At first glance, this was the worst episode of television ever. But, after some research and internal reflection, I’ve concluded that this was a pretty good ending to the series. Calling back to the Sensational She-Hulk of the early 90s, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 1×09 added to a commentary that not everyone will pick up (until you spend hours thinking about it.) Let’s just say Jessica Gao and Co had a chance in the MCU and ran with it.
She-Hulk is not Deadpool. She’ll call out through the fourth wall and tell you when you’re wrong. It’s happened on multiple occasions before. What’s interesting is to see how it plays out on screen. It might not be for everyone, but this is the quintessential She-Hulk. And that… concludes another intro to a new hero for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
THE FIRST STORY
For the most part, the first half of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 1×09 was predictable. There was hope that Todd was not the HulkKing. “Shell companies” sounded like a dead giveaway to Kingpin. Get it? Hulk – King, King – pin. With the appearance of Daredevil last week, it seemed like the obvious choice. However, it seems like each ending in Phase Four so far has either been extremely predictable or decided not to feature who we all thought was showing up. No, Mephisto isn’t here, and stop asking for him. Instead, Jen said what needed to be said. It’s too many villains, the Hulk fighting Abomination, Hulk Todd, and Titania in a room full of dudebros was just too much. But it was perfect.
Jen needed the motivation to get up and change the story. It felt like for too long that Jen was only letting things happen to her and too many people were coming into her life to cause trouble. In the last episode, she’s exhausted from dealing with Todd, only to be thrown into Leapfrog’s mess. It was one thing after another, and to set up what? Another cameo? She-Hulk: Attorney at Law doesn’t exist to be a cog in the bigger Marvel Universe. It is simply an origin story so the next half of the episode was a reveal of what should be happening.
THE REAL STORY
Jen was reluctant at first to be She-Hulk. She didn’t want Hulk powers or to be anything but a normal lawyer. Cut to 8 episodes later, Jen is breaking apart Disney+. Could you call this her self-actualization? To the point where she understood herself so well that she literally had the power to change her story? Last I checked, the ability to change reality came from the Scarlet Witch. Based on how Wanda’s story came out in Multiverse of Madness, I wouldn’t be mad if Wanda spoke to K.E.V.I.N. either. Jen’s power to change the entire narrative is something we have never seen before in the MCU. Even Tony only had ONE shot out of 14 billion to save the world.
So yes, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 1×09 Jen’s self actualization. Up until now, it felt as though things were just happening to Jen that we’re out of her control. She was forced to take certain cases, encounter the same people over and over and was exploited so easily. So, fortunately, she put an end to the monstrosity that was Todd as a Hulk, because let’s be honest, it was obvious. It also gave him more credit as a character than he deserved. Was it jarring and strange to see Jen demanding things from K.E.V.I.N? Heck yes. But comic readers know that this is something Jen did all the time. She’s a woman in charge of her own narrative, it just took literally breaking everything to show us that. Tatiana Maslany provided us with a Jen that was the same single brain-celled woman that we met in the premiere, but now she’s just using it to tell us what she wants. Yes, we want more Daredevil too.
SERIES DEBRIEF
Overall, the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law felt weak at points for those who refused to sit with it. Not just calling out dudebros, because there are genuine MCU fans who did not have fun with it. Although dudebros are still on my shit list. Perhaps that was the point. Up until the end, we truly did not know who the main villain was (just saying Intelligencia doesn’t count) and there were minimal building blocks to the wider MCU. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 1×09 was Cameo City, almost like a final curtain call for everyone we encountered throughout the show. But, we did get that Skaar appearance which is probably set up for the World War Hulk story everyone’s been waiting for. If they thought She-Hulk was expensive, wait for the movie.
For anyone who sat with She-Hulk and ate it up, on-screen and in the comics, this was a great ending. It was full circle for Jen’s realization that she is She-Hulk. The best way to show us that was for her to take control of the narrative, literally. No other character would have the chance to crash the writer’s room like that. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a very special project for the MCU. It called out its toxic audience, showed what it was like to be a woman in this world, and provided the origin story of a century. This is not the Marvel Cinematic Universe of the past. From Wandavision on, we have gotten projects that have tried to push the envelope of what Marvel first gave us. If this continues to work, I’m not sure. As it is, Phase Four still feels disjointed, but each project by itself could be given merit. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law definitely deserves a round of applause.
Post Credit Thought
So, after all that Blonsky’s just broken out again. What about his guys at the ranch though?
