Episode #11 - Darkness And Light, Part One
Original Airdate February 2nd, 1997

Doc Samson and Betty finally finish the nutrient bath in hopes to seperate Banner from The Hulk. But can they get Hulk to Gamma Base in order to save Banner?

Credits
Written By: Bob Forward
Directed By:Ernesto Lopez, Tom Tataranowicz
Music Composed By: Shuki Levy and Kussa Mahchi
Animation Services By: Sae Rom Productions
Guest Starring: Neal McDonough as Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk, Genie Francis as Betty Ross, John Vernon as General 'Thunderbolt' Ross, Luke Perry as Rick Jones, Kevin Schon as Major Glenn Talbot, Matt Frewer as The Leader, Mark Hamill as Gargoyle and Shadoe Stevens as Doc Samson

Review: Set across 3 episodes, this story finally sees Betty and Samson’s Nutrient Bath completed and their efforts to separate Hulk and Banner put to the test.

The opening to this episode is arguably one of the show’s greatest moments. When you see Hulk calmly playing with the fish in the stream, it really makes you feel for the green lug. It really starting kicking in that he doesn’t really want to hurt anybody, he just wants to be left in peace. The scene in which Hulk begins to transform back into Banner and him resenting the very sight of Banner was exceptionally well done. These episodes are the ones in Hulk finally discovers he and Banner are one and the same.

Before sitting down to review this episode, I hadn’t seen it in years. I found this episode had a great finale feel to it that wasn’t found in part 2, unfortunately. One of the weirder aspects is that, aside from the quick image of him and the Hulk separated in the nutrient bath, Banner doesn’t appear at all. He doesn’t speak either.

The return of The Outsiders wasn’t something I expected to see, but they worked a lot better in this episode than they did in Return Of The Beast. This episode also features more of Doc Samson, which is always a good thing to me. He was absolutely brilliant in this episode both as a scientist and a foe for The Hulk. Shadoe Stevens once again has an excellent performance as the Gamma powered pony-tailed scientist, and the scene in which he and Rick argue about what should be done with The Hulk with General Ross was one of his finest moments. I also loved the scene where Rick is explaining to Betty what happened. “Is he going to do anything about it? – Oh yeeeeaaaahhh!”

Of course, this episode does a great job of bringing everyone’s nightmare to life, The Hulk on a rampage with absolutely no control over what he’s destroying. Samson’s final line of “What have I done? What nightmare have I unleashed upon the world?” really did hit the nail on the head as to just how bad the situation was. Darkness And Light Part One is easily one of the highlights of a very strong season, it’s just a shame part 2 wasn’t quite as strong.