37: Brain Child (3.03)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Nicholas Corea; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer;
Directed by Reza S Badiyi

Jolleen is a child prodigy who was 'abandoned' at a research institute as an infant by her disenchanted mother, an ordinary woman of ongoing misfortune who found herself unable to cope with the girl's rapidly advancing intellect.  Tricking the institute's security system, the 16 year old escapes and befriends David on the road, where he appears to have acquired a car.  After the super-smart helps to fix his car, he agrees (unaware at that point that she is technically a 'minor') to take her to LA to help her to search for her mother.

Jolleen is a person who struggles to fit into the world simply because she is too intelligent too early for her years, a factor that exists irrespective of her lack of maturity, and something that can get her into trouble in the world outside the cocoon of the institute without the guidance of an adult, intellectually inferior or not.

Her search later brings her into a dramatic confrontation with the mother who felt as though she would not be able to handle her.  There are one or two overly soppy moments along the way aside from some reasonably good drama, although Hulk's cutting off of a bus carrying away the girl's mother at one stage requires a greater-than-usual suspension of disbelief. 

Number of Fists: ***

36: Blind Rage (3.02)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Dan Ullman; Produced by Nicholas Corea;
Directed by Jeffrey Hayden

David is helping out the family of an army officer who is blinded a few hours after handling a chemical cannister, although the affliction is put down to the neural shock of a damaging fall in the night.  The soldier who was with him is later found to have crashed his vehicle, being killed in the accident.  Obviously the two events are not the product of coincidence when both had contact with the cannister.  David investigates, uncovering experiments in chemical weapons and military cover-ups.

When I read Hulk comic-books in the seventies one of his greatest foes was the army itself and whilst the TV series actually has little to do with its literary (if I may call it that) source material, this episode provides the opportunity to witness the TV Hulk do battle with a small portion of the army.  Naturally, the conflict is better realised in the Ed Norton movie from 2008 (back when Marvel in cinema showed tons of promise, yet to morph into the unnecessary social preaching flag-carrier that it eventually became), but for someone who grew up in the seventies reading those comics (and watching this series) there is a degree of satisfaction to be derived from Hulk going up against a tank and being shot at by soldiers.

Number of Fists: ***

35: Metamorphosis (3.01)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Frank Dandridge; Produced by Robert Bennett Steinhauer;
Directed by Alan J Levi

Beginning with a corny Kiss-style female-fronted rock show, the escalating frenzy of the crowd results in one of the fans being trampled and, ultimately, paralysed.  Hearing about the injured girl on the car radio the star of the show, Lisa Swan, drives increasingly erratically and crashes off the side of the road.  David is resting nearby and after helping out Swan and her manager he's offered a job assisting on the show as a roadie.  He aids Swan in combating her own demons whilst finding himself on the receiving end of the jealous actions of one of the crew.

Reasonable season three opener, although its enticing title really becomes descriptive of Swan's own internal struggles as she fights an instinct to create music that she favours, against her manager's more money-oriented plans.  The same cheesy rock song is heard about three times and unfortunately sticks in your head for a while afterwards, but the episode does tackle some of the genuine issues faced by musicians (exposure to the world of drugs, and to a greater extent, the conflict between what they want to do artistically, and what their managers instruct them to do out of commercial motivation).

McGee is on the scene quickly, eventually being in the right/wrong place at the right time to witness the Hulk's second appearance and continuing to demonstrate the perplexing tendency of a reporter who never thinks to carry a camera.  Also of note, Banner's first transformation is unusual in the fact that it is actually triggered by Hulk himself (Banner is drugged with LSD, against his knowledge of course, setting off the kind of psychedelic trip he would rather have avoided).

Number of Fists: ***

34: Vendetta Road (2.22)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Justin Edgerton/Michael McGreevey; Produced by Nicholas Corea;
Directed by John McPherson

David stops at a service station to refresh, shave, etc., unaware that it is about to become the explosive target of a Bonnie & Clyde type couple whereby the father of one of them died as a result of some kind of corporate struggle between his small-fry gas station and the chain company that the son is now trying to bring down.

David is rescued from the station before it goes up in flames by the very people who set the explosive (they're not interested in actually killing anyone), and is then taken on the road with them for a while.  He tries to persuade them to do what's right but something bigger is planned that David knows can only really lead to tragedy, particularly as the woman has become pregnant.

An explosive finale to season 2, literally but perhaps not figuratively.  Initially this episode showed promise but ultimately I felt disappointed by the manner in which the Hulk scenes were handled, which came across as a tad lame.  The underlying theme echoes the slightly superior Wildfire episode, but the story is quite different.  From my perspective this was not the best way to close season 2, which was otherwise on the whole very good.

Number of Fists: **

33: The Quiet Room (2.21)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno
Written by Karen Harris/Jill Sherman; Produced by Nicholas Corea;
Directed by Reza S Badiyi

Operating as an attendant at a mental hospital, David notices that one of the senior doctors is pioneering unethical techniques in mind control with the claimed motivation of reducing crime, violent behaviour, etc. Stealing a VHS tape that contains evidence, David attempts to get out of the place altogether, but escape from such a place is never going to be easy if one's intention is to whistle-blow: he is promptly caught, drugged, and put in line for procedures that will effectively lobotomise him, thereby protecting the doctor’s future money-spinner.

David really lands himself in a pickle in this slightly disturbing episode. He spends most of the time drugged up and either attempting to escape or trying to convince one of the other doctors about what is really going on, inadvertently sounding like someone who is genuinely deranged in the process. I thought the story may wander into A Clockwork Orange territory for a while but, probably due to its basis in family television entertainment, the writers refrain from taking the central theme too far.

Number of Fists: ***

32: The Confession (2.20)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Deborah Davis; Produced by James G Hirsch;
Directed by Barry Crane

Using a cleaning job to get into a computer laboratory, David breaks into one of the rooms at night where he performs an experiment on himself intended to get closer to a way of controlling the monster inside.  Triggering a metamorphosis the experiment results in Hulk wrecking the place and then escaping, but not before lab assistant Harry Milburn catches sight of what's happening and follows the creature, recognising an opportunity to break free of his lonely existence.

McGee shows up with a new assistant, Pamela Morris, to investigate the latest sightings and Milburn later visits their office to confess... to being the man that turns into the Hulk.  McGee knows this is a fraud (mainly due to his exeriences in the Mystery Man story) but palms Pamela off with Milburn so he can continue with a more serious enquiry.  The somewhat rebellious Pamela gets the hoax story printed anyway, against McGee's better wishes of course.  David notices the newspaper story and poses as another reporter to get an interview with Milburn to find out more about what's going on himself, not realising that the spurned loner has called a TV station so that he can commit live suicide and finally get himself noticed once and for all.

Beginning with an explosive appearance of Hulk as he smashes his way out of the lab, a number of threads are thoughtfully entwined here as Banner is first seeking solutions in a computer lab whilst later trying to figure out why someone else would claim to be the Hulk, McGee is being irritated by having to lug around an enthusiastic new assistant with too much initiative, while Milburn is attempting to break out of the humdrum existence of a small man unable to be noticed in a busy world.

This all leads to a great sequence in a bell tower as Milburn is initially the centre of attention, as he wished, but Hulk himself is trapped up there after the clanging bell sparks his arrival, and McGee's team attempt to ensnare the monster (somewhat amusingly, causing even Milburn's death threats to be overshadowed by something bigger!).  One of the first of five episodes that Barry Crane would direct, someone who had previously worked with Bill Bixby on The Magician.

Number of Fists: ****½

31: Kindred Spirits (2.19)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Karen Harris/Jill Sherman ; Produced by James G Hirsch;
Directed by Joseph Pevney

Following the discovery of rock paintings going back fifty thousand years that depict the transformation of an early homo sapien into a green giant, David hooks up with an expedition to search for further evidence.  David feels that the painting suggests the man/beast may have discovered a controlling device in the form of a plant, hence he is eager to be involved as much as possible.

The woman leading the expedition, Dr Gabrielle White, allows his presence because she actually recognises him as the supposedly deceased David Banner.  In trust he tells her his story and together they look for and analyse findings in the caves, only to find themselves the recipients of Native American hostile attentions, some of whom feel that they are unjustly taking (relics) from their land.

An enticing mix of interpretations for the Hulk is cooked up between the characters of this story.  McGee is on the scene as soon as there is a sighting, citing the facts that he has uncovered to various people but to little avail, the professor who works alongside White believes that the creature is the 'missing link' that forever leaves holes in evolution theory, while the elder of the Native American family passes on folkloric tales of the ancient green creature in the belief that it is some form of godly spirit.  Hulk's appearance only reinforces everyone's personal opinions of course, which grants an interesting parallel to the world whereby we see whatever is around us as evidence of what we want to believe.  In the midst of all this, Banner just wants to locate a cure or control for his affliction.  Kim Cattrall made a wonderful and surprising early appearance as Gabrielle, a dreamy, unimaginably appealing presence in her prime.

Number of Fists: ****

30: No Escape (2.18)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written by Ben Masselink; Produced by James G Hirsch;
Directed by Jeffrey Hayden

Picked up during a nocturnal beach rest as a vagrant, David is locked into a Police van with a paranoid schizophrenic who alleges to have received shock treatment, something that has led to his problems with temper control, etc.  Mistaking David's identity and intentions he beats him up, only to have Hulk appear, smash open the van and throw aside two shocked officers.

Later on David is concerned about what Tom might do to himself or those close to him, so against a backdrop of increasing media and Police activity he chooses to investigate what might have happened to cause Tom's condition, and to warn the fragile man's wife of what he thinks could happen.

David's overly caring nature puts him almost into McGee's spotlight as the reporter arrives on the scene following the mystery vagrant's escape from confinement.  He slowly pieces together theories about what is the real cause of Tom's problem, leading to a pretty good showdown as David is trapped as a hostage on a moored boat with Tom as the Police and McGee lay siege outside.

Number of Fists: ***

29: The Disciple (2.17)

1979; 48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written and Produced by Nicholas Corea/James G Hirsch;
Directed by Reza S Badiyi

A family of cops (two brothers and their father) are tipped off by a sleek informer about the whereabouts of a wanted mobster by the name of Lynch.  Instead of taking things in a procedural fashion they decide to storm the place in effort to catch Lynch themselves, not realising that he has set an explosive trap for them.  In the blast the father is killed, and one of the brothers - Michael - is shot as he himself shoots the escaping Lynch.

Staggering into a Chinese philosophy/martial arts club Michael is treated by David, who has just arrived there to visit his old wise-man buddy Li Sung.  Michael embarks on a journey of re-enlightenment as his brother takes the opposite path in the pursuit of vengeance.

A follow up of sorts to the episode Another Path, whereby David actually returns to visit a character he left behind temporarily, primarily for continued assistance with his problem but ultimately to end up helping Michael during his conflict that leads to a confrontation with Lynch.  One brother wants to kill the man who was responsible for the father's death, the other seeks to essentially forgive and get the dying murderer to medical attention.  A slow episode containing two odd appearances of Hulk where his growls sound as if they were recorded inside a large steel drum.  However, some interesting themes are explored.

Number of Fists: ***

27/28: Mystery Man (2.15/16)

1979; 48+48 minutes

Director of Photography John McPherson 
Written and Produced by Nicholas Corea
Directed by Frank Orsatti

A hitch-hiking Banner picks the wrong car to climb into when the driver turns out to be a neurotic, crazed, misandrist who, in her emotionally charged speeding, loses control of the car and ploughs them both off the road.  The woman is thrown free but a trapped Banner can only be saved by his transformation into the Hulk, who escapes from the wreckage with his head on fire.  Passers-by obviously report the sighting whilst alerting the medical authorities who find Banner a few minutes later (naturally not realising that he was the creature).

Suffering from facial burns and memory loss he is bandaged up at the hospital, before McGee turns up to take a grip on the story.  Unaware of who is beneath the mask, McGee suspects that the 'mystery man', now dubbed John Doe, could be instrumental in his hunt for the creature, and agrees to take the amnesiac Banner/Doe to see a memory specialist in another state.  Mid flight the plane runs into a storm and crashes in the forest below, the pilot killed but Banner and McGee surviving, albeit with a badly broken leg in the case of the latter.  Banner patches him up and calculates a 45 mile trek to get them to the nearest town.  Thus begins an adventure through the vast forest as fires several miles away are closing in, wolves in the vicinity are sensing a fresh meal, and a masked Banner is struggling to piece together who he is.

A great concept begins with an unusually funny escapade as David is trapped in a car with the wrong woman, a scene that quickly turns to frisson as the vehicle crashes.  The bewildered David spends the rest of the two episodes that make up this story listening to McGee's obsessive tales of the Hulk, and because these snippets of information are essentially part of David's own history as well, gradually his memory begins to recover.  The superior first episode is a rare cliffhanger finale, leading to the second part that admittedly runs slightly too thin to keep the excitement going.  Having said that, it does finally lead to the pivotal moment in McGee's epic chase where he learns the truth that the Hulk actually transforms to and from a visibly normal human, and that's primarily how the monster has remained largely elusive.

Number of Fists: ****/***