Metamorphosis

A somewhat sedated season opener, "Metamorphosis" is never the less an engaging Hulk episode that showcases what the series do so well; show the decent human side of David Banner and his monstrous Green Alter Ego.

As David rescues a female singer from a car crash he winds up working as her assistant. His presence upsets her manager and soon because of a drug induced incident the Hulk appears in a very surreal (and quite amusing) scene and once again David has to split town. But his services are needed once more as the singer wants to give her audience the ultimate experience, which unfortunately will kill her.

A good episode from the series, only fails in comparison to other season openers. Mostly well written, even has a couple of OK songs for us melodic and "punk" rockers and Mckensie Philips is very serviceable as the Kiss-inspired rock singer with an identity crisis. The episode even has a nod towards the violence in rock shows of the day...though Alice Cooper went a bit further in the 70's :) As always, Bixby is rock solid and Jack Colvin excels as the extremely unlucky National Register reporter.

This kicks the season off with a bang as we witness hard rock band Lisa Swan and Shock rip into a show stopper called "Necktie Nightmare".

As a huge music fan, I really liked this episode. It's bold enough to explore issues like the responsibility musicians bear for their music and the growing emphasis on theatrics over substance in the music industry, and as television goes, its depiction of the music industry is pretty authentic. Moreover, the issues are handled with great poignancy, helped in large part by strong performances from Bill Bixby and Mackenzie Phillips (Lisa).

The plot mostly follows the same Incredible Hulk routine, but Banner's first transformation of the season is an interesting point; it's delayed even longer than usual, and we get to see a confrontation between Banner and the Hulk, courtesy of an LSD pill slipped into his drink. It's a gripping scene, but on the negative end McGee repeatedly pops up without doing anything of significance, and the musical score (aside from the two wonderful songs played by Lisa and Shock) consistently draws way too much attention to itself.

There's also a plot thread - Lisa's controlling older sister/manager Jackie - which is very pointedly introduced and reemphasized, but shrugged away in the end. Given that some scenes imply that Jackie is psychologically abusive to Lisa, this is pretty unacceptable. Overall though, this is a good episode which ticks all the right marks for the series.

David Banner(Bill Bixby) is walking along a road at night when he witnesses a car crash involving a popular rock singer named Lisa Swan(played by Mackenzie Philips). Out of gratitude for his help, she offers him a job with her band, which he takes since he needs the money(despite knowing nothing about the band or job!) Lisa is a troubled young woman and drug-abuser who longs to sing more sensitive songs, but her controlling manager/sister insists she sing the hard rock her fans crave, which causes tension that will give David trouble... Strange season three opener overcomes its overbearing rock music to portray an interesting look at drug abuse, and how the Hulk handles it...