DIRECTOR: Anu Valia
CAST: Tatiana Maslany, Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Josh Segarra, Jon Bass, Griffin Matthews
RUNNING TIME: 31 mins
PREVIOUSLY, ON SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW: Jennifer Walters (Maslany), known to the public as She-Hulk, has successfully defended the likes of Emil Blonsky, her cousin Bruce’s former enemy, during his parole hearing, and Sorcerer Supreme Wong in a cease-and-desist case with a former sorcerer. However, Walters herself receives news that she is being sued by superpowered influencer Titania (Jamil), who has trademarked the name She-Hulk for her own business.
IN THIS EPISODE: Walters takes on Titania in court, and is forced to confront some of her past conquests in order to win the case…
NOW FOR THE REVIEW…
Central to this fifth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – titled Mean, Green, and Straight Poured Into These Jeans – is the theme of identity, a surprisingly rare concept in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since Tony Stark announced to the world that he was Iron Man all the way back in 2008, there’s been hardly any need for secret identities amongst members of the Avengers and beyond (the sole exception really is Spider-Man, who faced the consequences and more of having his true identity exposed in No Way Home). The same should apply to Jennifer Walters, our scrappy attorney hero, but thanks to pure pettiness she isn’t even being allowed the dignity to even call herself by her adoptive name. That all unfolds in a decent episode which unveils the double-standard of superhero identity, and in an all too real sense makes the lead character suffer in order for things to finally go her way.
The episode follows on from last week, when we learned that Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is being sued by popular influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil), the superpowered woman she literally fought in court way back in the first episode. As it turns out, Titania has trademarked the name She-Hulk and plastered it all over her flimsy beauty products, which prompts Walters to turn to fellow lawyer Mallory Book (Renée Elise Goldsberry, finally given something substantial to do in this series) and have her represent the true She-Hulk in a countersuit case. Meanwhile, Walters’ loyal paralegal Nikki Ramos (Ginger Gonzaga) comes across a discreet superhero fashion service, and manages to secure an appointment for Walters to be fitted for a brand-new suit, which will surely come in handy when the character has to dabble in actual superheroics later on in the series.
After a somewhat stop-and-start approach to the running narrative throughout this series so far, it does finally feel like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is building toward something. New, and possibly vital, friendships and foe-ships are formed, there’s a neat building threat somewhere in the background, and elements of Jennifer Walters’ personal life that had been established previously are making their way back in some rather uncomfortable ways. Many of the guys she spent most of last week’s episode dating, including Jon Bass’ slimy-seeming Todd whose main billing in the credits implies he’s got more than just a little part to play going forward, return here for what are essentially critiques of her physical and personal presence, which speaks directly to the thinly-veiled misogyny that women everywhere unfortunately have to go through, always being judged as being too cocky or prudish when they display similar boastful traits to other men. The fact that Walters herself has to even battle this court case, against a vapid character like Titania who represents everything that makes certain people subconsciously despise female counterparts, is a depressing dose of reality around a woman who, despite having done nothing truly wrong in the grand scheme of things, still has to fight for her own identity in the most humiliating ways imaginable.
This feels like the first episode to really do something with its own overarching themes, and not just throw them into the stirring pot of silliness that the rest of the show has bathed in. The silliness is fun too, even when the comedy is hit or miss, but there is definitely something else lurking underneath the sitcom jokes which is starting to make things feel a bit more palatable than what we’ve seen before. As long as it continues with this type of structure, with good characters and the occasional inspired line of dialogue, it should be possible for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law to pick up the pace and finally feel as though it’s worth more than it perhaps appears to be to some.
Plus, the final shot of this episode (no mid-credits stinger this time, unfortunately) sets up an imminent character crossover that will make the next few episodes very interesting indeed.
SO, TO SUM UP…
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Episode 5 – Mean, Green, and Straight Poured Into These Jeans is a sign that the series is beginning to get itself on track with its overall narrative and dominant themes, which it does well to deliver through some uncomfortable parallels with real double-standards in society, as well as its usual light-hearted silliness which is starting to be put to better use.
