"Homecoming"--
Denver, Colorado--two weeks before Thanksgiving. In his motel room, the recently fired* David learns that Dean Eckert--president of the Eckert Development Corporation--is buying up farmland in the Trevorton area of Grail Valley as part of his "model city" expansion. This alarms David--originally from his family's farm in that city. David's mind wanders back to being a small child, helping his ailing mother, a memory broken by the sight of his sister--Dr. Helen Banner--interviewed about the Eckert buyouts. The sight of his sister--memories of their trust in each other during childhood--drives Banner to take the take a bus to Trevorton. When he arrives in the town square, he is struck by more memories of spending time with his mother--specifically her reading from Byron's prophetic poem,
When We Two Parted...
At the Banner farm, David's father--D.W. Banner (head of the local farmer's association) is perplexed that the insecticide is not killing the destructive Spear Beetles; just then, Eckert calls, trying to convince D.W. to be cooperative and sell, but the proud, headstrong D.W. flatly rejects any offer.
Later, David walks up to Helen's house, almost turning to leave when he spotted by his sister stopping her cold with disbelief, then joy as she embraces her "dead" brother.
Helen:"Let's go tell dad."
David: "No, Helen, no."
Helen: "But you've got to forgive him--"
David: "No, it isn't that--"
Helen: "David, please--don't put me between you two again."
David: "Look Helen, I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry to have dragged you into all of this."
Helen: "Why? I don't understand."
David: "I have an illness...from radiation, and that's all I can tell you until I'm cured."
Helen: "...we're your family."
David: "I shouldn't have come here. I'm so sorry to drag you into this, but I must ask you to promise me you'll not say a word to anybody."
Helen: "No, I won't promise you anything! You spring up from the dead after three years, and give us nothing! We've always done that! You can't just drop in and out of our lives!"
David: "You don't understand--"
Helen: "Why did you bother to come back here?!?"
David: "...I uh....couldn't spend another Thanksgiving alone."
Helen: "...David...."
Helen enlists David in solving the farm's issues with Spear Beetles which threaten nearly 70% of the Grail Valley farmers' collective crops--the effects would force D.W. to sell the farm. Helen believes they need a biological weapon to combat the beetles. David resists, arguing there's too many townsfolk who would recognize him, but Helen offers him a shelter in her lab. He agrees--only if she promises to never press him on his issues, need for anonymity, or if he has to leave without notice.
On the job--
David: "I have been trying to synthesize the beetle's pheromone into the mating scent, and if it works, I think it will lure the male beetles away and break the chain of reproduction."
The initial experiments fail. Lost in thought, David walks to the family grave, placing a flower at his mother's headstone. He recalls his mother's illness--how his father was resistant to taking her to the doctor, instead, being concerned with fixing a fence. Always supportive of her son, Elizabeth encourages her son by telling him once he became a doctor, he would be able to cure everything....in the present, David sadly replies,
David: "Not everything, mom."
David finds an earth worm, and imagining his alter-ego, he thinks of the process of a metamorphosis--a clue, but is scared off by his father coming to place flowers at Elizabeth's grave.
Later, David takes his idea to Helen--
David: "I think that we may have it. Now as you said before, it is only the newly hatched worms--the larvae--which cause the destruction, not the beetles that they turn into. Now, if we could simulate an anti-juvenile hormone, which causes the worms to mature, then we can make them metamorphosize prematurely and you would have a field full of harmless beetles...no worms."
David feels the plan will be successful--under a tight spay schedule. Helen will not let go of the idea of David staying--
David: "You came into this knowing I was going to have to leave."
Helen: "I know...I'll just have to think up some..pestilence to keep you here."
That evening, Helen checks in on David--only to see him suffering from a nightmare (about the day his mother died--how he blamed his father--the
"Married" clip of David chasing...), when he suddenly rises--transforming into the Hulk. Even in her astonishment, Helen tried to speak to the "David" within, and creature seems to respond, until he sees a framed photo of his father, which send him into a brief rage. Looking at his sister again, the Hulk runs to his father's home, flipping a hay trailer over in confused anger, then tears off to nearby hills--capturing the attention of D.W., now chasing after him with a shotgun. Helen guesses the Hulk ran to a spot she and David shared (in times of trouble) as children. She finds him--now transformed back to David...just as D.W. finds them (not connecting David to the Hulk)--staring at the son he thought was long dead...
D.W. owns up to his contentious relationship with his son, and both agree to put the past behind them. David also insists none of the old family friends know he's there; D.W. asks to know the reason why, but David cannot bring himself to tell the truth.
At Eckart's office, it turns out D.W. pilot is on the take, telling Eckart about Helen
"and some geneticist" working on a treatment for the beetle larvae, but his assistant assures Eckart the experiment--and Helen's lab--will not reach the point of success.
Eckart: "Talk to out chemist. Make it look good. A chemical fire."
At Helen's lab, David cleans up the Hulk's mess, his mind wandering back to the day he left for college, when his father asked him to go to an agricultural college, stressing the long history of Banner family being on the farm...and young David's bitter pushback--
Young David: "You've done a good job with Helen. You'll get what you want."
D.W.: "It's not the same thing! Sooner or later, you're going to realize the good here---you'll wanna come back, but you won't have the background! an M.D. is no use on a farm."
Young David: "No?? We could have used on the day mom died! She might've lived..given you another son. One to carry on the Banner tradition!"
D.W.: "You go to any school you want, David....you can go to Hell for all I care!!"
In the present, David acknowledges he was wrong in the past, feeling he should repair the relationship. That evening, as David rests, Eckart's henchman sneaks into the lab, pouring chemicals intended to cause a fire, but David catches him, and in the struggle, Banner is knocked out by a violent push to the floor. The next morning, the Banners agree to take no action against Eckart--other than preparing the spray.
Meanwhile, Eckart's entomologist works on a plan to neutralize the hormone in the Banner's formula--effectively allowing the larvae to develop as normal--once again, D.W.'s crops will eventually be destroyed. Eckart instructs Howston (the turncoat pilot) to use the entomologist's altered spray; Howston is initially hesitant, noting his lifelong relationship with D.W., but a job offer and $4000 wipes away any guilty feelings. After Howston leaves, Eckart--wanting a guarantee for success--orders his henchman to sabotage Howston's crop duster, so both the pilot and D.W. die.
On the day of the crop dusting, David & D.W. head to the airstrip, but D.W. continues to bristle at David's secrecy--the reasons he will need to leave--
D.W.:
"Secrets! Always secrets--you never let me be part of your life!"
David: "You never wanted to be part of my life, you wanted me to be part of yours, and I couldn't do that!"
D.W.:
"You turned your back on me!"
David:
"You left me no choice!"
D.W.:
"Now? What choice do you need now?"
David: "Believe me, its different now."
D.W.:
"Not from where I'm sitting. You abandoned me on the farm when you were eighteen, and you're still doing it!"
David:
"Always the farm. The farm could never be part of my life."
D.W.:
"It could have been--except you were making me pay for your mother's death! You still are!"
David: "Dad, I'm not doing that anymore."
D.W.:
"Can you prove that with more than words?"
David: "No."
D.W.: "Well, I bore that cross long enough. I won't do it any longer. Not even for you, David. Maybe it was better when you were gone."
David: "Dad.....Dad!"
David inspects the underside of the plane, and spots the sabotage to the wing--as well as the new chemical, but is knocked out and hidden behind an oil drum by Eckart's henchman. D.W. & Howston take off, with a revived David racing after the plane in a panic. A moment after grabbing the wing, David transforms into the Hulk...in front of D.W.'s eyes. Howston loses control of the damaged plane, but the Hulk pulls the torn wing into place, granting Howston some measure of control--enough to land. D.W. and the Hulk move behind a bush, with the father asking David to leave before he's seen; the Hulk shakes "no" with his head, forcing D.W. to forcefully demand the creature leaves. With that, the Hulk grabs his head in frustration, shedding tears before touching his father's face, and running away.
On Thanksgiving day, Jack McGee is at the Banner home, questioning Helen as she sets the table for dinner--
Helen: "All these questions. I'm sorry, Mr. McGee, but dinner's getting cold."
McGee: "Uh, yeah, doctor Banner, I can't accept the Hulk's appearance in Trevorton as just a coincidence. That creature was seen in your brother's laboratory the night that he...died!"
Helen: "My brother never talked to us about his work.
At a side door, D.W. hands David his travel bag....
Helen: "Tell me Mr. McGee, what paper did you say you write for?"
McGee: "Uh..The National Register."
Helen: "Ah, that's right. I imagine its fun--I mean working for the register. You don't have to bother with..what shall I say..the drudgery of serious journalism?"
McGee: "Heh--that's not entirely true."
Helen: "Really? I thought you only did articles on movie stars and miracle diets--"
McGee: "Ah..whatever we write about, we consider our journalistic standards to be very high."
Helen: "Of course, I'm sure you do. Tell me, how did you wind up becoming a reporter in the first place?"
Outside, the reconciled David & D.W. embrace. David runs away through the countryside..
McGee: "You know, doctor Banner..about the Hulk..."
Helen: "Be my guest. I'll help you in any way.."
McGee: "I'm gonna get a story here."
Helen: "Why don't you write one on Eckert's arrest? Or the miracle insecticide that's saved--dad! This is the reporter who called--mister?"
McGee: "--McGee."
Helen: "My father."
D.W.: "
Mister McGee."
Helen: "I'm afraid he came all the way from Chicago for nothing."
D.W.: "Oh, what a shame! and on Thanksgiving, too.Let us make it up to you--stay for dinner!"
McGee: "Ohh--I couldn't possibly--I would be imposing--"
D.W.: "Nonsense! The place is already set. You see, we were expecting a relative, but at the last minute, he couldn't come."
Helen: "Please stay, Mr. McGee."
McGee: "It looks wonderful. Thank you. It's sad when you think about the people who don't have Thanksgiving. It's been a long time since I've had a home-cooked meal."
D.W. & Helen exchange sad looks, as that was and remains David's situation.
Once again, David walks along some highway...
NOTES:
This is not a cure-related episode.
Add two more characters to the list of people who learn Banner's secret and lived to say nothing about it.
I would have appreciated a scene where David mentions the tragic purpose behind the research which created the Hulk.
Apparently, Banner brother & sister share similar options about The National Register
:
David from the pilot: "Mr. McGee, your...newspaper is only interested in reporting murder, rape, horoscopes, UFOs and Farrah Fawcett."
Helen: "
I thought you only did articles on movie stars and miracle diets--"
The Banner children know a rag when they see one
.
In the course of an investigation, some can be suspicious of relatives who are too happy to please, but Banner's family are so settled into themselves, and have never raised red flags to McGee in the three years of his Hulk hunt, that he should not suspect them beyond this point. After all, the Hulk gets around the country--his appearance in David Banner's hometown does not automatically mean there's a connection.
McGee's
"It's sad when you think about the people who don't have Thanksgiving." Er...yeah, thanks to this A-Hole, the very reason David returned home was dashed to pieces, forcing him back to his life as the Lonely Man earlier than expected.
Since the pilot established David's mother knew Elaina Marks (
"she always liked you"), we can conclude Marks was a lifelong friend since childhood (only a college association is mentioned in the pilot), as that's (obviously) the only way David's mother would have known Marks.
Continuing with Marks, we have a rare continuity error: there's no way Helen would skip over any question or discussion about the woman who was not only David's lifelong friend, but died in the explosion which "killed" him.
More layers of reality: David's termination letter from a job. Even with his great intellect, he's as susceptible to employment troubles as anyone else.
The Incredible Hulk was popular with audiences of all ages, but its visually striking transformations & displays of strength left such an impression on children, that none other than Mr. (Fred) Rogers visited the Universal production to give kids a look into the real actors, and the difference between make-believe, reality and involved emotions.
"Homecoming" was one of the episodes in production when Rogers shot
Mister Rogers Talks About Superheroes (Season 10, Episode 1484), which aired on February 6, 1980--
GUEST CAST:
Diana Muldaur (
Dr. Helen Banner) first worked with Bixby in
"And Eddie Makes Three"--an episode of his beloved sitcom (occasionally a
dramedy)
The Courtship of Eddie's Father (ABC, 1969). Muldaur returns to TIH in
"Sanctuary" (1981) during the series' 5th season.
She is also a Roddenberry-land heavyweight--appearing as Ann Mulhall in
Star Trek'
s "Return to Tomorrow,
" and Dr. Miranda Jones in
"Is There in Truth No Beauty?" Before becoming poor McCoy knock-off Pulaski in
Star Trek: The Next Generation'
s second season, she worked with Roddenberry on his second of three failed pilots--
Planet Earth (ABC, 1974).
Other fantasy credits--
- The Invaders (ABC, 1968) - "The Life Seekers"
- The Other (20th Century Fox, 1972)
- Search (NBC, 1973) - "Ends of the Earth"
- Chosen Survivors (Columbia, 1974)
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1978) - "Sole Survivor"
- The Legend of Prince Valiant (The Family Channel, 1993) - recurring as Lady Morgana
- Batman: The Animated Series (Fox Kids, 1992-93) - recurring as Dr. Leslie Thompkins
John Marley (
D. W. Banner) was a versatile character actor with credits spanning many of cinema & TV's best years, but most will remember him as the horse-loving, racist film studio head Jack Woltz in
The Godfather (Paramount, 1972). His fantasy credits--
- Suspense (CBS, 1952) - "Set-Up for Death"
- Inner Sanctum (Syndicated, 1954) - "The Hermit"
- Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (ABC, 1959) - "Night of the Kill"
- Thriller (NBC, 1960) - "The Guilty Men"
- The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1962 / '63) - "Kick the Can" & "The Old Man in the Cave"
- The Outer Limits (ABC, 1963) - "The Man with the Power"
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (NBC, 1963 / '64) - "An Out for Oscar" "Death of a Cop" & "The Second Verdict"
- The Second Hundred Years (ABC, 1968) - "Lucky Luke"
- Land of the Giants (ABC, 1969) - "Sabotage"
- The Dead Are Alive (Inex Film, 1972)
- Dead of Night (Quadrant Films, 1974)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker (ABC, 1975) - "Primal Scream" (with Regis Cordic)
- It Lives Again (Warner Brothers, 1978)
- Threshold (Paragon Motion Pictures, 1981)
- Seeing Things (CBC, 1982) - "Evil Eye"
Claire Malis (
Elizabeth Banner) --
- Cry for the Strangers (David Gerber Productions, 1982)
- A Nightmare Comes True (Hallmark Entertainment, 1997)
Regis Cordic'
s (
Eckart) first roles were in two episodes of
The Monkees (NBC, 1967 / '68) as the town Cryer in
"Fairy Tale" and the money-hungry doctor in
"The Christmas Show"-- guest starring Butch "Eddie Munster" Patrick. His fantasy roles--
- Ritual of Evil (NBC, 1969) - a sequel to Fear No Evil--Universal's failed attempt at a paranormal investigator series, predating the similarly-themed The Sixth Sense with Gary Collins.
- Death Takes a Holiday (Universal, 1971)
- Rod Serling's Night Gallery (NBC, 1972) - "Rare Objects"
- The Sixth Sense (ABC, 1972) - "The Eyes That Wouldn't Die"
- Sleeper (United Artists, 1973)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker (ABC, 1975) - "Primal Scream" (with John Marley)
- The Scooby-Doo / Dynomutt Hour (ABC, 1976)
- Dynomutt Dog Wonder (ABC, 1976)
- Future Cop (ABC, 1977) - "The Kansas City Kid"
- The Man with the Power (Universal, 1977)
- The All-New Super Friends Hour (ABC, 1977) - regular as Apache Chief
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1974 / '77) - "Eyewitness to Murder" and "Bigfoot V"
- Wonder Woman (CBS, 1977) - "Mind Stealers from Outer Space: Part 2"
- Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (ABC, 1977) - "The Mystery Mansion Mix-Up"
- Logan's Run (CBS, 1978) - "Carousel"
- The Bionic Woman (NBC, 1978) - "Which One is Jamie?"
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries (ABC, 1978) - "Arson and Old Lace"
- Spider-Man (Syndicated, 1981) - "Carnival of Crime" - as The Ringmaster
- Challenge of the GoBots (Syndicated, 1984)
- Galtar and the Golden Lance (Syndicated, 1985)
- Transformers: The Movie (Sunbow / Marvel Productions, 1986)
- Transformers: Five Faces of Darkness (Sunbow / Marvel Productions, 1986-87)
- The Transformers (Sunbow / Marvel Productions, 1986)
- The Pirates of Dark Water (Syndicated, 1991)
)
