So...we doing the last two on Wednesdays...?
Sticking to Friday, and as I do not consider the revival movies canon (and were never a part of the ME-TV TIH syndication package), I'm particularly interested in reviewing the revival movies.
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The Incredible Hulk--
"Slaves"
As David
Becker hitchhikes along a desert road, he spots the wrecked car of Christy, a saucy young woman not too interested in basic formalities. Unable to repair Christy's car, David accompanies her for the 30 mile trek to the nearest town. Along the way, a seemingly jovial man named Isaac Ross drives up in his truck and offers a ride, which the duo accept. Driving off road, Isaac stops in what appears to be a small ghost town. Asking David to help him find parts for Christy's car, the man whacks Banner over the head with a wood plank, rendering him unconscious, while Christy is taken prisoner by Isaac's creepy, withered assistant, Roy.
Later, David awakens to find himself, Christy and another man (Marty Gibbs) in a mine shaft--held at gunpoint by Roy. Christy asserts her freedom, but is told she--and the rest of the unfortunates--are his slaves, and will work to find a large gold vein, based on his late grandfather's map. Isaac's of the opinion that he's entitled to use white people for forced labor as much as whites used African slaves. It does not help matters that his white partner Roy clearly has racist views of black people, and he's not afraid to show it. Twisted behavior aside, the prisoners get to work...except Christy, who refuses to life a finger, until Roy makes what can only be construed as a rape threat if she causes more trouble. Marty Gibbs tearfully reveals how he and Harry--his older brother--were captured, tried to escape trough a vent shaft, only for Harry to fall to his death.
That evening, slop is served; despite its unappetizing appearance, David eats, and encourages Christy to do the same--in order to keep up her strength for any escape attempts. Christy's hopes the car she was driving (belonging to her one-time record producer fiancée, revealed to be an adulterer) will be found. Isaac informs her Roy has moved the car from any potential prying eyes, and mocks her with his "poor 'ol Isaac" routine, which he uses to make himself disarming to the public.
The slave labor continues for days, until a rock lined with a gold vein is discovered. Overjoyed, Isaac continues the digging on his own. One evening, the prisoners sit in the saloon, listening to Roy's bragging and general nonsense. David prepares to rise as Roy harasses the silent, disheartened Christy, until Isaac walks in, giving a disapproving stare at this henchman. Isaac gives a comb and pocket mirror to Christy, but she sits still, staring at nothing. Roy smarts off to Isaac as the "master" returns to the mine, giving Roy an opening to grab the limp Christy up for an impromptu dance. David and Marty rise, demanding Roy to stop. Quick to anger, Roy aims his rifle at the men, ordering them to mount the saloon stage to fight each other. Initially, Marty refuses, until Roy goes low, insulting Marty with the memory of his late brother.
Traumatized more than he let on, Marty lashes out in anger--at David, much to the delight of the cackling Roy. As David begs Marty to stop beating him, Christy considers snatching the rifle from Roy. On stage, Marty's assault sends Banner through the weak wooden floor...triggering a Hulk out. In that moment, Christy tries to grab the rifle, but Marty stops her to protect Roy--still reacting like a defeated slave.
Roy moves toward the stage to check on David, but jumps back in horror at the sight of the Hulk climbing out; Marty and Christy run out of the Saloon, as the Hulk hurls a player piano at Roy. The henchman takes a few shots at the creature--missing each time. The Hulk crashes out of a window, and vanishes. Elsewhere, Isaac holds Christy & Marty at gunpoint, and grills Roy about Banner's whereabouts. He's writes off Roy's Hulk claims as the talk of a drunk. Eventually, Isaac finds Banner, and returns him to the mine to be chained at the ankle to the others. Banner plays on Isaac's reverse racism, leading the man to spit back--
Isaac: "I was born in a society that gave me the illusion of freedom, but I'm still black--still in chains, just as sure as my grandfather was!"
Roy continues to taunt Isaac about their shared prison experiences--mentioning how in those days, everyone called him
"boy" in the racist sense--a reminder boiling Isaac's blood to the point where he threatens Roy. Left to themselves to work, David begins using a pick axe to loosen the boards covering the same vent shaft where Marty's brother died...
Back in the saloon, Roy is angered by Isaac's complete refusal to use the found vein as credit to bring in a professional crew to obtain the gold, accusing Isaac of being more interested in playing his reverse slavery game than finding the gold--their one and only reason for being there. Rubbing it in, Roy reminds Isaac of his would-be slave master nonsense he used against (white) inmates in prison, and the fact that he's only free from his life sentence because of Roy's assistance, which makes them partners. Not to mention Isaac signed the deed to the mine over to Roy as a convict cannot own property. Weary of Roy's ranting, Isaac tosses the question of what to do with the "slaves" in Roy's lap, but is distressed when Roy casually talks about murdering the trio. That's enough for Isaac, who belittles Roy and orders him back to the mines.
After getting drunk, Roy harasses the prisoners, frightening them by lighting the disconnected fuse on a stick of dynamite, but promising he will use the real deal to clear out the mine. Obviously, Roy's condition leads to another angry exchange between "master" and "overseer", with Roy twisting the knife of their mutually racist past. Once again, Isaac sends Roy away, with the latter laughing in a most cryptic manner. The prisoners warn Isaac about the dynamite threat, which he initially dismisses, then decides to check out for himself--just in time to face off against a dynamite tossing Roy. Isaac defuses one lit & tossed stick after another; concurrently, the prisoners make their way into the vent shaft, until Roy manages to send a dynamite stick past Isaac. With no time left to pull the fuse, Isaac tosses the stick out of the mine entrance, but it explodes, causing the mine roof to dump rubble and beams om him. David returns to free Isaac, but suffers the same fate from a second cave-in, triggering a Hulk-out.
The creature breaks out of the mine, sees Roy, and chases the shocked drunk around the ghost town, eventually cornering Roy in the lobby of what was once an old hotel. In a drunken panic, Roy tosses a stick of dynamite at the Hulk, who catches it, throws it back to Roy just as it explodes, blowing Roy's body through a wall and into the street. Slightly dazed from the blast, the Hulk wanders off.
Christy & Marty bind and load their former captors in Isaac's truck, ready to turn them over to the sheriff. Christy is devastated, believing David died in the mine cave in, but on another road, a recovered Banner continues his journey.
NOTES:
This is not a cure-related episode.
Jack McGee does not appear in this episode.
Not enough time to fully explore the feelings of a black man practicing a form of reverse racism with the enslavement of white people. The episode required
at least another 30 minutes to build on more than Isaac's
"the American dream did not work for me / I'm still in chains"-esque beliefs to justify the depth of his problems leading to his abuses. Roy's own racism was the contrast to avoid potential TV critic screaming of only focusing on the lone black character poisoned by racial hatred, but it was not necessary to tell this kind of story. In fact, it was a distraction. We--the audience--can sense what Isaac has gone through (at least as a "crack in the door" before he sort of explained it), and did not need Roy to serve as a taste of those experiences. The focus should have been on Isaac's experiences alone, and the point would have been clear about what he's feeling whether alone, or around others.
"Slaves" was written by Jeri Taylor, later to be one of the most involved talents in the Berman
Star Trek era, as a writer, associate and executive producer.
This might be the second time David is believed to be dead at the conclusion of a story--obviously, the other time this occurred was in the pilot.
Conscientious David: picks up the Band-Aid wrapper Christy carelessly tosses to the ground. Hulk no litter.
GUEST CAST:
John Hancock (
Isaac Whittier Ross) might be best known for his supporting role in
Airplane II: The Sequel (Paramount, 1982) as the controller with the "hot" report, but he had a few fantasy credits under his belt--
- The Greatest American Hero (ABC, 1982) - "A Chicken in Every Plot"
- Voyagers! (NBC, 1983) - "All Fall Down"
- The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1986) - "The Convict's Piano"
- Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (Vestron, 1989)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (Syndicated, 1990 & 1991) - "The Defector" & "The Wounded" as Admiral Haden
Charles Tyner (
Roy)--
- Family Plot (Universal, 1976) - directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- Pete's Dragon (Walt Disney Productions, 1977) - voice of Merle
- Evilspeak (Warner Brothers / Mareno Films, 1981)
- Space (CBS, 1983) - miniseries based on the James A. Michener novel
Not many fantasy credits, but he also co-starred in
The Stone Killer (Columbia Pictures, 1973) with
Jack Colvin and 2-time TIH guest
Paul Koslo.
Faye Grant (
Christy)--
- Voyagers! (NBC, 1982) - "Voyagers" - pilot
- Voyager from the Unknown (MCA Hone Video, 1982) - two episodes of Voyagers! edited to make this "movie"
- Tales of the Gold Monkey (ABC, 1983) - "Last Chance Louie"
- V (NBC, 1983) - as Juliet Parrish
- V: The Final Battle (NBC, 1984) - as Juliet Parrish
- V - the series (NBC, 1984-'85) - as Dr. Juliet Parrish
- Alien Private Eye (Forthright Productions, 1988)
- Omen IV: The Awakening (FOX, 1991)
- Tales from the Crypt (HBO, 1991) - "Spoiled"
Jeffrey Kramer (
Marty)--
- Jaws (Universal, 1975) - as Deputy Hendricks
- Jaws II (Universal, 1978) - as Deputy Hendricks, joining Donna Wilkes from "Alice in Discoland" as the second person from this film to guest star on TIH
- Halloween II (Universal, 1981)
- Heartbeeps (Universal, 1981)
- Santa Claus: The Movie (TriStar Pictures, 1985)
- Out of This World (Syndicated, 1988) - "Old Flame"
Not to mention that she was a series regular for the first two seasons of The Greatest American Hero as Rhonda...!
