DIRECTOR: Kat Coiro
CAST: Tatiana Maslany, Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Benedict Wong, Jon Bass, Rhys Coiro, Patty Guggenheim, Mark Linn-Baker
RUNNING TIME: 36 mins
PREVIOUSLY, ON SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW: Jennifer Walters (Maslany) has managed to secure parole for her cousin Bruce Banner’s former foe Emil Blonsky, with Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Wong) giving valuable testimony that secures his conditional release. Shortly afterwards, she is attacked by a gang of criminals with superpowered weapons, but manages to defeat them by transforming into She-Hulk. Oh, and she twerks with Megan Thee Stallion in the mid-credits scene.
IN THIS EPISODE: Wong approaches Walters for a lawsuit against a magician, while she creates a new dating profile with mixed results…
NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
I think it’s time to admit that overarching series plots aren’t a massively big deal in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, where each episode has been relatively self-contained and not overly concerned with establishing one big narrative like other Marvel shows have done. The sooner we accept the silly light-heartedness of this show, the better, and the good news is that this fourth episode – titled Is This Not Real Magic? – is silly and light-hearted in as pleasing a fashion as possible.
Sadly, though, don’t expect more shenanigans with Megan Thee Stallion here or for the rest of the series (boo!), but luckily we get a fabulous new alternative: party girl Madisynn (Patty Guggenheim), a boozy audience member at a magic show run by Rhys Coiro’s (husband to series director Kat Coiro) Donny Blaze, a former Master of the Mystic Arts – and definitely not to be confused with Ghost Rider’s alter-ego Johnny Blaze – and now full-time magician. He’s the one who sends our girl Madisynn through a portal to another dimension, and eventually into the care of the Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong), who vows to go after Blaze for his mishandling of actual magic. Thus begins the case-of-the-week for our hotshot lawyer Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), who herself is grappling with another horror entirely: online dating. After finding very little success as her normal self on the MCU’s version of Tinder, she finds that her notifications ping like crazy when she sets up a profile as She-Hulk, mostly matching with hunky doctors and noticeably muscular alpha males. Of course, wackiness ensues when she’s called in to sort out trouble when another one of Blaze’s tricks goes horribly wrong – right in the middle of a pretty steamy date.
Of these four episodes so far, Is This Real Magic? is probably the one with the most fulfilled potential, because not only does it have a lot of fun exploring other corners of magic within the MCU, particularly how it is exploited for cheap, tacky shows like the one Blaze is attempting to put on, but in terms of what Jennifer dubbed in the opening episode as “lawyer show”, you feel things starting to settle into that format without going too ridiculous (which it was always on the verge of doing beforehand, especially in last week’s Megan Thee Stallion-flaunting entry). Walters, despite the She-Hulk persona she’s now become known for, is no klutz on the job, and takes it seriously to a point where even the silliest cases she’s taken on thus far she’s still gone all out on defending with every piece of dignity she has, and Maslany’s fun central performance continues to shine enough to where you really feel her love and drive for the job, whether she’s in human form or CG Hulk form (which occasionally has moments of uncanny valley-ness to it, but it’s far from the worst effect in this or indeed any other Marvel series).
Like the others so far, this episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is scattered with fun moments, comedy that remains hit-or-miss – though there are certainly some highlights here, especially with standout character Madisynn and her surprisingly wholesome dynamic with Wong – and traits of the usual Marvel formula, including a big CG-filled climax involving portals to other dimensions and hordes of creatures for our hero to fight. By this point, however, you’re either still with it or have drifted away from it, or in the case of petty misogynist trolls who always seem to have it out for female leads in these films and shows, you’ve never even attempted to watch it to begin with. While I am personally still invested enough to carry on watching, anyone who has been viewing and are still not won over by the silly light-heartedness of its comedy, it’s understandable why that may be. This really isn’t like the other Marvel shows, and because of that there are certain expectations one now associates with them such as overarching plots, character development etc, most of which this series hasn’t had a lot of so far. Instead, it just wants to let loose and have a bit of fun with itself, without taking itself too seriously.
After all, any show who flaunts a funny character like Madisynn is surely not out to be considered the next Sopranos (which, in a funny running joke, her new bestie “Wongers” received spoilers for like crazy).
SO, TO SUM UP…
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Episode 4 – Is This Not Real Magic? gets some fun and even some decent laughs out of its silly contained premise and new characters, but is unlikely to sway anyone still not won over by the goofier, more light-hearted tone of this series.
