'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law' Episode 6: "Just Jen" Recap and Review
The self-proclaimed, self-contained wedding episode has more to do with the overarching plot than it wants you to believe
WARNING: Contains Spoilers
Now that we are firmly on the back half of the season it is time to kick the plot into high gear. However, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law begins this week’s episode with Jen literally telling the audience that this is a self-contained wedding episode as well as this being a huge inconvenience. This was all a ruse, wool pulled over our eyes, an illusion used to draw the attention away from the fact that this episode is not self-contained and advances more aspects of the plot than most of the episodes to come before it. In a single episode we have: a real showdown between hero and villain, a love interest introduction that addresses her biggest flaw, and another hint as to who is really after She-Hulk’s blood. As a whole the idea of the episode is actually quite meta. Prepare the audience, and Jen, for a self-contained episode then none of it goes according to plan. The shenanigans of this series are going far to both endear and redeem this series after such a poor start.
The Episode begins with Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) receiving a rather glittery invitation in the mail. Jen is to be a bridesmaid for an old friend, Lulu (Patti Harrison), and sees it as an opportunity to show off her newly tailored She-Hulk Wardrobe. She arrives looking mean and green in her new dress when Lulu catches a glimpse of the stunning She-Hulk, and panics. Lulu confronts She-Hulk and begs her to de-Hulk as to not draw attention away from her big day, Jen of course agrees. Back at the law offices, Mallory (Renée Elise Goldsberry) and Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) meet their latest super powered client, Mr. Invincible (David Pasquesi), who needs help with divorce, all eight of them. At the wedding, Jen goes through the typical bridesmaid motions when in walks Titania (Jameela Jamil). Jen confronts Titania and questions her motivations for attending but Titania maintains her innocent intentions. Jen heads outside to cool off when she is approached by a handsome man named Josh (Trevor Salter). The two strike up a conversation before Lulu comes by and asks Jen for help. Continuing the divorce proceedings with Mr. Invincible and his eight partners it becomes abundantly clear to Nikki and Mallory that: a, their client is at fault, and b, they need to wrap this up quickly before they have a chance to add criminal charges. As the wedding fast approaches, Jenn struggles to cope with her new responsibilities while at the law offices, Mallory and Nikki’s first attempt at restitution fails to satisfy Mr. Invincible’s spouses. At the reception Jen finds a way to cope with her responsibilities, alcohol, while Nikki steps up and solves all the spouse’s issues to their satisfaction and thus ending Mr. Invincible’s proceedings. At the wedding, Jen drunkenly strikes up a flirty conversation with Josh when she is suddenly stricken with the feeling to… evacuate the contents of her stomach. As Jen sits with her head in her legs, Titania attacks. She wants to destroy She-Hulk in public but Jen refuses, for a moment, before going green and kicking Titania’s butt. After some broken veneers, Titania runs away humiliated and She-Hulk celebrates with Lulu and the party continues. After concluding the case of Mr. Invincible, Mallory and Nikki celebrate their own victory as they watch and laugh at a video of Mr. Invincible on a website known as Intelligencia. While on the site, an article on She-Hulk catches their eye but it blocked to non-members. This intrigues the two enough for them to set-up a fake membership and check it out. There they find a whole thread dedicated to anti-She-Hulk posts with a few death threats thrown in there. Mallory urges Nikki not to tell Jen so she can enjoy the wedding but Nikki leaves Jen a message anyway. After the fight, Jen enjoys the evening with Josh and a plate of fries but someone else is watching. Jen is being surveyed by whoever tried to extract her blood the first time around and this time they prepare a bigger needle.
No Daredevil this week, but honestly, a return that big deserves to be saved for an episode 8 or 9. Instead, we are presented with a wedding episode that is anything but self-contained. We are treated to another appearance of Jameela Jamil’s Titania who is back with a vengeance. This episode rounds out the Titania character by revealing her insecurities and motivations for attacking SHe-Hulk both in the court of law and wedding reception. The building of Titania as a character has been slow but at this point in the series she is a well-rounded adversary for She-Hulk and an interesting and hilarious character to boot. This episode introduces us to Josh played by Trevor Salter, a love interest for Jen. This a great addition to the show because not only does it address her flaw, he likes Jen for just being Jen, it has the potential to be a big betrayal if they decide to go that route. Josh could very well be working for the big bad to get close to Jen as a way to get her blood. If he does betray her, it would hit especially hard for Jen as he would have exploited Jen’s major flaw and insecurities. And speaking of the big bad, we finally get a glimpse of who is behind the original attempt the secure a sample of Jen’s blood. The discovery of the website Intelligencia has led to the screen name HulKing. This could be anyone really, but realistically this hint points to a recently announced returning villain, a long time Hulk nemesis Samuel Sterns a.k.a The Leader. Sterns was introduced in the Edward Norton led Hulk solo-movie The Incredible Hulk. Sterns was portrayed by the great Tim Blake Nelson who was announced to be returning to the role for Captain America: New World Order. All the motivations are there in The Incredible Hulk for Stern to be after She-Hulk’s blood, with Hulk’s blood being the catalyst for Sterns transformation into The Leader and his announced return makes an introduction here a great place for a primer for the character.
With only three episodes left in the series, the finale is beginning to take shape. Things are going good right now for She-Hulk which feels like the perfect set-up for a massive fall for the character. The impending re-debut for the Man without Fear and the tease of the greater threat to She-Hulk is building a conflict that can only take place outside of the courtroom. That isn’t to say that the courtroom has not been interesting. The case of the week nature of the series plays into the series’ episodic nature perfectly and each case has been fun and interesting whether they are part of the episodes A storyline or B. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law has quickly become one of the more enjoyable series in the Marvel “Episodic” Universe and has built a great deal of anticipation for the final few episodes of the series. Hopes are high that the finale is just as brilliant of a surprise as the rest of the series has been so far.