*Warning: the following article contains spoilers for episode two of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law*
So you’ve probably read my rather scathing review of last week’s episode of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. Some even asked if I was too harsh—but the truth is that I hated almost every conceivable aspect of the episode, save for a few fleeting moments. Now that it’s out, I can say that I laughed considerably out loud when Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters yelled out “Captain America fu–”). A comedy has to be funny, and the first episode wasn’t. But this week’s episode, titled Superhuman Law, was funny and established what could be a fun MCU procedural series better than the pilot episode ever did.
Read: ‘She-Hulk: Attorney At Law’ Episode One Review: Off to a Messy Start
Now that She-Hulk is out into the world and lauded as a superhero who saved lives in the courtroom, Walters’ lawyer firm fires her to avoid media attention and to lose cases. However, Holden Holliway (Steve Coulter) of GLK&H, the client of last week’s trial, wants to hire Walters as the head of a superhuman law division. All he wants is the She-Hulk to be the head of the division and not Walters. And for her first case, Walters will have to defend Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who promises her he has changed and isn’t willing to transform himself into the Abomination. Unfortunately, a video of him fighting against Wong (Benedict Wong) in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings surfaces online, putting her easily winnable case in jeopardy.
That’s the gist of the episode, which is nothing but pure exposition. Those waiting for the She-Hulk to immediately duke it out with Blonsky will be severely disappointed, but the episode shows some pretty exciting things. The internet will have their minds entirely shattered by nods to Wolverine, Tiamut in Eternals, and the potential World War Hulk project, when Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) flies out to Sakaar in a Sakaarian spacecraft to…do what? Rumors are that his son Skaar will be introduced, which would be the most logical thing to happen since the spacecraft came out of nowhere in the first episode.
But I honestly didn’t care about any of that. Yes, it was [very] cool to have Banner himself acknowledge that the fight between him and Blonsky was a long time ago and that he’s a completely different person now…literally (with Walters going ha-ha to do a meta-nod at the audience, signifying Ruffalo being a recast from Edward Norton). However, the one thing that this show seems to want to lean into wholly is the legal aspect of Jennifer Walters, which was by far the most riveting part of the comics, alongside the meta-humor, of course. What this episode sets up in terms of “cases of the week” is what I wanted to see from the get-go. We didn’t need a fully expository-driven episode on the origins of She-Hulk. Perhaps a five-minute recap would’ve sufficed and jumped straight into the legal aspect of the show. However, now that most of the series’ main plot has been established, it’s safe to say that what comes next will be way more interesting than the pilot episode.
She-Hulk finds its footing by moving away from the clutter and semi-obligatory expositional first episode. It also helps that the humor is naturally funny and never forced. There are no childish jokes in this second episode—the fourth wall breaks are sparse, though incredibly effective, and Tatiana Maslany seems to have more fun here than in the pilot. She shares a terrific scene with Tim Roth, who also appears to have a ball as Blonsky. Who knows if he will transform himself into Abomination and wreak some havoc, but his character development from The Incredible Hulk feels more in line with the slightly comedic tone the show is adapting. Is he manipulating Jennifer to get what he wants so that he can meet his seven prison pen pal soulmates (a Thunderbolts setup)? Time will tell, but it was great to see Roth back as Blonsky and the events of Shang-Chi being a point of focus for Jennifer Walters’ first legal case. All of these moments worked and made the most of its short runtime.
It’s a shame that the CGI is still uneven, not just She-Hulk’s design, which doesn’t look as polished as in the first episode. But even its CGI shots look weird, notably when audiences get reintroduced to the Department of Damage Control’s Supermax prison. The car seems fake; the background looks fake, and everything looks like it was cheaply constructed without much thought or geography. The cinematography is also particularly flat, especially when Walters arrives for the first time in the GLK&H offices—the blocking feels robotic and unenergetic, with the windows of its offices looking like a pure green screen. It may lean into the “campiness” of the comics through its humor, but its visuals leave little to be desired.
It’s a shame that the CGI is still uneven, not just She-Hulk’s design, which doesn’t look as polished as in the first episode. But even its CGI shots look weird, notably when audiences get reintroduced to the Department of Damage Control’s Supermax prison. The car seems fake; the background looks fake, and everything looks like it was cheaply constructed without much thought or geography. The cinematography is also particularly flat, especially when Walters arrives for the first time in the GLK&H offices—the blocking feels robotic and unenergetic, with the windows of its offices looking like a pure green screen. It may lean into the “campiness” of the comics through its humor, but its visuals leave little to be desired.
Still, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s second episode is a massive improvement over its first. It isn’t perfect, but it is a better setup than anything the pilot has brought upon audiences, particularly for the future of the show, more than the future of where the MCU is going. But those who are saying that pHaSe FoUr hAs No PlAn probably need to stop talking now—the episode alone has already moved the needle for plenty of future projects to come in its ever-expansive Multiverse Saga. Let’s see what will happen next when Wong inevitably shows up next week.
✯✯✯ ½
The second episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now available to stream on Disney+.
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