Written and Produced by Kenneth Johnson
Director of Photography Charles W Short
Directed by Alan J Levi
Taking place perhaps a few days or weeks after the events of the pilot, this season 1 opener begins as many subsequent episodes would begin; with David on the road. On his way to an institute where some new radiotherapy equipment is being pioneered, he finds and helps a collapsed crippled woman back to her estate and is offered a temporary job there as a reward. The girl is routinely being injected with something to apparently help her condition but David's scientific knowledge informs him that the solution being delivered is not what her guardians are saying it is. He becomes deeply embroiled in a plot to end the girl's life without arousing suspicion so that insidious people can acquire her inherited fortune.
Perhaps too long at feature length, the story features David receiving his first beating that causes a transformation. Hulk is shown more clearly than in the pilot, which is possibly not the best creative decision but they no doubt wanted to advertise what this show is partly about. I mentioned in the pilot entry that David can be stubborn and it is this trait that gets him into trouble here - his insistence on interfering (albeit with altruistic intentions) is what lands him in deep water throughout the whole episode. McGee is hot on the creature's trail (as soon as there is news of a sighting he would generally, like a recurring odour, materialise). Interestingly his newspaper is provided with a little expository background - The National Register, which does not have the best reputation due to certain liberties ostensibly being taken with the truth. Stories about a giant green abomination are likely to do little to help that I would imagine! McGee also comes into very close contact with Banner on a couple of occasions, an entertaining occurrence that would often happen throughout the show (McGee, of course, believes that Banner is dead, killed by the monster).
Parallels with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein monster can be drawn whilst considering this episode: the Hulk is shown having a more sympathetic side and is not just the personification of base-level rage. After a 'Hulk-out' (as the show's creators would refer to it at the time) he comes across an old tramp in the swamp and shares the man's food (followed by alcohol, which the creature promptly spits out on to the fire!). His actions, when not in a temper, sometimes suggest perhaps the intelligence of a canine, whereby he is able to carry out simple actions as a result of seeing something and adding elementary factors together.
Overall, a none too exciting, periodically fleecy episode that carries a reasonable story which also happens to determine many of the series tropes that would follow.
Directed by Alan J Levi
Taking place perhaps a few days or weeks after the events of the pilot, this season 1 opener begins as many subsequent episodes would begin; with David on the road. On his way to an institute where some new radiotherapy equipment is being pioneered, he finds and helps a collapsed crippled woman back to her estate and is offered a temporary job there as a reward. The girl is routinely being injected with something to apparently help her condition but David's scientific knowledge informs him that the solution being delivered is not what her guardians are saying it is. He becomes deeply embroiled in a plot to end the girl's life without arousing suspicion so that insidious people can acquire her inherited fortune.
Perhaps too long at feature length, the story features David receiving his first beating that causes a transformation. Hulk is shown more clearly than in the pilot, which is possibly not the best creative decision but they no doubt wanted to advertise what this show is partly about. I mentioned in the pilot entry that David can be stubborn and it is this trait that gets him into trouble here - his insistence on interfering (albeit with altruistic intentions) is what lands him in deep water throughout the whole episode. McGee is hot on the creature's trail (as soon as there is news of a sighting he would generally, like a recurring odour, materialise). Interestingly his newspaper is provided with a little expository background - The National Register, which does not have the best reputation due to certain liberties ostensibly being taken with the truth. Stories about a giant green abomination are likely to do little to help that I would imagine! McGee also comes into very close contact with Banner on a couple of occasions, an entertaining occurrence that would often happen throughout the show (McGee, of course, believes that Banner is dead, killed by the monster).
Parallels with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein monster can be drawn whilst considering this episode: the Hulk is shown having a more sympathetic side and is not just the personification of base-level rage. After a 'Hulk-out' (as the show's creators would refer to it at the time) he comes across an old tramp in the swamp and shares the man's food (followed by alcohol, which the creature promptly spits out on to the fire!). His actions, when not in a temper, sometimes suggest perhaps the intelligence of a canine, whereby he is able to carry out simple actions as a result of seeing something and adding elementary factors together.
Overall, a none too exciting, periodically fleecy episode that carries a reasonable story which also happens to determine many of the series tropes that would follow.
Number of Fists: **½
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