She-Hulk: Attorney at Law - Episode 5 Review

Sometimes you gotta lose to win...

As I mentioned in last week's episode synopsis, the best thing She-Hulk brings to the table is balance. Having a super-powered person in an otherwise normal person space backdropped on the weirdness of the MCU provides an incredible bevvy of storytelling potential - and I feel this show has solidly tapped into that potential. That said, episode 5 is a bit of a lull in quality for me, wherein that balance goes a bit extreme and causes some pretty severe pacing issues.

​After watching this week's episode, I was trying to reflect on why I felt like so much and yet so little occurred. The episode focuses primarily on She-Hulk's brand battle with Titania, who we learned in the previous episode had trademarked the "She-Hulk" name. Titania is using the name to sell less-than-legit cosmetic products and is making absolute bank while doing it. She-Hulk takes her to court and is forced to prove that despite not inventing the name "She-Hulk" and initially rejecting it, she has come to accept it and become one with the identity. How is she going to prove this? By parading out her failed dates from the previous episode as witnesses, a moment of incredible cringe and light chuckles. While this storyline is happening, we are also following Nikki and Pug as they hunt down a stylist who specializes in superhuman clothing, a connection that Pug gets through his hook up named "the Drip Broker." Jen eventually links up with designer Luke Jacobson and he fashions her some suits and "something special." The episode ends on a cheeky little Daredevil tease.

While I understand and appreciate the purpose of the stylist plot, this episode felt incredibly chaotic with very little gain at the end. We have already seen Jen come to terms with her new identity, more times than one would think necessary only five episodes in, and the trademark battle just seems like we're hulk-smashing a dead horse. I feel like I keep ending these episode reviews talking about my excitement for the greater push of this show, but at least at the moment it seems a bit stalled on rehashing situations wherein Jen accepts her hulkiness. That said, I still think this episode kept a lot of the charm that has been established, especially in the scenes of Nikki and Pug hunting down Luke. We have more examples of normal, everyday people being confronted by weird situations and just sort of accepting them. The idea that some guy is out there calling himself "the Drip Broker," a clear nod to the very real and very dangerous Power Broker, is just the kind of absurdism that would be commonplace for actual citizens of the MCU. Does the Drip Broker know of the existence of the Power Broker? Do Nikki and Pug get the reference? It's things like this that I love to think about, this sort of heavy air around certain references. I can only imagine as a normal MCU civilian there would just be this weird tingle around things like this. This biting "I feel like I'm supposed to know more about this and yet I don't, it's just a Drip Broker, right?" I love the idea that they exist in this swirling pool of references, crossovers and callbacks and are forced to just lay back and let the tide take them. I will never stop praising this show and any after it that let the absurdity of MCU life stand to the forefront. It's 2022; it's time people accept that superhero universes are freakin' weird...

​So, you know, kind of a weak episode overall. I am glad that Jen got her wardrobe hookup, I am glad we got more time with Pug's handsome face, I am glad we got more MCU weirdness, but overall I am ready to either move on past the "Jen accepts the Hulk" arc or honestly give it more attention and time to actually have a message behind it. Currently, it's just "oh no, I have to accept the She-Hulk thing" and then either a green smirk or a Jen Walters shrug and the world moves on. I'm absolutely fine if that needs to be the main story. Jen's own internal battle with her identity being the main antagonist would be absolutely wonderful, and, hey, the Hulks have a long history of successful identity driven stories. It just hasn't been given enough time to feel strong enough to take center stage, and yet we are now five episodes in with probably 50% of screen time dedicated to the topic of Jen coming to terms with her Jolly Green second half. It's time to either move on or take some time fleshing it out.

​No stinger this time around, so you guys will need to do your own twerking.

Our next episode premieres the 22nd of September. Catch you then!