‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ is hitting its stride, finding a solid comedic rhythm as Jennifer Walters adapts to Hulk life. Whether in human or Hulk form, Jen remains Jen, but her ability to transition works as a powerful metaphor for the myriad roles women must play. Jen, like every woman, has to present a different version of herself in different circumstances: lawyer Jen, daughter Jen, dating Jen. And like so many women, the very qualities that make her great at her job do not translate to the dehumanizing frontier of swipe-happy app dating.
Someone who probably finds great success online dating is party girl Madisynn (a scene-stealing Patty Guggenheim) who finds herself transported to a hell dimension thanks to C-rate magician and Mystic Arts dropout Donny Blaze (Rhys Coiro), who uses his sling ring to spice up his tired magic act at the Mystic Castle (a stand-in for LA’s famous Magic Castle). Madisynn quickly finds herself in Kamar-Taj, where she crashes Wong’s TV night and promptly spoils The Sopranos. This leads Wong to hire Jen to file a cease and desist against Blaze, giving us our case of the week.
She-Hulk is a show with deliberately low stakes, a welcome reprieve from the heavy plot mechanics of other entries in the MCU. While the other series and films are tasked with moving the franchise towards its next big team-up, She-Hulk‘s relaxed pace gives way for character development and humor. And while you may need a masters in Marvel to follow Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a casual viewer can drop into She-Hulk and still enjoy the show. After all, what other MCU series could devote this much time to their protagonist’s dating life?
Speaking of, Jen’s dating profile is dismal, from her corporate headshot profile pic to her sad lack of matches (while I can suspend disbelief that Hulks and interdimensional demons exist, I have a tough time imagining a world where Tatiana Maslany can’t get a date). Jen then suffers through the gauntlet of bad dates that ever LA woman must face: the pretentious New Yorker, the gym bro, the self-involved director, and the geek who refers to women as “specimens”. As someone who spent over a decade single in LA, I can attest that these men are not exaggerations. It’s not until she makes a She-Hulk profile that Jen finally lands a promising date with a hunky doctor (Michael Curiel) who listens, reads Roxane Gay, and wants to share fries.
But before Jen can make a move, Wong cock-blocks her and recruits her to fight off some hell demons. It’s a fun bit of action, although I feel like Wong could have handled this himself. Jen is able to resume her date, and sleeps with the doctor. But the hot date fizzles the morning after, when Jen reverts back to human form. Hot Doc can’t get out of there fast enough, and Jen is disappointed but not surprised. And if that weren’t disappointing enough, Jen is served with a lawsuit: apparently Titania has trademarked the name “She-Hulk” and is suing Jen for copyright infringement. Time to lawyer up.
What did you think of episode 4 of ‘She-Hulk’? Let us know in the comments!
(featured image: Marvel Studios)
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