This time David's working for an independent oil mining company, headed by an old guy named Mike with a small bank account but big dreams and a nose for oil. His daughter is there to assist him, and David's active courtship of her, while not quite as off-putting as the romance in "Terror in Times Square", suffers from the same core problem.
Fortunately the episode focuses a lot more on Mike and his big dig for oil. A big oil company knows Mike's onto something and will use any means necessary to make him sell the land to them. It's a very familiar story, but there are a number of surprises in the way it plays out. An especially intriguing character is Roy, who spearheads the buyout effort but is uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Yet perhaps the key to the whole episode is the portrayal of Mike as an inspirational figure, a role that veteran character actor John Anderson proves more than capable of taking on. It helps that the script doesn't overplay him; the scene where he convinces his employees to continue working for a while without an immediate paycheck is almost startlingly low key. No flourishing optimistic music, no inspirational dialogue, no cheers, just a bunch of guys slowly and reluctantly agreeing to put their faith in one man. Anderson simply tops it off by making his character convincingly stubborn, passionate, and humble.
There is still a lot of routine to this episode: the girl, the gangsters, the deus ex machina behavior of the Hulk at the end. But there's more than enough divergence to declare this one another winner.
Fortunately the episode focuses a lot more on Mike and his big dig for oil. A big oil company knows Mike's onto something and will use any means necessary to make him sell the land to them. It's a very familiar story, but there are a number of surprises in the way it plays out. An especially intriguing character is Roy, who spearheads the buyout effort but is uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Yet perhaps the key to the whole episode is the portrayal of Mike as an inspirational figure, a role that veteran character actor John Anderson proves more than capable of taking on. It helps that the script doesn't overplay him; the scene where he convinces his employees to continue working for a while without an immediate paycheck is almost startlingly low key. No flourishing optimistic music, no inspirational dialogue, no cheers, just a bunch of guys slowly and reluctantly agreeing to put their faith in one man. Anderson simply tops it off by making his character convincingly stubborn, passionate, and humble.
There is still a lot of routine to this episode: the girl, the gangsters, the deus ex machina behavior of the Hulk at the end. But there's more than enough divergence to declare this one another winner.
