"Haunted"--
David: "Believe me, I'm stronger than I look."
Har, har. I guess David is sort of comfortable enough to joke about his usually tormented other half / life?
David
Barron(?) gets a job helping young artist Renee Stevens drive as part of her move back to her old family home. An old friend / real estate agent (Fred Lewitt) tries to dissuade her from moving in based on the death of her twin sister that occurred there during her childhood (20 years earlier). Arriving at the home, Renee believes she sees a little girl running by; reaching out to her, the girl scratches her arm. Searching through the house, she is traumatized by...something, causing her to hyperventilate. David helps her recover, telling Banner she thinks the girl appeared to be her deceased sister, Becky.
Although David tries to lighten the mood, Renee is still disturbed by the little girl--seeing her skip by in the courtyard. Touring the home, they run into Bernard, the odd caretaker who is put off that Renee is moving in--and makes a point to ask her if she's visited the mill. On that note, Renee takes David to see the old mill on the property; David finds it fascinating, but Renee warns that its not safe to explore, as its site of Becky's death.
Later, Renee is distraught at the childish scribblings on a mirror, convincing herself that its the work of her sister; Lewitt visits, trying to get Renee to sell, but she's not interested, leading to a confrontation between Lewitt and Bernard, who warns that the house will not be bought & torn down in favor of commercial development, as in other parts of the once historic town.
Lewitt is convinced he will succeed.
That night, David overhears the singing of a child; Renee finds the source--the same little girl, who refuses to talk to Renee. David carefully searches the dusty basement for the source, too--hearing (what sounds like an adult) mimicking a child asking him to go away. As he explores,
someone is locking doors, trying to frighten the man. When a broken overhead light socket electrifies a gate David grabs, the Hulk is triggered. The creature breaks out of the basement, but calms down once he finds a doll (placed next to framed photos of Renee & Becky). He returns to his David side before Renee can witness the transformation, but becomes a bit irate about the doll--revealing as children, Becky tried to take it from her, but ended up falling in the water to her death.
Bernard watches...
Renee is panicked--thinking Becky has returned, with David belieivng he heard a child's voice. However, David concluded someone is trying to scare her away from the house, but convinces her to stay in town for the evening.. Bernard balks at David's "interference" and storms off. The next day, Lewitt approaches David about the property, getting into the tale of the two sisters, once known as "sunshine" (Renee) and "rain" (Becky). But he's more interested in convincing David to press Renee to sell the home (in the interest of a developer he's indebted to).
David returns to the mill seeking answers, but runs into Bernard; the caretaker thinks she needs professional psychiatric help (mentioning a breakdown when her sister died). David finds the doctor (Rawlins) who sent Renee away after that breakdown; he explains that Renee had a pronounced heart murmur, which--coupled with the trauma of her sister's death--was the reason he sent her away. David later discovers Renee has vacated the town motel--thanks to a child's drawing belonging to her dead sister...
David returns to the house, frantically searching for Renee; outside, Renee begs the "Becky" girl to talk; Becky accuses Renee of not trying to save her when she fell in the water, but when David spots Renee, she is talking to no one--she is the one creating the childish voice of her late sister. David tries to reach Renee by reminding her of her heart issue, but Renee slips back into her "Becky" persona, saying that they will go back to the mill, so Renee can fall into the river--
exchanging lives with Becky. It turns out that Renee is actually Becky--Renee (the loved twin) died, so Becky assumed her identity. Trying to settle this guilt in her mind, Becky inches toward the weak mill walkway to kill herself; David chases after her, but ends up falling in the water--the wheel pulling David and Becky under. David is flung over the wheel, causing him to Hulk out. In the process, he wrecks the wheel, but saves Becky.
An emotional Becky apologizes to the memory of her sister...while hugging the Hulk for comfort.
Days later, Becky tells David she thought the Hulk was part of her hallucination (whew!). Becky asks David to stay, but he cannot, of course. Bernard (now knowing the truth) and David settle their differences, as David walks off.
NOTES:
This is not a cure-related episode.
This could have been a warmed-over
Scooby-Doo episode (
"..and I would've got away with it, if not for you pesky kids!"), but there were no fake boogeymen / scares from Lweitt or Bernard (though we
were meant to believe that well into act three).
Jack McGee &
The National Register are not seen or mentioned in this episode. McGee will return with force in the next episode...
David collected coins as a child.
GUEST CAST:
Carol Baxter (
Renee Stevens) will return to Bannerland as Dr. Charlene McGowan in the memorable 2-parter,
"Prometheus." Baxter would also write the 4th season episode
"Wax Museum." Other fantasy assignments include
"Saga of a Star World," the pilot movie for
Battlestar Galactica, and one regular series episode,
"The Lost Warrior". In 1979, she had a small part in
"The Curse of Dracula," one of three segments from the failed anthology series
Cliffhangers! (NBC, 1979).Baxter took her talents to Filmation, where she penned 4 episodes of the
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe spin-off,
She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-86).
Johnny Haymer (
Fred Lewitt) While Haymer is best known for his recurring role as Zelmo Zale from
M*A*S*H*, his fantasy contributions leaned heavily toward animation, providing voice work for
The Plastic Man Comedy / Adventure Show (ABC, 1979-80),
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (NBC, 1981-83),
G.I. Joe (syndicated, 1985),
The Transformers (syndicated, 1985-87) and
Duck Tales (syndicated, 1987--until his death in 1989.
Randi Kiger (
Renee in childhood) had a very short career spanning 1978 - 79, with her final role being the voice of young Darla Hood in the animated spin-off of Hal Roach's
Our Gang/Little Rascals--The Little Rascals Christmas Special (ABC, 1979) This version is not related to the 1982 Hanna-Barbera series.
Jon Lormer (
Doctor Rawlins) --strong list with a few quality drops along the way:
- One Step Beyond (2 episodes)
- The Twilight Zone (4 episodes - "Jess-Belle," "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," "Dust" and "Execution")
- The Invaders ("Valley of the Shadow" - 1967)
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Fatal Cargo" - 1967)
- Batman ("How to Hatch a Dinosaur" - 1967)
- Star Trek--Dr. Theodore Haskins in "The Cage" / "The Menagerie," Tamar in "The Return of the Archons" and the old man in "For the World is Hollow, and I have Touched the Sky."
- Planet of the Apes ("The Legacy" - 1974)
- Creepshow (Warner Brothers, 1982)
)
