She-Hulk S01E03 Review: Emil's Haikus

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Season 1, Episode 3: The People vs. Emil Blonsky

Not my favourite episode, no, although I would readily admit that I genuinely don't get a whole lot of the more sitcom-esque comedy in this episode. Still, the episode is light-hearted enough as Jen heads up the parole hearing of Abomination/Emil, and it's... well, basically the whole argment ends up being complicated by the fact that the key witness and instigator of Abomination heading off to fight in the underground superhuman fighting ring is Wong. Who isn't the easiest to get hold of, and Wong himself is... a bit of a kooky guy. 

Now it's kind of obvious that Wong's lying as a favour to cover up Abomination, but this episode and the previous one, plus Tim Roth's acting, did genuinely make Emil feel pertty likable. Tim Roth, Benedict Wong and Tatiana Maslany are all pretty great in their roles, but the whole plotline is... well, it's not that funny, I guess? I kind of feel like the show is more of a parody storyline and it kind of is, but... I don't know. I guess they're trying a bit too hard to stretch this over two episodes and the solution of Wong telling his story and Emil proving that he can turn into the Abomination any time but never did in captivity just doesn't prove the real oomph that I feel this episode needed, y'know?

Then there's a B-plot of Jennifer having to deal with her success, and the fact that the media keeps hounding her. And... I guess the media's perception of a superhero has been a tale as old as time, ever since Spider-Man has to deal with J. Jonah Jameson, but maybe I'm just old and seeing all these wacky tabloid-style social media trying to spread sensationalism for Jen went on a bit too long. Having the MCU social media go through the same 'wah wah they're making our superheroes into women' stuff that the real world complains about is neat, but they don't really go anywhere with it since Jen's attempt to take Nikki's advice and 'take control of the narrative' gets brushed under the rug. 

There's another B-plot about how one of Jen's team, Pug, is representing the douchebag Dennis in a defrauding case as he was bamboozled by a shapeshifting light elf. The nod to the oft-ignored Nordic parts of the Thor mythos is admittedly nice, and I get the need for the show to give us a couple extra metahuman cases for the legal team to handle, but... it's not that interesting, and it went on for a bit too long before the climactic joke -- that Jennifer arrives as a witness to convince the entire courtroom that Dennis is a delusional pig with an inflated self-esteem of his attractiveness -- isn't that funny. 

(Also, I am out of touch with modern pop culture, and maybe the joke and the much-maligned twerking scene with Meghan Thee Stallion would work if I actually know who she is. As it is, the joke just flew over my head.)

As perhaps a bit of a hint to the overarching plot of the show (beyond just being wacky courtroom sitcoms), we have the MCU adaptation of the Wrecking Crew (who apparently mugged an Asgardian construction worker) who jump Jen, who effortlessly goes She-Hulk and sends them running away. Wrecker and his buddies are sent by someone who wanted them to get a sample of She-Hulk's blood, so the show does have a proper antagonist.

And... well, I don't know. The Jen/Wong/Emil stuff are fun, and I appreciated the Wrecking Crew's appearance, but this episode just kind of fell flat for me. Ditto for the fourth-wall-breaking jokes for this particular episode. There is a degree of subjectivity of comedy and I know there's probably a market for this somewhere so I won't be too harsh on it. I just personally didn't really get too excited for this episode in particular. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• The Wrecking Crew, consisting of Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver and Thunderball, are a classic group of enemies that received super-powered equipment after their leader Wrecker was mistaken for a disguised Loki by Karnilla the Norn Queen. Since then, they've fought a whole lot of other superheroes as one of the more 'classic' Silver Age villains. 
• Wrecker wields a magical indestructible crowbar, Thunderball has a demolition chain, Piledriver has piledriver-eesque fists and Bulldozer is the one with the helmet (the most impractical one!).
• I guess I should take time to also mention that Pug, Holden Holliway and Dennis Bukowski are all supporting characters that first debuted She-Hulk comics. Pug and Holliway are recurring supporting characters, but Bukowski only has a single appearance. To my surprise, Nikki Ramos isn't based on a pre-existing character. Runa shares her name with one of the Valkyries in Earth-616, but it's likely the name reuse is a coincidence.  
• Wong, who interacted with Emil in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, appears here to give a recount of their action there. Wong's promotion to Sorcerer Supreme was told to us in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Wong also lampshades that he's not going to 'wipe anyone's memories' since it's messy, referencing the plotline of that movie. Wong also offers to use the mirror dimension (seen in Dr. Strange; No Way Home; Endgame) as a way to deal with the mess. 
• Runa the light elf quotes Thor's "Asgard isn't a place, it's a people" quote from Thor: Ragnarok. Unfortunately, it's not admissible in court. The existence of Nordic light elves in general is shown in the background of Thor and Thor: the Dark World, though they don't play a large role. 
• Emil's original prosecutor is named Gideon Wilson. In the comics, Gideon Wilson is Sam Wilson/Falcon's brother, and is related to the Hulk characters by being a member of the Gamma Corps.
• One of the reporters asks Jen if she got her powers in a 'mafia hit gone wrong', which was the circumstance in which she got her powers in the comics.