By Geno McGahee
There is a serial killer on campus, butchering blonde students. David (Bill Bixby) always finds trouble. On top of being on the run from Jack McGee (Jack Colvin), he has to deal with situations that often drag him in and screw with his life. In DEATH MASK, he’s in more trouble than usual, accused of being the “Death Mask Killer,” a serial killer that leaves a mask on the faces of the victims.
There are quite a lot of amusing things in this episode, but my favorite was when the cops were dragging David into the jail with handcuffs. The mobs of extras were all very angry and pulled it off quite well, especially one guy that pulled his fist back, ready to strike him, with an angry scowl on his face. I wonder if all of this was just random…if the director just said: “Be pissed off.” If so, these guys followed the directions well. They were very pissed off. I wouldn’t have been surprised if David hulked up and said to the fist clincher: “You want some of me mother fucker?!”
An import into the force, Chief Frank Rhodes (Gerald McRaney) is on the case and when one of the victims that was with David starts rambling about him, the arrest is made and soon we have a one on one with the two characters. It was rather easy to predict, as most Hulk episodes are, but it was a great back and forth between the two talented actors.
-Spoilers from this point on-
Now, I am sure that anyone will easily predict the killer here, but I gave the spoiler warning anyway. Rhodes begins chipping away at David in the interrogation, but soon chinks in his armor become apparent. Being very perceptive and just one hell of a nice guy, David starts trying to reach the detective. That’s when we find out that Rhodes has multiple personality disorder. He has a nice guy inside and a crazed killer as well. David still has compassion for him and tries to get him to do the right thing, which makes the case of David Banner that much more sad.
Banner loses his wife, which prompted him to take the gamma rays. If he ever got married again and if she was stuck in a car on fire, he would have the power to rip that door off the hinges and save her. Of course, that accidental overdose of gamma radiation turned him into the Hulk, and now he is not foolish enough to get married. If he Hulked up during sex, he would rip her in two. He can’t take that chance. Even jerking off is dangerous, as evident in Hulk, season 4, unreleased episode: “I should have never grabbed my Hulk junk.”
So, Banner is just a helpful guy that gives great advice and the world shits on him. I feel so bad for the guy. All the women like him, but he can’t get with any of them. The series doesn’t have a she-Hulk that can take his incredible junk. So, he has to stay clear.
DEATH MASK is an interesting tale with great performances by McRaney and Bixby. It’s a much darker episode then we Hulk fans are used to, but the grittiness was welcome. I recommend it!
Scared Stiff Rating: 7/10.
