it makes sense what Passepartout is saying about Bellamy. Phileas refuses to believe it since Nyle has been friends with him and Bernard since they were boys. Abigail doesn’t think they always treated Passepartout right. She reminds Phileas that he didn’t even get to attend his brother’s funeral.

When Passepartout shot a man to save them, they barely acknowledged it. Abigail knows she was wrong to write that article about Phileas so she apologizes. As it begins raining, Passepartout works in the darkness. He tears down a few vines nearby and uses them to tie the pieces of wood together. When Phileas climbs out of the tent in the morning, he is surprised to find a finished raft nearby. Abigail joins him believing Fogg finished the raft until he says it must’ve been Passepartout. He suspects they can gather water, collect food, and set sail almost immediately. Abigail admits she didn’t trust Passepartout in the beginning and wouldn’t imagine him doing something like this for them. She is confident he has changed. Phileas says their situation has changed thanks to Passepartout. Phileas argues the wager might not be lost if they can reach land quickly. Then, we see a news bulletin about England’s hero Phileas Fogg and Abigail being lost at sea.

Nyle picks up a newspaper before going inside and approaching a distraught Bernard. He tells Bernard that he wrote a fine piece on them. Then, Nyle is told the club wants him to commemorate Foggy at 10 AM since that is the time he always arrived at the club. They figured Nyle would be a good pick since he knew Fogg just as well as everyone else. Meanwhile, Abigail and Phileas realize they haven’t seen Passepartout since last night. As she begins searching for him, we see him shivering nearby. He screams as she gets closer and finds him in a pitiful state. She helps him back to Phileas who checks him for a fever, but he doesn’t have one. They guide him to the tent. Abigail goes to collect water while Phileas rubs his feet to get the blood moving. Once she returns with a flask full of water, she is told to keep him warm because they can’t allow the circulation to drop. At Fogg’s request, Abigail cuddles with him to keep his body temperature up.

They build a fire for him later as Fogg questions how he can still be this cold. Abigail tells him several times they can’t do nothing and he agrees. During this time, Bellamy tells a crowd about the first time he met a six-year-old Phileas who was wearing short pants. He was trying to push an extremely large trunk up three flights of school stairs. It wasn’t even his trunk. They begin singing and taking down the travel markers on the giant map. Nyle goes on to say Phileas was always willing to help a chap in need. Phileas and Abigail dismantle pieces of the raft to keep the fire going and ensure Passepartout stays warm. Nyle says Phileas was an optimist. He and Bernard ended up helping Phileas get the heavy trunk up the stairs. Nyle claims a friendship that lasted for 40 years was forged at that very moment. He goes on to say Fogg was the best kind of man. Later, Phileas finds that Passepartout is awake. Passepartout says he feels better before he learns they had to burn the raft to keep him warm.

He thanks them although Fogg admits it wasn’t a difficult decision. Phileas confesses Passepartout was right about Bellamy even though he doesn’t think he’d want them marooned on an island or hurt. Instead, he suspects Thomas was overzealous in carrying out his task. He also agrees that Bellamy has been undermining him for a very long time. When Phileas was around their age, he started planning to make a trip like this one at his leisure with the woman he loved. He planned to marry Estella in Paris and travel the world together. Bellamy was against it. He regularly told Fogg he wasn’t up for a journey like that and Estella was too good for him. Phileas blames himself since he should’ve had the courage to ignore Bellamy and do it anyway. He was barely on the train to Dover when he wanted to return to London.

He was filled with dread by the time he boarded the train so he told Estella he had left a case at the station and had to retrieve it. At the time, he hoped she’d follow him off the ship, but she didn’t. She traveled, lived her life, and never saw Phileas Fogg against. He says he has done nothing with his life and it has remained unlived although Abigail says he is a famous adventurer. Phileas confesses he is most ashamed of abandoning Estella like that. He has never felt a close bond like that with anyone ever again until this trip with Abigail and Passepartout. As Abigail and Passepartout walk together, they agree they weren’t expecting to hear that from Phileas. She knows why he was so angry about the article since she got so much wrong. Passepartout said he made the mistake of thinking Fogg was a pompous English fool when they first met. When he first met Abigail, he thought she was bossy, opinionated, and impossible. He adds that she was clever and independent minded. He calls her beautiful before admitting he wasn’t completely wrong since she is bossy and opinionated.

They nearly kiss, but Fogg begins screaming from a distance and stops them. They spot a ship in the distance and work quickly to its attention. Before long, a small group joins them with a boat. Passepartout tells Abigail he is pleased to be rescued although he wishes they could’ve arrived half an hour later. She agrees. Phileas walks over and says First Mate Thearle believes they’ll be in America the day after the Carnatic. He admits he won’t miss the island, but he won’t forget the time they spent together there. As they walk toward the ship, Passepartout and Abigail touch hands.

 

Around The World In 80 Days Review

While this wasn’t the best episode of Around The World In 80 Days, it had a few decent moments. It felt a bit disconnected from the prior episode since we didn’t see Thomas force the group onto the lifeboat. The scenes out on the water were too dark to see much of anything, but the CGI didn’t look great. While the episode should’ve been touching, it didn’t hit the spot for me personally.

The idea to push Abigail and Passepartout together was obvious from the first episode making it a bit cliché. While this isn’t a big problem, they could’ve found more original paths for both characters. The episode didn’t do much in terms of pushing Fogg further on his journey, but I hope this is a turning point for their relationships.

I hope they turn down the abuse and name calling a bit because it has been overwhelming so far. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Around The World In 80 Days recaps are available on Reel Mockery here.