"Shulkie" She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Recaps: "A Normal Amount of Rage," "Superhuman Law" & "The People Vs. Emil Blonsky"

 She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

If you are following along on Disney+, you probably saw that the next thing after "Thor: Love & Thunder was the "I Am Groot" shorts. Well, we are going to skip that. Those shorts are cute and definitely watch them if you haven't, but I don't think there is a lot for me to say about them. 

When Marvel first announced their initial slate of Disney+ television shows, "She-Hulk" was the one that I was looking forward to the most. I am a huge She-Hulk fan. I remember reading her solo series written and drawn by the incredible John Byrne. It was brilliant and honestly, she hasn't had many solo volumes that weren't brilliant and I was excited to see how that translated to the small screen. Let's find out if it did as we check out the first three episodes.

"A Normal Amount of Rage"

Jennifer Walters: "Here's the thing, Bruce. I'm great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time. When I'm catcalled on the street. When incompetent men explain my own area of expertise to me. I do it pretty much every day because if I don't I will be called emotional or difficult or... might just literally get murdered. So, I'm an expert at controlling my anger because I do it infinitely more than you!"

On a trip with her cousin Bruce Banner aka the Incredible Hulk, a Sakaaran spaceship runs them off the road. Bruce's blood mixes with Jen's and she transforms into the Savage She-Hulk. Bruce takes her back to his Mexican getaway and tries to teach her how to control her inner Hulk and how to be a superhero. The problem is Jen doesn't want to be a hero, she just wants to go back to being a lawyer. And Bruce's methods may not work the best for his cousin.

This is normal.

"A Normal Amount of Rage" is a fantastic pilot. If the job of a pilot is to give viewers a snapshot of what the rest of the series will be like, what they can expect week to week, then this episode does exactly that. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is Marvel's first legit comedy. It is a sitcom through and through. It was developed by Jessica Gao, a sitcom writer. It's a workplace comedy with a superhero bent. If you aren't looking for a superhero lawyer sitcom, you aren't going to like this. 

"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's" secret weapon is its star, Tatiana Maslany. If you are a fan of genre television you are probably familiar with her work on the BBC show, "Orphan Black." In fact, I started covering "Orphan Black" for this blog way back when I first started it but abandoned it. Not because it was bad but because I was still figuring this whole blogging thing out. Maslany is a phenomenal actress. She played multiple roles on "Orphan Black" and she was so adept that you would forget that she was the same person playing all of them. From the moment she first is shown on screen, Maslany embodies Jennifer Walters. She is so charming and self effacing and funny. I love the fourth wall breaking. It's legitimately like the character stepped off the comics page and onto the television screen.

This episode primarily features Jen and her cousin, Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo. We haven't seen much of Ruffalo's Banner since "Avengers: Endgame," so it's nice to have him back. I think that Ruffalo and Maslany have an amazing amount of chemistry. They play off each other really well and I'm wondering if some of the moments between them are improvised. The show gives us a twist on the classic She-Hulk origin story. In the comics, Jennifer is targeted by the mob, shot and receives a blood transfusion from her famous cousin. This is what causes her to become She-Hulk. And the show references this as a joke in a subsequent episode. In the show, a car accident caused by a Sakaaran spaceship cuts Jen's arm and Bruce's blood mixes with her.

This episode is a lot of fun. I enjoyed watching Bruce and Jen kind of navigate the business of being a Hulk. Bruce trying to impart this knowledge but kind of ignoring that what worked for him maybe won't work for her. This episode is legitimately funny. And so is the rest of the series. It's nice to see the show embrace what it is and not be afraid of it. I also love how the show pokes fun at the rest of the MCU. One of my favorite moments was when Jen asked Bruce how the lullaby from "Age of Ultron" worked and him admitting that he doesn't know.

There were some vocal people on the internet, mainly men, who seemed to have a real problem with the speech that I quoted to begin this recap. I'm sure it is difficult to come to terms with the fact that what Jen says is relatable to lots of women. And I for one appreciated them sort of leaning in to it. Jen being a woman and therefore being able to control her anger better than Bruce doesn't make her a Mary Sue. It doesn't make her better than Bruce or a better Hulk. It's just a fact of life. And if you don't believe that or think it's unrealistic, then you need to check your privilege.

The weakest part of "A Normal Amount of Rage" is the visual effects which is a bummer because a lot of this episode is two Hulks interacting and fighting. So when so much of the runtime is composed of visual effect shots when they aren't great it can be jarring. It doesn't help that some look really well and some look extremely shoddy. It wasn't enough for me to dislike the episode or not be excited by it, but it did take me out of things from time to time.

The episode ends with Jen going to court against high powered law firm GLK & H, but it's interrupted when superhuman influencer, Titania, busts in and Jen has to Hulk out to save the jury members. This is definitely going to impede Jen's desire to live a normal life.

Overall, this is a really solid premiere episode and it does establish that Captain America fucks. So, it's an integral part of MCU lore.

Grade: B+

"Superhuman Law"

Augustus "Pug" Pugliese: "Knock-knock. Hi, there. I'm Pug. I'm also in the Superhuman Law Division." 

She-Hulk: "Oh, I'm Jennifer Walters."

Augustus "Pug" Pugliese: "I made you guys a welcome basket."

She-Hulk: "Oh!"

Augustus "Pug" Pugliese: "It's got some office supplies to get you started. Snacks. And a map to the best bathroom for pooping."

She-Hulk, Nikki Ramos: "Thank you."

After taking out Titania and announcing herself to the world, Jen is fired from the DA's office after GLK & H declares a mistrial. Jen looks for work but is told by all that she is a liability due to being She-Hulk. Enter Holden Holliway, one of the senior partners of GLK & H. He offers Jen a job that she readily accepts. Once there she learns that they want her to be part of the Superhuman Law Division, but the want her to practice at She-Hulk. And her first job is to oversee the parole hearing of Emil Blonsky aka the Abomination and one of her cousin's greatest foes.

Upside down.

After watching the second episode of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," it feels like it is the second part of the premiere. While the first episode gives us the origin of Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk, the second episode gives you the origin of what Jennifer Walter's life is going to actually be like now that she is She-Hulk. I will probably be bringing up the She-Hulk comics a lot in these recaps, but I have to say that if you are a fan of the show you should check out Dan Slott's "She-Hulk" run. A lot of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" pulls from that. It established Goodman, Leiber, Kurtzberg& Holliway. It introduced the characters of Pug and Mallory Book. It established Jennifer working as an attorney in the superhuman law division. I think it will be an enjoyable read for any fan of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" fan.

One of the things that I really enjoy about this show is that it is picking up some dangling MCU plot threads. There hasn't been a ton of focus on Hulk lore since the MCU started and so I love that "She-Hulk" is tackling that. And the first way it is doing that is by re-introducing us to Tim Roth's Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination. It's really nice to see Roth back in the MCU. He's a lot of fun. Roth has changed. He's enlightened. He's met seven soulmates through the prison pen pal program. It's fun to watch the wheels in Jen's head turn. She initially doesn't want to take the case even though Blonsky has signed a conflict waiver. But as she hears his story including being injected with the defective Super Solider serum, you can see that she thinks she can win and she wants to.

Jen calls Bruce to get his permission even though she's already decided to take the case. I like how the episode resolves this backstory and history with Blonsky that's been kind of in the air for like 15 years. It sounds like Blonsky wrote Bruce an apology letter a while ago and sent him a haiku. So, he has no issues with Jen taking the case even though she had already decided to do it. We also get a little mystery with Bruce because when he's on the phone with Jen it looks like he's on a spaceship heading to Sakaar.

We get more sitcom shenanigans in this episode when we met Jen's family. They are everything you expect from a sitcom family. Meddling mother. Weird cousin with too much confidence named Ched who thinks his Best Buy job is a flex when Jen is an actual lawyer. I love seeing "Perfect Strangers" vet Mark-Linn Baker as Jen's dad.

If I have one gripe about these first couple episodes, but the whole Jen wanting to live a normal life plot line is a little tired. We all know she's not going to be able to and it feels like Jen should know this too. Jen is extremely self-aware and capable and her clinging on to this hope she can just ignore that she's a Hulk. It makes her seem really naive and clueless which Jen is definitely not. This episode is pretty light on action too. I'm not saying that there needs to be action if it doesn't make sense for the story, but I want to see She-Hulk kicking ass. Selfishly.

Grade: B+

"The People Vs. Emil Blonsky"

Megan Thee Stallion: "Oh, you are way more fun than my last lawyer."

She-Hulk: "I will kill for you, Megan Thee Stallion."

Megan Thee Stallion: "Dial it back."

Jen is settling in to her new role at GLK & H, but her first case was just made a lot more difficult when footage of Emil Blonsky in Abomination form is shown leaving his cell. After talking with Blonsky, Jen learns that Blonksy was removed against his will by the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong. While Jen tries to track down Wong, Pug is defending Jen's old delusional, chauvinistic co-worker, Dennis Bukowski. Bukowski was tricked by an Asgardian Light Elf named Runa into thinking he was dating Megan Thee Stallion and she then proceeded to fleece him.

He's like a scaly, deformed Ken doll.

This is the infamous episode where She-Hulk twerked with Megan Thee Stallion. And the internet lost their goddamned minds. And by internet, I am talking about male fanboys who couldn't believe that two women were twerking. How dare they celebrate themselves and their femininity and have fun during the post credits scene of an episode? That was the biggest thing for me. It's not like it was even part of the episode proper. It was a throwaway bit and it was a little cheesy, but that was the point. It was wild to see all these neckbeards freak out over literally nothing.

The episode picks up with the revelation that Blonsky was still transforming into the Abomination and was leaving prison to go fight in an international fight club. This is a nice call back to what seemed to be a throwaway plot point in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." I think that is what these tv series are good for. Rather than try to connect them in large ways to the movies, you take these small bits from the movies and expand on them. 

I have said this before, but you might as well call Phase 4, "Phase Wong." Benedict Wong's Sorcerer Supreme has made a lot of appearances and he steals every one that he is in and this episode is no different. He's so good here. I love when he meets with Jen and his strategy is basically using magic to take care of things. But he will not be mind wiping anyone because that never works which is a nice call back to "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Wong is a real delight and he fits really well with the tone of the series. This is the same Wong that we've seen throughout phase four and I think that is really important. You don't want to have to change characters and Wong feels like Wong.

The A story is the meat here and it works really well. It feels like Emil has really changed and it's fun to see the people who's lives he's touched testify on his behalf. I laughed a lot during this sequence. I loved when they said they prisoners were making toilet kombucha now instead of toilet wine. In the end, with Wong's testimony, Blonsky is released but he's not allowed to turn in to the Abomination ever again and he has to wear an inhibitor for life. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of Blonsky in "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law."

The B story doesn't work as well for me. First off, I want to say the supporting cast of the show is phenomenal. Josh Segarra is really having a moment and he shines here. Ginger Gonazaga is effervescent as Nikki Ramos. Jameela Jamil is great as Titania, who we'll see more of later in the series. Along with Renee Elise Goldsberry's Mallory Book. That being said douchebag gets fleeced because he's a delusional misogynist is kind of meh. I have no problem with the show taking the piss out of toxic masculinity and male privilege, but I need them to do it in a way that doesn't feature a walking cliche like Bukowski. This is entertaining on a base level, but I just want and expect more. I know these writers are smart so I expect more.

I could kind of say the same for the janky Wrecking Crew that attacks She-Hulk at the end of the episode with their stolen Asgardian weapons. The action feels a little perfunctory though it is funny to watch She-Hulk just hand it to these losers. And it is clear that this will come back around since oen of them was trying to get a blood sample from She-Hulk for "the boss" and was unscuccessful.

Grade: B

Next up, Wong asks for Jen's help taking on a rogue magician, Titania returns and Jen heads to an old friend's wedding.

What do you all think? Do you enjoy "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law?" Did you expect more? Less? Can you get over the sometimes janky effects? Do you love Tatiana Maslany as much as I do? Let me know in the comments.