Viewer Log: She-Hulk ep 3

 This is one of the biggest legal longshots. Ever.

Last time on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, no good deed goes unpunished. She-Hulk is an instant celebrity, earning free drinks and her hero moniker She-Hulk. Yah! But she’s immediately fired because the DA feels that her new powers are a liability. After a pep talk from her dad at a family dinner, she meets Holden Holliway, a representative of GLK&H, the law office she’d been up against and who filed a mistrial that led to Jen getting fired. Holliway offers Jen a job, which she takes if she can bring her friend Nikki with. She learns that she’s being put in charge of the Superhuman law department, that she needs to be She-Hulk on the job, and that her first case is the parole of Emil Blonsky aka Abomination. Jen, despite misgivings given the whole attempted cousin murder, meets with Blonsky. Blonsky seems to be repentant and, later, Jen get’s Bruce’s blessing. He and Blonsky had buried the hatchet years ago via letters, and technically Jen was going to do it anyway, she was just giving her favorite cousin the heads up. Oh, and Bruce is going to be MIA for a while because he’s going back to Sakaar for some reason. At least, I assume he’s going to Sakaar, the ship looks the same as the cruiser that caused the crash that gave Jen hulk powers after all. Jen is feeling good about her case, only to turn on the TV from a tip from Holliway and learning that video of Blonsky fighting at Xialing in Shang-Chi fight club, which is… bad for the parole. Enough recap. Let’s get to it.

 

Episode 3: The People vs. Emil Blonsky

 

Oh this'll be good.

      We begin with Jen arriving at the DODC prison to grill her client on the rather key detail of his case of him somehow getting out of supermax prison to fight a stout Asian man in Macau, China. Emil tries to play it off, saying it’s extenuating circumstances, that he was forced to leave his cell, but he returned of his own free will, so no biggie. When asked who could force him from his cell, Blonsky narks on the Sorcerer Supreme of the Mystic Arts, Wong. We cut to Nikki doing research, saying that Wong’s internet presence leads her to believe that he’s either a Sorcerer that lives in New York or a Librarian that lives in Nepal. Those are two wildly different jobs but knowing Wong I get the confusion. Nikki has reached out to Wong (using a selfie of herself with a lot of books) so now all they have to do is wait. Jen does a fourth wall break to tell us that she gets we’re excited to see Wong, but she just wants to let everyone know that this isn’t a “cameo every week” show. Well, except Bruce. And Blonsky. And Wong. Okay, this show does have a lot of cameos, but it’s Jen’s hero name in the title.

 

Oh, hi Wong!

We get a few news stories about Jen representing Emil Blonsky. It devolves into “oh, what, there’s a girl Hulk now? Cringe!” internet shit, before shifting back to an actual new story about the lawyer that put Blonsky away the first time, Gideon Wilson. Wilson thinks its wrong to let a superpowered criminal out of jail. This was all stuff Nikki was watching on her tablet before Jen arrived at her office. Jen complains bit about the case before Halloway calls Jen into his office. On the walk, Nikki tries to pressure Jen into agreeing to do an interview or something to help give them a positive spin, but Jen is 100% against it. Jen enters Halloway office, seeing her old colleague Dennis Bukowski is in the office. Whatever reason Dennis is there, he says no to Jenn helping with it. A coworker of Jen’  named Mallory Book walks in a moment later. How is Jen in charge of the Superhuman Law Division and hasn’t met all the lawyers under her? I know, for the audience, but I’m allowed to complain. Dennis makes a creepy comment, Mallory says screw this and leaves and I’m left wondering why they introduced her like that. After that, we learn why Dennis is actually there. Dennis claims he’s been defrauded by an ex and wants help getting his money back. This is a superhuman case because the ex is a Light Elf from New Asgard that had shapeshifted into Megan Thee Stallion.  I’m just… wow, they really characterized Dennis as a stupid asshole if he thought one of those celebrities that I’ve heard of but can’t tell you what she’s in fact famous for at time of writing was dating him. Jen takes a bit of vindictive pleasure of Dennis’ plight but is interrupted by Wong’s arrival. Jen bails to talk to Wong.

 

Wong explains that Blonsky was telling the truth. He pulled Blonsky out of prison to fight him at the area as part of his own training as Sorcerer Supreme. He needs worthy opponents to test himself against and is apparently not as patient as Stephen is to wait for immensely powerful beings of darkness to just… show up. He promised Blonsky that he wouldn’t be punished for his actions. Wong refuses to erase everyone’s memories to help Jen out, not for ethical reasons but because it can get quite messy. I can basically see the asterisk in the upper corner saying “For more information on the adventure Wong is talking about, see Spider-Man: No Way Home. Excelsior!” God, I miss Stan Lee. Wong offers other magic options, but Jen says no and just asks Wong to go to the hearing and give the board this information. And he agrees.

 

We cut to Pug getting info from Dennis about the Megan Thee Stallion imposter. Dennis eventually reveals he spent 175,000 on the fake Megan. Pug promises to start building the case and that he’ll be in touch. The second he’s alone, Pug looks annoyed. He watches a video of the fake Megan revealing herself, for Dennis to come back in and say he’s had a change of heart and is dropping the case. Please, Pug, see this for what it is. The Light Elf imposter spins a completely unconvincing story of personal growth and acceptance for me to believe of Dennis from the five scenes he’s been in, but Pug seems to be buying it. Right up until the real Dennis calls him asking about his truck being towed. Pug calls for security but is clearly taken out and replaced by the Light Elf. The Elf in disguise goes around acting like a dick to discredit Pug. Pug comes out a moment later, saying “not cool,” and the Elf reverts to normal, telling Pug that that is a warning.

 

I'll be honest, given peoples fascination with serial killers,
a super villain only having 7 groupies is less than I'd expect.

We jump to the DODC prison, Jen heads inside to begin the Parole inquiry. As she runs inside a tabloid reporter asks if she it was true that she was rejected by the Avengers, which hits the main news cycle seconds later. Scavengers. She meets with Blonsky, his seven soulmates watching from a viewing area. This famous criminal having way more groupies than he has any right to is way to real for me. The parole hearing begins, but Wong is late. Jen does her best to stall for time, giving the mic to Blonsky to try to convince everyone if he feels rehabilitated. He claims to have changed but he’s just smarmy enough that it comes across as insincere. He has property that he opens to open a meditation retreat, that will be funded by his seven soulmates. Oy, that one hurts. We get a few quick interviews from prison staff, talking about how Blonsky runs the literacy program and meditation program at the prison, and even helped get a guard out of a failing marriage. Wong still hasn’t shown up, though, so this might all be moot. Wong then opens a portal and hops in. Great timing. Wong begins by asking if they no what a Kumite is, which they do not.

 

We cut over to Dennis and Pug’s case. The Light Elf’s lawyer is asking to get the case dismissed. The lawyer claims that Runa, the elf, is the daughter of an elven diplomat and thus has diplomatic immunity. Judge Price points out that’s true on New Asgard, but not in the US. Runa tries to pinch one of Thor’s speeches to say that New Asgard isn’t a place, Price countering “Thor’s inspirational speeches are not admissible in court.” Pug pushes that Dennis get compensation, Runa’s lawyer insisting that they were engaged in “roleplaying” and that no one is dumb enough to know that Runa’s texts were from the “real” Megan Thee Stallion. The Judge finds Dennis’ side hard to believe, but will allow Pug to try to prove it. As everyone gets ready to leave, Runa takes on the Judge’s form and tries to reverse his ruling. Okay, her behavior feels like evidence in and of itself that she is a con artist. And insanely bad one, and that Dennis is an idiot. They don’t fall for it.

 

Wong tells the board that he took Blonsky out and offered him sanctuary at Kamar-Taj, but Blonsky chose to return. Jen gives her final statement. One of the board members asks what happens when Blonsky transforms into the Abomination uncontrollably. Blonsky wants to put their minds at ease and transforms into the Abomination to show that he can change on command. He shows that he has full control, but everyone obviously freaks out at seeing the big green titan appear. Jen tries to spin this in their favor. She points out, he could escape anytime he wanted, but has stayed to try to improve himself. The Board close out the hearing, they try to arrest Wong, but he bounces immediately. Smart Wong.

 

Jen leaves and is mobbed by reporters. They ask her multiple questions, one of them asking if she got her powers from a failed mob hit which is her comic backstory and makes a run for it. Jen tells Nikki at the bar about someone having written “Monster defending a Monster” on her car. Nikki again pushes for an interview, but Jen still says no. Jen wants to go back to a normal life, but Nikki keeps telling her that’s not happening. Pug joins them and talks about his case. Namely how Dennis is an idiot. When both women say that he’s gross, Pug asks them to say that under oath.

 

We jump to Dennis’ case sometime later, Jen swearing under oath that Dennis is a gross asshole. Jen characterizes him s self-absorbed, conceited, and chauvinistic. After listing his character flaws, Pug asks Jen if Dennis is dumb enough to think he could get with the actual Megan Thee Stallion, to which she says yeah. It’s amazing that when being an idiot works out for ya. The judge rules in favor of Dennis, sentences Runa to 60 days in prison for impersonating a Judge and Megan Thee Stallion cheers. Nice cameo. Dennis wonders if he had a shot with the real Megan Thee Stallion and both tell him no. Dennis says that it’d be nice for a way to remove her powers, to really punish her, which gives Jen the idea to get Bruce’s inhibitor to use on Blonsky.

 

Later, the Parole board has come to a decision. They agree to parole Blonsky, on the condition that he’s prohibited from transforming and must wear and inhibitor. Changing or taking off the inhibitor will result in his return to prison. Blonsky thanks Jen, Jen tells him he can thank her from staying out of prison, and Blonsky encourages her to try to get control of the story that is her life than not. Jen goes on to have a interview as She-Hulk. She talks about how the She-Hulk was a name a rando gave her. They cut to commercial and the anchor promise when they come back Jen will share her diet and exercise secrets.

 

Oh, hi Wrecking Crew.

Later, Jen is jumped by a group of guys. Two try to grab her on their own, and Jen freaks out for a minute… then remembers she has the option to be a seven-foot-tall Jade Giant, so does so. Two more guys show off and Jen face off against her first villain team, the Wrecking Crew. …They’re only slightly more impressive in the comics. Their physiques match their weapons there. They fight Jen, poorly, and one of them tries to get a blood sample but can’t pierce her skin. She scares them off, they dogpile into their truck and drive away. When it’s confirmed they didn’t get the blood, Wrecker (boss) notes their boss won’t be happy about this. Jen cleans herself up and goes inside, credit’s role.

 

In a post-credit scene, we’re shown Jen signing Megan Thee Stallion as a client and the two of them dancing to her music. Okay, so she’s a singer, got it. Megan tells Jen that she’s way more fun than her last lawyer, Jen says she’d kill for Megan Thee Stallion and Megan tells her to chill.

 

This was a fun continuation of the story. I would have guessed that the whole parole hearing would be a multi-episode thing, with Blonsky’s parole being the season finale, but I guess I forgot we’re working on a bit of a tight timetable. I don’t think Tim Roth is cheap enough to keep as a guest role on a TV show for multiple seasons. I’ve liked how they continue to characterize Blonsky. He comes across as an asshole, but it’s hard to tell if he’s an asshole that has genuinely improved himself, or a still bad guy that’s making his enemy’s cousin jump through hoops for him just for funsies. Hard line to walk but Roth does it well. Tatiana Maslany continues to kill it as Jen. She’s got a quick wit, is clearly very confident in her She-Hulk form and despite her complaints obviously does enjoy being the most powerful person in any given room of normies. The bit where she struggles with the Wrecking Crew for a sec before going “oh yeah,” and becoming invincible to them made me chuckle. Even the B-plot with Pug, Dennis and Runa was funny. Like I said, the whole plot works specifically to set Dennis up as an entitled dumb asshole. Especially because Runa is so bad at impersonating people. It was also fun to see the Wrecking Crew. In the comics, they’re a four-man villain team that got their powers through a case of mistaken identity. Wrecker aka Dirk Garthwaite, had knocked out a depowered Loki, put on his helmet, and then got a magic enchantment from the Norn Queen because she only saw the back of him. Wrecker later learned how to transfer some of his power to his friends, they became Piledriver, Thunderball and Bulldozer. In this version, it sounds like they just stole Asgardian construction tools and hoped that be enough. That’s believable stupid for three of them. Thunderball is in fact a PhD physicist in the same intellectual weight class as Bruce Banner. But enough about them. I liked this episode. I liked Blonsky, I liked Jen, I even enjoyed the stuff with Dennis, and anyone who complains about the post credit scene is just being difficult. It’s fun. Have a good night. 

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