S01.E02: Superhuman Law

[AnimeMania]

Jen is hired at a prestigious law firm but must practice as She-Hulk and rep a complicated client.

Air Date: August 25, 2022 

Edited August 25, 2022 by AnimeMania

[arc]

haha, I had been wondering about the timeline of this show given that Blonsky's locked up but he was in that fight club in Shang-Chi. Guess Wong was sneaking him in and out.

Jen's "hah" to the camera on Bruce's "I'm a completely different person now" had me rolling.

I always like when a show can incorporate the concept art into the show, so doing it not just in the credits but in the actual show as courtoom diagrams was very clever.

The CGI on She-Hulk was a little ropey in parts.

I'm not sure I'd buy that some of the crappier law firms Jen was interviewing at wouldn't jump at a chance to hire a superhero lawyer.

The QR code today (it's always the same URL) is for the first issue of the 2004 She-Hulk run. It's where she got fired from the DA's office and hired by GLKH, for roughly the same reason, but interestingly, the hiring itself is rather inverted. In the comics,

Spoiler

Jen's been She-Hulk for a while and she's been crushing it at life in all facets* -- valued member of the Avengers, kickass lawyer for the DA's office, dating male models, living at Avengers Mansion quarters, dating male models, living in She-Hulk form nearly 24/7 -- but Holden Holliway wants to hire human Jen Walters.

* welllllllll, kinda, anyways

Edited August 25, 2022 by arc

[Spartan Girl]

“That fight was so many years ago, I’m a completely different person now.” LOL, I see what they did there. But Bruce better not be that zen about Dickbag Ross after everything he did to him…

And Jen’s wallpaper is America’s Ass 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[paigow]

3 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

But Bruce better not be that zen about Dickbag Ross after everything he did to him…

Unfortunately, Dickbag Ross will also be a completely different person, unless everything is flashbacks...

[HelloooKitty]

I also would like a map to the best bathroom for pooping. 

[Featherhat]

Ah, Jen, you should have realised taking a job from a corporation who's lawyer said "that depends on what your definition of "knows" (that he was deliberately killing people) is." would have massive ethical compromises! 

Jen said she was fired from a lot of places but it seemed like she wasn't fired so much as just not hired (apart from the DAs obviously). She could have always tried to go the Matt Murdock route but I guess she didn't have a lot of time before they offered her the job. 

Nice to see Tim Roth getting to have fun.  I like that about later Marvel, that they're bringing back disliked characters and giving the actors a chance to go in a different direction. Heartfelt hiakus to Bruce! Who is conveniently out of the story on a space ship. It will be interesting to see how she navigates the complexities of this case, even apart from illegal fighting as Abomination. I can't remember TIH, was Blonsky telling the truth about what happened? I know they were originally trying to create new Caps but didn't he end up injecting himself with more or something? 

I still like her supportive paralegal friend and her obviously enjoying the perks of potentially working for evil law firm. I wonder how far her terrible boss is actually going to be a villain as opposed to just an asshole antagonist? 

Personally I prefer that they dialled back for now on the "I'm a woman so I'm already repressing hulk level feelings of pain and rage everyday" as the tag to everything. Not that I didn't agree with what she was saying but I felt it was Supergirl levels of terribad writing. Jen hating the name She-Hulk was pretty funny. 

Over all I really enjoyed it. I still love TM's take on the character and I feel like she's really settling in to Jen. Jen herself is really likeable and interesting and it will be fun to see where this goes. 

*Also does she have to carry around a spare set of clothes everywhere in case someone needs her to Hulk Out or UnHulk? Because it didn't seem like she had any at the prison. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Featherhat

[MrWhyt]

no matter what character Josh Segarra plays I will always see him as his incredibly stupid cop character from Sirens. 

Like Roth's take on a new enlightened Blonsky. While I'm enjoying the series i do feel that the episodes are too short and this one wasn't as good as the first.

[thuganomics85]

I guess it isn't too surprising that a bunch of law firms would want nothing to do with "She-Hulk" due to all of the distractions and so forth (even though I feel like there would also be a lot of positives there, but what do I know?), but I do wonder why Jennifer didn't even consider the idea of opening her own practice or something, because I could definitely see like-minded individuals want to work with her.  But no doubt some fun will be had with her working at GLKH for the "superhuman" division.  At least she's got her loyal paralegal still with her!  And seems to have a fan in this Pug guy (who knows the best bathroom to poop in!), but since I know Josh Segarra best as Adrian Chase on Arrow, I'm going to be side-eying him for a bit...

Anyway, Jennifer/She-Hulk's first case is to represent none other than the Abomination himself, Emil Blonsky for his parole hearing!  Obviously knew that was happening, but it was great seeing Tim Roth here.  Whatever faults The Incredible Hulk film might have had (and I don't really remember it being "bad", I.... just don't really remember much about it at all), I remember thinking Roth was more than stellar in the role and I'm looking forward to getting to expand upon the character here.  Not sure if this new, "redeemed" Blonsky is legit or if there are massive lies behind all those haikus, but I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes.  Especially since the whole "fighting Wong in underground cage matches" is now out in the open!

Glad to meet Jen's family here.  A bit atypical so far, but once again, I'm just glad that she seems to have a good dad at least.  Scott, Clint, and a recently introduced Yusef can't carry the burden of being the only good MCU dads forever!

No sighting of Titania this go around (but it sounds like she might have escaped?), but hearing that she's not just a supervillian, but a social influencer is so perfect!  Jameela Jamil will be so much fun in that type of role!

So, I guess we know why Mark Ruffalo is only going to be a special guest star here!  I wonder where Bruce is heading off too?  Maybe it's connected to wherever Nick Fury was going?  I'm guessing it will factor into one of the others shows/spin-offs.

Tatiana Maslany is still spot-on here.  Whatever issues I have with some of the heavy-handed dialogue and so forth, she is already making me love Jen/She-Hulk and looking forward to seeing more of her!

[johntfs]

3 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Ah, Jen, you should have realized taking a job from a corporation who's lawyer said "that depends on what your definition of "knows" (that he was deliberately killing people) is." would have massive ethical compromises! 

I still like her supportive paralegal friend and her obviously enjoying the perks of potentially working for evil law firm. I wonder how far her terrible boss is actually going to be a villain as opposed to just an asshole antagonist? 

Jennifer wants to be able to eat, wear clothing and not be homeless, so of course she took the job. 

It's the job of a defense lawyer to zealously represent their client to the point of freeing someone guilty if possible. 

Legal ethics have almost nothing to do with actual ethics.

Her "terrible boss" is the one who hired her after the She-Hulk incident (when no one else would) and then put her in charge of a whole case division in his firm.  That doesn't seem to be all that terrible to me.

[Raja]

7 hours ago, arc said:

haha, I had been wondering about the timeline of this show given that Blonsky's locked up but he was in that fight club in Shang-Chi. Guess Wong was sneaking him in and out.

  Reveal spoiler

Jen's been She-Hulk for a while and she's been crushing it at life in all facets* -- valued member of the Avengers, kickass lawyer for the DA's office, dating male models, living at Avengers Mansion quarters, dating male models, living in She-Hulk form nearly 24/7 -- but Holden Holliway wants to hire human Jen Walters.

* welllllllll, kinda, anyways

Given the trailers I guess the firm already has their third, counting the one Deputy DA Walters was prosecuting, has their third super client. It seems that the franchise, at least here has moved on from "enhanced" when everybody was some form of super soldier.

3 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Ah, Jen, you should have realised taking a job from a corporation who's lawyer said "that depends on what your definition of "knows" (that he was deliberately killing people) is." would have massive ethical compromises! 

Jen said she was fired from a lot of places but it seemed like she wasn't fired so much as just not hired (apart from the DAs obviously). She could have always tried to go the Matt Murdock route but I guess she didn't have a lot of time before they offered her the job. 

Nice to see Tim Roth getting to have fun.  I like that about later Marvel, that they're bringing back disliked characters and giving the actors a chance to go in a different direction. Heartfelt hiakus to Bruce! Who is conveniently out of the story on a space ship. It will be interesting to see how she navigates the complexities of this case, even apart from illegal fighting as Abomination. I can't remember TIH, was Blonsky telling the truth about what happened? I know they were originally trying to create new Caps but didn't he end up injecting himself with more or something? 

I still like her supportive paralegal friend and her obviously enjoying the perks of potentially working for evil law firm. I wonder how far her terrible boss is actually going to be a villain as opposed to just an asshole antagonist? 

Personally I prefer that they dialled back for now on the "I'm a woman so I'm already repressing hulk level feelings of pain and rage everyday" as the tag to everything. Not that I didn't agree with what she was saying but I felt it was Supergirl levels of terribad writing. Jen hating the name She-Hulk was pretty funny. 

Over all I really enjoyed it. I still love TM's take on the character and I feel like she's really settling in to Jen. Jen herself is really likeable and interesting and it will be fun to see where this goes. 

*Also does she have to carry around a spare set of clothes everywhere in case someone needs her to Hulk Out or UnHulk? Because it didn't seem like she had any at the prison. 

Of course it really doesn't work for lawyers to just hang out a shingle and have paying clients fall in from out of the blue. Especially with her not wanting to emphasize that she is the She-Hulk.

As far as I remember as a Royal Marine Commando working for allied General Ross he dosed himself beyond the experiment levels to have a better chance at the Hulk. He may have hurt people to do that, if it was a result of the earlier dose or just part of his wanting to be the best soldier in the world would take a re-watch.

Maybe Matt Murdock's armor maker helped with her best friend spandex costuming. But more likely she just took cousin Bruce's advice and even if sandals were acceptable in her environment the feet just get too large. 

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

So, I guess we know why Mark Ruffalo is only going to be a special guest star here!  I wonder where Bruce is heading off too?  Maybe it's connected to wherever Nick Fury was going?  I'm guessing it will factor into one of the others shows/spin-offs.

Tatiana Maslany is still spot-on here.  Whatever issues I have with some of the heavy-handed dialogue and so forth, she is already making me love Jen/She-Hulk and looking forward to seeing more of her!

I think before mutants really come on line the weird comes from aliens and the Hulk stuff, with only rumors of Disney getting the movie distribution rights, is totally separate from the Director Fury stuff which might link to the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor stuff

[Featherhat]

37 minutes ago, johntfs said:

Jennifer wants to be able to eat, wear clothing and not be homeless, so of course she took the job. 

It's the job of a defense lawyer to zealously represent their client to the point of freeing someone guilty if possible. 

Legal ethics have almost nothing to do with actual ethics.

Her "terrible boss" is the one who hired her after the She-Hulk incident (when no one else would) and then put her in charge of a whole case division in his firm.  That doesn't seem to be all that terrible to me.

I'm aware legal ethics are separate from moral ethics but Jen was presented as someone who became a lawyer to do good, that she didn't want to be a superhero/Avenger because being a lawyer was where she was supposed to fight the good fight. That was literally her first speech in the pilot that the man who became her boss should be found guilty because he abused his power, not because what he did was illegal. She is definitely presented as the kind of (TV) lawyer who would turn down the job if she thought she might be freeing a dangerous person into society - it's why she went to the prison before she accepted Blonsky as her client in the first place. 

I'm not questioning that she took the job per se, I get why, she was desperate and she'd been thrown a lifeline. It's just that considering she was arguing morality (in court) against her new boss, that she shouldn't be as surprised as she seemed that there were some catches in what she was being asked to do. She didn't even ask what the "new division" was or what her responsibilities would be. He was a little taken aback that she didn't even think about it first time around. 

I don't think he's a terrible boss yet, in fact he was fine-ish. I think he's a terrible person  who is being set up a either a villain/antagonist because it's pretty clear from the pilot and this episode that he knowingly let people die for business reasons. And he smirked when saying Jen was totally right and should have won the case but hahah, he called a mistrial which got her fired. And I that most people would have called a mistrial but he fully acknowledged she should have won. In which case he did deliberately let people die. 

I would actually find it refreshing if he was a grey character since these D+ shows haven't exactly been subtle about characters like this (Hayward for example might as well have twirled a moustache by the last ep) but we'll see. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Featherhat

[johntfs]

5 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

I don't think he's a terrible boss yet, in fact he was fine-ish. I think he's a terrible person because it's pretty clear from the pilot and this episode that he knowingly let people die for business reasons. And he smirked when saying Jen was totally right and should have won the case but hahah, he called a mistrial which got her fired. And I that most people would have called a mistrial but he fully acknowledged she should have won in which case he did deliberately let people die.

Jen's new boss, as far as we know, never let people die.  His firm represented a person/entity who let people die.  Because it's a law firm.  Unless I missed something big.

Edited August 25, 2022 by johntfs

[shapeshifter]

I tuned into this show for Maslany, and I'm not disappointed.
But I would stay for her Dad alone. 
 

3 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Also does she have to carry around a spare set of clothes everywhere in case someone needs her to Hulk Out or UnHulk? Because it didn't seem like she had any at the prison. 

I love stretch polyester suits.

[paigow]

On 8/25/2022 at 3:18 PM, shapeshifter said:

But I would stay for her Dad alone. 

Maybe another cousin will show up....

In case all the kids are wondering what the joke is...

Edited August 27, 2022 by paigow

[steelyis]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I tuned into this show for Maslany, and I'm not disappointed.
But I would stay for her Dad alone.

He was great. I like the whole family, really. They were refreshingly cool about everything. It was very sweet.

[Cthulhudrew]

I wonder if Bruce is going to turn up at the end of the season seeking Jen's representation in a paternity suit?

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Ah, Jen, you should have realised taking a job from a corporation who's lawyer said "that depends on what your definition of "knows" (that he was deliberately killing people) is." would have massive ethical compromises! 

I think ethical compromises are very different from representing the person who tried to kill a family member. 

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I guess it isn't too surprising that a bunch of law firms would want nothing to do with "She-Hulk" due to all of the distractions and so forth (even though I feel like there would also be a lot of positives there, but what do I know?), but I do wonder why Jennifer didn't even consider the idea of opening her own practice or something, because I could definitely see like-minded individuals want to work with her. 

Six figure student loan debt. 

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

No sighting of Titania this go around (but it sounds like she might have escaped?), but hearing that she's not just a supervillian, but a social influencer is so perfect!  Jameela Jamil will be so much fun in that type of role!

I loved that. 

6 hours ago, johntfs said:

Jen's new boss, as far as we know, never let people die.  His firm represented a person/entity who let people die.  Because it's a law firm.  Unless I missed something big.

Your right. The new boss was co-counsel on the case. The defendant was the other guy at the table. 

[Cthulhudrew]

It just occurred to me that Blonsky's "seven wonderful friends" could be these guys. Maybe we can get another Marvel-Netflix name drop in this series besides the one already known.

[AimingforYoko]

Considering who Blonsky worked for, there seems to be an obvious answer who he'll be going to live with.

[Athena5217]

I didn’t get into this episode. I think too much time was spent on Jen being  unable to find a job and her family making superhero jokes.

I have no idea who Abomination is. I gather from comments here he was in one of the Hulk movies, but I don’t remember anything from those movies. So I would have liked more of a character introduction. 

I would have liked to see Jen explore the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Being a hulk is not something she chose or can change, so it seems similar to having a medical condition that doesn’t prevent you from doing your job and being fired for it.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, Cthulhudrew said:

It just occurred to me that Blonsky's "seven wonderful friends" could be these guys. Maybe we can get another Marvel-Netflix name drop in this series besides the one already known.

The double mention of the seven friends does point to it being somehow important, although the "friends" who bought him a place to live are probably planning to exploit him.  A lawyer representing a prisoner applying for parole would thoroughly research anyone who was offering said prisoner a place to live, so Jen should certainly know who these people are before any appearance before the parole board.

8 hours ago, Featherhat said:

I don't think he's a terrible boss yet, in fact he was fine-ish. I think he's a terrible person  who is being set up a either a villain/antagonist because it's pretty clear from the pilot and this episode that he knowingly let people die for business reasons. And he smirked when saying Jen was totally right and should have won the case but hahah, he called a mistrial which got her fired. And I that most people would have called a mistrial but he fully acknowledged she should have won. In which case he did deliberately let people die. 

8 hours ago, johntfs said:

Jen's new boss, as far as we know, never let people die.  His firm represented a person/entity who let people die.  Because it's a law firm.  Unless I missed something big.

Yes, he was the defense attorney.  And it was his clear ethical duty to request a mistrial.  It would have also been malpractice not to.  If he hadn't (and if the judge didn't grant one sua sponte (of his own accord, which any decent judge would have) any conviction would certainly have been overturned on appeal, thus necessitating a 2nd trial or a plea bargain.

11 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

So, I guess we know why Mark Ruffalo is only going to be a special guest star here!  I wonder where Bruce is heading off too?  Maybe it's connected to wherever Nick Fury was going?  I'm guessing it will factor into one of the others shows/spin-offs.

Remember how he said last episode that the spaceship was Sakaarian and it was probably a message for him?  He's likely responding to that message.  He certainly has a cell plan with amazing coverage.

56 minutes ago, Athena5217 said:

I would have liked to see Jen explore the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Being a hulk is not something she chose or can change, so it seems similar to having a medical condition that doesn’t prevent you from doing your job and being fired for it.

I actually thought along those lines, too.

[dwmarch]

17 hours ago, arc said:

Jen's "hah" to the camera on Bruce's "I'm a completely different person now" had me rolling.

That one went over my head until ScreenCrush pointed it out. The Incredible Hulk was Edward Norton. The MCU hulk is Mark Ruffalo. I forgot all about that although to be fair to myself I haven't actually seen The Incredible Hulk.

ScreenCrush also tells me that there is a brief shot of a news story about a man with metal claws coming out of his hands being in a bar fight. Cue that '97 X-Men theme again.

I was a little disappointed that the prison was run by Damage Control rather than SHIELD. As the previous appearances of DoDC span various films and TV shows I will spoiler code the criticisms:

Spoiler

Damage Control is only good at damaging innocent civilians - they blew up an apartment building rather than even try to talk Kamran down in Ms. Marvel.
Damage Control is terrible at controlling anything - plenty of this in No Way Home and Ms. Marvel where DoDC goon squads did absolutely nothing to help and mostly ended up getting embarrassed by teenagers.
Damage Control is also no good at prison administration per Ms. Marvel. The ClanDestines antagonize a guard into starting a fight which leads to them breaking out less than five minutes later.

I guess the same is true for SHIELD if we want to catalog their slip-ups over time but DoDC hasn't been shown as competent enough to be in charge of a jail full of supers yet. But DoDC doesn't have the stink of Marvel Entertainment on them so I guess they win.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

It just occurred to me that Blonsky's "seven wonderful friends" could be these guys. Maybe we can get another Marvel-Netflix name drop in this series besides the one already known.

Oh dear. This is what I was worried about going into a Marvel series: Those darn pop quizzes. And I’m terrible with remembering names even when I’ve already been introduced.

Speaking of quizzes:   
The episode title “Superhuman Law” makes me wonder if Law Schools in the show’s universe already have studies in Superhuman Law, and who’s teaching them. 
Maybe Jen should consult an esteemed professor of Superhuman Law, or, if this is a brand new area, maybe she could get a side gig as a visiting professor of Superhuman Law.

[SnarkShark]

Fun fact:  we just met Bruce's mom and the show didn't even acknowledge it!

In the comics Bruce's mom is "Rebecca Banner".

The woman at the family dinner who never spoke is credited as "Aunt Rebecca" in IMDB. 

15 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

The double mention of the seven friends does point to it being somehow important, although the "friends" who bought him a place to live are probably planning to exploit him.  A lawyer representing a prisoner applying for parole would thoroughly research anyone who was offering said prisoner a place to live, so Jen should certainly know who these people are before any appearance before the parole board.

We 100% know "The Thunderbolts" is an upcoming Marvel film.  They're villains turned anti-heroes, so they're the most likely candidates for his "friens", IMO.

[SnarkShark]

9 hours ago, johntfs said:

Jennifer wants to be able to eat, wear clothing and not be homeless, so of course she took the job. 

It's the job of a defense lawyer to zealously represent their client to the point of freeing someone guilty if possible. 

Legal ethics have almost nothing to do with actual ethics.

Her "terrible boss" is the one who hired her after the She-Hulk incident (when no one else would) and then put her in charge of a whole case division in his firm.  That doesn't seem to be all that terrible to me.

It's strongly implied her new boss engineered everything that happened.  The speculations out there are that he hired Titania to do what she did, got her fired, and is in on whatever is actually going on with Blonsky.

[johntfs]

6 minutes ago, SnarkShark said:

It's strongly implied her new boss engineered everything that happened.  The speculations out there are that he hired Titania to do what she did, got her fired, and is in on whatever is actually going on with Blonsky.

There's "there are no coincidences" and then there's "board of string and crazy" conspiracy theories and this feels like that.  As far as we've been told, this is the first time Jen turns into She-Hulk after she leaves Bruce.  So, Jen's new boss: Somehow learned she was She-Hulk, somehow learned that Titania was also a superhuman and hired Titania to go to traffic court and "Titan out" and attack the court next to it, somehow convinced the DA to fire Jennifer and somehow ensured that no other firm hired Jennifer and then hired Jennifer to do... something with Blonsky.

Let's Occam's Razor this a little bit.  The above idea requires a lot of extra assumptions as witness all the "somehows." 

Doesn't it make more sense if we take things at face value?  NuBoss was there trying to defend a client and about to get beat by Jen when Titania, stupidly fleeing traffic court, interrupted the proceedings.  Everything else follows.  The DA's office fired Jen because they can't afford criminal trials to become super-human circuses (sucks for Jen, but there it is).  No other firm has the balls/ingenuity to hire Jen.  Jen's new boss hires her because he knows she's a really good lawyer from having faced her in court and he's putting together a super-human law division because he sees it as a coming thing where a superhuman would be an asset instead of a possible liability.  Blonsky's just another client to him.

[Cthulhudrew]

I tend to agree with Johntfs for all the reasons he mentioned, plus NuBoss seemed just as surprised as everyone else that Jen turned into She-Hulk for someone who somehow knew that she was hiding an alter-ego.

[Spaceman Spiff]

19 hours ago, Featherhat said:

I can't remember TIH, was Blonsky telling the truth about what happened? I know they were originally trying to create new Caps but didn't he end up injecting himself with more or something? 

Blonsky took multiple doses of the governments super soldier serum. But when they finally captured Bruce, he was with Dr Sterns "Mr Blue" who was looking for a cure for Bruce and had replicated Bruces contaminated blood, to which Blonsky told Sterns I want what he has, give it to me. Sterns response was, "I don't know what you have inside you already, the combination of the two could become an Abomination"

[Ailianna]

8 hours ago, Athena5217 said:

I would have liked to see Jen explore the possibility of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Being a hulk is not something she chose or can change, so it seems similar to having a medical condition that doesn’t prevent you from doing your job and being fired for it.

As a rule, prosecutors, who work for elected officials, are at will employees. They can be fired for any reason or no reason, including things that staff (who are civil servants with a union) could not be fired for. Losing an important trial is reason enough. Losing because of an undisclosed condition that could be dangerous to co-workers is a no brainer. I don't think she has any kind of case for that reason.

[Chyromaniac]

As a law & order fan, “is this because I’m a She-Hulk?”  would’ve been a fantastic joke for Jen to say after getting fired.

[Raja]

56 minutes ago, Chyromaniac said:

As a law & order fan, “is this because I’m a She-Hulk?”  would’ve been a fantastic joke for Jen to say after getting fired.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Chyromaniac said:

As a law & order fan, “is this because I’m a She-Hulk?”  would’ve been a fantastic joke for Jen to say after getting fired.

Brilliant catch, @Chyromaniac!!!
Adding this to my list of Primetimer Awards New Category to nominate: Biggest Missed Opportunity For [something about call backs].
Anyone please feel free to tell me what to put in the brackets.

They could even have doubled down on it with Jen breaking the 4th wall, like:

• [JEN] Is this because I’m a She-Hulk?
• [BOSS WHO JUST FIRED HER] No. Of course not. No.
• [JEN] Good.
  [JEN TURNS TO CAMERA, BREAKING THE 4TH WALL AND ROLLS HER EYES]

ETA: I realize it would be tricky to work in without a crap-ton of dialog, because Jen *was* fired because she was a She-Hulk.

Edited August 26, 2022 by shapeshifter

[tennisgurl]

I feel bad that Jennifer feels like she is basically being hired for her powers, but if she just keeps repeating "mini-fridge" over and over, that should remove some of the sting. Once the She-Hulk has bene unleashed, you cant really put her back in. At least its better than Bruce, who spent his first years as the Hulk running from shitbag Ross while having several breakdowns. I can see why her new boss wants her to head a new superhuman law department, it seems like that would be a lucrative market to get into.

Jennifer handling super related law sounds like a premise that has a lot of longevity, I wish that we had a longer season to really explore the premise, like Law and Order but with superpowers. I love how, given the interconnected nature of the MCU, we have the time to really world build and explore the more mundane ways that the world has been affected by the appearance of super powers, magic, aliens, etc. I am also happy that the MCU is going back to some of its lesser loved projects and giving them more time to shine instead of being embarrassed by them. 

I have been ready to see Abomination again since his cameo in Shang-Chi, Tim Roth is clearly having a blast getting to play Emil again, now feeling way more Zen between his illegal fight clubbing and haikus. Its been awhile since I saw the Hulk movie, but I think what he said was basically how things went down, even if he was underplaying some aspects. Looks like Wong is going to have some explaining to do...

I liked seeing Jennifer's family, her dad especially seems like a really nice guy. Jennifer's growing frustration with her families well meaning meddling was both funny and sincere, I have definitely been to those kinds of dinners before, even without the superpowers. She-Hulk is really not the most dignified name, but at least its doesn't have monkey in the title. 

Oh yeah, I saw that "its like I was a different person" complete with fourth wall break. I see you, show. I also saw those articles really quickly about the giant on a beach in Eternals, and then an article about a guy getting into a bar fight who had metal claws...

Looks like Bruce is off to space, but hopefully he makes it back in time for the season finale. Mark Ruffalo and Tatiana Maslany have great chemistry, even over the phone. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Firing Jennifer seems like a pretty stupid idea. I guess I can get feeling like having her around would be a distraction, but I think the big fancy firm has the smarter play, really lean into the superhero stuff, especially as superhero law has to be an emerging market.

I thought it made sense because she was a prosecutor and having super powers creates a lot of potential for conflict of interest. 

One thing I liked was that the reason for the mistrial was reasonable. 

[johntfs]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Brilliant catch, @Chyromaniac!!!
Adding this to my list of Primetimer Awards New Category to nominate: Biggest Missed Opportunity For [something about call backs].
Anyone please feel free to tell me what to put in the brackets.

They could even have doubled down on it with Jen breaking the 4th wall, like:

• [JEN] Is this because I’m a She-Hulk?
• [BOSS WHO JUST FIRED HER] No. Of course not. No.
• [JEN] Good.
  [JEN TURNS TO CAMERA, BREAKING THE 4TH WALL AND ROLLS HER EYES]

ETA: I realize it would be tricky to work in without a crap-ton of dialog, because Jen *was* fired because she was a She-Hulk.

Except that in the case the dialogue would be:

[JEN] Is this because I'm a She-Hulk?

[BOSS WHO JUST FIRED HER] Yes, OF course it is.  That's what I just told you.

4 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Firing Jennifer seems like a pretty stupid idea. I guess I can get feeling like having her around would be a distraction, but I think the big fancy firm has the smarter play, really lean into the superhero stuff, especially as superhero law has to be an emerging market. I feel bad that Jennifer feels like she is basically being hired for her powers, but if she just keeps repeating "mini-fridge" over and over, that should remove some of the sting. Once the She-Hulk has bene unleashed, you cant really put her back in. At least its better than Bruce, who spent his first years as the Hulk running from shitbag Ross having several breakdowns. 

It's not really her fault, but the end result is that the prosecution on the dude in Jen's trial will have to retry him (and thus spend the money they just spent on the trial again) because Jen turned into She-Hulk and provoked a mistrial.  Jen wasn't working at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.  She was a prosecutor working for the District Attorney.  That office can't afford distractions, further mistrials or cases potentially getting thrown out because the jury preemptively likes She-Hulk.

[Stardancer Supreme]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:04 PM, thuganomics85 said:

No sighting of Titania this go around (but it sounds like she might have escaped?), but hearing that she's not just a supervillian, but a social influencer is so perfect!  Jameela Jamil will be so much fun in that type of role!

Running from Traffic Court, no less. 

I'm not going to sweat Jen taking this new job. Remember, the MCU version of the Avengers (whoever is left from the original team) aren't getting paid anymore, since Tony is gone.  There's not a lot any superhero can do unless they have someone bankrolling the superhero exploits!

I wonder who is going to introduce Jen to Wong and the other supernaturals in the MCU?

[Cattoy]

I can understand the reasoning why Jen was let go from her job in the DA's office, but it would be a public relations disaster in real-life. The public loves her, and she saved a lot of people from injury. Social media would be on fire with questions about the DA's office's commitment to helping the public if they fire someone who just saved a lot of that very same public. Add in the fact they were doing their civic duty, and yikes.

Maybe some legal folk will clarify, but was there any way to have her work but stay out of the court? Let her do the casework, research, come up with strategy, prep witnesses, etc., but have another attorney do the court portion.

[Ailianna]

She could do all of those things in a big city DAs office except prep witnesses. That's definitely an integral part of the "court portion" and I would seriously side eye any attorney who had someone else prep their witnesses. Its definitely not like you're just trying to get them to regurgitate a two paragraph statement. Talking to witnesses doesn't just prepare them; it prepares the attorney too.

[Sakura12]

Jen getting fired makes sense, she works for the DA, they can't afford to be made a spectacle. That's why the other firms wouldn't hire her either. On the other hand the Defense firm is probably counting on that. 

Bruce is literally a different person. True. Lol I don't know if I completely trust Emil but Wong seems too. 

I'm glad they finally acknowledged the giant statue in the ocean, even if it was in a side panel of whatever website Jen was on. Along with the man with metal claws one. 

[paigow]

58 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

I don't know if I completely trust Emil but Wong seems too. 

Wong trusts magic to keep Emil under control...

[phalange]

I laughed at Jen saying that being a superhero is for “billionaires, narcissists, and adult orphans.” Honestly, fair. And I totally understand her not liking being dubbed “She-Hulk.”

It sucks that she got fired after saving people and got rejected from increasingly worse law firms. Her new job having a superhero division makes sense considering the superhero-related shenanigans that happen. I remember Abomination from TIH, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it so I honestly didn’t remember if Blonsky was being honest. Bruce saying he’s a completely different person now was a funny wink to the audience. 

[Cattoy]

Thanks, Ailianna. I was sure there was something they could have done rather than fire her. I'm not sure she'd be happy out of court, not to mention it would have messed up the plot.

[Danny Franks]

I like how genre-savvy Jen is. Being a superhero is for billionaires, narcissists and "adult orphans, for some reason"? Let me ponder for a moment just how many characters fit one (or all) of those descriptors.

Meanwhile, she has two supportive parents who are happy and successful. No wonder she doesn't want to be a superhero. There's a bit of a disconnect between how casual her family is about the whole thing and how Bruce was literally hunted by the army, but I don't really care that much, because the whole 'I'm not safe to be around anyone' is Bruce's thing, not Jen's.

Jen's office is definitely worth being in Hulk-form full time. And she really is determined for this to be a fun, lawyer show. But Ally McBeal never had to represent the giant monster who tried to kill her cousin.

Tim Roth is looking old. Blonsky had a good point though. Why is he in supermax while Bruce gets his own paradise island lab? But if his haiku is truly heartfelt, then I guess he's made his peace with it.

Bruce loving She-Hulk while Jen hates it is so perfect. Guess he's off to do the Planet Hulk storyline, now, so this is probably the last we'll see him in the show.

Loved the post-credits scene of her dad completely taking advantage of her super-strength. That's definitely what most people would do.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Danny Franks

[paigow]

The Walters gene pool is pretty shallow. Best Buy dude definitely not from the Banner side.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, paigow said:

The Walters gene pool is pretty shallow. Best Buy dude definitely not from the Banner side.

I don't know Bruce's mother and Jen's father means daddy Banner probably has nothing to do with the gamma survival gene.

[paigow]

Not canon, but Nick Nolte / Eric Bana were Father Son Hulks...

Also, Jen got all the smart genes regardless of evolutionary mutation 

Edited August 27, 2022 by paigow

[Raja]

On 8/25/2022 at 9:07 PM, dwmarch said:

I was a little disappointed that the prison was run by Damage Control rather than SHIELD. As the previous appearances of DoDC span various films and TV shows I will spoiler code the criticisms:

  Reveal spoiler

Damage Control is only good at damaging innocent civilians - they blew up an apartment building rather than even try to talk Kamran down in Ms. Marvel.
Damage Control is terrible at controlling anything - plenty of this in No Way Home and Ms. Marvel where DoDC goon squads did absolutely nothing to help and mostly ended up getting embarrassed by teenagers.
Damage Control is also no good at prison administration per Ms. Marvel. The ClanDestines antagonize a guard into starting a fight which leads to them breaking out less than five minutes later.

I guess the same is true for SHIELD if we want to catalog their slip-ups over time but DoDC hasn't been shown as competent enough to be in charge of a jail full of supers yet. But DoDC doesn't have the stink of Marvel Entertainment on them so I guess they win.

I missed any DODC branding on the supermax prison or the guards. I thought these guys seem competent, like the US Navy sailors on the Raft at the end of Captain America Civil War when compared to the Ms. Marvel jailers.

[dwmarch]

18 minutes ago, Raja said:

I missed any DODC branding on the supermax prison or the guards.

[johntfs]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:31 PM, paigow said:

Wong trusts magic to keep Emil under control...

Based on what we saw in Shang-chi, I doubt that.  The two seemed to have a pretty cordial working relationship.  I suspect that Wong said something like "If you try to fuck me over, I'll send you to Pluto" but it didn't look like he was using magic or anything else to control Emil.

[netlyon2]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:08 AM, Chyromaniac said:

As a law & order fan, “is this because I’m a She-Hulk?”  would’ve been a fantastic joke for Jen to say after getting fired.

I laughed extra-hard at this because I've spent the past few days calling this episode "Jen Goes to Work at Wolfram and Hart" (just adding another layer)