She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) s01e08 – Ribbit and Rip It

A couple things to get out of the way again for this episode. During Tatiana Maslany’s perfect beyond words Ferris Bueller “go home already” fourth wall breaking (she’d already inhabited the part, now it’s time for her to bend the devices to her will), she says next episode is the “finale.” They’re doing another scene to get them there. And the hook for next episode’s good. It’s not perfect, but it’s coming at the end of a transcendent accomplishment: “She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law” just perfected the superhero show crossover episode.

Well. Sort of. I mean, I think they did it once before, and I think it involved the same other half of the crossover, “Daredevil” Charlie Cox, making his big return to the proverbial tights after showing up in the latest Spider-Man, answering the question of whether or not the Netflix Marvel shows “count.” They do for Cox, anyway.

And it’s no surprise why. It’s a magnificent return, starting with him and Maslany facing off in court. Her client (Brandon Stanley playing the perfect dipshit) is suing superhero fashion designer Griffin Matthews for faulty jet boots. Even though Maslany also frequents Matthews’s establishment (he’s designing her lawyers’ gala dress, in fact), she’s stuck trying to case. She wasn’t expecting a New York City lawyer who can tell when people lie just from their heartbeats.

It gets more complicated after Maslany and Cox have drinks—I’d forgotten how wonderfully slutty Cox plays the part, seducing Maslany with the potential of using her powers for good. Between that soulful moment and Cox saying “Sokovia Accords,” the MCU suddenly gets that “street level” thoughtfulness it’s been missing since… well, always, actually. At least outside Netflix.

Anyway.

Because it’s a crossover, they’ll have to costume up at some point, but because it’s a first-time crossover, they’ll have to be enemies at the start.

It’s glorious, even if director Kat Coiro should’ve done at least one bad-ass “Daredevil” long fight instead of just joking about them.

The next episode’s going to be a whopper based on the cliffhanger, but between this episode and the last, “She-Hulk”’s earned itself all the seasons. Though the four-minute setup should’ve been a mid-credits sequence; someone needs to rethink the MCU show’s lengthy end titles.

It had so better end with “She-Hulk Will Return in She-Hulk: Season Two.” It so better.

She could also move to New York and do a season with Cox. Whatever. But they’ve finally hit that sincere and unique sitcom level; they need to keep it going.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) s01e05 – Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans

There aren’t any big guest stars this episode; it’s all regular cast—including Renée Elise Goldsberry getting a big part after showing up in the background for an episode. Two episodes? Did I sleep through a scene in the first episode where they introduced the law firm staff? Because they really should’ve. Especially since Josh Segarra’s back this episode, and no one says his name (it’s “Pug”), so if you weren’t paying attention for his minimal involvement an episode or two ago… he’s basically just some dude.

But forgetting the characters not being introduced by name, this episode is the law firm sitcom I’ve been waiting for. Tatiana Maslany has to go to court to fight for the “She-Hulk” moniker, and her ostensible nemesis Jameela Jamil starts a wellness brand with the name to be an asshole. Goldsberry represents Maslany and the two bond over lawyer stuff, but also the alter ego business. Their tactics are good both as legal show banter and character development. She-Hulk, the character, has an odd place in the Marvel Universe, someone who can change their appearance at will, without a secret identity; the show’s been staying pretty light on the psychology of it, but it’s nice to see it still affecting the arcs.

Then Ginger Gonzaga and Segarra have a subplot about trying to get Maslany clothes for both She-Hulking and not. It’s a strange delayed costume reveal arc, complete with an Easter egg reminding of the last time a Marvel show did such a delay. Albeit not a Disney+ one. Gonzaga and Segarra are fun together, even if the arc’s busywork.

Because it’s a law firm sitcom episode, not an “MCU movie star guest stars” episode. Though I’m not sure anyone’s thought out the legal ramifications of superheroes and trademarks yet in the MCU. Kevin Fiege should get on it.

Script credit to Dana Schwartz, Anu Valia directs; it’s exactly what it should be. I’m going to be so sad if the last episode doesn’t promise another season. “She-Hulk”’s what a Marvel show should be.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) s01e03 – The People vs. Emil Blonsky

I’m pretty sure this episode of “She-Hulk” is the first time the MCU has acknowledged white males aged eighteen to thirty-four are entirely pieces of shit. There’s a bit with the news showing Twitter posts complaining about She-Hulk, then the MCU version of the Wrecking Crew is a bunch of Trump voters who’ve decided to finally commit to just assaulting women. It’s a fantastic flex from the show, and watching CGI She-Hulk beat the shit out of the Wrecking Crew, who seem like they’ll be back, is going to be great.

This episode’s where the show finally delivers on all fronts—there’s legal comedy-drama, there’s MCU business, there’s fourth wall breaking, there’s a celebrity cameo. The show takes several shortcuts to get there, including B plot protagonist Josh Segarra. Segarra plays Pug, who’s from the comics, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in the last episode. He certainly didn’t talk or get introduced. In fact, when he shows up in this episode, the focus is on returning guest star Drew Matthews.

Matthews is an assistant district attorney shit-bag Maslany and Ginger Gonzaga used to work with; he needs their new firm’s help with a matter involving a New Asgardian shapeshifter. It’s a lot of… not MCU workplace jabs and jokes. The MCU got over the Blip faster than real life got over lockdown. It’s a bit disconcerting seeing “She-Hulk” comment on workplace harassment fifteen minutes after Tatiana Maslany broke the fourth wall to assure viewers the show’s not just about returning MCU guest stars (no Mark Ruffalo this episode, but Tim Roth and Benedict Wong).

Roth and Wong are in the A plot—we can call them A and B plots with “She-Hulk,” Maslany broke the wall to talk to us about how they work—spinning out of their adventures in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It’d be fascinating to see the Disney+ numbers to see if “She-Hulk”’s an entry to Shang-Chi or vice versa.

Anyway. Maslany’s still trying to get Roth out on parole, and Wong seems to be the key, only Wong’s the Sorcerer Supreme, and he’s got things to do. It’s an excellent sequence and a wonderful comic adaptation; they’ve cracked “She-Hulk.” Unfortunately, it does seem like there’s been a lot left on the cutting room floor—Segarra’s introduction, Gonzaga and Maslany being besties, Gonzaga having a part—but the show delivers. Roth, a stunt cast back in Incredible Hulk, finally gets to loose himself in the part.

And Wong’s a delight.

And Maslany’s a delight. “She-Hulk”’s loads of—surprisingly grounded—fun.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) s01e02 – Superhuman Law

This episode runs an incredibly (no pun) brief twenty-two minutes. There are end credits and a mid-credits sequence (which belongs in the episode proper) but also a long re-cap, so twenty-two minutes. Sitcom-length. Only “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” doesn’t feel like a sitcom. It does at times, and it’s definitely a comedy, but it needs space to stretch.

There’s also the on-release versus binging viewing experience. Waiting week after week for truncated episodes—this episode finishes up the pilot responsibilities of last episode and then sets up next episode; if “She-Hulk” was always supposed to be sitcom-length, it’s concerning. But, binging, it’ll probably run great. Depending on how the second half of the season goes.

The pilot wrap-up involves Tatiana Maslany losing her job for saving the jury’s lives as She-Hulk and not being able to find another lawyer gig. She has to put up with shit from her loser cousin Nicholas Cirillo at a family dinner where Mark Linn-Baker plays Maslany’s dad.

Linn-Baker’s a muted stunt cast, with mom Tess Malis Kincaid then not a stunt cast, which is… peculiar. They should’ve done Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

Anyway, pretty soon, the rest of the pilot’s over, and Steve Coulter offers Maslany a job so the show can fulfill its title.

Coulter doesn’t want human Maslany working for him; he wants She-Hulk Maslany working for him. While Maslany does get to bring sidekick Ginger Gonzaga along (who has zero character so far, another side effect of the sitcom-length), the other deal-breaker is her first case: she needs to defend Tim Roth. Roth’s been in prison since the first Incredible Hulk movie (the only Incredible Hulk movie) fourteen years ago. It’s nice to see Roth get to have fun in the role since he didn’t in the movie so much.

Maslany doesn’t want to represent Roth because he tried to kill her cousin in that movie, back when he was Edward Norton. Mark Ruffalo has a brief scene explaining he doesn’t care about the Incredible Hulk movie, it’s Universal, anyway, and he was a different person back then—the first time the MCU has acknowledged the recasting. Though wouldn’t Ed Norton just be a variant? #BringBackEdwardNortonYouCowards

Anyway.

It’s a good episode, Maslany continues to be great and just what the MCU needed in 2012, but damn, it’s too short.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) s01e01 – A Normal Amount of Rage

It’s too bad the special effects weren’t affordable in 2013 because “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” seems like it could’ve changed the outcome of the early Marvel Studios TV offerings if they’d been able to make it happen. The show’s fun, easy, and accessible, with lead Tatiana Maslany providing just the right combination of snark and exasperation as she finds herself stuck in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The show adopts the comic’s fourth wall breaking, which—it immediately shows—should’ve long been a standard in superhero movies and TV. The episode starts with Maslany doing boring lawyer stuff with her able assistant Ginger Gonzaga and the shitty white male second chair, Drew Matthews. Gonzaga comments about She-Hulk, leading to Maslany breaking the wall and giving us the flashback origin.

Maslany is Mark Ruffalo’s cousin, which will explain why they share the strange genetic mutation (get it, mutation, get it) to allow them to turn gramma radiation overdoses into golly green giants and not disintegrate into flesh soup. It’s important because, after an unexpected alien spaceship crashes into them while they’re on a bonding car trip, Maslany gets exposed to Ruffalo’s blood and immediately hulks out.

The comic origin involves mobsters. The show’s origin has Ruffalo trying to mansplain Hulking to Maslany in a tropical paradise and getting shown up, scene after scene, to comic effect. Sometimes with action-comedy, special effects set pieces.

The special effects on Ruffalo Hulk are really impressive. Unfortunately, the special effects on Maslany She-Hulk aren’t. She-Hulk isn’t running any scenes yet, but hopefully, they get better. I’m assuming they won’t. At least, not for a few years until Disney+ updates them on the sly.

There’s a lot of humor, including making Brodie Bruce jokes about a particularly well-butted superhero friend of Ruffalo. Ruffalo’s quite good this time out; he’s doing an Uncle Hulk thing, the latest Dad Avenger, but they give him post-Avengers: Endgame material. Timeline-wise, he’s finally getting his hand healed after his Snap.

Good direction from Kat Coiro. Maslany’s a delightful lead. “She-Hulk” sure seems like it ought to be swell, though this episode doesn’t give away anything about the subsequent series. It’s very much an origin story pilot episode.

But, again, sure seems like they’ve got this one figured out.