It's taken 7 painful episodes getting to know Jen Walters, slowly peeling away at her character and discovering what makes her tick. The human Jen Walters, that is, who up until now has carried her special ability like it was a terrible disability, although she occasionally found ways to use it to her advantage.
But honestly, who needs roughly three and a half hours of runtime to get to know a person? In the Spider-Man movies, how long did we need to get to know Peter Parker? Less than an hour, maybe? Then he's already off in his costume fighting the big bad guy.
Getting to know Jen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was an arduous journey. It was like watching Peter Parker using his new powers to show off, make money, and pick up girls while never having to face his Uncle Ben moment, at least not for a long while. And for Jen, it has taken a very long time, and she still has yet to learn that 'with great power, comes great responsibility', but she is just starting to.
Episode 8 features three costumed main characters, all connected by a common thread, Luke Jacobson, who has made each of their outfits.
The first is the character of Leap-frog, who is essentially a straw-man inhabiting an empty suit. He is a relatively unknown entity in the MCU so he comes with little baggage. He has no skill, generally embarrasses himself, and the only thing special about him is his suit. We see him as a nobody, no backstory, no motivation. We first see him fighting a couple of burglars. Is he a hero? He styles himself as a crime-fighter, so maybe. But because he is really just an ego in a costume, when he makes his heel turn later in the episode, we don't question the sudden twist. When it happens, we're like, whatever. We have no investment in him whatsoever.
The second is Matt Murdock, who makes his long-awaited appearance. His courtroom attire makes him a confident professional both in the courtroom, and in Legal Ease, all the lawyers' favourite bar. His transformation into Daredevil is eagerly anticipated, and it feels so rewarding when we are treated to his signature Netflix hallway fight sequence after the show has delayed our gratification for 8 weeks. Matt is clearly a hero, whether he is in a business suit, or in his 'mustard and ketchup' devil suit. We also remember how much of a ladies' man Matt is when he gets out of it. This character needs no introduction. He has had a long history in the comic books, and a number of seasons on Netflix, so we know who we're getting, and despite some expected artistic licence, is still the same person we know and love. He represents the constant we measure a hero by, and Leap-frog doesn't make the grade.
But it's Jen's show. By Episode 7, Jen has finally learned to embrace She-Hulk as part of herself. She has now earned the confidence to don her super suit which she does. She-Hulk, the superhero, runs off to rescue her client, Leap-frog, from an unknown assailant. But She-Hulk's first ever attempt at being a superhero is embarrassing. She picks a fight with the wrong person, causing much collateral damage in the process. Jen underestimates her control over her She-Hulk persona. For She-Hulk in fight mode, the ends justify the means. She tears up a parking lot, hurls an expensive car and wrecks several others while fighting Daredevil. Par for the course for a Hulk, but irresponsible and willful damage of property for a lawyer. Which is why Jen chooses to talk Leap-frog out of breaking any more laws, while Daredevil fights off the goons.
Needless to say, Jen's most special ability is to invoke Murphy's Law upon herself. She attends a gala for 'Female Lawyer of the Year' hosted by... the organiser's name is never mentioned, but it is a shady operation. The host makes some backhanded compliments about the recipients, and the award is condescendingly handed out like participation trophies to a number of notable female lawyers. Jen is, of course, a recipient though as far as we've seen, she hasn't won a single case yet this entire season. Very sus. It's a trap! Intelligencia makes its move, publicly exposing the cloned contents of Jen's phone along with revenge porn of her and Josh, provoking her to Hulk out in view of her family and her legal fraternity, thus fulfilling another of Bruce's predictions that the world will see her as a monster. Compared to the Matt Murdock hero constant, She-Hulk falls off the charts at this point. But it's because we've seen Jen deconstructed and reconstructed as a person over several episodes that this new transformation into monster Hulk is devastating.
This season started with Jen on the outside of Blonsky's cell as his lawyer. It has taken Jen on a journey in which her credibility as a lawyer diminishes step by step until, inevitably, she will see life from the inside of a Hulk-proof cell. Will this be Jen's Uncle Ben moment? I don't know, but one prediction of Bruce's remains unfulfilled: being a Hulk puts a target on those she loves. Perhaps episode 9 could end in tragedy, and no one will be laughing then.
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