I this series needs to get better, because these first two episodes haven’t been good. Episode 2 of Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was released today, and it’s just as boring as the first episode.
I’m starting to get really nervous for this series. I was hoping that Episode 2 would provide a much-needed character study and real, relatable conflict for Jennifer Walters, while also adding in that classic She-Hulk, fourth-wall-breaking humor that the comic character’s fans adored. Unfortunately, there was none of that in Episode 2.
Just as how Episode 1 introduced some internal conflict for She-Hulk (ex: her life being changed by her superhero powers) then quickly resolved it (ex: she ignored Bruce Banner’s advice and lived her life just as she did before her powers), Episode 2 also introduced a new, relatable conflict to only resolve it minutes later.
The whole plot of Episode 2 revolved around Jen Walters losing her dream job as a deputy district attorney because she used her powers in the courtroom to save the lives of the jury from Titania (who disappeared in Ep. 2).
This was a great new start for Walters as we could have watched her wrestle with the consequences of choosing between doing what’s right (ex: saving the jury from death but compromising her legal case and career) vs. doing what’s selfish (letting the jury die but winning the case and boosting her reputation).
That could have been a fantastic way for this version of Jennifer Walters to realize the error in her judgment (ex: thinking that there’d be no consequences/repercussions becoming a superhero), while also introducing her down the path of becoming a full-time superhero (which she has refused to become) in a natural way.
Yet, the episode writers had other plans.
Instead of learning and growing as a normal person from her actions, Jen Walters is offered a job less than 5 minutes after being fired from her previous one. Do the showrunners and writers want the audience to relate to She-Hulk or not? How is getting fired from a dream job to then get hired for an infinitely better new job minutes later relatable?
Anyway, the final few minutes of the episode introduced another conflict: can Jennifer Walters overcome her bias against her new client, Abomination (Tim Roth), even though he tried to kill her cousin Bruce Banner?
If you were going to guess no, you’d be dead wrong, as Jen Walters was convinced to take the case without hesitation. “That’s kind of fast,” you might be saying to yourself. “Shouldn’t she have had to wrestle with that decision a little longer?” And I would agree with you. She should have.
But when the showrunners wrote in a dumb ultimatum, “take the case or get fired and become unemployed again”, it kind of forces Jen into the decision. Especially so after they already showed that Jen couldn’t get hired anywhere else. Why wouldn’t she take the case at that point? Her whole livelihood, career, and lifelong dream is ruined if she doesn’t.
Sure, the showrunners/writers wrote that Abomination’s “remorseful” haiku poetry reciting scene and She-Hulk’s three-minute call with Bruce Banner (to get his blessing) to make the choice a little less tyrannical and obvious, but it was a little too late then. We all knew what Jen was going to do, with or without Abomination’s feigned remorsefulness and Hulk’s forgiveness.
Oh, and I say feigned because he breaks out of jail the very next scene, which ruins the whole “take this case or get fired” ultimatum. Facepalm.
This episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law gets a 6.5/10 from me solely from the fact that the acting, CGI, and sets are still somewhat competent (maybe not the CGI, I’m still iffy about that) with Marvel’s high standards.
Though, I do have to mention that nearly everyone from this show, aside from She-Hulk, Hulk, and Ginger Gonzaga’s character, is teetering on caricatures. The actors portraying these “characters” (if I can even call them that) are doing a good job, but it can be very cringy to watch at times.
Like I said, this show NEEDS to get better in Episode 3, or risk being a massive flop before the midway point of the season.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Disney/Marvel) (Official Trailer | She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+ – YouTube)
