The Incredible Hulk
"Dark Side"--
After hours at Devin Chemicals, employee David
Barnard steals several cups of the powdered form of
Prolixin from the Control Drugs storage room...
David is a boarder at the home of Mike & Ellen Schulte and their daughter Laurie; Mike, an often absentee parent (thanks to his boating jobs) missed Laurie's graduation and other important moments of her life, causing the teenager's reactions to her father to go from cold to bitter. Over time, Laurie has developed a crush on David, which angers the neglected Mike. Inviting David downstairs for dinner, the teen questions David's apparently serious research--
Laurie: "It's as if something's happening in here, you know? Something important."
David: "Oh, finding a new formula for lipstick cohesion."
Laurie: "Is that what you're really doing?"
David: "I'm afraid so, yeah."
Laurie: "No vaccines? No cure for the big C? No changing lead to gold?"
David: "No, nothing so spectacular. I'm afraid I'm just like everybody else, Laurie. I'm trying to find a way of making money. Survival."
Laurie: "You're not like everybody else."
Dinner does not go too well, as Laurie is oblivious to Mike's stories, instead focusing her attention on David--once again, not winning any points with Mike.
That evening, David continues his search for a cure, listening to his recorded notes--
David: "Control of the creature, I believe, can now be concentrated in one area: the primitive, aggressive right side of the brain. By supporting activity in this quadrant, I can hopefully build the left side's intellectual dominance and prevent further seizures. Utilizing the carotid arterial pathway, I hope to saturate the right side target area, before any of the drug reaches the left side of the brain."
Adding to the recording--
David: "If any of the residual elements should slip past, I think they would be of insufficient quantity and strength so as to not adversely affect the subject."
With a less than enthusiastic expression, David injects his formula into his carotid artery, causing an increasingly uncomfortable reaction--
David: (into his recorder, breathing heavily):
"Muscle tension...pronounced aching...drowsiness....reactions not following projected analysis. Vision impairment...increasing... Something wrong! Something....wrong.."
David's mind is lost in a tense "flashback" of ancient tribal people--a man (perhaps a version of himself) pursuing another male and a female, with his spear finding its mark in the back of the male--an act shocking David into consciousness...but he's suddenly thrilled at his ancient half's kill. Banner laughs at his newfound, darker personality--mocking his true self--
David: "A mistake...you really messed up, didn't you, Banner? Hmm? You've always tried so hard to suppress the creature. You don't want him released....well, I do! And I can. And I will!!"
David raids the refrigerator, tearing into chicken like an animal while gulping down alcohol--laughing to himself. Laurie (initially hearing the laughing from David's room), discovers the coarse man with a frightening, lascivious demeanor--eventually reaching for the teen (mirroring his ancient self doing the same to a tribeswoman), until he temporarily broken out of his lustful intention by a cut on his hand--causing him to shed tears in his conflicted emotional state. Mike enters the kitchen, suspects what's going on, and orders David to leave in a week's time--emphasizing the point by grabbing Banner's shoulder; in turn, Banner warns Mike never to touch him again--while channeling his primal side--then suddenly behaves as normal, apologizing for his behavior.
In his room, the normal side of David listens to his chemically-induced side's sinister ramblings from the recorder; disturbed, and needing time to find a cure for yet another problem, he calls Devin Chemicals, asking for a sick day; the receptionist--Ms. Farber--has been trying to flirt her way into David's life, and continues to do so, inviting him to a private club called
The Swingtime. Banner dodges the invite.
The rift in the Schulte family is plain as day as Laurie stares at the empty seat David once occupied, much to the annoyance of her father. Upstairs, David has greater concerns--
David (recording)
: "The tests on my blood show that the experimental serum has interacted negatively with my brain's natural catecholamines. The result is a new hybrid enzyme, hereafter referred to as Enzyme 7. Instead of suppressing aggressive tendencies, Enzyme 7 has the reverse effect. It releases primal, even violent impulses.
There's a twofold danger to the effects of Enzyme 7: I'm more likely to undergo metamorphosis, and the creature will reflect a different and highly aggressive personality. I believe that another injection, utilizing a strong Prolixin-amino compound will reverse the effects of the experiment. However, I must get Prolixin in very soon. Enzyme 7 continues to be produced, and its effects will most likely return, perhaps for a longer period of time. Perhaps permanently."
Laurie (bringing David a dinner tray) questions why he's addressing her as Laurie instead of the "adult"
Laura from the previous evening; Banner cites being ill as the cause of is behavior, but Laurie--apparently--only saw the "flirtatious" side of the incident, and presses forward with her interest--
Laurie: "I'm 18, you know, last month!"
David: "Look, Laurie you're a lovely girl--"
Laurie: (touching David's hand)
"A woman. That's what you said, isn't it? A woman?"
Laurie's touch momentarily triggers the Enzyme 7 effects--channeling David's ancient, dark self--bringing his lustful identity to the forefront, only for the real David to "beat it back," and rush Laurie (professing her feelings & kissing him) from his room. Titillated by visions of Laurie & Ms. Farber, the beast overtakes David, sending him to the seedier side of town, or more specifically,
The Swingtime nightclub. Once inside, David spots Ms. Farber, and immediately makes his move on her--and punching her angry date; the date and his friends drag the mocking David into a secluded hallway, breaking a metal chair over his back, and kicking him with no end in sight...a frightening mix of joy
and rage on his face, as he begins to Hulk out...
The "Dark Hulk" hurls the attackers back into the club, and slowly, menacingly corners Ms. Farber's date on a 2nd story walkway; the man leaps to one of the "talent" swings, falls to the floor, with the Hulk jumping down behind him, narrowly missing crushing the date's hull with a deliberate stomp. With the club's patrons in panic mode--one screaming that the Hulk
"is going to kill" one of the date's friends--the Hulk spots Ms. Farber, still somewhat driven by his lustful Dark Banner mind, but fails to carry out whatever was on his mind with the arrival of the police. The Hulk breaks out the club wall, and before returning to the Schulte home, terrorizes a meat delivery man...
The next morning, Mike informs Laurie that
"your David" stumbled in--probably
"juiced up on something" and warns that the man--twice her age with no clue about his background is not what she thinks he is. In his room, a shaken, rocking David listens to the radio report of the Hulk's destruction of the nightclub--
Man on radio: "And so I look up, and this thing--this like, monster, you know, it comes charging into the club, real big and vicious, you know? It threw this one guy all the way across the room! Oh, it was unreal--totally unreal!"
Woman on radio: "The first thing I saw, it just ran in and started wrecking everything, like it wanted to kill us all! It was horrible-I mean I was terrified!"
Reporter: "There you have it--whatever IT was, the damage to the Swingtime club is extensive. And so far, the casualty rate from the brawl stands at 12 injured, three seriously..."
Shaking, suffering from spasms, David records a grim message--
David: "Last night's spontaneous takeover by my right-side personality is clearly indicative of Enzyme 7's phenomenal growth rate. My attempt to procure Prolixin and other chemo derivatives needed to win this...fight and curb aggression, must be made this afternoon--Saturday. I can only hope that my resistance to uh.... to the other is strong enough to keep it from gaining control again. Difficult...to maintain...objective viewpoint. Perspective distorted...constant strain to hold on"
To shift Laurie's attention from David, Mike invites Jimmy--a classmate--over, but the young man is largely ignored as Laurie tries to chase after David. The second Mike restrains Laurie, David's dark side suddenly returns--the man demanding Mike to let go of Lauire. Incensed, Mike orders David to leave the house that same day, with Jimmy eager to assert his manhood against Banner. Mike promises Jimmy his daughter will date him--the plan rejected outright by Laurie. Her mother refuses to offer an opinion.
At Devin Chemicals, David prepares to inject himself with the antidote to Enzyme 7, but said dark side (now with David in the ancient flashbacks) stops himself, laughing at his good side. Later, as Laurie paces in her room, awaiting David's return, Ellen accuses Mike of thinking about shipping out again because he cannot deal with Laurie's unforgiving resistant attitude; while Mike promises he's not leaving, the lustful David seduces a teary-eyed Laurie, convincing her to run away with him.
Making their way out of the house, David cackles wildly, kicking Mike's face, and promising he will give Laurie the
adult attention she's needed. Outside, Jimmy pulls up, but Banner--pretending to have a gun in his pocket--steals the car and speeds away, still cackling. Mike--ignoring Ellen's screaming protests--grabs his gun, and the two drive after Banner.
In the stolen car, David fights with himself, gripping the antidote to either use or discard it. In his drug-induced visions, the good David is attacked by the ancient, primal side of himself, the unhinged distractions causing him to lose control of the car, which crashes in a lake--sinking. David is thrown free of the vehicle, still clutching the antidote. Mike and Ellen pull up just as Laurie's car--with the teen still strapped in--sinks. Banner hears the screaming, but is too caught in his own internal war, until his good side manages to hold off the bad long enough for Banner to inject himself and--fearing the threat to Laurie's life--turn into the Hulk. The creature pulls the car out of the lake, and frees Laurie. With parents and child watching, the Hulk runs away.
Sometime later--the drama of David long gone, Laurie returns home after a date with Jimmy. Reconciled with her father, she watches him burn old photos from his seaman days, telling Laurie that he's over the old thrills of using the job as an escape...that family life is not so bad after all. Laurie admits her attraction to David represented the chance for escape, but cannot forget that part of her feelings stemmed from recognizing that he was dealing with some sort of pain.
NOTES:
Jack McGee does not appear in this episode.
This is a cure-related episode...on steroids.
Bill Bixby's range shines again in this episode; for a character known for being sensitive and well aware of the darker emotions he so naturally avoids, seeing an artificially created "inner demon" brought to the forefront was fascinating. So few times in TV or movie history do we see a successful "dark side" as the actor is usually incapable of doing anything other than going to the stereotypical "evil twin" or Hyde playbook, which wore out most of its welcome (with very few exceptions) in the 1960s. Here, David even turns his signature line,
"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" upside down--used for the first (and only) time as a real threat.
Another interesting touch was David emotionally & physically struggling against the effects of Enzyme 7 much in the same way seen as a Hulk-out is triggered; in both cases, he's fighting the "beast" in himself.
Alternate take of the Hulk breaking out of a brick wall (standing in for the nightclub), and waving his hands, originally shot during the production of season one with the more familiar take re-used in other TIH episodes, as well as the TV commercial for the Hulk live show at Universal's studio tour.
David is thrown free from the car while driving with a woman. This could be the second time in series history (after the pilot). Bad luck to ride around with David?
GUEST CAST:
Returning to TIH this week is Marvel TV adaptation baddie
William Lucking (
Mike Schulte), last seen in season two's
"The Antowuk Horror" and
Captain America II: Death Too Soon. (CBS, 1979)
- Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (Warner Bros., 1975)
- Dr. Scorpion (ABC, 1978)
- The Incredible Hulk (CBS, 1978) - "The Antowuk Horror"
- Captain America II: Death Too Soon (CBS, 1979)
- The Greatest American Hero (ABC 1982) - "It's All Downhill From Here"
- Voyagers! (NBC, 1982) - "Cleo and the Babe"
- Tales of the Gold Monkey (ABC, 1983) - "Legends Are Forever" & "Honor Thy Brother"
- J.O.E. and the Colonel (ABC, 1985)
- Outlaws (CBS, 1986) - series regular as Harland Pike; created by TIH's Nicholas J. Corea
- Duplicates (Paramount Television, 1992)
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die (Universal, 1995)
- Sleepstalker (Prism Entertainment Corporation, 1995)
- The X-Files (FOX, 1996) - "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"
- Millennium (FOX, 1997) - "Loin Like a Hunting Flame"
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Syndicated, 1995-1997) - "Shakaar" / "The Darkness and the Light" / "Ties of Blood and Water" - all as Furel
- K-PAX (Lawrence Gordon Productions, 2001)
- Star Trek: Enterprise (UPN, 2005) - "Bound"
- Night Stalker (ABC, 2005) - "Burning Man"
- Slipstream (Strand Releasing, 2007)
Rosemary Forsyth (
Ellen)--
- The Immortal (ABC, 1970) - "Reflections on a Lost Tomorrow"
- City Beneath the Sea (NBC, 1971) - Irwin Allen's failed pilot
- Rod Serling's Night Gallery (NBC, 1972) - "Deliveries in the Rear"
- Star Trek: Voyager (UPN, 1997) - "Scientific Method"
- Ghosts of Mars (Screen Gems, 2001)
Philece Sampler (
Laurie)--
- Shadow Chasers (ABC, 1985) - created by Kenneth Johnson & Brian Grazer
- Aaahh! Real Monsters (Nickelodeon,1994-97)
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (Sotsu Agency, 1991)
- The Incredible Hulk (UPN, 1996-97) - voice of Betty Ross
- Vampire Princess Miyu (TV Tokyo, 1997-98)
- King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity (Sierra Entertainment, 1998)
- DinoZaurs (Saban Entertainment, 2000)
REO Speedwagon did some great, almost operatic, stuff.
