66: King of the Beach (4.09)

1981; 46 minutes
Written by Karen Harris; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Karen Harris, Jill Sherman
Directed by Barry Crane

Carl Molino is a body builder who works in the back of a diner for next to nothing whilst dreaming of opening his own Italian restaurant.  A local con-girl tries to partner up with him and persuade the big man to enter the 'King of the Beach' body-builder competition with hopes of earning them both a packet of cash.  The naive girl also gets herself wrapped up with corrupt businessmen whose interest in the competition does not accommodate the presence of Carl.

A kind of fun episode where Lou Ferrigno actually appears in non-Hulk form as Carl.  In fact almost the entire episode features Ferrigno in one form or another, making this quite a likable novelty in the series.  I quite appreciate the way Ferrigno plays the part of Carl (adopting some of his own characteristics of course, including the fact that Carl's hearing does not function at 100%).  It's plenty of opportunity to show off Ferrigno doing what he did best back in his prime - demonstrating a massive physique.  I also found Crane's handling of the first Hulk sequence to be reasonably strong, whilst the presence of Bixby and Ferrigno on screen together has an emotional tug to it.

Number of Fists: ***

65: Goodbye Eddie Cain (4.08)

1981; 46 minutes
Written by Nicholas Corea; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Karen Harris, Jill Sherman
Directed by Jack Colvin

A private investigator is questioned by the authorities about a murder - his story encompasses criminal goings-on that are intermingled with the presence of a gardner without a tracable past called David, and the eventual unexplained appearance of a large green monster.

Told from the perspective in retrospect by the titular character, the epsiode takes on the form of a 40s/50s film noir, in terms of both plot and style of narration.  The dialogue can be looked on as quite corny but I guess that's a deliberate aspect of the whole approach.  It's a novel and refreshing idea in the context of the series, but when Hulk does appear he seems to have stumbled onto the wrong set, his presence being completely at odds with the atmosphere of the story.  Interest waned as the episode progressed unfortunately, despite the novelty.  This was the first of two episodes directed by Jack Colvin, aka Jack McGee of course, the second being East Winds later in the same year.

Number of Fists: **

64: Fast Lane (4.07)

1981; 46 minutes
Written by Reuben Leder; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Karen Harris, Jill Sherman
Directed by Frank Orsatti

David hires a car to travel to New York for an interview he's had lined up.  He's unaware that the boot contains a million dollars of criminal money, and that one of the employees of the hire company is going to use the traveller as a decoy so that he can get away with the cash, unhindered by the mob who he hopes will then be after David.

Frustratingly padded with stock footage of car racing (reflecting the memories of the hire car employee, whose life has taken a turn for the mundane), Fast Lane is essentially a road movie contained within 46 minutes.  It plods along at the opposite pace suggested by the title, appearing to be heading towards disaster.  The story is enhanced by the complicating arrival of a failed waitress and things finally pick up as the various threads entwine for an exciting escape for what must be a bewildered David as he's forced to take part in a car chase that he probably could do without.

Number of Fists: ***

63: Bring Me The Head of The Hulk (4.06)

1981; 46 minutes
Written by Allan Cole, Chris Bunch; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer, Karen Harris, Jill Sherman
Directed by Bill Bixby

David applies for a job helping out a revolutionary scientist in the area of genetic study, not realising that the whole laboratory has been set up by a French mercenary (La Fronte, played by Jed Mills) who is intent on killing the Hulk - after months of studying patterns of Hulk activity he's nailed down the conditions under which the creature generally appears.  La Fronte initially took his offer to the Register before going to competition after McGee objected to the intent to kill rather than capture.

Despite the improbable nature of the premise it possesses a certain degree of intrigue knowing that Banner/Hulk has been cornered against his knowledge.  This is followed up later on when, aware that the person who becomes the Hulk is in their midst, La Fronte rounds up all of the staff at the base with the objective of smoking out the monster (quite literally - he sets the place on fire before trapping them all).  This leads to one of the few occasions where Banner owns up to being the creature, although it is to plead to La Fronte's non-existent sense of humanity in order to save the others from being burned alive.  It does lose its way by the final act as the supposedly highly intelligent La Fronte seems to lose all grounding in rational thinking as his homicidal streak takes over.  Nicely helmed by Bixby - this would be the only episode of the series that he'd direct, although he did return to the seat for the three TV movies made between 1988 and 1990.

Number of Fists: ****