'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law' Episode 3: "The People v Emil Blonsky" Recap and Review
The series finally hulks up to its true potential as all elements finally come together to form what is commonly referred to as a show
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
All jokes aside, Episode 3 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is good, very good if compared to previous episodes. There is character development, stakes, jokes, a meaningful cameo, and a satisfying inner-episode arc. Even though the episode starts fairly slow, it hits its stride and actually resembles an episodic sitcom which is fairly unique among Marvel shows. The way Marvel structures its shows is that of a 8 to 10 hour movie that has been chopped up into several relatively bite sized pieces. Long have the series’ struggled to provide a satisfying inner-episode arc to make the episode itself feel satisfying while progressing the overarching narrative. Not only do we get a full narrative arc we get a secondary plot that plays upon the seemingly random elements introduced in the last episode that itself reaches a satisfying conclusion. While, there is still work to do to dig itself out of the hole it dug with the first episode, Episode 3 lives up to the potential set forth by the beloved comic series.
The episode begins with Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) confronting Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) about the video of him in a cage match with the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong (Benedict Wong). As she emphasises the severity of the situation, Emil defends himself saying that he was broken out against his will by Wong and Jessica tasks Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) with getting in contact with him. Back in the office, Holliway (Steve Coulter) calls She-Hulk into his office where Pug (Josh Segarra) and Dennis Bukowski (Drew Matthews) are waiting. Holliway outlines Bukowski’s case where he was defrauded by a shapeshifter pretending to be Megan Thee Stallion. Suddenly Wong portals in and interrupts the meeting much to She-Hulk’s liking and the two adjourn to her own office. Wong explains his actions and She-Hulk demands he show for Blonsky’s parole hearing. Meanwhile, Pug and Bukowski discuss his case and the embarrassingly large amount he gave to the Megan Thee Stallion impersonator. After Bukowski leaves, he seemingly returns and claims to want to drop the case. Just then, the real Bukowski calls and Pug realizes he is talking to the shapeshifter. At the security facility, Jennifer arrives for the hearing, along with Emil’s seven soulmates but not Wong. Without Wong present, Jennifer is forced to stall, bringing in several other character witnesses from the prison until Wong portals in just in time. Without hesitation, Wong begins his testimony. Back in the courtroom, Bukowski’s trial proceeds but hits a snag when it is argued that Bukowski is not dumb enough to really believe he was dating the real Megan Thee Stallion. Wong presents his actions and backs Blonsky’s actions but the parole board is skeptical about his control. To demonstrate, Blonsky transforms into the Abomination, terrifying the board. Jennifer spins this to reflect how Blonsky chose to serve his sentence to the fullest and the parole board leaves for deliberation. Jennifer herself heads to the bar for a much needed “therapy” session with Nikki when they are soon joined by Pug. Pug vents his frustration with the Bukowski case which leads to Jennifer venting her own feelings about Dennis whic, in turn, gives Pug an idea. Jennifer is suddenly a character witness in the Bukowsky case where she testifies that Dennis is so delusional about his own romantic prowess that absolutely thought that he could date Megan Thee Stallion. This is enough to win Dennis the case, much to the pleasure of the real Megan Thee Stallion. NAcl at the security facility, the Parole board announces that Emil has been granted his parole giving Jennifer her first win of her new Superhero division. As Jennifer heads to her apartment, she is assaulted by a group of thugs who robbed an asgardian construction worker and are brandishing their equipment as weapons. The group is no match for She-Hulk but manage to slip away after taking a beating. They reconvene in their van it is revealed that they were after her blood for an unknown boss.
What really elevates this episode beyond its predecessors is the story of Emil Blonsky’s parole. It feels like a self contained story whether that be intentional or not. It begins with the issue of the cage fighting video, then an out is presented with the catch that they need to get ahold of Wong, Wong arrives but seems naïve to the procedures of US law, Jennifer has to stall because Wong is late, Wong delivers his testimony to satisfaction of the Parole Board, and finally Blonsky is granted his parole and Jennifer learns a lesson in true justice. In itself, this is a full story arc that has a true beginning and a logical and satisfying conclusion. If this were an episode of Friends it would be called “The one about Blonsky’s Trial." Although it is not self-contained, it is a fully formed story and is the only fully formed story fit in a single episode in any Marvel series to date. They even added a B-Story to fill the space in between the A-Story revolving around the unlikeable idiot Bukowsky. This two story structure is the bread and butter of a the weekly sitcom and fits the tone of the series perfectly. Aside from the story, we get another great appearance by Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky and couple great cameos from Wong and Megan Thee Stallion along side another great performance by Tatiana Maslany. The final teaser in the episode is the appearance of the MCU-afied Wrecking Crew which seem to have been hired to get a sample of She-Hulk’s superior blood. One element of the series that felt more at place in this episode was the fourth wall breaks. So far, the fourth wall breaks felt like out of place or like a framing device. In this episode the breaks are used as a inner narrative that adds to the character and were frequent enough to not feel out of place.
“The People v Emil Blonsky” is not only the best episode of the series so far it is one of the most complete episodes of any Marvel series. While the other series have had the flash and established characters to lean on they have severally lacked in the story department. The only other series to come close to this was when WandaVision when they were parodying sitcoms. It’s hard to say if this was intentional or not, this structure could have been used to merely speed through the story arc to get to the next one. The next episode should answer that definitely but for now the benefit of the doubt needs to go to showrunner Jessica Gao for understanding what makes weekly shows for TV satisfying. After this episode there is a bar that has been set and it has been established that they know how to structure an episode well enough. A regression would be disappointing but would not surprise given the history of other Marvel series to come previously.