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Princess Lanaluakalani[1] is the dream persona of Lana Kane in Season 9 "Danger Island".

Appearance[]

In 'Strange Pilot', Lanaluakalani appears regal with her hair in a bun, and light touches of makeup. She wears a brown leather flying jacket with a cream scarf and jodhpurs. In 'Disheartening Situation' she loses the jacket and is more survival ready. In 'Different Modes of Preparing Fruit', she is elegant and seductive in thin and flowing dress and wraps herself in a fur post-coitus.

Backstory[]

"The beautiful and ambitious daughter of the kindly chief and queen of Mitimotu, Princess Lanaluakalani, who has relegated her parents to a mostly ceremonial role. Eager to throw off the French yoke, Lanaluakalani has been secretly courting agents of both Japan and Germany who are on the island for mysterious reasons."[2]

Foreshadowing[]

In A Warrior in Costume (s9e4), mention is made of Lanaluakalani's father, and therefore King of Mitimotu.  He first appears in Some Remarks on Cannibalism (s9e6)).

Character Traits[]

  • Lana spears a lizard

    Lanaluakalani spears Lizard

    In Strange Pilot (s9e1), the Princess has an imperious, condescending and superior air.  When the descent begins, she appears somewhat anxious. Her true character has yet to be revealed.
  • In Disheartening Situation (s9e2), she reveals a feisty and strong side - more so than Fuchs, who is a bit 'limp' - being able to defend herself against the island's ferocious lizards with sharpened sticks for spears.
  • In Different Modes of Preparing Fruit (s9e3), she reveals both herself to be a strong business negotiator with a sensual side. Although she does give Fuchs the map without payment for the idol upfront.
  • In Strange Doings in the Taboo Groves (s9e5) she proves to have been naive by entrusting Fuchs with the map to the idol (in the previous episode) before receiving any payment. She may be getting 'bent over' by him in more ways than one. She resorts to withholding her 'passion fruit' until Fuchs has found, and paid for, the idol, on the assumption that he will honor his word. This reduced their relationship to being somewhat 'transactional'.
  • In Some Remarks on Cannibalism (s9e6) Lanaluakalani is revealed to have westernized views of the idol as a 'silly native legend', with her father reminding her that she is a native. He chastises her for having a "profound ignorance" of the idol after she calls it a "moldy old statue". She is naive as to its power and was easily manipulated by the Nazi Fuchs.
    • As someone who studied in New York and tried to set up a (failed) art gallery there, Lanaluakalani clearly has ambition, but she knows nothing about art. according to her mother, making it a particularly incongruous life choice.
    • Her father tells her mother she has "raised a fool", absolving himself of any shared parental responsibility - and not "eschewing traditional gender roles" as the natives of Pangu do in the Heart of Archness (Trilogy).
    • He sees her as having plans to move back with the "Papālangi[3] in New York City again". This term is of disputed meaning but in Samoan, it is used to refer to natives who are living in a westernized way. This may be the King's way of demonstrating his dislike at Lanaluakalani's westernized attitudes and ignorance of her own culture, and a general distrust of cultural imperialism.  (Race traitors or 'Uncle Toms' are never looked on favorably by the race who has been betrayed).
  • In Comparative Wickedness of Civilized and Unenlightened Peoples (s9e7), her ego and high opinion of herself is played for laughs as she naturally assumes the natives are referring to her as a goddess and not Charlotte Stratton.


  • Continuity:  In the series proper it is revealed that Lana Kane was a radical environmentalist. She joined ISIS and, despite maintaining some broadly leftist views, managed to sell-out many of her youthful principles in order to work for a rogue spy agency which does the CIA's dirty work. The Princess persona is also shown to be a sell-out, someone indoctrinated with Western values which are counter to her native culture. She is someone who doesn't recognize the symbolic (or real) power of the idol, only it's economic value, preferring to trade it as a mere commodity for Reichmarks from Fuchs.

Cultural References[]

  • Riding jodhpurs: the wide-hipped trousers she wears are horse riding jodhpurs, which originated from the Indian subcontinent. 
    • Continuity/Callback:  Lana was seen wearing jodhpurs in The Handoff (s7e2).
"I always found it ironic that if you really want to get bent over, just ask a missionary." (quote ref)

Trivia[]

  • Princess Lana / Princess Leia: given the show's fondness for Star Wars references - with Pam's dream persona being a nod to Chewbacca[4] and Archer's to Han Solo (amongst others) - it would be more of a surprise if this was just a coincidence than a deliberate nod. Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Leia, died at the end of 2016, 18 months before the release of Danger Island.

Quotes[]

Sterling: "No your Highness, I just meant it's kind of weird though, right?"
Lanaluakalani: "I think he's just reacting the music."
Crackers: "Thanks, you just defined dancing!"
Sterling: "Shut up, bird! No, I mean it's not a big island so the fact we've never even run into each other is weird, right?"
Lanaluakalani: "No, and should you - be drinking?"
Sterling: "Yes..."

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Fuchs: "Even in the throes of passion you have no trace of a Polynesian accent"
Lanaluakalani: "Oh, that's because I was sent to boarding school in the states when I was five, all the way through college."
Fuchs: "And yet you mention alliance with Japan.  I would think your affinity would lie with the United States."
Lanaluakalani: "Right, because that worked out sooo well for Hawaii.  I always found it ironic that if you really want to get bent over, just ask a missionary."
Fuchs: [spits drink]  "Fair enough!"

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Person 1: "Quote Here"
Person 2: "Quote Here"
Person 1: "Quote Here"

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References[]

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