East Winds

David Banner(Bill Bixby) is staying in Chinatown in San Francisco where he becomes the unknowing target of Chinese gangsters who are after a fortune of gold that is believed hidden in his apartment. David also gets mixed up with a Chinese woman who somehow becomes his mail order bride(!) which also brings on the attentions of a seasoned policeman named Jack Keeler(played by the ever dependable William Windom in his only series appearance). Poor David really suffers from bad luck in this episode, which is mostly a mediocre effort but helped greatly by the presence of Windom and some amusing scenes, colorful locale, and Hulk action.

Not a bad episode of the Hulk. Not good either, just so-so. It does feature two huge character actors of the 40's, 50's, and 60's. First the always dependable William Windon, who guest starred hundreds of times on some of the 60's and 70's most popular series. Windon plays a tough on the outside, soft in the middle cop who finds his new love tied up in the Chinese mafia, in San Francisco.

Secondly, this episode features Richard Loo, possibly the most famous Asian character actor of his time. Mostly playing bad japs in war movies, he ended up getting everso steady work as Asian heavies such as the Kam Chong character portrayed in this work.

This is Jack Colvin's second and final episode as director, and like his first it's classic film noir: gangsters, hidden gold, an aging cop, and an exotic lost love. Which is curious, because where "Goodbye Eddie Cain" was written by Nicholas Corea, this ep is the final writing credit of the series for Jill Sherman (co-writer with Karen Harris of such gems as "The Beast Within", "Stop the Presses", and "The Psychic", as well as dreck like "The Quiet Room").

Karen Harris's last script was also a solo one, and she went out on a strong note with "King of the Beach". Her partner doesn't fare as well; "East Winds" has a solid plot, compelling characters, and some fine acting (the mob boss is Richard Loo in his last acting job), but it's not a strong *Hulk* episode. The Hulk saves the day twice, both good action sequences, but our main man David is sidelined. Bixby does get to strut his chops in a hilarious scene where David receives a mail-order bride (trust me, it makes sense in context), but despite his apartment being the gold's hiding place, David is essentially uninvolved with either the gangster plot or the characters' personal issues. The aging cop solves everything himself.

This episode also suffers from a horrendously slow beginning and some unclear filming, but both those problems are swallowed by the plot's building momentum and great acting. It's just that it feels like this episode was written for another series, then repurposed for The Incredible Hulk with David Banner shoehorned in.

Let me reemphasize, though, that this episode is good television. It's just not very good Hulk, with the exception of the aging cop's parting words to David. Simple as they are, they very nearly brought tears to my face.