She-Hulk S01E04 Review: Trademarking Magic

She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, Season 1, Episode 4: Is This Not Real Magic?

Mmm, yeah. The fact that She-Hulk: Attorney of Law is a nine-episode series that's mostly comedy means that the show can take its time doing more episodic, one-off wacky episodes like this. And... it's all right, for what it is. It's light watching, which isn't something that I really can say for a lot of the Netflix/Disney+ Marvel shows, which are far more serialized in nature. It doesn't necessarily 'twitter-armour' the show (regardless of Wong's presence) since the tone of the show is still much more comedic in nature, and this episode probably is the wackiest so far? It's jarring mostly because the comedy is kind of different compared to most of what MCU's comedy tend to be. 

But as Jen herself points out through a fourth-wall break, Wong is a welcome character to bring back, and he's the client for this episode. Wong's always good for a laugh, and... well, it is kind of odd to see the otherwise-super-serious Kamar Taj sorcerer just hanging out on his couch watching TV. Our main 'villain' here is Donny Blaze, a hilarious ripoff of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, who apparently is a Kamar Taj dropout who has been using a sling ring to do wacky shit in his magic show in Las Vegas. Through a series of typical wackiness, he sends a lady called Madisynn* through a portal to hell, upon which she makes a pact with a goat-demon named Jake, then gets dropped on Wong's couch holding a heart. And spoils the Sopranos for Wong, which prompts him to contact She-Hulk for the plot of the episode.

*who most people thought is the best thing ever to come out of the episode. I mean, I guess she's funny, but she's no Darcy or Luis...

And... as much as I like Wong, even the character himself points out that he could've just Mirror Dimension'd Donny Blaze and his hype-man/manager. I think being Sorcerer Supreme grants you permission to do that? I don't know. I get that we kinda need this for the show to go on with the episode, and that this isn't a super serious show, but... I felt like the setup could've been done better. Not that the Donny Blaze trial is particularly interesting to watch, mind you. It's not bad, the jokes about Kamar Taj not having NDA's and stuff are kind of expected, Madisynn and Donny Blaze are serviceable hammy guest stars. But... it's just... there. 

The secondary plot of this episode is Jen and She-Hulk trying to get a date on copyright-friendly-Tinder, and she ends up finding really no luck, getting either creeps or weirdos. Again, the comedy's serviceable, but I find the brief scene with Jen and her father discussing the She-Hulk's mugging last episode and Jen's dad bringing her a shovel (for the bodies) to be infinitely more funny than anything else in the episode. 

Both plots kinda come to a head when She-Hulk, in the midst of going for a snu-snu with the handsome oncologist she picked up, ends up getting pulled into action by Wong, who drags her to help with the transforming demon-bat invasion. There is some action -- and better ones than the laughable She-Hulk/Titania fight in episode one. This leads to Donny Blaze getting scared shitless of the demons he accidentally summoned to drop the lawsuit, and She-Hulk gets lucky with the handsome doctor who gets instantly turned off when she sees Jen in her human form. Okay? And we get the cliffhanger for the episode as... Titania trademarking the name She-Hulk and suing Jen over it?

I don't know. Again, I know comedy is subjective, but both the plots of this episode (the Donny Blaze one and the Tinder one) feel like they're B-plots to a more interesting A-plot. I don't even want this show to be super-serious, but... but things like the Abomination trial or the upcoming Titania conflict could really carry an episode more than both storylines in the episode. It's a bit bland, really, and while I wouldn't say that the episode itself is bad, it is probably the weakest in the episodes I've watched so far. 

Random Notes:

• "Donny Blaze" is a play on the alter-ego of the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze.
  
• Wong thinks doing things 'by the book' refers to the Book of Vishanti, which played a major role in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
• One of Jen's dates uses the word 'incredible', which is of course an adjective often used for her cousin Hulk.
• On Jen's schedule, a trial of "Kraft v. Soule" is mentioned. David Anthony Kraft wrote almost the entirety of the 1980 Savage She-Hulk comic run, and Charles Soule wrote 12 issues of the 2014 She-Hulk run. "Lee v. Bryne" refers to Stan Lee (who wrote the first Savage She-Hulk issue) and John Byrne, the artist who wrote and drew She-Hulk in Sensational She-Hulk and Fantastic Four.