Superhuman Law
Episode 2 of She-Hulk starts with the news reporting about She-Hulk’s antics. This spreads all over town, with the bar chanting for She-Hulk’s name too. Jennifer is not exactly enthused at the chanting… for a few seconds anyway. She claims She-Hulk is a dumb name and continues on, retorting that Hulk is dumb and derivative too. Of course, continuing on this trend, Jennifer bashes the idea of being a superhero, which is apparently just for narcissists, billionaires and adult orphans. Despite claiming she takes her law seriously, when her boss arrives Jen acts like a clown (mostly because of her different metabolism and immediately feeling drunk.) Apparently the case was declared a mistrial as the jury are in favour of Jen following her saving them all. As a result, she’s let go from the law firm, claiming that she’s a liability. Unfortunately, no other law firm will take her on either. Jen is eventually invited along to a family dinner where everyone is there… minus Bruce Banner of course. When the attention turns to Hawkeye and other superheroes, Jen looks bored. In the garage, she speaks to her dad and contemplates whether she should have just let all those people die so she still has her job. Now, it’s interesting that Jen’s morality isn’t actually called into question here, which as we know is a recurring trend in the MCU at the moment. Her dad simply turns it around and looks on the bright side, claiming she didn’t level a city like Hulk did. The next scene sees Jen back in the bar, presumably in the city again after visiting her folks. She’s approached by Mr Holliway, who offers a job as the head of a new division. She starts on Monday and also gets to hire her own paralegal too. Interestingly, this actually happens to be the rival firm she was up against in the courtroom in episode 1, GLK and H. There’s a catch though. She needs to show up as She-Hulk and work that way. Jen is not happy that she’s only been hired because of her Hulk powers. I mean, also her law degree as well, let’s be honest. Anyway, her first case is the parole of Emil Blonsky aka. Abomination. It’s a high profile case but despite the family connection, he’s signed a conflict of interest waiver and wants Jen to represent him. After expressing how much she dislikes the She-Hulk form, the next scene is a little odd. Jen shows up at the maximum security prison and is told she’s not allowed to be the She-Hulk here… so she rolls her eyes? I mean, make your mind up Jen, do you want to be the She-Hulk or not? Anyway, she meets Abomination and it would appear that Emil Blonsky is a changed man. After admitting he has 7 soulmates waiting for him and he’s been writing haikus recently, she decides to take on the job. Jen rings Bruce to let him know, who has also decided to put it behind him, claiming he’s a “completely different person now, literally.” Bruce though isn’t anywhere near LA, as he’s off on a ship flying to parts unknown. Is he heading to Planet Hulk? I hope not, it’s such a shame we haven’t had a proper World War Hulk story. Anyway, I digress. As the episode closes out, news of Abomination fighting at an underground club leaks, throwing Jen’s first case into jeopardy,
The Episode Review
If this is supposed to be a comedy, I’m failing to see where that’s landing from. With the exception of the Abomination scenes – which are going to be subjective at best – there’s really not a lot to laugh at. Starting a superhero show by bashing every hero that’s come before isn’t exactly a smart move, and is going to rub people up the wrong way. Not only that, but Jen just isn’t a particularly likable protagonist. She doesn’t want to be a hero, but yet she’s arrogant, boastful, plays the victim mentality and blames everyone else for what’s happened in her life. That’s before mentioning that big speech about catcalling last episode. I won’t go into that fully here but I will say that catcalling is abhorrent but also not exactly a comparison to witnessing your father brutally murdering your mum and trying to commit suicide. There will be some who enjoy this show and that’s great, but when you look at the storytelling, character development (or lack thereof) or comedy, this second episode flatlines into forgettable underwhelming mediocrity.
