REVIEW -- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney+ Exclusive Series) Season 1, Episodes 1-9

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is an American television series created by Jessica Gao for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character She-Hulk. It is the eighth television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It follows Jennifer Walters, a lawyer specializing in cases involving superhumans, who also becomes the green superhero She-Hulk. Gao serves as head writer with Kat Coiro leading the directing team.

Tatiana Maslany stars as Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk, alongside Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Segarra, Mark Linn-Baker, Tess Malis Kincaid, Tim Roth, Megan Thee Stallion, Benedict Wong, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jon Bass, Rhys Coiro, Griffin Matthews, Patti Harrison, Steve Coulter, Charlie Cox, and Brandon Stanley. She-Hulk was announced in August 2019, with Gao hired in November. Coiro joined to direct multiple episodes in September 2020, and Maslany was cast. By December, Roth and Ruffalo had joined the cast and Anu Valia was also set to direct. Filming began in mid-April 2021 in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Georgia, and lasted until mid-August. The subtitle for the series was added by May 2022.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiered on August 18, 2022, and will consist of nine episodes, concluding on October 13. It is the last television series of Phase Four in the MCU.

Synopsis: 

In Marvel Studios’ “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany)—an attorney specializing in superhuman-oriented legal cases—must navigate the complicated life of a single, 30-something who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk. The nine-episode comedy series welcomes a host of MCU vets, including Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong, as well as Jameela Jamil, Josh Segarra, Ginger Gonzaga, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry. 

The series is directed by Kat Coiro (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9) and Anu Valia (Episodes 5, 6, 7) with Jessica Gao as head writer. Executive producers are Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Coiro and Gao, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” streams exclusively on Disney+ beginning August 18, 2022. 

Title: “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” 

Category: Original live-action series U.S. Premiere: Aug. 18, 2022 

Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Ginger Gonzaga, Jameela Jamil, Josh Segarra, Jon Bass, with Renée Elise Goldsberry and Tim Roth 

Special Guest Appearances by: Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong 

Directed by: Kat Coiro (eps 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9), Anu Valia (eps 5, 6, 7) 

Executive Producers: Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro, Jessica Gao 

Co-Executive Producers: Wendy Jacobson, Jennifer Booth 

Production Company: Marvel Studios 

Social Media: 

Twitter: @SheHulkOfficial, @DisneyPlus 

Instagram: @SheHulkOfficial, @DisneyPlus 

Facebook: /SheHulkOfficial, @DisneyPlus 

The Verdict:

As I'm starting to write this review, Episode 8 just released yesterday and I want to get my thoughts in order before the finale next week with Episode 9. From the start, this has been the most divisive thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has put out to date - even more so than Ms. Marvel earlier this same year and The Eternals in 2021. 

Due to the sheer length of this review, I have included a table of contents for that you don't have to read this review in its entirety in one sitting. (Laughs) She-Hulk is one of my all-time favorite females of Marvel Comics, so I have a LOT to say about this show's handling of her live-action debut, along with my feelings concerning the toxicity of the fandom surrounding it. 

Two Camps: Savage She-Hulk vs. Sensational She-Hulk

Truth be told, She-Hulk's fanbase over the years is mostly an unified front for the most part, but the most division that you are going to get that will raise up arguments and debates is the preferences over her roots in the original Savage She-Hulk comics or her 4th wall breaking antics that John Bryne gave us in his Sensational She-Hulk comics. This Disney+ series pulls inspiration mostly from the Sensational She-Hulk comics and the Dan Slott (2004-2005) She-Hulk comics. 

Above are transformation videos from three separate appearances of She-Hulk in various cartoons, namely both the 1982 and 1996 Incredible Hulk cartoons and Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (2006). 

If you're wondering what side of the spectrum that I'm on that argument, I'm pretty neutral. I was in college by the time I could purchase the back issues of both her Savage and Sensational comics from local comic book shops, but by that point, I was exposed to both animated versions of She-Hulk in the two Incredible Hulk cartoons growing up. For those fans who like to see Jennifer Walters transform back and forth (uncontrollably for the most part in a Jekyll and Hyde manner with the same duality that Banner dealt with the Hulk), they prefer the Savage She-Hulk run. For fans who like that Jennifer remains primarily as She-Hulk at all times and rarely changes back (since she has full control of herself while transformed as she has overcome her "savage" persona), they prefer the Sensational She-Hulk and Dan Slott runs. Even Marvel Comics has struggled with pleasing both camps over the years (from reverting her to a savage Grey She-Hulk after the Civil War II event to recently making her primitive and massive, yet muscular She-Hulk as part of one of the many Avengers team roster shake-ups and/or reboots until they reverted her back to a more Sensational-style She-Hulk for her upcoming new solo comic), so when this show was announced I knew there was going to be a similar division among the fan-base in terms how they wanted to see this character's live-action debut handled.

That being said, I don't like one more than the other, but I felt that her Sensational iteration would fit easily into the MCU formula rather than making her a carbon copy of Bruce Banner with the Savage She-Hulk-style storytelling and tropes. MCU prides itself on its integration of "realism" in their universe with all of these characters allegedly existing alongside us in a sense of reality that parallels our own. The Sensational and Dan Slott versions of this character would be free to explore a lot of the legality and other problematic issues that these superhuman individuals would land themselves into. Besides, I didn't think it would be fair to give She-Hulk her own show in the vein of a Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk show when Mark Ruffalo's Hulk wasn't offered that same opportunity. Unfortunately, we have Universal Studios' film ownership to the Hulk to blame on that for the most part. Although, even I can admit that outside of Titania, She-Hulk doesn't have many noteworthy foes (that don't overlap with Hulk's own or those with other more noteworthy heroes) to devote an entire action-heavy television show to anyway, so let's not kid ourselves in that regard. 

This show's reception online has single-handedly made me reconsider where I stand in terms of my She-Hulk fandom with my peers in the online community that I have shared with other fan artists and writers over the years. It's tough to see on a week to week basis when these episodes are released, I go on social media after being thoroughly entertained with what I have seen presented from episode to episode contrasted with outright rage, venomous hatred, and disgust from commenters and reviewers online. 

As of my time starting to write this review (10/7/22), I still don't understand what were people expecting out this show - a show that made by Marvel Studios, which is owned by Disney. This is the same studio that has been around for roughly a decade and a half now. Many people should know what to expect in terms of their presentation and handling with a lot of these characters by now, but time and time again, we get people who insist these characters should be handled a particular way for whatever rhyme or reason. It's frustrating that no one wants to give a coherent, concise vision for what they wanted or expected out of a She-Hulk show without resorting to sarcasm, citing preferences to their fetishes surrounding the character that they would have preferred seeing played out in live-action (seriously that's a thing, folks...), or reiterating what they don't like about the show instead of giving me a honest answer about what they wanted in a She-Hulk show. 

On one hand, I get it. It annoys me that the MCU tends to lean heavily towards the Ultimate Marvel Comics universe for inspiration instead of going to the traditional Marvel Comics lore for origins and costume designs. In a lot of cases it works out in terms of modernization over outdated references and old tropes (good and bad), but others they have needed to iron out and fine out the details over the course of several films, so yeah it's not perfect. 

As previously mentioned, the common complaint that I hear time and time again from my peers and fellow long-time She-Hulk comic book fans is that they wanted Jen to be "Savage" She-Hulk for a while before going towards the "Sensational" She-Hulk route. With Universal still having a stranglehold on the Hulk movie rights, I understand that there is a high demand for Hulk movie or TV show like the old days, filled with a lot of Jekyll and Hyde style transformations and feats of strength. 

At this point, I need to inform my readers that there's a niche culture out there that is heavily into female transformations and feats of strength - particularly in super powered women. A lot of freelance artists and writers have made (and continue to do so) a lot of money creating erotic fan art and fan-fictions of many fictional characters, notably She-Hulk herself and other similar super powered Amazonian women, who tower over their male-counterparts. This shouldn't come as a shock to many after the explosion of popularity for Resident Evil: Village's Lady Dimitrescu, a statuesque, yet horrifying beauty that towered over players as the video game's titular protagonist for the first third of that game's runtime. If you're a regular reader/follower of this blog, you should know that I haven't shied away from depicting art nor writing similar "female muscle growth/transformation" and feats of strength and power in my original works. There's not a problem with whether you are into that type of thing or not. The problem lies where those fans start thinking that this show is a complete failure without an excessive amount of and not to mention, explicit degree of it. 

I think this show has done a masterful job in providing transformations for those who enjoy that aspect of She-Hulk's powers, but it has become frustrating that I have to point out to people week-in and week-out that this show is not and never will be designed to be jerk off material. If that's what you came into this She-Hulk show expecting and wanting, then don't even bother or you will find yourselves to be extremely disappointed. Why that thought has been even entertained in the minds of viewers, when this is on Disney's streaming platform no less, is beyond comical and asinine to me. All of that being said, I see comments online on a weekly basis, whining about that exact thing lacking in this show is one of the principle reasons why those critics think this show is a failure upon arrival. 

In Jade's case in the images above, she went with the body paint route for her cosplay. And while she is jacked to the gills and looks the part physically, she still looks like she is merely cosplaying (or merely pretending to be) as She-Hulk instead dressed to be portraying her seriously on television or in a feature film. Brigitte Nielsen's portrayal is only slightly better, but the costume they went with was the biggest detractor of that whole look. Much like Jade Cargill, Brigitte Nielsen definitely had the physique to pull the character off - that wasn't in debate at all. The point of contention here in both cases is that do these two depictions fit into Marvel Studios' normal standard of making these characters look larger than life? Do me a favor and find me two competent male actors who could play Hulk and Thanos effectively WITHOUT the use of CGI (computer-generated imagery). The fact of the matter is simple. You can't. The same applies to She-Hulk, whereas you could probably find a rare oddity/specimen who has the height but lacks the size that makes these characters fall into the realm of fantasy. Lou Ferrigno in his prime had the size to make the Hulk look believable for the 1978 TV series, but there's no way in hell he could have played the Hulk as how he is currently depicted in size and stature. 

The in-comics explanation was that she wasn't exposed to the same levels of gamma radiation as her cousin Bruce Banner, who received his powers via a gamma explosion. Jennifer Walters received her powers via a blood transfusion from him, so her transformation is less severe and allows her to remain well-proportioned. 

Over the years, Marvel has gone out of their way to make She-Hulk look noticeably different from the Hulk. The only exception(s) was this more modern take on She-Hulk following the events of Civil War II where she became a grey, scarred She-Hulk due to the psychological trauma she suffered from that event. Once she overcame that emotional hurdle and reverted back to a green She-Hulk, she was imbued with an massive amount of additional gamma radiation by a Celestial to boost her power levels, causing her Hulk state to become brutish and "savage" once more. That change is where the panels below are from where Jennifer's subconscious holds her brutish state on trial for how she is representing herself now as an Avenger. 

This scene is a reflection of the reaction to a lot of readers' concerns and gripes about the drastic change in She-Hulk's appearance in the comics at the time. It was painfully obvious that this was done to have She-Hulk shoehorned into the role of the Hulk in this new Avengers roster. To be honest, it wasn't the first time that additional exposure to more gamma radiation had unexpected results on Jennifer's body as that was the cause her being "stuck" in her She-Hulk form for several years in the events that lead up to her Sensational She-Hulk solo comic. She became a rampaging savage She-Hulk again while part of the Avengers roughly a decade or so after that in "The Search for She-Hulk" 2004 Avengers storyline, thanks to exposure to Jack of Hearts' powers causing the gamma radiation in her body to change out of her control. So yeah, in terms of a comic book explanation that wasn't too much of a stretch to see that more gamma radiation would cause her to resemble her cousin. After back and forth debates among fans and creators concerning She-Hulk's brutish appearance as seen above, she would revert back to her less bulky self following the events of the Winter Hulk storyline after absorbing a 68-megaton gamma warhead and expelling the excess radiation into Avengers Mountain. 

Additionally, a fan on Reddit chimed in on the conversation and referenced an explanation from Immortal Hulk regarding the difference between She-Hulk and the Hulk, noting that their upbringings affected their gamma mutate personas.

"Banner suppressed himself his whole life. He was scared of his long-repressed hatred and resentment, so his Hulk became the person he was always afraid he would become — a destructive monster fueled only by rage," the Redditor wrote.

As for Jennifer, the Redditor said she "was ignored her whole life. She didn't fear an inner darkness; she feared never being seen for all her accomplishments. So her Hulk became the person she always dreamed of being — strong, confident, beautiful, heroic."

"Banner became the person he held himself back from becoming, Walters became the person she was held back from becoming," the fan concluded. "Gamma mutates are 'metaphor people' — what they become is based on the host as much as the radiation." (Distractify)

I love this interpretation that is quoted above. Jennifer Walters' Hulk state in the MCU is more of a reflection of her most ideal self. She's not bulky nor monstrous like the inner angst and turmoil in Banner's mind which was reflected into his Hulk form. Her Hulk state merely stands out in a crowd, yet still can function in a somewhat, "normal" environment. We will come to learn that this Jennifer Walters never had any heroic aspirations, so she wouldn't have desired a form that would be strictly beneficial for that sort of life. Instead, her Hulk form is an enhancement/improvement over the normal proportions of Jennifer Walters' body type, finely tuned to function in a real-life setting while simultaneously retaining the balanced body proportions in this new state.  

Following the release of the official trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, a VFX artist named Sean Ruecroft took to Twitter and explained why the titular character wasn't as big as the Hulk.

"I was at a company that did VFX for this. Apparently, she was bigger early on, but the notes kept saying to 'make her smaller,'" Sean wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "We always roll our eyes, but at the end of the day, artists gotta follow orders."(Distractify)

This tweet didn't do the show any favors in terms of quelling the negative backlash to the official trailer. Disney already had faced criticism when animators expressed the hurdles they had to jump through to get the fan-favorite character, Luisa, in Disney's Encanto to look as muscular as she did, even for an animated setting. On top of that, MCU fans were already upset when Peggy Carter didn't show any significant changes after her post-Super Soldier Serum transformation as Captain Carter in Marvel's What If...? animated series and felt that this was another example of Disney's hesitation to show more than their typical lithe and slim female body types for their female characters. 

I can understand both perspectives on the matter but at the end of the day, I think practicality should win out above all else in these live-action depictions. Just because one thing looks cool (or alternatively, sexier in the eyes of some) in the comics, doesn't mean that it would translate well to live-action, no matter how much comic book fans desire it to be seen as such. In terms of animation though, there's absolutely no excuse for it. People come in all shapes and sizes, so there is no need to be restrictive in terms of the appearance of characters in that medium. 

On Aug. 3, director/executive producer Kat Coiro spoke with Entertainment Weekly and debunked the rumors.

"The Hulk is not human proportions. ... And it was really important for us that [She-Hulk] still operated on a human scale," Kat told the outlet. "It was never about, 'Make her smaller,' it was about, 'How can she fit into the world and work in an office and go to a restaurant and walk down the street and still draw attention but still be within the realm of being a human?'"

Kat added that in preparation, she and her team studied "musculature" and "women athletes who were incredibly strong."

"We really leaned towards Olympians rather than bodybuilders," Kat confessed to Entertainment Weekly. "That's where a lot of our body references came from, very strong Olympic athletes."

She concluded that although She-Hulk doesn't have the physique of a bodybuilder, "she absolutely has a very strong physique that can justify the actions that she does in the show. I think people expected a bodybuilder and for her to have these big, massive muscles but she looks more like Olympians."(Distractify)

In defense of Kat Coiro's statement, we can look at their depiction of She-Hulk in this continuity as a sacrifice in practicality for the sake of having her fit in a real-life setting and environment. She-Hulk's body double, the 6'5" tall actress Malia Arrayah, is a great contrast to Jennifer Walters' own (in this case, Tatiana Maslany) physique. They are drastically different enough while at the same time, very similar to distinguish the changes in Jennifer's body when she's She-Hulk and vice versa. 

The concept art that this shared below backs Coiro's claims as I can see evidence of that design in what we got in the final product. 

Costume designer Ann Foley actually shares a few pieces of concept art that shows off a bit more clothing destruction than what we got in the first episode, along with a snazzier design for Jen's business attire that Luke Jacobson makes for her in Episode 5. Even in these photos, She-Hulk still has the same physique that they end up going with for the show. 

In scenes where She-Hulk is standing or sitting completely still, you can absolutely see the muscle definition in her form (the therapy scene in Episode 7 immediately comes to mind), specifically in her arms and legs if you really want to be anal about it. I just found it comical that there were so many adamant people who were convinced that the show was a failure before it even premiered solely on the fact that her form/appearance didn't align to whatever sexual fantasies they had in their heads when they jerked off  at night. Could they have given She-Hulk a little more bulk in her muscles to make it stand out? Yes. Is it the end of the world that she doesn't have that? No. The VFX team could always improve upon her design down the road after she actively takes up heroism. That would make logical sense to see her form increase muscle mass since she would be actively using those powers on a regular basis instead of in short sporadic occasions. Just a thought. 

Breaking the 4th Wall: She-Hulk & Deadpool

The "fourth wall" is an imaginary wall that separates the fictional story from the real world. With that in mind, "breaking the fourth wall" means that a character is able to navigate outside of the confinements of their fictional environment and interact with the real world, such as speaking directly towards the readers/viewers and creators of said works in an often comedic manner. John Bryne was famous for introducing this concept for the She-Hulk character in the Sensational She-Hulk comics as previously mentioned. Modern day Marvel Comics fans are more familiar with this trait being one of Deadpool's defining characteristics across both comics, cartoons, and in cinema. 

Contrary to popular belief, She-Hulk has not been as lucky as Deadpool to have writers constantly carrying that trait to all of her appearances across media, so it's something that's quickly forgotten about in her history to casual fans. Deadpool didn't make his first appearance in comics until Rob Liefeld created the character in 1991 and debuted him in New Mutants #98. Bryne's Sensational She-Hulk comics actually predates him for several years, running from 1989 to 1994. 

Why do I bring this up, you ask? It's because we're going to get to an issue later in the discussion of this series where I comment on the mass amount of misinformed viewers who think that She-Hulk is "stealing Deadpool's gimmick". 

Episode Breakdowns & Analysis

I think the only fair way to review and properly analyze this show is to going through it episode by episode, offering my thoughts from start to finish since there's a lot of ground to cover with this show. 

*** SPOILER WARNING ***

After this point, everything discussed below will be full details of episodes 1-9 in their entirety. If you want to avoid spoilers, I suggest you stop reading here. 

Episode One: "A Normal Amount of Rage"

Before a court case, lawyer Jennifer Walters tells the viewers about an incident a few months earlier where she and her cousin Bruce Banner were in a car crash. While attempting to get Banner to safety, Walters was cross-contaminated with his blood, causing her to transform into a Hulk. Banner took Walters to a secret laboratory in Mexico, where he trained her to control her new powers. She was able to effortlessly handle his training regimen, but she rejected the idea of becoming a superhero full-time. Banner tried to stop her from leaving, and the two fought until Banner reluctantly accepted Walters' wish to return to her legal career. Back in court, Walters is interrupted by superpowered influencer Titania, who violently bursts through a wall while fleeing from her own trial. Walters transforms, defeats Titania, and returns to normal to make her closing argument.

As for the issue with She-Hulk's origin story being originally planned for the eighth episode out of the nine in this series, I personally would not have had a problem with that if they kept the scenes of Bruce training Jennifer throughout the episodes leading up to it. Let's not forget that Luke Cage's TV series didn't do his origin story until the fourth episode ("Step into the Arena") of that first season, which was FOUR hours into that show at that point, which is roughly the same amount of time that we have spent with Jen up to this point. 

This first episode opens with a speech from Jennifer speaking to unseen (at the moment) listeners about the responsibilities of those individuals with power. 

Jennifer Walters: "What is the responsibility of those with power? Do they merely have an obligation to refrain from the misuse of that power? Or do they have a duty to protect those without it?

Those with the most power have the most to answer for."

This is a powerful theme to open this show with as Jennifer will juggle with the responsibilities of the great powers that she have been bestowed with over the course of this nine-episode season. 

I was expecting that he would have a similar role here, but we end up only seeing him pop up in this show for about 2-3 episodes and we never see him again (at least not until the finale, but let's not get ahead of ourselves), not that I'm complaining. I'm sure the Savage She-Hulk comic book fans were pissed, but it didn't bother me much as he served his purpose for the few episodes that he was in. 

Jennifer Walters: "It's true. I am a Hulk. And I'm guessing you won't be able to focus on this fun lawyer show until you know all about that. So, let me get you up to speed."

And just like that, Jennifer addresses the crowd, clearly breaking the 4th wall like her Sensational She-Hulk counterpart would do regularly. You can thank John Byrne for introducing that aspect to her character - predating Deadpool making it his regular gimmick years after the fact. 

Jennifer's MCU origin is vastly different here than it was in the comics. In the comics, Jennifer gains the powers of her cousin, Bruce Banner/Hulk after an emergency blood transfusion after being severely wounded in mob hit on her. Here, things go slightly different for the sake of simplicity here in the MCU. Bruce Banner and Jennifer are riding together in her car when they are suddenly knocked off-road by a Sakaarian spaceship swooping down to bring Bruce a message. Jennifer receives a pretty sizable gash/wound on her arm escaping out of the car. She pulls Bruce out of the wreckage, only for his gamma radiation device to malfunction. His wounds openly leak his own blood into Jen's open wounds, infecting her with his gamma-enhanced DNA. She instantly transforms into a "Savage" Hulk of her own and runs off into the distance. 

Jennifer blacks out from the experience and wakes up outside of a bar/night club where she's able to call Bruce and ask him to pick her up. That's not until she's hit on by some shady looking guys looking to pick up a "hot piece of ass" for the evening. Jennifer attempts to kindly reject their advances only for them to continue pushing the envelope until she explodes with rage and transforms into her Hulk form again, ready to lash out at these guys who can't take "NO" for an answer. Fortunately, Bruce stops Jen from doing something that she regrets. 

This is the first of many scenes I have seen mentioned across various other reviews and critiques on this first episode where a lot of people jumped to the conclusion that this show "hates" men. Put yourself in Jennifer Walters' shoes. She woke up from an extremely traumatic experience involving the car wreck, having no godly idea what happened to her nor any idea how she got to this shady night club, which is filled with people she doesn't not without any means to get away safely while she waits for Bruce to arrive to pick her up when she's surrounded by a group of drunken, sexually frustrated men looking to pick her up for a "good time." She told them no and they clearly didn't get the hint, making this scene even more uncomfortable to watch as it plants the notion that things are going to go south for Jen quickly. It didn't help her case that the women in the bathroom dressed her up in their provocative clothing adding to problem of the guys' getting the wrong message (oh the irony there in terms of the reception of this show...). These guys were pushing a little too hard as if they were going to force themselves onto Jennifer, whether she liked it or not. This is an early example of Jennifer Walters feeling helpless to the fact that she's allowed her life to slip out of her control, thus triggering another rage-filled transformation into a "savage" She-Hulk. That rage was justified as Jennifer merely wanted to control this situation, ensuring that she wouldn't become another victimized female in this situation that we hear about in the news time and time again.

So no, this scene doesn't demonstrate that this show "hates" men. It merely presents a common, yet highly unfavorable situation that a lot of women run into time and time again. I understand that a lot of men watching this show will not be able to identify with this scene in any way whatsoever, but at the same time, it's very real as there's women who deal with this on a regular basis. Instead of complaining about this scene, I suggest my male peers take a moment to sympathize with what women go through in situations like this. This is a rare occurrence where the woman in question can do something about it and actually defend herself to prevent the worst case scenario from playing out. 

The rest of this episode takes place in a remote hideout in Mexico that Tony Stark had loaned out to Bruce Banner during the Snap. Bruce reveals to Jennifer that this is where he took the time to merge both his Banner and Hulk personalities into "Smart Hulk" that we saw in Avengers: Endgame. He informs Jennifer that while her blood is like his own, hers is "different", which allowed him to heal his mangled arm from using the Infinity Stones in Endgame. He also mentions that the Sakaarian ship was trying to deliver a message. 

Right off of the bat, I have to applaud Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo for their excellent on-screen chemistry together in this episode. They definitely captured the sibling-like relationship that I have known between them from comics and across other media and knocked out of the park while making this interpretation their own. 

Jennifer's obsession with questions grilling Bruce about whether or not Steve Rogers/Captain America is a virgin was an ongoing joke throughout this episode. Fortunately for Jen, she gets her answer in this episode's post-credits teaser where she pretends to be drunk and distraught until Bruce caves and admits that Steve lost his virginity in 1943. While I'm glad that Jennifer got the answer to her burning question and I did laugh at these scenes on my initial viewing, I felt that they were running with this joke for far too much of the show's runtime during the training flashback. 

In my eyes, if you are just now noticing that this cinematic universe has flaws in it only after the post-Endgame landscape, then you're a goddamn fool. This universe has been flawed from the start. It's just that a lot of people (myself included) have given them a lot of free passes on this stuff since the payoff with the first Avengers film was really well done and never seen before in cinema up to that point. If I were to think back to all of the Phases, I would say that Phase One was pretty average. Phase Two was very mediocre to below average with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy being the only standouts. Phase Three was all over the place in terms of quality, but mostly fell into the average/mediocre boat with Avengers: Infinity War being the best thing they had put out since Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Now we are currently at the end of Phase Four, where the MCU is trying a lot of bold new ideas and taking this universe in different directions, but we have the majority echoing complaints that they should do something different or they want the old guard and tropes back in these films and television shows. The amount of frustration I have had with this comic book fandom surrounding not just this show but this cinematic universe as a whole in terms of their flaky mindsets is immeasurable at this point and continues to pile on well after I have published this review. 

Jennifer Walters: "I'm a much better lawyer than I am a Hulk."

This line right here is one principle reason why I don't have a problem with how this season ends. It would be easy to make this a show about She-Hulk pounding the heads in of several street level crooks and supervillains, but why limit yourselves doing what almost every syndicated superhero show does on a weekly basis? Having a show where we're following the daily life of a lawyer with superpowers makes this a much more compelling premise. People talk about superhero fatigue with this genre all the time, but the moment the MCU does something to change up the formula, everyone wants to complain about it. Make up your goddamn minds, people. Sadly, the truth of the matter is that you're not going to please everyone. 

Episode Two: "Superhuman Law"

Walters gains public notoriety after defeating Titania and is dubbed "She-Hulk". However, the case is declared a mistrial after the defense successfully argued that her fight with Titania influenced the jury, and she is fired from the district attorney's office. Unable to find other work, Walters is offered a position by opposing counsel Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway (GLK&H) and impulsively accepts, bringing along her best friend Nikki Ramos as her paralegal. On Walters' first day, GLK&H partner Holden Holliway informs her that he wants her to head up the firm's new superhuman law division and work as She-Hulk full-time. Her first case is to represent Emil Blonsky / Abomination at his parole hearing. Though initially reluctant due to Blonsky's past attempt to kill Banner, Walters gets Banner's approval and accepts the case, but soon learns that Blonsky apparently escaped from prison and participated in an underground fight club.

The news blurbs at the bottom of the screen cites Titania's attack as a "misunderstanding" and "a case of low blood sugar." Okay, that got a small chuckle out of me there, even if that wasn't funny to everyone else. 

Local News Reporter: Can you tell us about what you saw today?

Eyewitness: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this chick, pretty decent, turned into a Hulk, like a chick-Hulk.

Local News Reporter: A She-Hulk?

Eyewitness: Exactly.

This is how the "She-Hulk" name is derived in this continuity. It comes up just like that from a random interview like this coins the moniker for Jennifer's Hulk state. It works as a lot of these superhero films and shows come up with the titular protagonist's name in a similar manner. Jennifer doesn't choose this identity for herself; it's one that's chosen for her, much like the unique situation that gave her the powers in the first place. Naturally, she is hesitant to accept - much like the rest of the changes in her life, but in time, she will come to accept it just like all of the aspects of being both Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk. 

Nikki Ramos: [referring to the chanting in the bar] That's for you.

Jennifer Walters: No. No. That's for somebody called She-Hulk, which can't be what they're calling me.

Nikki Ramos: Lady-Hulk. Girl-Hulk. She-Hulk. Come on, just give them what they want.

Nikki understands that her friend needs some encouragement to accept this big change in her life. Let's not forget that she's the one who gave her the nudge to take action at the end of the first episode when Titania attacked in the courtroom. Nikki also recognizes that Jennifer needs this - to unwind and enjoy life sometimes instead of being laser-focused on her career. 

Jennifer Walters: That name better not stick. It's so dumb. I can't even exist without being a derivative of the Hulk.

Nikki Ramos: That's a pretty dumb name too.

I found this line to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary to a lot of the criticisms to She-Hulk's name over the years. John Byrne actually admits on his online message board that there were talks to give She-Hulk a "proper" superhero codename, Bombshell, in his Sensational She-Hulk comics, but the idea was dropped. For me personally, her "She-Hulk" name never bothered me in any sense of the word, but I have seen people paint the picture that her name/distinction doesn't allow her to exist without ties to the Hulk. Wasn't that the point of the blood transfusion origin story in the first place to say that she was derived from the Hulk? To label her as merely a derivative of the Hulk is an insult in its own right when their paths in the Marvel Comics universe couldn't be any more different, even though the modern comics have flip flopped back and forth on whether or not they want her to fill the role Banner/Hulk has had in a lot of these superhero teams, specifically the Avengers, as a primitive brute. Unfortunately, that's a much longer discussion to get into than where we are going with this review. 

As far as the "She-Hulk" naming convention goes, I get it. It's a feminist's nightmare if you look at it, on par with She-Ra too that just screams it was cooked up by a man. No matter how you slice it, Jennifer Walters is not going to be able to distance herself from the ties to the Hulk. In Jennifer's case, that's going to be a tad more dangerous for the world that she lives in. The current state of the MCU has seen the Hulk go from a rampaging monster to being a widely accepted hero and Avenger. That process didn't happen overnight as he had to gain the public's trust. If Jennifer's not careful, people will be quick to label her as a monster too. 

Nikki Ramos: Some guy gave me both of these drinks for free because you're a superhero.

Jennifer Walters: Ugh! I'm not! I did not go to law school and rack up six figures in student loans to become a vigilante. That is for billionaires and narcissists. And adult orphans, for some reason.

Batman (and the wealth of his sidekicks and/or partners). Daredevil. Ironman. Green Arrow. The Punisher. There are FAR too many street level heroes to name... I glad someone else notices and points out how disturbing that statistic is when it comes to superheroes/vigilantes. Plus, let's be realistic here. Being a superhero does NOT pay the bills, especially not in the MCU. Falcon/Sam Wilson found that out the hard way in Falcon & The Winter Soldier and Peter Parker/Spider-Man could testify on that on multiple accounts. 

Nikki Ramos: You could be an Avenger.

Jennifer Walters: Do the Avengers offer healthcare? Maternity leave. A pension. Are they even paid?

Nikki Ramos: Here's the thing though. Hulk Jen is a total snack. Right?

See? Nikki's speaking my language. Hulk Jen is a snack and I'm sure more heterosexual men will be inclined to agree. 

The family dinner scene made me wish they did more with Jennifer's family outside of the sporadic appearances of her father and cousin in later episodes and her parents' involvement in the last two episodes. Jennifer's family doesn't have nothing on Kamala's in Ms. Marvel, but I did enjoy their antics when they did appear in these episodes. 

Morris Walters: Are you REALLY, okay?

Jennifer Walters: 'I'm not okay. But I'm okay with not being okay. Because it just sucks. You know, like I thought I could keep this at bay, for I don't know how long. Eternity?

Jennifer Walters: Now I feel like I'm being punished for doing the right thing. Like I get fired for saving people, and now I can't get another job because of it.

Morris Walters: You didn't tell me.

Jennifer Walters: What were those years of law school even for? Maybe I should've just let those people get smooshed by that desk. 

It's easier to see this as I'm watching these episodes back-to-back in sequential order, but there is a pattern of Jen's constant denial with acknowledging that her entire world has been turned upside down and there's nothing she can do to change it back to the way it was. Jennifer (along with this show as a whole) masks her struggles with her own mental health behind her wise cracks and humor. It's easy for the viewers to confuse that for bad comedy, but this is a story about a woman who rather divert attention away what's going on within her head space and processing this traumatic event (becoming a super-powered Amazon who has enough power to level countries with ease, knowing that if anyone got any idea of what she's capable of they would see her as much of a monster as they saw the Hulk initially and any idea of normalcy would be gone forever). (Laughs) A lot of the harshest critics of this show are well aware that this series' showrunner, Jessica Gao, worked on the adult animated comedy, Rick & Morty, which is a treasure trove filled with explicit mental health issues masked behind the protagonist (often Rick himself) delivering sarcastic remarks and humor. At the same time, that show is constantly under the microscope to analyze Rick and his family's ongoing mental health and trauma, but those same critics don't apply that same amount of critical thinking to a show like this that does the exact same thing. 

There's a bit of a side note here that I saw as a tongue-in-cheek reference to She-Hulk's comic book origin where she didn't tell her father that she was the Savage She-Hulk. In that continuity, he was a police sheriff who was constantly hunting her after She-Hulk was falsely accused of murder. He wouldn't discover that his daughter and the She-Hulk were one in the same until much further down the road in her original comic's run. Morris Walters is portrayed by Mark Linn-Baker, who is commonly known for playing Benjy Stone in the film My Favorite Year and Larry Appleton in the television sitcom, Perfect Strangers (from 1986-1993).

Morris Walters: [to Jennifer] This isn't even the first time we've had to deal with a Hulk in the family. And you didn't destroy a city.

Morris Walters: [to Jennifer] The thing that you were dreading happened. But look, you're standing. And now you get to keep on moving on. 

It is in this same scene that Jen confesses to her father that she relieved that her secret is out in the open - similar to Tony Stark exposing himself to be Ironman. Jen feels that a weight is lifted from her shoulders, but she knows that still has to reign herself in and always be in control. She's not a rampaging "savage" She-Hulk like how her comic book counterpart started out, but she wants to continue proving Bruce wrong about she's always in control of her emotions. The last thing she wants is to be painted as monster and as an rampaging, out of control Hulk that needs to be put down.

In his own way, Morris Walters is comforting his daughter about her secret being out in the open and it's not the end of the world. It was one of the many points of contention that she was convinced that she could hide in terms of this major change in her life despite Bruce's warnings in the first episode. Jennifer said it herself in the first episode, those with power have a responsibility to do right by it. Spider-Man definitely can testify to this, but no one ever said that responsibility was an easy nor rewarding task. That's something that Jennifer Walters has discovered very quickly in a short amount of time. Being a hero, or better yet a good person in general, is a thankless endeavor and often an unrewarding experience. Knowing that you have done the right thing (and hopefully saved lives when it comes to heroism) is often the only satisfying reward that one can walk away with. 

Bruce Banner: [voice message] Hey, Fuzzball, just checking in on you. I'm here if you want to talk a little bit more. No gloating this time, I promise. Maybe a little. 

You just KNEW Bruce had to rub it in when Jennifer's secret being exposed of being a Hulk was made public. It's the first of a few "I told you so" moments that will come back to haunt Jennifer later that I'm sure that Bruce won't let her live down at the family reunions. 

The VFX of She-Hulk in this episode really looked odd here in comparison to the first episode. For the record, I'm not poking fun at the visuals, I'm just taking note of where it looks the best and the worst across these episodes. The She-Hulk cast and crew already commented on the stressful working conditions and strict deadlines that VFX artists find themselves working on the various Marvel Studios' projects in development. 

Jennifer's first case for GLK&H sees her being assigned as the Abomination/Emil Blonsky's representative on his parole hearing. Right off the bat, I thought this was pretty shady of GLK&H as they were looking to represent a former supervillain. It didn't sit right with me as at this point in the show during my first viewing, I was under the impression that maybe Blonsky was pulling the strings from behind the scenes. It felt like Blonsky specifically asked for She-Hulk to be his representative, which makes this conflict of interest stick out even more as a sore thumb. The idea of having She-Hulk representing Blonsky was sure not to have any favorable reception from the public and not to mention for GLK&H, unless they were just willing to put it out there that their newest established superhuman law division was willing to work with anyone to take advantage of the publicity at Jennifer Walters' expense. 

Spoiler alert: Blonsky isn't behind anything really as he genuinely wants a fresh start to open his retreat and to act as a motivational speaker. He just has a problem with following the rules of his parole in terms of using his powers to transform into the Abomination or not. We'll come back to that later though. 

Bruce Banner: [to Jennifer, over phone] Actually, Blonsky wrote me a really nice letter a while back, and a really heartfelt haiku. So we put everything behind us. That fight was so many years ago, I'm a completely different person now. Literally.

After Bruce said that Emil sent him a haiku, I pictured Blonsky and Banner sharing tacos like in Endgame with Scott Lang uttering, "I'm so confused..." just like he did when he first met Smart Hulk. I guess that would be a long time for people squash any beef and put the past behind them. 

At this point in the series during my initial viewing, it felt like Bruce Banner/Hulk was being written off like Superman in the first season of Supergirl on CBS to avoid any legal red tape and/or obligations to keep him around. Seeing him flying off in that ship back to Sakaar felt like the perfect setup for a possible Planet Hulk and/or World War Hulk film. I honestly don't see why Marvel Studios won't do either one of those stories when there's still that two year gap of Hulk's history from when he went missing at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron to Thor: Ragnarok that hasn't been expanded on outside of maybe four or five lines dialogue across several films now. 

This episode ends with the public being made privy of leaked video footage of the Abomination fighting Wong in the underground fighting ring from that particular scene in last year's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, establishing where this show fits in the MCU timeline for Phase 4. Oof. Jennifer's first case isn't off to a good start with that information out in the open.

Episode Three: "The People vs. Emil Blonsky"

Walters confronts Blonsky, who explains that he was removed from his cell by the Sorcerer Supreme Wong and that he returned to prison willingly afterwards. While she attempts to contact Wong, news of her appointment as Blonsky's lawyer stirs up public controversy. Wong meets with Walters and agrees to testify at Blonsky's parole hearing, during which Blonsky demonstrates his ability to remain in control as the Abomination. Blonsky is released on parole, but forbidden from transforming again. Meanwhile, Walters' former colleague Dennis Bukowski approaches the superhuman law division for a case involving his ex-girlfriend Runa, a shape-shifting Light Elf from New Asgard who defrauded him by impersonating Megan Thee Stallion. The case is assigned to Walters' coworker Augustus "Pug" Pugliese, and Walters helps Pug win the case. After participating in a televised interview, Walters is attacked by the Wrecking Crew, a four-man criminal group armed with stolen Asgardian construction tools, who were hired by an anonymous client to steal a sample of her blood, though she fights them off.

Jennifer Walters: [addressing the viewers] I know you can't wait to see Wong. I get it. I just want to make sure that you don't think this is one of those cameo every week type of shows. It's not. Well, except Bruce. And Blonsky. And Wong. Just remember whose show this actually is. 

Jennifer assures the audiences that this isn't a cameo every week show and that this is STILL her show. Keep that thought in your back pocket as it's going to come up again.

Nikki Ramos: [to Jennifer, referring to the media] You have to respond. You have to be in control of your own narrative.

Nikki Ramos: This case is huge. People want to know every single detail about your life. You're a public figure now. And the office line has been flooded with calls and requests for interviews, so you should do one. 

Jennifer Walters: People only care because I'm representing Emil Blonsky. Once that's over, this whole media circus will die down.

Nikki Ramos: No, Jen, this is not going to go away just because you're ignoring it.

Nikki for the win here with her Zen-like advice to her best friend. This influx of media attention isn't something that's just going to go away if Jennifer turns the other cheek. Jennifer isn't going to be able to simply ignore all that's happened to her.  She's a Hulk now and people are going to be looking at her differently now whether she's "hulked out" or not. For better or worse, Jennifer Walters' life will never be the same ever again. 

Much like in the previous episode, the VFX still looks odd in the office scenes where She-Hulk is walking around and sitting down in her office. As someone who dabbles in 3D rendering, I can totally relate on how awkward it can be to see your work not aligning properly on figures in motion or simply posing a stationary model until after the output render is completed. A lot of 3D rendering takes multiple attempts before you get the desired outcome. I think those scenes wouldn't be as noticeable if the VFX team had a little more time to clean them up. That being said, the visuals don't ruin the show, but it's just sticks out in those scenes to make them a little more distracting than they needed to be. 

Dennis Bukowski is back here again, this time asking GLK&H to represent him to sue a shapeshifting Asgardian light elf named Runa of fraud who fooled him that he was dating Megan Thee Stallion. Augustus "Pug" Pugliese (one of Jennifer and Nikki's co-workers at GLK&H, played by Josh Segarra) is assigned the the case since Buck doesn't want Jen representing him. 

One of Jennifer's fellow female attorneys at GLK&H who also have been assigned to GLK&H's Superhuman Law division, Mallory Book, first appears in this episode, portrayed by Renée Elise Goldsberry. From her uptight demeanor here, I thought Mallory would be positioned a legal rival for Jennifer - much like her Caucasian comic book counterpart, but I was glad that wasn't the case as it would have been pretty clichéd for legal shows like this. Then again, there's a lot of room for the show can go that route in future seasons as Mallory Book and Jennifer Walters have quite a bit of estranged history together in terms of legal drama. 

I didn't notice this in my initial viewing of this episode, but there's a little problem in this episode that I felt the need that I should bring up. There is a minor plot hole in this episode specifically since Jennifer works the entire case as Jennifer and NOT as She-Hulk even though GLK&H instructed her that's what they hired her for. This can be forgiven for the fact that the prison guard did state that there's no usage of powers allowed within the facility, so that could be the possible explanation. In all seriousness, I'm sure the lack of She-Hulk for the trial was done to cut corners and save money on the massive VFX budget that this show accrued from start to finish. Jessica Gao did mention that she was asked to cut down on the number of scenes where She-Hulk appears in while in development to save money on the VFX budget. 

Jennifer Walters: I cannot wait for this to be over so I can go back to being a normal anonymous lawyer. Who also happens to be a Hulk.

Nikki Ramos: What are you talking about? Jen, the genie is out of the bottle, girl. You are a story now.

Nikki really won me over in this episode with how she was attempting to help her best friend navigate her newfound, yet highly unwanted popularity. Jennifer is definitely a "story" now and it's up to her to grab the pen and paper to ensure that will be a narrative that scribes herself or continues to allow others create their own narrative based on assumptions and false pretenses. The "meta" commentary, or rather the self-awareness, on this show is brilliant at this point to say that it's only three episodes in and it still manages to foresee and comment on the same negative reactions and flippant takes on this show that have been floating around online and getting increasingly more and more cringe-inducing as the weeks rolled on. 

Social Media Man: They took the Hulk's manhood away, but then they gave it to a woman?

The self-awareness, rather "meta" commentary, of this show to it's real-time reception and critiques was simply incredible to me. From the moment that She-Hulk was announced to be getting her own television show, the complaints came flooding in about she didn't deserve a show since the MCU "castrated" Hulk at the end of the Infinity Saga. This is all because Hulk got a royal thrashing from Thanos at the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War to demonstrate exactly how powerful and threatening of a foe that this space tyrant was, even without all of the Infinity Stones. This loss at the hands of the Mad Titan was deepened by the fact that the Hulk didn't want to come out for the duration of that film, despite Bruce Banner urging him to, only for the Hulk to defiantly shout, "NO!!" Marvel Studios would then fast forward to the five year time skip after the Snap in Avengers: Endgame, showing a new amalgamation of both Bruce Banner and the Hulk, dubbed "Smart Hulk", that didn't even have a rematch against the Mad Titan in that film's final battle. Everyone has unanimously agreed that those changes to Banner and Hulk would have made for great character development moments if they were actually shown on-screen. Instead, Hulk fans had to settle for what felt like maybe 4-5 lines of dialogue to explain what happened to Banner and the Hulk to result in this new form. 

I hear a lot of misinformed takes like the quote above from a lot of people on a daily basis, even from my own father no less, who is convinced that there are no Avengers without the Hulk and he was ruined in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. The misuse of the Hulk up to this point is a bigger MCU problem that is tied into a ton of legal mumbo jumbo that I'm sure Jennifer could explain better in a 4th wall breaking scene than I could in terms of filling up more time for this already lengthy review on this Disney+ show. To make a long story short, Marvel Studios can't produce a solo Hulk film in any shape nor form unless Universal signs off on it since they own the film rights to that character. Don't take your frustration out on this character when Marvel Studios has failed to win the legal battle to get full control of the Hulk like they have with the Defenders (Daredevil, Punisher, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) from Netflix and everything from under 20th Century Fox's umbrella (X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, etc.). That's why I don't get why there were so many people convinced that this show would be a vehicle/excuse to make it all about the Hulk and play damage control about his misuse in their continuity up to this point.

This isn't a major point of contention but I thought it was a nice Easter egg that the newswoman that approaches Jennifer after the parole hearing makes a "mafia hit gone wrong" comment in relation to her origins. Comic book fans should instantly recognize that reference to She-Hulk's comic book origins. That would relate to the story here as her origins in that continuity saw her representing a gangster only to be shot and seriously wounded when the crime boss (Nicholas Trask) who the gangster who she was defending sent his agents to deal with them both when she had incriminating evidence against him. 

While Jennifer compliments the writers for connecting the A and B stories of this episode with common threads, she notices that Pug's case for Bukowski has some significance to her own case after a remark from Bukowski. She then gets the idea to suggest that Emil be fitted with an inhibitor device that would prevent him from transforming into the Abomination. In hindsight now that I have seen this season in its entirety, that moment was some very early foreshadowing for this same device would be used on Jennifer later in the season finale. 

Parole Officer: And as for Mr. Wong...

Wong: Just "Wong". The Sorcerer Supreme. Master of the Mystic Arts. Leader and former librarian of Kamar-Taj. 

Parole Officer: Yeah. You realize that you've just admitted to facilitating a prisoner escape which is a crime.

Wong: I must depart.

(Laughing) Wong got out of there so fast when the tables were flipped on him. If he stuck around, he would have been sharing that prison cell with Blonsky, even though I doubt the United States government has a cell designed to contain the Sorcerer Supreme, but I digress. I mean, c'mon now. This is the same government who was wasting money for years funding Thunderbolt Ross' military campaigns "attempting" to capture and/or destroy the Hulk.

Emil Blonsky: [after he's released on parole, but forbidden from transforming] Thank you, Jen. I'm in your debt, you know. Spiritually, of course.

Jennifer Walters: Just stay out of the news. That's all I ask. I don't want to read any more stories about either of us.

Emil Blonsky: You might want to reconsider that. I mean, they're going to write a story about you one way or the other, you know. Better to be a part of it really.

Much like her best friend Nikki throughout this episode, Emil Blonsky offers some Zen-like advice for Jennifer to control the narrative that's going around about her instead of allowing the public to make up what they want to believe about her. Jennifer desperately wants to return to a "normal" life but at the same time, there is no normal for her anymore. She's only going to be able to quell this fire by taking control of the narrative that the media has been cooking up out of their own imaginations since they haven't gotten any facts straight from the source. 

Jennifer Walters: And then I get to my car, and some protester has written on it, "Monster defending a monster."

Nikki Ramos: This can go away, you know, with one little interview.

An easy to forget remark from Jennifer in the quote above that plants the seeds for Intelligencia later in this series. There are already people out there that see another Hulk as a monster or simply haven't accepted Bruce Banner (or anyone like him) to be a force for good, despite his Avengers status. Jennifer Walters being assigned as representative during Emil Blonsky's parole hearing wasn't a great idea for GLK&H for garnering any sort of a positive image for the She-Hulk either if we want to be honest about it. That whole "monster defending monster" statement is pretty valid in that regard, even though it's jumping to conclusions in terms of who or what Jennifer is. But that's on Jennifer, just like Nikki said. She could easily speak on a public forum or candid one-on-one interview and address these claims and put people at ease (somewhat as people are going to think what they want to, much like this show as a whole...) in terms of these assumptions and outlandish conclusions that the media have cooked up about her up to this point.

News Interview Anchor: So, tell us, how did you come up with the name She-Hulk?

Jennifer Walters: Oh. Funny story, I didn't. Some random guy on the news came up with it after thinking about it for like two seconds. But it stuck. So, now whether I like it or not, I am forever She-Hulk.

News Interview Anchor: Great. We have to take a break. When we come back, She-Hulk shares her diet and exercise secrets.

Jennifer Walters: I'm sorry. What?

See? How hard was that Jennifer? This actual statement from Jennifer will be brought up again about two episodes later. 

Woke up this morning, I feel so fucking important

I looked in the mirror, I'm different, I finally made a decision

All the rejected that lost a lack of respect in

Themselves 'cause people get hectic

They hurt you and make you feel helpless

They're not brave like you, they're too scared to do

Anything that's different, anything that's new

I don't need lessons, I do what I want, it's refreshing

As soon as you taste independence, you start living life in the present

I bring up this episode's end credits song's ("Seize the power" by YONAKA) lyrics as it was a little jarring to see how Jennifer looks at her reflection in the side of the car after dealing with the Wrecking Crew. It's not a look of joy. She's clearly not happy with herself at this point in the story. It comes back to Jennifer's struggle with control. While she has control of her ability to freely change between herself and She-Hulk forms at will, she lacks the control that she desperately seeks out for her life. From the way how she looks at She-Hulk in that reflection, she is obviously denying that other "new" aspect in her life. She may have caved to Nikki's advice to set the records straight to the general public, but she's not really "okay" with having She-Hulk be a major component of her life going forward. It's just like this fight with the Wrecking Crew. Jennifer sees She-Hulk as switch she can turn on and off at her leisure without having to commit to that identity completely. In a bizarre bit of irony (another major ongoing theme across this series), Jennifer inadvertently has created two identities for herself in her denial of keeping She-Hulk separate from the entirety of her life. 

Episode Four: "Is This Not Real Magic?"

Donny Blaze, a magician at Mystic Castle who was expelled from Kamar-Taj for misusing his powers, sends an audience member named Madisynn King to another dimension, where she makes a deal with a demon before being transported to Wong's home in Kamar-Taj. Wong approaches Walters and asks for her help in making an example of Blaze so that people like him will not be able to misuse the Mystic Arts, so they file a suit against Blaze and Mystic Castle's owner Cornelius P. Willows. Meanwhile, Walters creates a profile on a dating app in the hopes of expanding her social life, but has little success until she changes it into a profile for She-Hulk. Blaze accidentally unleashes a swarm of demons at one of his shows, but Wong and Walters send them back before threatening Blaze and Willows into complying with a cease-and-desist order. The next day, Walters learns that Titania has been freed and is filing a lawsuit against her, having trademarked the name "She-Hulk".

Jennifer Walters: "Everyone loves Wong. It's like giving the show Twitter armor for the week."

She's not wrong. This was one of the more favorably reviewed episodes, mainly for bringing Wong back for another cameo appearance and the breakout debutting guest star in Patty Guggenheim's Madisynn being a fan favorite character in this episode. 

Wong's case against Donny Blaze is everything I could have wished for from this show in terms of hilarious legal situations concerning other super-powered individuals in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans of both Sensational She-Hulk comics and the Dan Slott run of her solo comics could easily point to this as the types of ordeals that Jennifer deals with on a regular basis. For crying out loud, the current run of her solo comics has her dealing with cases, such as defending mutants' rights in the United States - i.e. allowing Cyclops to take a vision test at the DMV to renew his drivers' license legally. Is it too much to ask for the same in the MCU?

Morris Walters: My daughter gets attacked by four men, and I'm supposed to do nothing?

Jennifer Walters: Your daughter's a Hulk. I'm going to be fine.

Morris Walters: [referring to the thugs] Well, what if they come back?

Jennifer Walters: I will kick their a** again. And you can use the shovel.

Okay, I got a good laugh at this conversation between Jen and her dad here. We definitely should have gotten a lot more of Morris in this show than we did. 

The majority of this episode focuses on Jennifer reluctantly taking Nikki's advice (who was joking - I hope) to make a dating profile as She-Hulk instead of as Jennifer Walters after making fun of Jennifer using her professional business headshots/photos for her dating profile. 

The VFX looks really odd in this episode during the dating scenes. This is the one episode in particular from the trailer that I thought that could have used some more polish in the editing room. 

Out of all of She-Hulk's various dates (including one with guest-starring former WWE wrestler, David Otunga), there is one noteworthy date, who we will come to know as Todd Phelps later who was more interested in digging for information about She-Hulk's power thresholds and limitations/weaknesses than the date itself. I honestly had to look up whether or not vibranium can pierce a Hulk's skin. The answer? Like many determining factors in comics, it depends on how mad Hulk is at that given point. The more you know, right?

Jennifer Walters: [as she's helping Wong get rid of the demons] After so many bad dates, I finally meet a guy who's sweet, and listens.

Wong: Focus, Ms. Walters!

Jennifer Walters: And he's very, very hot. Not that that matters. But it does. And instead of kissing his very hot face right now... Oh, God. They're growing. And now I'm covered in demon goo, at a magic show, which is the worst part of this whole thing.

Unfortunately for She-Hulk, she doesn't get to enjoy the date that she picks up that checks all of her criteria boxes as Donny Blaze's magic act goes out of control after he accidentally unleashes a small army of flying demons onto the audience, forcing Wong to intervene to restore order. Wong enlists She-Hulk for help to deal with the demons that Blaze has unleashed in an action scene that would be straight out of an episode of Rick and Morty. Lead writer Jessica Gao isn't going to let us forget her roots. I wouldn't be surprised that majority of the VFX work and budget for this particular episode was used on that battle either. 

Arthur: [the next morning after spending the night together] Who are you?

Jennifer Walters: Jen. Just not in Hulk form. Just Jen.

Arthur: Oh. Cool. Cool.

Jennifer Walters: Yeah.

Arthur: That's cool. Unexpected.

Jennifer Walters: [after Arthur leaves] Whatever. Hot doctor's a cliché anyway.

After all of the demons are sent back to their home dimension and She-Hulk gets Donny Blaze to agree on the "cease and desist" on his magic act, she returns home to enjoy a night of sex lovemaking with her date. Unfortunately for Jennifer, she gets another punch to her ego and self-confidence when her date didn't want to stick around after waking up to her having changed back to Jennifer Walters. It's like I said before, shallowness goes both ways. Jennifer was shallow enough to resort to benefiting from the perks of being her sexier alter ego and had to deal with the repercussions when her date wasn't willing to play ball. Her date isn't off the hook either when he didn't think twice about She-Hulk being more than a "hot piece of ass" rather than a woman who has feelings that should be respected too no matter what she looks like or what form she choose to present to him. 

It was mentioned earlier in the episode that Titania is released from prison and all charges have been dropped. Jennifer didn't take any mind to that and went about her casework and extra circular activities of that evening without any second thoughts about it. That would come back to haunt her as the episode ends with Jennifer being informed that Titania owns the "She-Hulk" name as her own intellectual property. 

Episode Five: "Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans"

Titania has trademarked the name "She-Hulk" for a new line of beauty products, which angers Walters. Holliway warns Walters that she needs to deal with the situation quickly, and assigns Mallory Book as her attorney for the case. Nikki and Pug come up with a plan to acquire a superhero outfit for Walters from Luke Jacobson, a highly exclusive tailor who provides clandestine services for heroes, while Book and Walters counter-sue Titania, claiming that she is illegally exploiting She-Hulk's fame for profit. Walters is annoyed to discover that Todd Phelps, one of her unsuccessful dates, is also a client at her firm, but this helps her realize that she can use her dating app history to establish a past record of her identifying as She-Hulk before Titania tried to gain the trademark. Using her past dates' testimonies, Walters wins the case and establishes a tentative friendship with Book. Walters later acquires her new customized outfits from Jacobson.

Titania: What makes you beautiful? She-Hulk by Titania. Be strong, be beautiful. Own who you are. She-Hulk by Titania. I am strength. I am beauty. I own who I am. She-Hulk by Titania, a luxurious new line of skin care, beauty, and wellness products created by Titania exclusively for you.

This episode opens with this statement being heard as a mock commercial for Titania's "She-Hulk by Titania" line of beauty products was shown. I found that statement to be ironic, continuing to echo the theme of this show where our protagonist is in constant denial of who she is but her primarily antagonist, Titania, does exactly the opposite - she owns who she is, for better or worse.

On a side note, Nikki admits that she follows Titania on social media online. I'll admit that I didn't follow Jameela Jamil on social media until I started watching this show and I don't regret it either as she would be posting stuff in-character as Titania being a petty as possible, such as vandalizing marketing billboards and signs promoting the show. 

That being said, Jameela Jamil really shines as Titania in this episode, taunting Jen at every turn and even calling her "Shrek". This was the episode that won me over with her portraying this character. 

Jennifer Walters: I can't believe she just stole my name like that. This is egregious.

Nikki Ramos: But you said you didn't like the name She-Hulk anyway.

Jennifer Walters: I don't! It is what people decided to call me. It's not who I am. I'm still Jennifer Walters. She-Hulk is just a thing that happened to me.

That statement right there is so telling at this point in this ongoing case of denial with Jennifer's struggle with coming to terms with juggling these two identities. Jennifer continues to dismiss the significance and importance of how much her life has changed. Jennifer is trivializing that event as if it's nowhere as important as anything else in her life up to this point. Jennifer fails to realize that despite being She-Hulk, it doesn't take away anything that she has done or will do as Jennifer Walters. They are both one in the same. 

Jennifer Walters: I do admit though there are parts of it that I enjoy.

Nikki Ramos: Okay, you're not done.

Jennifer Walters: Like the amazing hair. No hangover. Being able to walk home at night with headphones on without being afraid. 

Nikki Ramos: Every woman's dream.

Let's be more critical about that confession. Nice hair - enhanced beauty and much more alluring appearance. What woman wouldn't want to be more beautiful? No hangover - Hulk enhanced genes makes her the epitome of good health and apex of physical fitness. Who wouldn't want to get sick? Walking home with headphones on without fear - She has power - not only to defend herself, but more importantly, she has control, which is a greater means of power in its own.  What woman wouldn't want to be able to walk throughout without any sense of powerless/helplessness? All of these traits are all very reasonable, yet highly desirable qualities for not just Jennifer but for any woman to could relate to in her situation. To be quite honest, you don't even have to be female to relate with Jennifer in that regard.

Jennifer Walters: But I'm not a different person who needs a different name.

Nikki Ramos: So you're not mad at the name She-Hulk?

Jennifer Walters: No. No, I don't care about it.

Nikki Ramos: Okay. So you're totally over it?

Jennifer Walters: Yeah, like the most over it.

Nikki Ramos: You're crushing your stapler.

Jennifer Walters: What?

I know that I'm sounding like a broken record at this point of this review, but I will continue to keep saying that Jennifer is still in denial. Jennifer is trying to fool the viewers and even worse, herself, that being She-Hulk doesn't mean anything to her when in reality it does. We can see how much being She-Hulk means to her after losing the name to Titania when she advertently crushes her stapler as she watches the commercials and looks at Titania's social media posts. Jennifer says to the audience, "I'm over it. I really am." No, she's not. She's clearly not fooling anyone - not even herself at this point. 

The search for the "Drip Broker" and someone to make custom clothing for Jennifer as She-Hulk was a fun little subplot for Nikki and Pug in this episode. Drip Broker who ends up trying to sell Nikki and Pug some off-brand Avengers merchandise dubbed, "Avongers", points them in the direction of a fashion designer who creates custom clothing and costumes for superheroes. That fashion designer is revealed to be Luke Jacobson. 

For those wondering, I'm sure that the reason that the MCU decided to go with Luke Jacobson instead of Melvin Potter as the designer for Daredevil's new costume since Potter was arrested following the events of Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix. So Daredevil would need a new costume after being framed by the combined efforts of both the Kingpin and Benjamin Poindexter. I think it's safe to assume that the events from the Netflix Daredevil show are canon now (at least in some capacity) to the rest of the MCU if Daredevil needed a new costume designer to change up his look from what he was wearing at the end of Season 3 of the Netflix show. 

The VFX actually looking better here in the office and courtroom scenes in this episode. 

GLK&H reluctantly decides to help Jennifer and assigns Mallory Book to Jennifer's case to get her name back as they find it to be an embarrassment that she lost her own alias to Titania. To be honest, it makes them look bad too as they didn't bother to check to see if She-Hulk's name was copyrighted either before they made her the face of their Superhuman Law division. That's up there with Tony Stark's arrogance stupidity in the comics for not patenting his own Ironman technology, only to get mad when everyone from Dr. Doom, S.H.I.E.L.D., and numerous other heroes and supervillains were stealing his technology during the Armor Wars storyline... 

Jennifer Walters: I will not answer to that name. You know why? Because it's not my name. My name never has been, and never will be She-Hulk. It's lazy, it's reductive, and it's straight-up garbage.

Hearing that line spoken aloud is easy to misconstrue this show as the show "hates men" that is a prevalent assumption in a lot of online reviews and commentaries on this show up to this point. Instead, I see it differently. Jennifer doesn't embrace the She-Hulk name initially because it's just like what happened to her, another example of something (this time a label/name that she didn't ask for) being placed on her. Something she couldn't control that happened to her. Don't forget that this is a woman who has been adamant about controlling every aspect of her life to get where she is professionally in her career up to this point, even to the detriment of her social life. So when these two major occurrences happen to her life that she has absolutely no control over whatsoever, Jennifer struggles to accept these changes as she has been comfortable with being able to control what happens in her life (for the most part). 

Jennifer Walters: I made a dating profile as She-Hulk, and went on several dates as She-Hulk, showing a clear pattern of using the name. Every single one of those dates is a corroborating witness. This is how I win this case.

Nikki Ramos: By parading all the questionable men that you dated in front of a courtroom. Oh, Jen, that's going to be embarrassing.

Jennifer Walters: Yeah.

The creepy dude (Todd Phelps) who Jen went on the date with is back in this episode. This time he shows up at GLK&H, claiming to be one of their biggest clients. You just have to know that he's up to something. I honestly thought that he was one of the members of the Wrecking Crew from the end of Episode 3 to be honest during my first viewing of this episode. Seeing Todd again does have a plus side though as it gives Jennifer the idea to parade all of She-Hulk's Tinder dates from when she was using the dating app as her defense to prove that She-Hulk is part of her identity. Jennifer embarrasses herself in the process but proves how far Jen is willing to win a case. 

Jennifer Walters: I mean, I might need to schedule several sessions of therapy, but we won.

Mallory Book: Look, Walters, what that extremely attractive man said in there, you can do better. You deserve better.

Maybe Mallory Book isn't so bad after all. She did give Jennifer some reassurance here. If anything, it seems like they got to the point of regarding each other as frienemies in the work place, where they can coexist while simultaneously respecting each others' hustle, but if an opportunity presents itself for advancement for the careers, all bets are off. That being said, Mallory is absolutely right. Jennifer deserves so much better than shallow guys like Arthur. Her perfect match should love all of her, just not one fraction of the whole package.

Mallory Book: So you would say you really connected with She-Hulk?

Arthur: She-Hulk and I had an intense connection. We had a great date. She battled demons, I mean, come on.

Mallory Book: Would you have gone on the date if She-Hulk had instead presented as Jennifer Walters?

Arthur: Look, I don't mean to be rude, but no. She's not really my type. But She-Hulk. She-Hulk's incredible. She's amazing.

Arthur's testimony doesn't do anything to alleviate Jennifer's mental hurdles in terms of accepting the changes that becoming She-Hulk has brought into her life. He exists in this story only to negatively contribute to Jennifer's existing insecurities about her non-powered self. That has to be one hell of a punch to the ego that this guy that she thought that she really hit it off with openly admitted that he wouldn't paid her a shred of attention if she presented herself normally as Jennifer first on their date. It's social interactions like this that makes it not hard to see how Jennifer becomes to resent her alter ego in a sense. 

Derek (played by former WWE wrestler David Otunga) hits on Titania, who encourages him, "Fine. You can buy me things. Let's go." I guess that was Titania's version of "shop therapy", eh, ladies?

Mallory Book: Quite a strategy. I don't know any other lawyer who would humiliate themselves that way to win a case.

Jennifer Walters: Yeah. I mean, you can always count on me to throw myself under the bus. It's why Holliway pays me the medium bucks.

Mallory Book: Holliway could never have gone through that. He's never had to prove his value to a parade of underwhelming men.

Jennifer Walters: Think about everything that She-Hulk brings to the table, and those guys were my best option.

Mallory Book: You can have literal superpowers, and some guy with an Internet connection will still think he can do better.

Jennifer Walters: Yes! Oh, my God! The things we put up with.

In this scene where Jennifer and Mallory were both sharing a drink together after winning the case, I was thinking that I was absolutely wrong about Book being setup as Jennifer's legal rival since it looked like Jen's won her respect from how she won the case. She clearly stated that this didn't make them chummy or anything of the sort, but you could tell that see each other on the same level in terms of having to proving their worth in a male-dominated work environment. In hindsight, I have to admit that I underestimated how competitive the legal work environment was at GLK&H as Mallory Book was also appointed to the Superhuman Law division too at the same time as when She-Hulk was hired. Mallory Book probably saw Jennifer Walters as an undeserving new hire from the moment she walked into the door in her Hulk form, but now that she's gotten to know Jennifer better, she still sees her as competent rival. What's that saying? Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer. That's probably exactly what Mallory Book is doing to position herself at the top of the Superhuman Law division whenever Jennifer slips up like this again. 

I'll say this much about the term "woke" and leave it at this. The principle purpose of all media, especially film and television, is to convey a message or an emotion to the spectator. If the medium hasn't done that, then the creator has failed to successfully engage the spectator. With that in mind, all media is essentially "woke" - as in everything that you consume has an "agenda" to inform, educate, or even invoke a particular emotion(s) to the viewers. I fail to understand why this is such a foreign concept to so many people in 2022. The spectator always has a choice on whether or not to consume media. 

The common complaint about the MCU I hear about all the time that they HAVE to watch all of these shows and films. No, you don't. You choose to watch them for the fear of missing out, thus torturing yourself in this endless cycle of feeling like you have to consume everything Marvel Studios puts out. Having all of the context from all of the television shows and films is nice, but there's still going to be casual fans who will still walk away from this stuff just as confused and lost as if they didn't. 

It's essentially the same as reading comic books for me. I choose to watch everything under the Marvel umbrella (mainly for reviewing for this blog TBH), yes, but at the same time, I understand that I don't have to. 

Episode Six: "Just Jen"

Walters is invited to be a bridesmaid at her old friend Lulu's wedding. When she arrives, however, she is disappointed to find that Lulu wants her to present as herself, not She-Hulk, and saddles her with numerous pre-wedding duties. Titania is also present as she is dating one of Lulu's groomsmen. Walters bonds with Josh Miller, a friend of the groom, but Titania attacks her. Following a brief fight, Titania breaks down and storms off. Meanwhile, Book and Nikki work on a divorce case for a superhuman called "Mr. Immortal", who has repeatedly faked his death to get out of several marriages. Compounding the problem, eight of his previous spouses all file suits against him upon learning his secret via an online video displaying his powers leaked by a website called Intelligencia. After resolving the case, Book and Nikki discover several death threats directed at She-Hulk on Intelligencia's message board, which is maintained by an individual known as "HulkKing". Elsewhere, scientists working for "HulkKing" spy on Walters and plan another attempt to steal a blood sample from her.

This episode opens with Jennifer receiving an invitation to a friend's wedding (Lulu) as a bridesmaid. She accepts and is excited to attend the wedding as She-Hulk since Luke made her a special dress for the occasion. To Jen's dismay, Lulu doesn't want the She-Hulk to upstage her at her own wedding so she makes Jennifer promise not to transform into She-Hulk. 

She-Hulk: "Obviously this is the one time I didn't want to show up as just Jen."

This episode is an interesting piece of Jennifer's ongoing struggles with her dual identities. All the way up to this point, Jennifer wants to put She-Hulk behind her and just focus on her career as she's always done. Now she has the opportunity to flaunt her "new" self to the world and show how successful she has been after these changes in her life. I think this situation is very comparable to the social expectations that we all have when it comes to attending high school reunions and things of that nature. Everyone has this notion set in their heads that they have to flaunt how successful they are in their lives since high school and compare it to their friends and peers as some sort of "dick measuring" contest when it doesn't and shouldn't need to be that way. That's the sad thing about life sometimes. You feel like you haven't made any sort of progress or any accomplishments to be proud of unless you have something tangible to show for it. The feeling is magnified in this social media landscape that our lives currently exist in where it seems like everyone has an obligation to share every milestone and moment of their lives on social media in a desperate plea for acceptance and acknowledgement. That's exactly where Jennifer is at right now where it comes to showing up at this wedding. She's jumping at the chance to show her old peers that things are different now and she's done better for herself. 

On the surface, it seems like she's finally accepted being She-Hulk. But that's the problem right there. She really hasn't when she was ready to use She-Hulk as a coping mechanism to mask her own inadequacies about her normal self at this wedding. Jennifer is caught up in an internal dilemma that everyone loves and prefers She-Hulk over Jennifer Walters. Lulu's demands forced her right back to feeling insecure and insignificant as she did in high school to the popular and more prettier girls, thus reinforcing this notion in Jennifer's mind that no one will pay attention to her nor acknowledge her accomplishments unless she is She-Hulk. 

Can we talk about how horrible of a person that Lulu is as a person for a moment? I get this whole thing is supposed to be joke upon the whole "Bridezilla" trope that is done to death in a lot of sitcoms, movies, and the like, but why would she even bother inviting Jennifer to the wedding when they haven't seen each other since high school nor have kept in contact until now? Lulu is lucky that Jennifer didn't just tear the entire wedding apart after being forced to do laundry for the groomsmen who are preoccupied playing Mario Kart and ironing for Lulu's good for nothing bridesmaids not named Jennifer Walters. Let's not forget that Lulu assigned Jennifer to walk in carrying the dog that was noted for urinating all over the place too instead of walking in with one of the many human best men available. Like c'mon. If this wasn't a test of Jennifer's amount of self-control over her emotions, I don't know what is. I doubt anyone would have batted an eye if She-Hulk ripped Lulu in half like a phone book. 

It should be noted that even though Nikki Ramos was essentially "friend zoned" in this episode by Mallory Book, Mallory did take note of Nikki's unorthodox means of getting a job done. That is an invaluable asset that Jennifer has at her disposal as her best friend, but one Mallory Book could exploit to position herself higher in the work place. I didn't take stock of this in my initial viewing, but the seeds have been planted for Mallory Book to shift into more of an antagonistic role for Jennifer next season. 

It's easy to write this episode off as meaningless and pointless but seeing Mallory Book and Nikki Ramos work on this case together and learning to work towards a common end result without any hiccups is something to keep note of. On top of that, don't forget that this episode was another fine example of Jennifer's ongoing hurdles with dealing with her dual identities. 

Jennifer Walters: [leaving a message] Bruce, where are you? I've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks, or months, or days, or whatever. Call me back, you ding dong.

Jennifer ends up drinking her problems away at the bar after completing the chores to help out with Lulu's wedding. She drunk calls Bruce but he doesn't answer. It's either he doesn't get any cell service out in Sakaar or he doesn't want to pay the long distance charges. Once again, I felt that the absence of Bruce here was feeling more and more like how Supergirl's first season (back when it was on CBS before moving to The CW for the remainder of its run) wouldn't show Superman onscreen to avoid legal/copyright issues and have them communicate over emails and/or text messaging. It was feeling like Marvel Studios paid Mark Ruffalo for a limited number of appearances for this show and didn't want to shoehorn him into a narrative that should be more about Jennifer's story anyway. Besides, you don't want to feed the trolls who have been demanding that this show should be filling in the gaps for Banner/Hulk's character development that has happened almost entirely off-screen up to this point. 

Jennifer Walters: [drunk at the wedding reception] You know, everyone is always so, saying about how She-Hulk is amazing. They're always saying it. I just wanted to be amazing tonight.

Josh Miller: I don't know. I think you're pretty great.

Jennifer Walters: You do?

Josh Miller: I do.

To Jennifer's surprise, one of the groomsmen, Josh, hits on Jen at the wedding and actually likes her for "just Jen" - not She-Hulk. You can't blame Jennifer for being enamored and falling head over heels over this guy for this fact, especially after Arthur rejected Jennifer in favor of She-Hulk. That's all what Jennifer wanted from not just this trip, but after all of the changes to her life recently for that someone - anyone for that matter - would recognize that Jennifer Walters is amazing too and not just She-Hulk. Unfortunately, she's too drunk to advance things further with Josh at this moment.

DJ Incredible at the wedding is actually Jennifer's cousin Ched. I totally didn't notice that during my first viewing of this episode. I wonder how many other people missed that too. It's nothing significant but just thought I would mention it since I thought Ched only popped up in the first few episodes.

Titania: [as Jennifer tries to hit her and misses] This is just sad. It's no fun unless you're She-Hulk. Come on!

Jennifer Walters: Why are you so obsessed with me?

Titania: I am not obsessed with you. Although it seems like everyone else is. You do not get to ruin everything for me for something that you don't even want. Something you don't even deserve. So now I am forced to prove it. So green up!

Titania, Intelligencia (who we're going to talk about more below), and a lot of critics over the years have always echoed the sentiment that Jennifer Walters never deserved these powers. I found it very interesting that this show would comment on that too. Titania has every right to feel this way after Jennifer is trying to convince everyone but herself that she doesn't want these powers while Titania actually revels in having this power and ability to use them to get whatever she wants. Even though we get so little of Titania in this show, they do give us enough to see that her and Jennifer are two sides of the same coin. It's like what Titania said in the previous episode, she "owns who she is" - the good and the bad. Jennifer is stuck in this infinite loop of denying herself to experience life fully by accepting She-Hulk as a part of it. Jennifer just wants to have the perks, without any of the downsides when that's not necessarily fair because life doesn't work like that. It's easy to say that Jennifer doesn't "deserve" these powers when she doesn't want to do more with them than what she has been doing with them so far. Unfortunately, that's a criticism that both Titania and later Intelligencia will take to the extreme... 

Intelligencia gets first mention by name in this episode by one of Mr. Immortal's ex-wives. Nikki Ramos and Mallory Book investigate the webside and discover that it is a hate group/website, instead of the group comprised of all of the evil geniuses in the Marvel Comics Universe by the same name. When I saw this during my initial viewing, I did like most people did and jumped to the conclusion that this would be leading to the involvement of The Leader (Samuel Sterns) in this show since Marvel Studios announced that the character would be making his return to the MCU in Captain America: New World Order with actor Tim Blake Nelson reprising the role again for the first time since the 2008 The Incredible Hulk film. After seeing this show in its entirety, I can see this from a completely different perspective now. Intelligencia in this continuity is a symbolic joke upon the self-proclaimed "geniuses" on social media that see themselves as the gatekeepers of what is right and wrong about not only the superhero genre as a whole, but paint themselves as white knights and heroes to media in general, to "protect" the masses from "woke" commentary. In other words, Intelligencia is another example of this show's self-awareness as it uses this concept to serve as an in-universe reflection of the toxic online culture surrounding this show. As someone who frequents a lot of the message boards, Discord servers, and Twitter feeds and has to navigate through this garbage on a daily basis, they are spot on this representation of how these so-called "fans" and critics act. 

Between the "Kill She-Hulk" posts and the like, you can easily spot memes and comments similar to those that were floating around the Internet when this show was first announced and even more like this when the show rolled on from week to week, such as the #CancelSheHulk hashtags. For everyone who were pissed off that Intelligencia wasn't comic book accurate, then you missed the joke here already. The joke is about every single one of you and your excessive whining and complaining about every aspect of this show and the character itself. Intelligencia is as much of a misdirect as The Mandarin in Ironman 3 here. 

On the Intelligencia message board, there's a thread titled, "Someone Just Shoot She-Hulk", that has the following comment attached: "Kill this bitch already so we can move on. I'm sick of hearing about this bitch."

(Whistles) Just wow. At the same time, I'm not really surprised, especially in comparison to a lot of the negativity surrounding this show online. This was another example of art imitating real life in terms of Intelligencia's real-life comparisons to the controversial nature of this show's reception. For the record, fans aren't asking for She-Hulk's death per se, but are wishing death upon this show as long as it exists. 

In both cases though? It's a double standard. She-Hulk is instantly seen as a "slut" or "woman of the night" since she's weighing out her options, despite being a single woman in her 30s, but when Tony Stark did the same thing in the comics and the first Ironman film, no one bats an eye. Instead, Stark's behavior is glamorized while Jennifer's is immediately frowned upon. It's a problematic mindset to have, especially when people want to pretend like our modern society has "evolved" and advanced so much in terms of gender issues and/or equality. This is one sore thumb that sticks out where it's clearly not the case where men and women aren't seen as equals. 

Mallory Book suggests to Nikki Ramos that they should both ignore the hate and negativity that Intelligencia is spread and simply allow Jennifer to live her life. That is a kind sentiment from Jennifer's "frienemy" and legal rival, who possibly has dealt with her own share of detractors in her own career to get where she is now so she could relate. Mallory Book recognizes that Jennifer has more than enough on her plate right now and wants to protect Jennifer's headspace. I understand that Nikki Ramos means well in terms of looking out for her best friend, but she does the exact opposite and tells Jennifer anyway in a lengthy voicemail. 

This episode ends in an ominous manner as some technicians within undisclosed laboratory are receiving messages from an individual named "HulkKing" as shown on a computer monitor with all of Jennifer Walters' biological data. This is the first episode where there isn't any ending song played in particular during the ending credits to add to the uneasiness of this scene as this episode comes to a close.  

Episode Seven: "The Retreat"

Walters goes on several dates with Miller, but he disappears and seemingly ghosts her after they sleep together. While anticipating a text from him, she receives a call from Blonsky's parole officer who informs her that the inhibitor that stops Blonsky from turning into Abomination is broken and that he wants her to accompany him to Blonsky's spiritual retreat Summer Twilight to check on him. When the officer leaves, Man-Bull and El Águila accidentally destroy her car, forcing her to stay there until it can be towed away. Despite the retreat lacking internet and cell coverage, Walters continues to nervously await a response from Miller. She attends a group therapy session with Blonsky, Man-Bull, El Águila, Porcupine, Saracen, and Wrecker of the Wrecking Crew, where she is convinced to delete Miller's contact information and let go of her feelings towards him. It is revealed that three days earlier, Miller secretly cloned Walters' phone and stole a sample of her blood on behalf of "HulkKing" after sleeping with her.

Jennifer Walters: "I don't care what a bunch of losers say about me online. They can't say it to my face because they know they get Hulk smashed."

Jennifer Walters: [referring to Josh] Why can't he just text me back? Why is that so hard? There's no reason in this day and age to no respond to a text.

Nikki Ramos: He could be in a meeting, or at the movies. There's weddings, funerals, job interviews, silent retreats.

Jennifer Walters: I hope he's at all of those today.

Jennifer is getting a little too obsessed with waiting for response from Josh. They could have played the chorus from that Mariah Carey song of the same name during those scenes. It's sad to watch too as Jennifer is hanging on the verge of desperation from approval and acceptance from this guy. There were early signs of Jennifer's emotional breakdown coming up at the end of Episode 8 shown here. Jennifer was showing the early signs of excessive dependency on this guy and if he wasn't in her life, she was clearly going to lose it. That's why when she was made privy of his betrayal at the end of Episode 8, it hit that much harder. That acceptance and approval that she desperately craved for she could have a sense of normalcy in her life again (as Jennifer and NOT She-Hulk) that she thought she obtained from him was all a farce. 

As for the lack of a response thing, I am guilty of that, especially when it comes to social media when it comes to keeping in touch with people long distances. I would go on about my day after telling myself I would respond back later and totally get sidetracked by the hectic events of that day and before I know it days, weeks, or even months would pass by. It's gotten so bad in my adolescent years currently that my best friend and I are content that we check in with each other at least once every few months with how busy we are. That being said, I'm not making excuses for Josh as that's rude to make someone who is clearly into you worry that maybe they did something wrong. At the same time, I have a thing where I don't like to bug people in general. I never want to come across as clingy to anyone. I'm an introvert by nature so I have to recharge my batteries in terms of my tolerance of being social with people in general for extended periods of time. 

An inhibitor malfunction from Emil Blonsky's device prompts a trip to his ranch by his parole officer, who requests Jennifer Walters for back-up (as She-Hulk of course) in case that he is on the rampage as Abomination. Jennifer reluctantly agrees, even though she is still hung up on waiting for Josh to call her back at this point several days later. To Jennifer's surprise, Emil Blonsky actually is helping villains at his ranch retreat. Unfortunately, Man-Bull and El Aguila end up smashing her car during their skirmish, forcing her to make an extended stay at the ranch today until the tow truck can come out to take her back home. To be honest, I thought El Aguila was Swordsman from Hawkeye at first glance until I got a better look at his costume. To be quite honest, I thought this was a great idea to introduce some more lesser known villains in this show like this as that was a thing that her comics did so well. While She-Hulk herself didn't have any major villains outside of mainly Titania as recurring threats, She-Hulk had a knack for running into a lot of the villains in the Marvel Comics universe that were considered cannon fodder and easily disposed of. It's great to see that those kind of villains exists in the MCU as well because there is a common problem that I have expressed with this continuity in the past is how it treats every major villain as disposable as toilet paper. Every villain doesn't have to be a one and done affair, nor does there have to be these villains that want to destroy all of creation either. 

This is a minor note but Emil Blonsky mentions integrating past and present into one being. I found that to be very symbolic of what he's done for himself/Abomination. It seems like he subtly suggesting the same for Jennifer and She-Hulk between the lines in terms accepting both parts of her identity. That brings us to Blonsky's therapy session with all of the villains that he is meeting with. The theme in that very same session that Jennifer walks in on are the ongoing struggles with identity. To Jennifer's surprise, Wrecker is one of the villains at this session (one of the members of the Wrecking Crew from Episode 3) and she immediately Hulks out and attacks him. On my first viewing of this episode, I thought they were alluding to Blonsky being the one behind Intelligenica in some capacity since Wrecker was taking refuge at his retreat, but now in hindsight, that wouldn't make sense when Blonsky openly invited and urged Jennifer to stay. If he had anything to hide, he wouldn't have overlooked Wrecker being here as something that would come to bite him in the ass later. 

Wrecker: [to Jennifer, referring to Josh] I think that we have to start considering the very real possibility that you were ghosted.

Saracen: Or he wanted your blood.

Wrecker: No. Not that.

There is so much irony in this show that it's maddening at this point. I should mention that one of the lesser known, obscure villains that appears at Emil Blonsky's retreat, Saracen, is one of the first vampires in the Marvel Comics continuity. I have to wonder if he's going to appear again in the upcoming Blade movie as well. That can't be a coincidence that they namedropped both Baroness Cromwell and Saracen in this show within the same season. Given the revelation that is shown at the end of the episode, Saracen's comment was on the money. 

Man-Bull: Jen is hurting and the only thing we can offer her is violence?

Porcupine: Well, for one thing, I'd say you can't control what other people do.

El Aguila: It hurts when someone rejects us, because it reminds us of the times we reject ourselves.

Wrecker: Maybe this Josh things hurts so much because you haven't been spending enough time with Jen.

Saracen: And that's a shame, because I bet Jen is pretty damn great and tasty. Dammit. Went off the rails. Somebody bail me out.

To be fair, I wanted to choke Josh too for ghosting Jennifer like that. The villains would go on to ask Jen to stop using She-Hulk as a protective shield and trust us (everyone, not just men) with Jennifer. During my first viewing, a part of me was thinking that they were all going to turn on her after she let her defenses down and reverted back to normal Jen, but I'm glad they didn't go that route. Jennifer had shown more than enough vulnerability in this episode up to this point. They had to give her something in terms of picking up her crushed spirits after that powerful confession during this therapeutic scene. I dare say that this scene is more powerful than the therapy scene between Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie had each other to play off of for their scene, but Tatiana Maslany only had herself to convey this type of emotion. You can even hear her voice crack at one point of her confession. To see that hurts even She-Hulk, who is Jennifer's more confident self, speaks volumes for her mental state currently. 

It was at this point of this show when I was reading and watching reactions online that I got extremely frustrated and upset with a lot of people as they didn't see the magnitude and scope of Jennifer's mental health at this state of the show. Instead, all you see and hear are the constant complaints and whining about how She-Hulk's not muscular or large enough from the critics while completely undermining and devaluing how powerful of a statement this show makes about the importance of mental health. We're going to see the effects of that at the end of the next episode, but first, we end with one more revelation. 

Emil Blonsky: And Jen, next time you think of Josh, remember everyone we meet, no matter how much they hurt you, is a lesson learned. 

[flashback, three days earlier, Josh secretly steals a sample of her blood for HulkKing]

This episode ends with 3 days earlier flashback revealing that Josh copied Jen's phone, stole her blood, and recorded their intimate night together for HulkKing. This is where I got to thinking. Okay, did Intelligencia put Lulu up for the invitation to get Jennifer to attend her wedding as there wasn't any prior knowledge that She-Hulk was going to be there? Did Titania tip them off since she was there? 

Any simple Google search for "HulkKing" brings you to Hulkling's Marvel Comics biography at the time of this episode's initial airing and I knew they weren't going to use that character since he's a half-Kree, half-Skrull hybrid and NOT a Hulk. Once again, the writers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are trying to throw fans off of the scent of the trail with that name that ends up not meaning anything. 

Spoiler alert: "HulkKing" has no real distinction to any Marvel Comics character. It was used mainly to make more people like myself who were convinced that The Leader was going to appear in this series, but he wasn't appearing in this series at all, much like that theory that was going around when WandaVision was airing that had a majority of people convinced that Mephisto was going to make his MCU debut in that series as the force behind the events of that series. That theory was proven to be a false as well. 

Episode Eight: "Ribbit and Rip It"

Walters takes on a new case, representing Eugene Patilio / Leap-Frog, who wishes to sue Jacobson for giving him a faulty supersuit. Jacobson is represented by Matt Murdock in court, and wins the case due to Patilio inadvertently revealing that he disobeyed Jacobson's instructions for using the suit. Afterwards, Patilio contacts Walters asking for help against an unknown assailant. Walters arrives and battles the assailant, who she discovers to be Murdock as his superhero persona Daredevil. Murdock reveals to Walters that Patilio kidnapped Jacobson, and the two work together to rescue the latter before sleeping together. The next day, Walters attends the Southern California Law Awards gala, where she accepts a Female Lawyer of the Year award, but the gala is interrupted by an Intelligencia broadcast, which smears Walters' reputation by displaying footage of her in bed with Miller. Walters goes on a rampage, destroying the gala stage and attempting to capture a nearby Intelligencia member, only to be stopped by Department of Damage Control (DODC) agents.

This episode starts off with Leapfrog (another obscure Marvel Comics villain that can be tossed around as cannon fodder) making his MCU debut in a flashback of sorts as he attempts to stop a small heist, but ends up getting in over his head as his rocket boots malfunction and explode, causing his entire suit to catch on fire. Jennifer finds herself in yet another unfavorable position as Leapfrog wants to sue Luke over his "defective suit", which was made by Luke Jacobson. Jennifer can't get out of the case since Leapfrog's parents are one of GLK&H's biggest clients. Luke just happens to be working on Jen's dress for the upcoming gala for her Female Lawyer of the Year award/nomination. Since Jen "insulted" him for presenting the case against his work to begin with, Luke rips up Jen's dress that she had him working on for the gala and dissolves their business relationship. 

Luke manages to call in Matt Murdock as his legal console, who easily trumps and counters Jen on this case. He even manages to smell that Leapfrog used the wrong fuel for his jet boots to malfunction, causing the case to be dismissed completely. 

Even though I was stunned with how well Matt Murdock triumphed Jennifer Walters in the courtroom setting, I had a major issue with something that was just casually mentioned during this scene that no one seems to be making a bigger deal about the significance of this revelation... 

WHY ISN'T NO ONE BRINGING UP THAT THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS WERE APPEALED!!!??? 

Matt Murdock casually mentions it during his defense in the court case portion of this episode, only for it not to be brought up again by the show nor by fans alike. Instead, everyone is caught up in the awesomeness of Jen and Matt's chemistry in this show - and rightfully so - but we really need to talk about this for a moment about how big of a deal this is. 

For the record, I felt that the Sokovia Accords were the biggest missed opportunity in the narrative of the MCU in Phase 3 that none of the films following Captain America: Civil War never truly fully explored nor capitalized on. Instead, it was introduced as a piss poor imitation for the Superhuman Registration Act from the comic book iteration of Civil War that the MCU film was loosely influenced by. Don't forget that they essentially ignored and navigated around it in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther, loosely addressed it in Ant-Man & The Wasp (mainly by having Hope van Dyne and Hank Pym on the run due to their technology and Ant-Man Suit being used by Scott Lang in his battle against the other supporters of the Accords at the Leipzig-Halle Airport after siding with Captain America), and flat out said to hell with it in Avengers: Infinity War. In Avengers: Endgame, so much time had passed after the Snap that it wasn't even brought up at all. It had more significant weight on the operatives in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. than it did in any of the other MCU films after it was introduced. In the MCU, the Sokovia Accords were merely a weak plot device to drive a wedge between the Avengers (specifically for Ironman/Tony Stark and Captain America/Steve Rogers) for they would already be in a weakened state of disarray when Thanos would arrive for the remaining Infinity Stones in Avengers: Infinity War, opposed to their cohesive union in the original Avengers film. Outside of that, the Accords never had any significant weight to these heroes. 

I honestly busted out laughing when I heard Murdock said they were appealed since that just tells me that the MCU is essentially admitting that introducing them were a stupid idea in the first place. It was a massive waste of what could have been a much bigger storyline and even a bigger waste for the significance that law could have shaped the landscape of existing and operating as a hero in this continuity would have meant with legal repercussions. 

I have to give props where it's due and the visuals for the VFX in this episode was leaps and bounds above everything else in this series to date so far. I have to tip my hat to the extra effects that they even added to Daredevil's acrobatics and agility to emphasize his own natural athleticism, despite not having any powers of his own. That was something that they were unable to do in the Netflix series since they were using practical effects for that show. I hope they use a combination of both practical effects and a small amount of VFX like we saw here for him when he shows up in both Echo and Daredevil: Born Again whenever those two Disney+ series arrive down the road.

Matt Murdock: Ms. Walters, have you been checking up on me?

Jennifer Walters: Yeah. Can you blame me? You came out of nowhere, and you made my dumb client admit to being even dumber than I thought he was in court.

Matt Murdock: Well, you know the expression, "One for them, one for us"? Well, I run my practice in Hell's Kitchen, and we mostly do pro bono work. The "us" part. But I do on occasion take a job with a bigger client when the bills starting piling up. The "them" part.

Jennifer Walters: Wow. Secret double lives of Matt Murdock. How does he do it? As someone who works for "them" full-time, I really don't have any gas in the tank for anything else.

Matt Murdock: I think you're in a unique position to do some real good. You see, the way I see it, Jen Walters can use the law to help people when society fails them. And She-Hulk can help people when the law fails them. So, you can, if you choose...

Jennifer Walters: Be the best of both worlds.

I'm a little surprised that Jennifer didn't put the pieces together that Matt Murdock had a costumed identity given his defense in the courtroom. That being said, he would know better than anyone about the dangers of this costumed life along with the good that comes with it. The law can only do so much to put criminals behind bars and keep them there. Then there's costumed heroes that can do what the law cannot. Given their similar lines of work/career backgrounds, it was a wise decision to have him offer this advice to Jennifer. 

Let's not forget that Jennifer wasn't opposed to helping people as she wanted to help those people from getting crushed by the furniture that Titania was throwing around in the first episode. Jennifer needs that nudge in the right direction to show here that there's a place for both Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk to do the most good for the world without bringing her own world crashing down either. 

Jennifer Walters: [referring to her chemistry with Murdock] We're all feeling this, right? It's not just me?

Jen and Matt's chemistry in their scenes together in this episode are simply incredible. I'm going to be highly upset if Jennifer doesn't appear in Daredevil: Born Again in some capacity. Do we really need to bring back Karen Page (formerly portrayed by Deborah Ann Woll in the Netflix series) as Matt Murdock's love interest in the MCU? Truth be told, in the same comic book storyline of the same name of Daredevil's upcoming Disney+ series, "Born Again", Karen Page returns into Matt Murdock's life as a heroin-addicted pornstar and sells his secret identity for drug money. I'm anxious to see how the MCU would adapt this story since they would obviously omit the whole pornstar part of Karen Page's life if they were to be inclined to bring that character and actress back. To be perfectly honest, I would be fine with Jennifer being his on/off love interest in this continuity since I never liked Karen Page (nor the actress portraying her for that matter) anyway. It would be easy to write her off that they split up in the years that followed the Snap anyway. 

Todd: God, no one is collecting African s**t on my level. I love it. I love Wakanda. You know, I actually studied abroad there.

Jennifer Walters: Really?

Todd: Wakanda Forever!

Jennifer Walters: Ooh! That makes me uncomfortable.

Todd asks to discuss a recent purchase (Wakandan spear) with Jen out of the blue. Once Jennifer arrives, he casually mentions that the Wakandans want it back since their artifacts were stolen by colonists, all while trying to hit on Jen again who immediately shuts him down. It just seemed like very odd placement and timing that Todd would show up again before the last episode. Hmm...

I couldn't help but think back about his comment during their first Tinder date where he was asking about whether or not vibranium could pierce a Hulk's skin or not. During my initial viewing, I was thinking that he was going to use his latest acquisition to arm some supervillain or himself with the means to kill her. 

Alternatively, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up getting a mention from the Dora Milaje in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that they were able to reclaim this from Todd Phelps with Jennifer Walters' help in terms of navigating this matter in a legal sense. 

Jennifer Walters: I'm a Hulk. How about I just smash our way in?

Matt Murdock: Because they have weapons, Jennifer.

Jennifer Walters: Yeah, good thing She-Hulk is indestructible, Matthew.

Jennifer grills Matt about how they are going to save Luke, only for Matt to remind her that this isn't something she does everyday. He's the experienced costumed vigilante in this situation, who opts for a stealthier approach, much to Jennifer's chagrin. She reluctantly goes along with his plan, but keep in mind of one thing from this conversation. While it is more than apparent that something great is blossoming between these two heroes, Jennifer is underestimating the gravity of the situation, much like the changes in her life thus far since becoming a Hulk. She is convinced that She-Hulk is indestructible, but she's going to find how wrong she is about that statement by the end of this episode. I thought it was very cool that we were teased with one of the signature hallway fight scenes that were a staple of the Marvel Netflix Defenders-themed shows (a trend that started in Daredevil from the sheer brutality in its fight choreography), only for it to be interrupted by She-Hulk in a hilarious manner to remind us exactly whose show this is. She-Hulk and Daredevil easily save Luke and send Leapfrog to jail without much resistance, only to end their night with a night of lovemaking as the two heroes hook up. They could have put that off for Daredevil's show but I was fine with it as Matt Murdock was sleeping around with multiple partners in his own show. Let's just end the "slutty She-Hulk" argument and comments right here and now. It's 2022. People hook up on a whim. Sometimes that chemistry is magic - just like it was for Jen and Matt in this episode - and can't be ignored. Some people act on it. Others sleep in separate beds like it's episode of The Flintstones with blue balls trying to fool themselves otherwise. 

I saw everything from people acting this scene (look to the gif to the left in the sidebar above) completely demoralized and "ruined" Daredevil going forward to this scene being the icing on the cake to show how this show "hates" men. To all of those people, I say this - get a goddamn sense of humor. Everything in media isn't a personal attack on you and your morals (or lack of thereof). If you're that insecure about your (toxic) masculinity or ideals that you are so afraid to have challenged, then you clearly have more issues that you need to have addressed instead of devoting all of your free time complaining about this television show or anything for that matter. Truth be told, Daredevil has been part of comedic stories in his comic book roots. The character can have a sense of humor, much like a lot of these characters have been presented with in the MCU. He's not ruined. He and Jennifer had a good time together and I like to think that a lot of people did too when they watched this episode. There was no need to turn anything seen here into anything negative. 

Jennifer Walters: Seriously, what is this scene? This episode already came to a very satisfying conclusion. Trust me.

Jennifer Walters: Wait, we're doing the gala? That doesn't feel right. Is the next episode the finale?

Jennifer Walters: Just like a tacked-on set piece near the end of the season. This is the big twist, isn't it? But the question is, is it the kind of twist that's like, "Ooh, there's another Hulk, but this one's red," or like, "I'm getting fridged?" Whatever. I'm game.

Before we talk about Jennifer unleashing her rage at the gala at the end of the episode, let's talk about Jennifer's "fridged" comment for those who aren't aware of what that term means in relation to comic books. (Laughs) To be honest, I'm surprised Women in Refridgerators website creator Gail Simone's head didn't explode at the mention of that term in one of these shows... 'Fridging' is the practice of killing off or hurting a minor character (in most cases, female characters) who are are affected by injury, raped, killed, or depowered, and often as a plot device intended to move a male character's story arc forward  in order to motivate or torture a main character. The term originates from the world of comics, describing an issue of Green Lantern (during Kyle Rayner's tenure in the role) in which the hero's partner (Alexandra DeWitt) is killed by Major Force and stuffed in a refrigerator for the protagonist to find. I thought it was odd that Jennifer would even joke about that in my initial viewing of this episode, but after what they did in the finale, I can understand what she was referring to now with that reference.

Jennifer's comment about a Red Hulk is interesting too as Intelligencia was behind the creations of both Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk in the comics by The Leader who created them specifically to destroy the Hulk. As of this posting, Harrison Ford is rumored to replace the late William Hurt as Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross in Captain America: New World Order who will return in that film as the Red Hulk. 

Todd showing up at the gala should've been the clear red flag that Intelligencia was showing up or in the least that something was amiss in this situation. I don't think they couldn't have made it anymore obvious that he's involved with them in some capacity. That was what is going to make the reveal in the next episode fall even flatter but we'll get to that soon enough. The biggest takeaway scene from this gala is how Intelligencia drove Jennifer Walters over the edge and made her do exactly what Bruce Banner warned her what would happen when her emotions, specifically her anger and rage, would spiral out of control. It doesn't take Marvel.com's article to explain that Jennifer's rage was justified. 

Side note: I thought that was a nice Kill Bill/Carrie visual effect when She-Hulk goes out of control when Jen allows her temper to get the best of her during this sequence.

What Intelligencia did here was more of their mirroring and echoing common complaints/rants of misinformed "incels" and toxic fanboys who have piled onto this show negatively since it's initial announcement/trailer. Of course, it is easily to dismiss this ending scene as "slut shaming" and Jennifer was "overreacting" to that, but once again, it frustrated me to see people continue to miss the bigger picture here with what was going on here, especially after the powerful, character-defining moment that Jennifer had in the previous episode.

I want everyone to think about everything that Jen has had to put up with a smile leading up to this point: 

• A job that wants her to be a Hulk full-time instead of hiring her for her merits as normal person. She laughs it off on the surface, but underneath she's hurting inside to pretend like this is fine/normal just like she was fooling herself to Bruce that she could handle controlling her emotions as a Hulk. 

• The daily struggle of being a capable, talented individual only to have to "prove" her expertise in her field time and time again to her peers, only for them to continue undermining her. 

• Her moment of recognition for her accomplishments and sacrifices as lawyer after putting everything in her life above all else only to have the rug pulled out from underneath her by both Intelligencia and having to share said spotlight with the other female lawyers. Intelligencia wasn't "slut shaming" or exploited her for "revenge porn" as how a lot of online reviews and critiques are saying. They exploited her personal and private life in a vain and petty exposition to publicly embarrass her. 

• Jennifer was betrayed by the one guy (Josh Miller) that she thought liked her for HER, not She-Hulk. We saw in the previous episode how obsessed she was with Josh accepting her for herself and not She-Hulk. It was teetering then that if she lost this small nugget of approval that Jennifer is worth a damn, the entire wall was going to come crumbling down. Intelligenica reveals that all of those emotions of acceptance and approval weren't real and it was all a farce; all fabricated for Jennifer to lower her defenses. Everything she felt then was a lie. Have any of you fallen in love and had your heart broken? Well, imagine that feeling times a hundred fold and maybe that would compare to a fraction of what Jennifer was going through. 

The previous episode went out of its way showcasing a powerful character moment with Jen expressing her personal vulnerabilities as she struggles to deal with juggling with these dual roles. So put yourself in her shoes, you see this hate group running their smear campaign online and thinking it's not going to gain any traction, only for someone you gave your heart to and thought they meant a damn in your life to sell you out and reveal themselves to be key contributor to vilify you. Jen said She-Hulk is indestructible earlier in this episode, but truth be told, she's not - her heart can be broken and the emotional walls can come crashing down like a house of cards just like the rest of us. 

All of that being said, I can easily buy into Jen losing it. I pose another question to my readers of this review: Have any of you ever felt fed up of just everything that life piled onto you and want to lash out? You get pissed off and go full scorched earth and don't give a flying fuck about what happens after the fact. These people ruined this moment for Jennifer all for their smear campaign in a public outlet to embarrass her. Can you blame her wanting to hunt down these guys like an animal and tear them apart for what they did to her? Jennifer has had enough. She was at her wits end of pretending that this is okay and attempting to fool herself that nothing is wrong. That's how I interpreted Jen's mental state at the end. I just feel like there's far too much trivialization about she has been going through. I think that this scene resonates more with me being someone who juggles with mental health issues regularly. Sadly, there's always going to be someone who wants to "trigger" you and push your buttons to get you to react violently and that's exactly what Intelligencia did to Jennifer here. It's a scary sight to behold when a normal person is unhinged, but life-threatening when it involves one pissed off Hulk no less. Intelligencia always saw her as a monster and they definitely brought one out in her here at the end of this episode. It's both horrifying and sad to see this sudden change in tone in this episode when it was looking like everything was turning for the better in Jennifer's life. 

A common complaint about these Disney+ MCU shows is that they lack the stakes and tone that the Netflix Marvel shows had, but we got that here in a sense. They gave us that same false sense of security that everything was going to work out right for Jennifer, only for the catch-22 (i.e. meaning that this wouldn't have happened if Jennifer didn't go to the gala at all, but she recognizes that she has to go anyway for the sake of moving the Intelligencia subplot forward) to kick in and steer things into the endgame point of climax in the plot. Once She-Hulk lost it, the time for jokes and laughter was over. Even if it was only for the few minutes that were "tacked on" as Jennifer put it at the end of this episode, we can all agree that "shit got real" at this very moment. Seeing Jennifer in this state was shocking and borderline terrifying in some aspects in contrast to everything that we have seen of her character and personality to this point. 

Episode Nine: "Whose Show Is This?"

Walters is released from DODC custody, but is forced to wear an inhibitor to prevent her from transforming, and loses her job at GLK&H. Nikki and Pug infiltrate an Intelligencia event, where they learn that Todd Phelps is HulkKing and Blonsky as the Abomination is serving as a motivational speaker. Walters arrives at the event and confronts Phelps, who injects himself with her blood and transforms into a Hulk. After Titania and Banner unexpectedly appear in the ensuing fight, a confused Walters destroys her inhibitor and breaks the fourth wall to confront the show's writers in Marvel Studios: Assembled. She meets with K.E.V.I.N., an artificial intelligence that claims to be in charge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's storyline decisions, and persuades it to rewrite the finale, to which it reluctantly agrees. Returning to her show, she finds Phelps and Blonsky have been arrested. While celebrating with her family and Murdock, Banner returns from Sakaar with his son Skaar. After regaining her job and being cleared of all charges, Walters vows to continue her work as a lawyer and a superhero. In a mid-credits scene, Wong breaks Blonsky out of prison and takes him to Kamar-Taj. 

The day before this episode aired, I was chatting with a friend over on Discord about the manner in which how I hoped this show wouldn't end. I told my friend that I had already predicted that Todd would be revealed as the leader of Intelligencia and use Jennifer's stolen blood to give himself or someone else powers. I was thinking that the twist would be that Intelligencia was backed by Titania, who uses Jennifer's blood to gain a substantial boost in power as she becomes this continuity's Red She-Hulk to continue the MCU's ongoing pattern of almost every hero origin story ending with a final battle with their evil doppelganger who has the same power set as them. By this point that Wednesday morning, footage had already leaked of Smart Hulk fighting Abomination, so I was already expecting that they were going to find some excuse to drag Bruce back from Sakaar to help Jennifer out as they fight both Titania and Abomination tag team style in the final battle. With all of that being said, let's see how far off was I from those predictions. 

If Bruce Banner was here, he would have been right there to tell his Fuzzball "I told you so" as he was absolutely right. It only takes just one out of control moment with losing control of your emotions as a Hulk and it causes irreparable damage; not just to property but to the whole perception of how people see you. That was exactly what Intelligencia was banking on to paint the picture of Jennifer Walters being exactly the monster that they saw her as for everyone else could believe it and buy into that story too.

Jennifer is released from prison after a similar deal is agreed upon that is similar to the one that was agreed upon for Blonsky's parole in Episode 3. She is given inhibitor device to prevent her from transforming into She-Hulk as well as fired from GLK&H for her behavior and destruction of the gala. 

In one fell swoop or rather a single moment of weakness, Jennifer lost everything and finds herself moving back home with parents. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like Jennifer's temper was still pretty bad after getting out of prison in the first half of this episode. Then again, I would be annoyed too after hitting rock bottom too, so there's that.

Elaine Walters: Jennifer! Can you move the big bookcase for me? I think I want it closer to the window.

Jennifer Walters: No!

Elaine Walters: Oh, that's right. You can't be Girl-Hulk anymore.

Jennifer Walters: It's She-Hulk, Mom. Or was. But never again. Which I know is what I said I wanted, but this doesn't feel right. This isn't even a reluctant superhero story. I'm just getting screwed over. Is this what you guys want?

Jennifer Walters: [as she's leaving for Blonsky's retreat] I'm not running from my problems. Just taking a mental health break.

It finally dawns to Jennifer that everything isn't so great once her life goes back to "normal" without She-Hulk in it, once she's stripped of all of the liberties (and better yet, the control) that being She-Hulk brought about. For the record, I never saw this show completely as a "reluctant superhero story" as Jennifer never actively pursued a life of heroism. That was the major point of contention that drove her and Bruce to trading blows in the first episode. This show always painted the picture as a "slice in life" show highlighting how Jennifer is coping with these powers in her day to day life. The notion of her becoming an Avenger at this stage was never a point of contention if we can be honest with ourselves. The show never fully committed itself to being legal comedy either. It was ironic that this self-aware protagonist that her own show was actually denying itself from being a reluctant superhero story while focusing on these other aspects of Jennifer's life. Just something to think about...

This season finale doesn't stray far from giving Nikki Ramos more screen time to prove why she's Jennifer's best friend. She manages to obtain a humiliating video from Jennifer's college days (thanks to Jen's mother) that she uses to register with Intelligencia website to gain their trust as one of their own. She's then invited to their upcoming in-person gathering, in which she convinces Pug to sneak in on her behalf as one of the "dude-bros" in Intelligencia's website. 

Pug has little trouble mingling in (thanks to Nikki feeding him lines over his earpiece). By no surprise, Todd Phelps reintroduces himself to Pug as the leader/creator of Intelligencia. Like I said earlier in this review, they made that revelation a little TOO obvious. At this point of my initial viewing of this episode I was audibly groaning that this was going exactly how I was expecting and dreading it would play out. Hearing the "complaints" of the other members of Intelligencia conversing at their party didn't help either. 

Some of the things that they were mentioning were "He-Hulk", "Lady Thor sucks", and our favorite that has been mentioned throughout this series, "She-Hulk never earned her powers." I feel the plight of fans of Jane Foster/Mighty Thor when Thor: Love and Thunder came out and all of the detractors and violent critics who were heavily opposed to Foster picking up the hammer and wielding Mjolnir like her comic book counterpart as it was a similar situation as the controversy to She-Hulk's live-action debut. You have this adamant, highly vocal part of the fanbase of the MCU who are highly opposed to the female counterparts/derivatives of their male counterparts that are convinced in their minds that their existence devalues the existence of their male counterparts. For example, Jane Foster's inclusion was met with venom as many people were convinced that she was being introduced to "replace" Thor Odinson, similar to the initial reactions and assumptions to the introduction of Kate Bishop as many thought she was being introduced to replace Clint Barton as Hawkeye. 

Ever since the tease of A-Force in Avengers: Endgame that saw all of the female heroes in this continuity join forces onscreen briefly during that final battle, there has been this negative connotation that Marvel Studios are shoving all of the male heroes aside to make this a reality, especially after a lot of the more outspoken actresses of the MCU were onboard for this live-action adaptation and encouraging the idea that Marvel Studios should adopt this team properly in the near-future. I think that She-Hulk gets a lot of the undeserved hatred in these accusations as she was the team's leader in the comics, so her own introduction into the MCU gave a lot of these detractors more fuel to the fire that their macho Masters of the Universe toys were being taken away and replaced with girly Barbie dolls. That couldn't be farther from the truth when the reality is that Marvel Studios has had a lack of strong female characters in their continuity (at least in prominent roles that can be debated in terms of significance and star power in the Infinity Saga) and really felt the pressure to deliver on that front when they saw the resounding success of the feature film debut of DC Comics' own Wonder Woman, led by a solo female heroine. As a result, Marvel Studios has been scrambling to find a female heroine of their own to similar results. Unfortunately, Captain Marvel and Black Widow neither delivered in that regard, so the post-Endgame landscape has been them pushing more female protagonists in an attempt to address those criticisms of their lack of strong female protagonists. Even I can admit that they have been pushing and introducing too many female characters all at once in this Phase: Kate Bishop (Hawkeye), Yelena Belova (Black Widow), Sersei (The Eternals), Scarlet Witch (WandaVision), Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Monica Rambeau (WandaVision), Layla El-Faouly/Scarlet Scarab (Moon Knight), Sylvie (Loki), Elsa Bloodstone (Werewolf By Night), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Shuri, Nakia, and Riri Williams/IronHeart to name a few before we even include She-Hulk into that conversation. I can understand that feeling that the MCU is "forcing" these characters down our throats, while at the same time, I understand that we're in a rebuilding phase too. The Avengers that we knew them for the past twelve(ish) years aren't the same anymore. There's going to be a new team that will have to step up to challenge going forward and they are planting the seeds for that. Unlike the comics, these characters aren't going to be around forever and different people will fill in the gaps when others drop out or step to wayside. 

Emil Blonsky arrives to the gathering, fully transformed as the Abomination and violating his parole, and is introduced as the motivational speaker for Intelligencia since this meeting is being held at his own retreat that Jennifer happens to be staying at tonight in one of those lazy narrative coincidences that I thought we left back in the Netflix Defenders shows. Jennifer stumbles in the meeting, much to Todd's delight as he reveals that he hired Josh Miller to steal her blood. By his own logic, this plan legitimately "earns" him the powers to become a Hulk himself. Seriously?? By this point in my initial viewing, I'm rolling my eyes at Todd injecting himself with Jennifer's stolen blood and becoming a (dude-bro) Hulk himself. 

In reference to Jennifer's "fridged" comment at the end of the previous episode, this entire situation was essentially fridging Jennifer in her own story in favor of making the finale a spectacle over Bruce's "cursed" Hulk blood and advancing his own narrative by revisiting his conflict with Abomination. This original idea would have made Jennifer a sidebar in her own story in favor of giving a small sect of slighted fans some gratification by filling in the gaps of the Hulk's own narrative shortcomings to the detriment of She-Hulk's own story that has been presented up to this point.

Jennifer Walters: [as Todd is transforming into the Hulk King] This can't possibly be where this season was going.

Jennifer Walters: This is a mess. None of these storylines make any sense. Is this working for you?

If all of this wasn't bad enough, Titania and Smart Hulk show up for what would be final battle but to the surprise of the viewers watching at home, Jennifer's not having any of it. She destroys her inhibitor and opts to exit out of her own show via the Disney+ navigation screen and goes straight to the creators of this show to confront them in person. Now I was getting excited as this was screaming of John Byrne's  influences with She-Hulk stepping out of the confines of her own comic book and challenging her creators' direction for her book at the time. 

Jennifer Walters: What the hell, you guys? What kind of stupid finale is this?

Writer Jessica: We thought it'd be really cool, and like unexpected.

Writer Zeb: Yeah. Like fun, kind of with a twist.

Jennifer Walters: A twist? The bad guy steals my blood in order to give himself superpowers. Where did you come up with that original idea? Was that from every other superhero story ever?

Writer Zeb: Okay. There are certain things that are supposed to happen in a superhero story.

She-Hulk goes straight to the writers' room for this show and challenges the direction of this apparently "intentionally" bad story for this finale. For the record, the stolen blood thing was already done earlier in this Phase with literal Super Soldier Serum in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. That would have made for one hell of a lackluster finale if the "final boss" of sorts for this show was She-Hulk facing off against an even more unworthy candidate who didn't "deserve" these powers either. Let's not forget that the MCU has a horrible pattern of making almost all of these origin stories end with a fight against some sort of evil doppelganger who has the same or similar power set as the titular hero or heroine. We saw this still playing out as recently as the prior Marvel Studios Disney+ release, Ms. Marvel. It is a beyond tiresome and very redundant trope at this point. 

In defense of the fight scene where She-Hulk beats up several security guards in the hallway, I doubt they used as much time and resources on their VFX budget as they would have animating a fight between Abomination versus Smart Hulk or a lengthier fight between She-Hulk and Titania in this finale. 

Jennifer Walters: Kevin?

KEVIN: It stands for Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus. Were you expecting a man?

Jennifer Walters: Yeah. Why would I expect a giant AI brain and not a man?

I had a feeling that we weren't going to see the "real" Kevin Feige in this episode. It was either going to be what we got or something along the smoke and mirrors of the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. I don't see him ever showing himself onscreen in any of these films or television shows in any capacity. This mechanical facsimile was good enough for Jennifer could play off of to get the point across. 

KEVIN: I possess the most advanced entertainment algorithm in the world, and it produces near-perfect products.

Jennifer Walters: Near-perfect?

KEVIN: Some are better than others, but I leave that debate up to the Internet.

Oh man, even KEVIN was getting in on making fun of the trolls online at this point. You could tell that the writers were having a ball with this at this point so they went all in on it. 

Jennifer Walters: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for its big spectacles and high-stakes plotlines, but it's often said that Marvel movies all end the same way.

KEVIN: Wait. Who is saying that?

Jennifer Walters: Perhaps, this is a result of following some unwritten rule that you have to throw a bunch of plot, and flash, and a whole blood thing that seems super suspiciously close to Super Soldier Serum at the audience in the climax. I propose we don't have to do that. It distracts from the story, which is that my life fell apart right when I was learning to be both Jen and She-Hulk. 

In defense of this ending, here's where I have to applaud Jennifer's stance here as I felt a lot of people lost track of this narrative when Jennifer put everything on its head when she shattered the boundaries between reality and the fictional world that her show exists in. Jennifer Walters did what any capable attorney would do when presenting their case. She presented and addressed the issue at hand while supporting her stance with solid evidence and facts to back up those points. Whether you like it or not, this was her "final boss battle" in a legal sense. A lot of people failed to see the point that this show was never about leading into some high-stakes battle between She-Hulk and Smart Hulk against Intelligencia, Abomination, and Titania. Intelligencia was a minor inconvenience, along with many along Jennifer's path of self-discovery as she navigates these changes to her life - both privately and professionally - after becoming She-Hulk. Her story doesn't warrant nor require a big spectacle CGI battle to wrap everything up with a bow. Jennifer actually foretold the events of how she was going to deal with Intelligencia earlier in this very same episode that's very easy to dismiss as a throwaway conversation between Nikki and Jen.

Nikki Ramos: Okay, look. Intelligencia is made up exclusively dumb dudes. One of these guys is going to slip up, and they're going to give us enough information so that we can track them down. And then we will find them, and we will destroy them, by any and all means.

Jennifer Walters: Legally.

Nikki Ramos: I said, "By any and all means."

Jennifer Walters: No. I am going to sue them for defamation and invasion of privacy, and get them charged with unauthorized access to a protected computer.

Nikki Ramos: Ugh. Boring. Alright. If you want to be all Jen Walters about it. Yeah, that's cool.

Nikki actually shares a lot of sentiments with a lot of fans' reactions to how Jennifer resolved this ordeal with Intelligencia. Instead of a big CGI final battle against Intelligencia and possibly Titania and Abomination, Jennifer resolved this her way which is seen as "boring" to some, but I'm one of the few that was cool with it. 

She-Hulk, from the character herself and the entirety of this show, has been challenging and turning the male gaze on its head from the start. Let's face facts. The majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has stories and characters explicitly written by and designed for the consumption of men. A vast majority of women don't ever complain about this as they expect it as it is the norm for this genre, going as far back as the source material that these characters originate from. We have a rare situation where we have a show, such as She-Hulk: Attorney At Law here, that doesn't cater to the male gaze. Instead, it challenges that mindset by being written by women with scenarios and situations that are more relatable to them than what would seen as unfamiliar territory to the opposite sex. When a spectator is unable to identity or relate to given situation or plight in said medium, it's easy to call it bad, lazy writing or even worse, "woke" since it represents subject manner that your personal ideologies and/or political mindsets don't align nor agree with. I'm a thirty-something black man who grew up in rural South Carolina; there's nothing I have in common with a billionaire white man (Tony Stark) who has everything he ever wanted at his fingertips and could obtain on a whim with minimal effort. Does that run my enjoyment of the Ironman films because I can't relate to it? Of course not, so why should I be highly aversive and hostile to anyone who can relate to Jennifer's story, no matter if they are female or not? 

But what about all of the plot points that were forgotten about or hand waved away?

• Emil Blonsky/Abomination answered for his crime(s) of supporting Intelligencia and violating his parole by agreeing to return to prison and serve out his sentence without any conflict nor physicality. For the record, he was trying to protect Jennifer when the fighting broke out originally, so there's that too. 

• Todd Phelps was arrested and will answer for his crimes under Intelligencia in a future legal battle with Jennifer Walters in court. The whole notion of him becoming a Hulk was removed and taken out of the story.

• Titania was removed out of the Intelligencia ordeal completely. 

• Smart Hulk was removed out of the final battle completely and doesn't show up until the closing moments of this episode. 

All of these points aside, the show never lost sight of what was the point of Jennifer's journey across this season. The theme has always been about control, whether its reigning in her emotions, navigating the craziness of her life, or even now as she is taking control of the narrative in this finale. Jennifer saw what it was like to see all of that control slip through her fingers from not heeding Bruce's advice. In the face of an ending of a story that she had absolutely no passion of being a part of, she forcefully took control of her own show by completely shattering the 4th wall in the process. Jennifer said it herself she was already starting to embrace being both Jennifer and She-Hulk. Believe it or not, but she didn't need a climatic final battle to demonstrate that. Jennifer has stated it several times throughout this season, but it hits home here harder than ever - This is HER show. Contrary to popular belief, she never completely lost control of it either. It's the one constant from start to finish of this season as she was still able to communicate with the audience even after she was fitted with the inhibitor. 

The only issue I had with Jennifer's defense was that she wanted Abomination to be held accountable when she was currently violating her own parole by destroying her own inhibitor and transforming back into She-Hulk to challenge KEVIN's direction in the first place. Since we were never given any precise specifications on the terms of Jennifer's own release, we don't know what legal loopholes she was able to navigate around or bypass to not get in trouble without any repercussions. Then again, by the time KEVIN sent her back to the show, the police or Damage Control might have deactivated the inhibitor after proving her innocence. 

KEVIN: But Bruce is supposed to return to explain what he was doing on...

Jennifer Walters: No. We don't need to hear any of that.

KEVIN: But we were going to introduce...

Jennifer Walters: Save it for the movie.

This is what I was referring to earlier in this review when I stated that there was this assumption or rather an obligation that was expected of a lot of fans that thought this show exists simply as a platform to further the Hulk's own story and fill in the gaps of his character development that has happened entirely off-screen. The joke of the matter here is that they still threw those fans a bone in the closing moments of this episode. 

KEVIN: Are we done here?

Jennifer Walters: Oh, would not mind seeing Daredevil again. A woman has needs.

KEVIN: Historically, we've been light in that department.

KEVIN would have been a monster not to deny Jennifer that request. Her and Daredevil's onscreen chemistry was one of the most unanimously beloved things about this show. Plus with Jennifer striking out with every guy she's went out with prior to him, I'm glad that she found the match that works. 

Jennifer Walters: What's with all the daddy issues? We got Tony Stark. Daddy issues. 

KEVIN: Jen.

Jennifer Walters: Thor. Daddy issues. Loki. Same daddy, same issues.

KEVIN: Oh, boy.

Jennifer Walters: Star-Lord. Two daddies, two issues.

KEVIN: Jen, please stop.

Jennifer Walters: Oh, and when are we getting the X-Men?

KEVIN: I cannot tell you that.

She's not wrong and it's scary that it's that prevalent in this continuity. She forgot to mention Black Panther and Hope van Dyne too. With that X-Men comment, I'm sure Jennifer and Ms. Marvel would get along great whenever they decide to allow those two to share screen time together. Plus, I think Deadpool 3's announcement last month answered that X-Men question for us already. I would be shocked if we get them anytime before that. Besides, we have X-Men '97 to enjoy in animated form to fill that void in the meantime until they debut in the MCU.

KEVIN: You obliterated the thrilling ending KEVIN formulated.

Jennifer Walters: Well, yeah. That's what Hulks do. We smash things. Bruce smashes buildings. I smash fourth walls and bad endings. And sometimes, Matt Murdock.

KEVIN: Okay, now get back to the show. See you on the big screen.

Jennifer Walters: Really?

KEVIN: No.

For the record, Kevin Feige stated in 2019 when the show was first announced that this show would serve as her formal introduction to the MCU before she would appear in films after the fact. If you were still not on board for any of this, think about it this way. Jennifer's "happy ending" was in the previous episode when got to have the best of both worlds - fun as a hero as She-Hulk with Daredevil and finding a like-minded companion in Matt Murdock. If the story ended right there, it would have been perfectly fine and even Jennifer comments on it there towards the end of that episode prior to the gala. She points out that the gala felt tacked on, well before the events with Intelligencia that drove her over the edge and caused her to lose everything with her life spiraling out of her control. I saw this 4th wall break as a means to restore Jennifer's life to back to the stability that reached prior to the gala. It's just that Jennifer didn't "hand wave" nor erase what happened to her at the gala as that was important to her growth too. She recognizes that she needs that reminder of what losing control looks like for she can avoid that possibly ever happening again. That's why she chooses to beat Todd Phelps and Intelligencia (and symbolically, the hostile critics of this show in general) by her own terms.

Things are seemingly back to normal with Daredevil showing up to lend a hand, only for Jennifer to inform him that he missed all of the action - not that there was any to begin with - but he was welcome to hang out for a bit before he heads back to Hell's Kitchen. I thought it was a little funny that Titania was still in this scene regardless of Jennifer's tweaks to the story with KEVIN. She fangirls at the sight of Daredevil and seems to go off to hang out with Nikki and Pug. Nikki did admit to following her on social media, so it wouldn't be a stretch that they got chummy somehow from their interactions throughout the season off-camera. 

My biggest gripe about this finale is that I felt like we were robbed of another fight between Titania and She-Hulk. And I mean a significantly longer one than the two skirmishes we were given across this season. After being embarrassed at Lulu's wedding, I thought Titania would be itching for a rematch, but we didn't get that at all. The difficulty of that would have been how to fit her within the Intelligencia subplot without making it feel forced like a lot of these final battles end up being in the MCU. On the other hand, I have to look at it another way. Titania has always been a recurring annoyance to Jennifer in this season but never explicitly antagonistic. I hope this isn't the last that we've seen Jameela Jamil in this role as Titania since she really won me over in this role. I think she deserves another chance to return in another season to help flesh this character out some more and see her grow into the role that she's known from in the comics as She-Hulk's greatest arch-enemy. My fingers are definitely being crossed in that regard. 

The scene switches to one of those family dinners/cookouts that you would expect to see at the end of any Fast & Furious film, but this one has Matt Murdock joining Jennifer for the meal as her family members bombard her new love interest with embarrassing questions until Bruce shows up and announces that he has a son. Bruce's son is none other than Skaar, who was the child conceived after Bruce Banner/Hulk and Caiera the Oldstrong's conception during the events of the Planet Hulk storyline. Marvel has all but confirm and formally announce that a Planet Hulk movie is in the works as that would be the perfect platform to show what Hulk was up to on Sakaar after leaving Earth following the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron until Thor reunited with him in Thor: Ragnarok. When Thor: Ragnarok originally released in theaters, I cited that it was a pretty stupid idea to gloss over the importance of that major Hulk storyline. Now, with the seeds planted here, they have a chance to remedy that mistake and possibly lead up to a World War Hulk film too. Personally, I think it would be a much more fun idea to twist World War Hulk into a film about the evil, highly intelligent Hulk from an alternate future timeline, Maestro, attempting to take over the 616 reality instead of trying to make that storyline comics accurate since they clearly don't have all of the major players available in the MCU to do it justice. I'm just putting that thought/idea out there and seeing if it catches fire with more fans.

Jennifer Walters: The message we're sending is that if you attack, harm, or harass innocent people, I'm coming for you.

Reporter: Do you mean in a courtroom or as a superhero?

Jennifer Walters: Both.

Reporter: And tell our viewers, who are you wearing to court today?

Jennifer Walters: Okay.

Reporter: The Difficult Diva of Law herself. 

In this final scene that wraps up this season, She-Hulk is interviewed as she's about to head back to work on her next case, more likely suing the pants off of Todd Phelps for Intelligencia's smear campaign as evidenced in the photos in the ending credits' images. We get a final nugget to let us viewers know that she's willing to take Matt Murdock's advice to heart and actually be the best of both worlds, acting as both an attorney and as a superhero. It's not much, but hey, we did get a resolution to Jennifer's hesitation to accept She-Hulk into her life completely. Just because it wasn't the result of some big budget, visual spectacle of a final climatic battle doesn't devalue this small contribution to Jen's story. 

I should note that there's a final post-credits scene at the end of this episode that shows Wong breaking Emil Blonsky out of prison again and offering him a place to stay in Kamar-Taj. I guess it's up in the air on whether or not Abomination is going to get that last spot on the roster for that upcoming Thunderbolts film. 

There's a bit of an Easter egg for fans who call the 1-877-SHE-HULK phone number after this final episode airs. She-Hulk's voicemail has been updated with Mallory Book promoting herself instead. She takes credit for winning all of the cases in this season, with Pug hyping her up and backing her up with these claims. I'm speculating that Mallory Book took the opportunity to capitalize on She-Hulk's firing from GLK&H following the gala incident as a means to move up the corporate ladder and make herself the new face of GLK&H's Superhuman Law division. I saw this as Mallory taking another step closer towards becoming more antagonistic with She-Hulk like her comic book counterpart. This is quite the tease for another season. That's a good sign for this show's future if they are willing to tease something like this.

Whenever Deadpool arrives in the MCU (alongside Wolverine) for his third cinematic appearance in film, we can expect the fourth wall to come crashing down like a ton of bricks as nothing is sacred once that element is introduced as everything you think you know or have figured out goes out of the window. I applaud the MCU for having the foresight to ensure that fans know that Jennifer Walters did it first in their continuity, just like in the comics. 

This ending was far from perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, much like the entirety of this season, from start to finish. It left the door wide open for Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk's adventures to continue without sacrificing a lengthy amount of valuable screen time to set up what would be the next television show or feature film set to come down the pipeline. 

In the weeks that followed, I found myself questioning my own enjoyment as time after time where I would find something that I really enjoyed about this show, there would multiple individuals who would rain on my parade, making me feel insignificant and idiotic for not sharing their sentiments. By the time the season finale aired, I was to the point where I absolutely loathed a majority of the She-Hulk fandom (and still do to be quite honest) from the comments and reactions online, along with this negative impression they put on me as if it was this "us vs. them" mentality that if I wasn't onboard with majority of community's preconceived image of how this character was and should be presented, then my opinion and voice didn't have any merit nor value. So, if you're someone from those communities that I speak of and just happen to be reading this review, that's why I have some well-justified hostility and added venom at various points of this review. I'm fine with us not seeing eye to eye with this depiction of this character, but I can't respect anyone who wants to insult and devalue anyone else's enjoyment of said medium just because they can't live with the fact they can't have it their way. It saddens me that I have to completely reassess my standing within not this fandom for this character that I have been passionate about for many, many years and will continue to do so until I draw my final breath, but the fandom of comic books in general. I am beyond disgusted with the sheer amount entitlement and sense of "my way or the highway" that I see plaguing all corners of this culture. 

I thought Tatiana Maslany, someone who I have had no prior knowledge of who she was as an actress nor had any semblance of what she had played in prior to landing this role, knocked it out of the park as this character on multiple levels. The supporting and guest starring cast delivered on numerous occasions, even though several members of the cast had to win me over the course of the season but I wouldn't have cast this show any differently. I'm on my knees begging that this isn't the first and only time that we see She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters in the MCU and I hope this show gets multiple seasons at that. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is a prime example that shows that not every MCU project needs to have a world-ending crisis, nor does it have to focus an action-heavy narrative. Comic books aren't even like that anymore, so why should we expect that from all of these television properties in the superhero genre? It's mind-boggling to me that for an universe that has been presented with light-hearted humor since it's introduction, there's such an adverse ferocity and venomous resistance against a television show (not a major film for once, like Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder) that completely embraces the comedic aspect of these characters existing in a "realistic" setting. 

The common complaint/critique about Phase Four of the MCU as a whole is that it's going "nowhere" and it's not building to anything. Without even seeing She-Hulk: Attorney At Law at all, a lot of people had their minds made up that either this show was going to be a massive waste of their time and won't even bother watching or that they were being "forced" to watch it to see how it connects to the wider MCU. The last few Disney+ releases from Marvel Studios (Hawkeye, Moon Knight, and Ms. Marvel) have all been self-contained adventures, so I struggled to understand this notion that many felt that they were obligated to watch this show out of "fear of missing out", which is something that overall ruins the experience anyway if that's your sole reason for investing into any medium. At the end of the day, this show was a self-contained adventure chronicling one woman's unorthodox navigation through her not-so-normal life as she copes with having super-powers. I wish they could have leaned a little harder on the legal comedy aspect of the show too, but at the same time, this is a show that already had the daunting task on its plate of introducing yet a new female character into the MCU and justifying her worthiness of having a show in favor of one about her cousin. No matter how many ways you slice it, this was a show that wasn't going to please everyone. 

My personal favorite moment to come out of this show was being able to share one of my all-time favorite ladies of Marvel Comics (not named Storm, Dr. Cecilia Reyes, Tigra/Greer Nelson, Moondragon, or Mockingbird) to my older sisters, who want to get into reading the comics about She-Hulk now too after enjoying this show alongside me for the past few months. My older sisters aren't explicit comic book readers in any of the sort and they often look to me to explain or to make sense of a lot of these films and television shows that come out in the MCU. With this show, they didn't feel like it was so intimidating to relate to this character without any prior comic book knowledge, like the feeling they had with so many other protagonists in this medium in the past. I think a lot of fans tend to get too caught up of wanting these live-action depictions to cater to their preconceived head canons that they end up alienating everyone else who don't share that same sentiment. 

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law proves that Marvel Studios isn't bound to a by-the-books approach when it comes to adapting these characters. Some people may like it. Others may outright hate it. Both of those perspectives are okay.