She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, Season 1, Episode 6: Just Jen
Mmm, yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of this episode either. I do think that structurally and thematically it might flow a bit better than the previous one? Because at least even Jen herself is acknowledging that this is a supposedly 'bottle' wedding episode with no real tie-in to the greater tapestry of the universe. And after being mostly a cipher in previous episodes, Titania gets to show some more personal animosity towards She-Hulk in this one.
It's just that... I got pretty bored in this episode? And I do have some pretty high tolerance for nonsense, considering I watched all of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. I do see some happy reviews about this episode out there so it might just be me not 'getting' the comedy of this episode, and, yes, I would readily admit that wacky wedding hijinks, very American bridesmaid-related wackiness and catfights are definitely not anywhere on my radar of what I would consider appealing fiction.
I guess after the previous episode had Jen confront that her She-Hulk persona has grown into a positive aspect of her life. But this episode forces her to accept the Jennifer Walters side, with her jackass friend-that-got-distant Lulu telling her to go around as 'just Jen' and not She-Hulk. Titania, of course, shows up to crash the party and provoke her, and... I don't know. I get that without her relationship with Absorbing Man, Titania gets reduced to the 'angry brute' trope of supervillain and that can't really carry a show, but 'catty TikTok bitch bully' just isn't engaging at all for more than a single episode. And while seeing drunk Jen is funny, I really didn't care all that much for Titania's conflict with She-Hulk, as well as Jen's romances with Josh.
There are, on paper, moments that would be a pretty great showcase of Jen's poor headspace and her juggling of her two identities... but the whole wedding plot and its jokes that didn't work for me just made watching the episode a bit of a chore. Anyway, Titania breaks her teeth or some shit after slipping on the ice, and hey, we get yet another rather underwhelming action scene.
The B-plot isn't particularly funny either, with Nikki and Mallory (neither of whom really have much of a personality at this point beyond 'gossipper BFF' and 'serious rival'. Nikki's funny, at least) having to handle the case of Mr. Immortal. Which... I'm not familiar with the character from the comics, but he's completely transformed in the adaptation from a kooky young superhero with a dark-comedy superpower into an old scammer who keeps killing himself to run away from any problems in his life. The divorce settlement ends with barely a punchline, other than the fact that Nikki and Mallory figure out that from the case there's some kind of dark web online grup called the Intelligencia that's spreading a lot of hate about She-Hulk and they want to kill her. So basically Reddit or something.
...and I don't know. It sure is a very 'new age' supervillain, but until we see more, I'm just not feeling it? The way the episode is cut, it's kind of obvious that Josh or whoever the handsome guy at the wedding is called is probably associated with Intelligencia, but I find that I can't work myself up to really care. Thankfully, despite what Jen might say, this doesn't really land in an unconvenient spot in the season. In the middle of the season where you don't have to make a huge first impression or a bombastic finale is exactly where an episode like this should be.
Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:
- Mr. Immortal (Craig Hollis) in the comics is a mutant with the power of immortality that is normally associated with the West Coast Avengers and the Great Lakes Avengers. While a kooky and darkly comedic character, Mr. Immortal is more or less working as a superhero in the comics.
- The Intelligencia in the comics is a group of super-intelligent supervillains gathered by M.O.D.O.K. that menaced the Hulk.
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