The Incredible Hulk--
"Interview with the Hulk"
At the offices of the
National Register, Jack McGee takes shots at fellow reporter, the chain-smoking Emerson Fletcher--
McGee: "What have you got this week? 'The Hidden Diseases in Your Rug'. Sounds like a shoe-in for the Pulitzer."
Emerson: "Oh, stop sniping just because your Hulk has disappeared."
McGee: "He didn't disappear. He just hasn't been seen for a couple of months."
Emerson: "Yeah, its hard to see something that's not there."
McGee: "Fletcher, you just do your story, and let me do mine, okay?'
Emerson: "Yeahh, my story...my story. Roberts knows what I can do. I'm 46 years old and I'm on probation."
As Mark Roberts speaks with McGee about Fletcher being close to losing his job, Fletcher looks at a framed picture of a little girl, his mind wandering.
Outside, Roberts wants McGee to cover something other than the Hulk--
Roberts: "Quintuplets were born last night on the South Side. Now that's the kind of story The Register does best--its timely, it has heart--"
McGee: "Mark, you really want me to drop the Hulk for five ankle-biters whose only distinction is that they're born in volume?"
Roberts: "Precisely."
McGee: "Aw, give me a break."
Roberts: "Wait a minute, if you want, I'll just tell Steinhauer that you're too busy."
McGee: (not wanting to rock
that boat)
"No, no, no, no. Its all right. But, you have got to promise you'll let me loose the minute they sight the Hulk again."
Fletcher listens from his office...
Roberts: "And you'll have the scoop of the decade, and The New York Times begging for your byline."
McGee: "Believe me, Mark, The Hulk story is going to pay off some of these days!"
Roberts: (mocking McGee)
"Some of these days? Some of these days? What about now, huh?"
Back in the office, Fletcher stares at McGee's Hulk clippings, then answers a call for his colleague, from a Stella Verdugo (from Atlanta, Georgia) claiming she's seen the Hulk. With Fletcher's job on the line, he sees the Hulk as a way out, taking Verdugo's information, and McGee's Hulk file, then heads to Atlanta. At the Atlanta Tool & Die, employee David
Butler is at the site of its wall--recently destroyed by the Hulk. As usual, David prepares to leave...
Back at
The Register, McGee returns from lunch, still taking shots at Fletcher--
McGee: "Ernest Hemingway has gone to lunch."
Roberts: "Oh, give him a chance, Jack, will you?"
McGee: "Mm-hmm. Bread and butter."
Roberts: "You know, Emerson Fletcher was the best. Remember his story on the Salk vaccine? That was a milestone! He could take the most complex science story and make a fifth grader understand it."
McGee: "Seen any of his recent stuff?"
Roberts:
"He know he's losing it. You know, its eating him up inside."
McGee: "Emmy is bitter. He's a bitter man. The guy is bitter."
Roberts: "He has a right to be. Losing a daughter will do that to you."
McGee: "True."
Fletcher arrives in Atlanta, making his way to the apartment of Stella Verdugo. The woman's apartment overlooks the Tool & Die, where she recounts the events leading to the Hulk's appearance. At that moment, Verdugo sees Banner saying his goodbyes at the job, and identifies him as the man who transformed into the Hulk. Using Verdugo's binoculars, Fletcher is shocked, as he recognizes the man as Banner...
Fletcher: "Oh, my God! Its Doctor David Banner! He's alive!!"
Fletcher tails Banner back to his apartment, then calls Charlie Jameson, a local videographer acquaintance, promising him the chance to shoot the Hulk for the 6 o'clock news...
Fletcher passes himself off as a writer for
The Journal of American Science, but David recognizes him as his real identity, leading Fletcher to not only call out Butler as David Banner, but threatens to go to the authorities with news of a dead man being very much alive if Banner refuses to talk. Seeing no other option, Banner agrees to speak to the reporter.
David: "So, this is how you get your stories."
Fletcher: "Oh, no, this isn't my usual style, but I need this interview, and I think it can help you, too."
David: "If you really want to help me, you can get out of here right now, and leave me alone."
Fletcher: "The scientific world deserves the real story, not some exploitative expose...in a gossip rag."
David: "What's the point?"
Fletcher: "
The point is that your story will be read by the very people that can help you. Your colleagues in the scientific community. The facts I am sure will stimulate research toward a possible cure. Don't you realize a wealth of medical resources will become available to you?"
David: (not buying any of it)
"That's conjecture."
Fletcher: "Well, my experience tells me that your associates will rally to your assistance. I, of course, will go along with whatever appropriate conditions that you require. No picture, and your identity shall be protected."
David: "Hmm. How can I believe you?"
Fletcher: "Well, I have a reputation of telling the truth. Uh, do we have an agreement?"
David: (still disbelieving)
"All right. But I get absolute approval of the story before its published."
Fletcher: "Oh, yes, its your story."
At that same moment in Chicago, McGee discovers his Hulk file is missing. Alarmed, he barges into Roberts' office, believing Fletcher must have heard of a Hulk sighting, and followed the lead with his Hulk file....
Meanwhile at David's apartment, the interview continues--
David: "I really believed it was my fault. I've never felt so helpless."
Fletcher: "Why do you blame yourself for your wife's death? You just told me it was physically impossible to save her. "
David: "But there are exceptions. How do you explain the actions of a mother so desperate for the safety of her own child, she is capable of lifting a car off of him? Now, to a layman...that would be a miracle.."
As David speaks, Fletcher's mind drifts back to his young daughter, laboring for breath in a hospital bed...
David continues--
David: "I became obsessed with finding the key to the inner strength that al people have.".
Fletcher: "Were you successful?"
David: "No. Well, at least not at first. You see, Elaina and I--that's my colleague--Dr. Elaina Marks, we....tested people who had experienced abnormal strength during periods of extreme stress. And we discovered that every subject demonstrated that strength during periods of high-level gamma activity from the sun."
Fletcher: "Mm-hmm. What did you do then?"
David: "I decided to expose myself to high-level gamma radiation to try to duplicate their phenomena."
Fletcher: "What safeguards did you utilize?"
David: "Oh, the usual. I only made one mistake--I didn't take human error into account. Now I had regulated my intake very precisely, but the machine itself was not calibrated properly, and I accidentally absorbed over two million units of gamma ."
Fletcher: "You're lucky you're alive. Well, what about the side effects?"
David: "There were none. At least not at first. But as I was driving home that night, it was a terrible evening. It was raining, and I had a blow out. I was having a very difficult time changing the tire, and then I scraped my hand. I got very angry."
Fletcher: "What happened?"
Fletcher: "I don't know. I never know...I.. blacked out. "
David continues recalling the police found his demolished car, how he and Elaina tried to recreate the circumstances that led to his first transformation, and that his dreaming about Laura's death triggered another Hulk-out. David expressed how he felt helpless in that situation, which draws Fletcher's mind back to his own feelings of being unable to stop his daughter's pain. David sees that Fletcher is lost in thought, and observes him for a moment.
The next day, Roberts finds the receipt for Fletcher's travel voucher for $160.00--with his name forged, but no destination; he orders McGee to perform his "investigative reporting" and find out where Fletcher was headed. Meanwhile, McGee learns of the call from Stella Verdugo....
At David's apartment, Banner explains that he's continued to run since the lab explosion, and will always be on the run until he's found a cure, and again, Fletcher thinks about a doctor informing him that there was no known cure for his daughter's disease. David moves on to his experience with Caroline Fields, from her successful work in hypnosis therapy, to their marriage one week before her dying in his arms--a thought that reminds Fletcher of embracing his dying daughter--
Lisa: "Daddy...I want to go home."
Fletcher: "Oh, sweetheart.."
Lisa: "Daddy? Daddy, please? I wanna go home."
Fletcher: "You'll go home...soon."
Lisa dies in his arms. Fletcher's mind returns to the present--
Fletcher: "I think we both need a break. You mid if I go outside and get some fresh air?"
David: (pauses)
"No, no. Go ahead."
David thinks for a moment, eyes slightly watering--
David: "Wait...I'd like to thank you. This has been...um...bottled up inside me for such a long time. Its such a relief to...to be able to tell someone that understands technically...and....and still has...sensitivity...and compassion."
David senses something else is bothering Fletcher...
David: "This must be very difficult for you."
Fletcher steps outside, trying to compose himself after listening to David, and reliving his own past. Outside, the annoying Stella Verdugo runs up to him, eager for the Register reward. Fletcher asks her to be patient...in a condescending tone. Verdugo--upset--turns and walks away. Later, the interview continues--
David: "...and then I experimented with every kind of serum, trying to find an antidote to prevent my metamorphosis. I thought I could control the creature by reducing the brain's primal impulses. So I injected myself in hopes of building up the brain's intellectual capabilities. Unfortunately, it backfired.
The primal side became so predominate, altering the character of both me and the creature. The only comforting thought I've had throughout this three-year ordeal, however tenuous it may be, is that the creature would not kill because I would not kill. But this time, it could have been different. Fortunately, the dark side Hulk was unsuccessful. and I later found an antidote to the serum, and the creature's behavior retuned to normal."
Fletcher: "What about the creature's destructive nature, which has been so widely reported?"
David: "Well, from what I can gather, the creature has never wantonly destroyed anything or seriously hurt anybody. Apparently, he is motivated to deal with whatever frustrates or angers me. And I can't tell you what its like every time I...come back, wondering, 'What has he done?'"
Fletcher: "You're almost describing an animal."
David: "
In a way, I am. I'm describing the creature's primal state, which takes over whenever there are moments of great anger. But he seems to be pure instinct, without reason of intellectual understanding. Total innocence--like a child. But because of his immense strength, people confuse his motives. You never read about the human side."
Fletcher: "Monsters sell papers."
David: "Which is exactly why I don't trust reporters...present company excepted. But reporters like Jack McGee...ever since that day in the cemetery, I always knew I would be just a story to him. It appeared that no one survived the lab explosion, except the creature, so McGee assumed it had killed Elaina and David Banner. That's why continues chasing the creature and me, his John Doe. Part of me died that day."
Fletcher thinks back to his anguish during the burial of his daughter--
Fletcher: "I've been running too. The circumstances don't matter. Sometimes running doesn't get you very far, does it?"
David: 'Emerson?"
Fletcher: "Excuse me. I was thinking of something else."
Elsewhere, the still annoying Stella Verdugo calls
The Register offices, claiming McGee is taking advantage of her by "cheating" her out of the Hulk reward--only she ends up talking to the real McGee, who learns where Fletcher went, and who he's possibly talking to. Hanging up on the still complaining Verdugo, McGee grabs his curare darts and gun...
At David's place, Fletcher asks if David read one of his articles on a radical cure for cystic fibrosis--
David: "Yes, yes, as a matter of fact, I remember there was quite a bit of controversy about that."
Fletcher: "Yes...I faced the acid test of its worth. You see, my little girl had cystic fibrosis, and as you know, there's no known cure. I wanted to change that for her, so I volunteered her for this new treatment. I knew it was a gamble, but I was very optimistic."
David: "And you lost?"
Fletcher: "Lisa was only eight. You know, when I first came to your door, I didn't know what to make out of this...Hulk. After all, a large, green man running amok is not exactly my kind of story. But I believe in you, doctor. And I'm gonna help you."
Fletcher leaves, using a public phone to cancel the services of Charlie Jameson--the videographer he called earlier, but he gets the answering machine, meaning Charlie is on his way. Down the block, the real McGee speaks to Stella Verdugo, showing her an unsigned check for $10,000, which will be hers--and signed--once he captures the Hulk.
As David packs his bags, Fletcher returns and confesses his original intentions, with a little backstory--
Fletcher: "After my daughter's death, it was difficult for me to work. I lost my credibility and I just about gave up. Now, I'm trying to write again, for myself, for my marriage. I took the only job I could get. A newspaper offered me a fresh start. I was hoping your story would restore my respectability."
David: "...yes..."
Fletcher: "Well, I'm not proud of what I've done. See, I work for The National Register."
David holds his head in a mix of disbelief and anger--
Fletcher: "--but I intend on keeping my promises to you."
David: (grabbing Fletcher's tapes)
"Mr. Fletcher, these are my tapes!"
Fletcher: "You can't go out there. There's a TV news crew on the way!"
David: "What are you talking about??"
Banner peeks out of his window, not only seeing the TV van, but Jack McGee and Stella Verdugo heading toward his apartment building. Giving a new meaning to the expression "pissed off", David locks and barricades the door; in the hall, McGee pounds on the door, asking Stella to call the police--
David: "How in the Hell could you--"
As David tries to escape via the bathroom window, McGee takes a fire axe and hacks his way in, only to be tackled by Fletcher. In the bathroom, although David wraps a towel around his hand for protection as he breaks the window, he's still cut--the pain and frustration of it all triggering a Hulk-out. As Fletcher continues to subdue McGee, both are startled by the sight of the roaring Hulk emerging from the bathroom--his scowl focused on McGee. Jack McGee tries to shoot the creature with his ever-deadly curare gun, but Fletcher slaps his arm away, truly saving
Banner's life. The Hulk turns, breaking through wall of the third story room, and inching along a ledge, only stopping to angrily growl at McGee when the man tries--once again--to shoot him. The Hulk jumps down to the ground--coming face to face with Charlie the cameraman as McGee stumbles on the wall debris, and falls--nearly to his death--until caught by the Hulk. The creature sets him down and races away, while Fletcher recovers the interview tapes, and smiles to himself when he sees Charlie's videotape destroyed.
McGee--almost choking on the bitter pill swallowed from being scooped of THE story, tries to demand answers from Fletcher--
McGee: "Fletcher, what did he tell you?!?"
Fletcher: "He didn't tell me anything."
McGee: "Oh, come on!! You spent two days alone with the man who turns into the Hulk, now who is he?? What did he say??"
Fletcher: "No, our conversations are privileged information."
McGee: "But its my information!!"
Fletcher hands recent non-smoker McGee a nice, new cigarette--
McGee: "It's MY story!! Now come on, Fletcher!! I think you owe me!"
Fletcher: "I owe him."
Fletcher--satisfied look on his face--walks away.
Banner--his secret still safe--walks along another highway.
NOTES:
Condition-related, considering the conversation about Banner's experiment and life as the creature.
Often cited as one of the best episodes of the series, Wonderful episode using Emersion Fletcher in two, memorable ways--the commonality between Banner & Fletcher, and the ethical contrasts between Fletcher & McGee. Fletcher's presence simply magnified the natural beliefs and/or traits of each man--the truly good, soul-searching of Banner, and the unethical, fame-seeking of McGee. The audience benefitted as much as Banner with his being able to tell his story to someone who is able to comprehend the scientific side, asking the right questions, as well as support him with the sympathetic side. For a single episode character, Emerson Fletcher's personal tragedy carried the necessary weight to build Fletcher into something more than "guest star".
Of note, Fletcher only speaks of involving the medical community
only as a means of
curing Banner--not some unrealistic notion of harnessing the Hulk's condition for other applications.
Time to visit
The World of Jack McGee:
McGee's petty, jealous nature boils to the surface again, as he mocks Fletcher by calling him "Hemingway", when the man had written groundbreaking articles (the Salk vaccine), during the course of his career--a level of success McGee never reached as a journalist.
Roberts knows McGee's desires & beliefs (as well as Banner), since he calls McGee out on his dream of using the Hulk--
"And you'll have the scoop of the decade, and The New York Times begging for your byline."
McGee did not protest that assessment, so yes, its all about his self-interest, not the welfare of "John Doe"/Hulk.
As if McGee did not have enough causing his toilet bowl of classless behavior to overflow, he refers to
newborn babies as--
"...ankle-biters whose only distinction is that they're born in volume?"
No, he was not joking.
McGee spent hundreds of dollars to quit smoking. Easy to forget that was once part of his "character" in the pilot.
Apparently, David was aware of McGee & his
"Hulk Kills Two" story during at his--and Elaina's--funeral from the start (the pilot suggests he was watching from a distance but out of earshot), so to Banner, it was always clear McGee was not trying to help him, a truth reinforced by the events of
"Mystery Man" &
"Equinox".
This episode features flashbacks from several episodes with attempted (and obviously failed) cures:
- "The Incredible Hulk"
- "Married"
- "Dark Side"
...and as the Hulk would only make one "present day" appearance (breaking the "two Hulk-outs per show" format), the flashbacks provided several Hulk clips--enough to satisfy the most die-hard of fans.
GUEST CAST:
Michael Conrad (
Emerson Fletcher) will always be best known for his Emmy-winning role as Sgt. Phil Esterhous of
Hill Street Blues (the last role of his life), but Conrad had a good set of fantasy roles to his credit-
- The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1964) - "Black Leather Jackets"
- My Favorite Martian (CBS, 1966) - "Martin's Revoltin' Devlopment"
- Lost in Space (CBS, 1968) - "Fugitives in Space"
- The Immortal (ABC, 1970) - "By Gift of Chance"
- Scream, Blacula, Scream (AIP, 1973)
- Planet of the Apes (CBS, 1974) - "The Tyrant"
- Satan's Triangle (ABC, 1975)
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1975/'77) - "The Blue Flash" & "The Infiltrators"
- Time Express (CBS, 1979) - "Garbage Man" / "Doctor's Wife"
Walter Brooke (
Mark Roberts) makes his final TIH appearance in this episode. His fantasy credits--
- Tales of Tomorrow (ABC, 1952) - "Flight Overdue"
- Inner Sanctum (NBC, 1954) - "Dead Level"
- Conquest of Space (Paramount, 1955)
- Steve Canyon (ABC, 1959) - "Project U.F.O."
- The Twilight Zone (CBS, 1961 / '63) - "The Jungle" & "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain"
- Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (ABC, 1964) - "The Fear Makers"
- The Munsters (CBS, 1965) - "Yes Galen, There is a Herman"
- The Green Hornet (ABC, 1966-67) - series regular - D.A. Frank Scanlon
- The Invaders (ABC, 1967) - "The Watchers"
- The Andromeda Strain (Universal, 1971)
- The Return of Count Yorga (AIP, 1971) - with TOS guest stars Mariette Hartley, Roger Perry & Michael Pataki
- The Sixth Sense (ABC, 1972) - "Lady, Lady, Take My Life"
- The Magician (NBC, 1973) - "Ovation for Murder"
- The ABC Wide World of Mystery (Dan Curtis Productions, 1974) - "Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest"
- Stowaway to the Moon (CBS, 1975)
- Time Travelers (ABC, 1976) - Yes, that oft-listed, failed Irwin Allen pilot movie
- Gemini Man (NBC, 1976) - "Escape Hatch"
- The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC, 1974 / 1977) - "Population Zero" / "Death Probe: Part 1" & "Dark Side of the Moon: Part 1"
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (NBC, 1979) - "Testimony of a Traitor"
- Bring 'Em Back Alive - (CBS, 1982) - "Thirty Hours"
- Automan (ABC, 1984) - "Unreasonable Facsimile"
This isn't one of their best, but fun.
