She-Hulk: Attorney at Law - Episode 4 - Review

With Emil now out of prison and Jen now a big name in the legal world again, the career she has spent years building is back on track, but only if that were the same for her personal life. The fourth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law ops to focus on that, so is it a successful swipe or just another missed connection?

I knew it wouldn’t be long until the scenes from the trailers, about Jen using modern dating apps, would come into play, there is both a chance to see characters grow and have some funny moments. Seeing them essentially dedicate an episode to it, that was unexpected, just as much as its b-line was, but that is what we have. With her working life sorted, Jen is forced back into the world of dating, via her friend Nikki, but with all that pressure comes an expectation of success, which never comes for her. While she is encouraged to create a profile as She-Hulk, Jen adamantly refuses to do so, because that is not who she wants to be seen as, but of course, after little success with her profile, she caves and then there is the sequences from the trailer.

While her success does pay off for her, there are some roadblocks in the way, mostly in the way of a stage magician with more hopes than skill, the catch with this wanna be, he studied for a brief period at Kamar-Taj. This allowed him some insight into what was possible, but he was booted before he could master anything of importance, except the using a sling ring. That is what he uses when his act bombs, which is how we get Madisynn and Wong meeting up. The problem with this story line, isn’t the end that sequence is quite fun, but instead it’s the entire legal portion of it. Thankfully it isn’t because of anything dry with the legal jargon, but rather than the defence is clearly faking everything and for some reason, the judge buys it. The wanna be is a joke and not a funny way, but rather someone that is failing and still being successful and while his ending is satisfying, it really wasn’t what I was wanting to see from it.

With Jen breaking the fourth wall, exclaiming that you shouldn’t expect to see guest stars in every episode, it was nice to see Benedict Wong back as Wong, if only because this week he is less of a dick than previously shown. The dynamic between himself and Madisynn is cringe at first, but by the end, they establish a dynamic that works for them, something that is quite entertaining, if only because of what they are doing together. The episode really didn’t let Jen shine, as she is mostly spent listening to other people talk about themselves and the one time she did, she is in She-Hulk form. However the morning after, we finally get to see the downside to her new abilities, the people that only want the 7-foot tall, muscle bound green skinned version. Tatiana Maslany does a great job there of showing not only the frustration of the experience, but also the acceptance of it, that she now realises her life is never going to be normal.

There is one good action sequence in the show, though I won’t say what it is, you wouldn’t believe me and seeing She-Hulk in action, helps shave some of those rougher perfect CGI edges that people have been complaining about. As I said in my review of the first episode, there is a difference here in that we have had 10 years to get used to the Hulk, we have seen him evolve over time and become normal to our brains, but for She-Hulk, she is all new. These scenes where she throws down, there is a more grounded approach to things, not the action – no that is crazy, but rather the animation, it doesn’t feel so fantastical. Jen is not a kung-fu master, and we get to see her use her frustration and strength to her advantage and while it isn’t a solid approach, it mostly works and that is the intent here. She has the power, but no real way to apply it and because of that imbalance, her animations feel more authentic, the bottom line, the CGI feels better now.

The fourth episode of She-Hulk did feel more like a filler episode, one that you get when a show is tight on money, but even with that general sense, it still had plenty of moments in which to shine. There are some new characters that we are going to see more of, and while some are meh, there is potential in others. The dynamic that Jen has established for her life, may not be the one she was hoping for, booty call explaining that clearly, but she seems to understand what is going on. While not an instant hit, there is plenty to enjoy and the final moments after the credits, do start to point towards something more difficult for the character, which would be nice as life so far, seems pretty easy.

The Score

8.0

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

+Seeing Jen discover a downside to her green side, hits hard thanks to Maslany’s stellar performance

+The fight scene does a solid job of showing off She-Hulk in action and proving strength does not equal skill

The Cons

-The B-line is not that interesting, though it is great to see Wong again, the main reason for its existence is meh

-The general vibe of the episode felt more like a filler ep, not pushing things forward to greatly, but not being horrible