Warning! This review contains spoilers for episode 7 ofShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Marvel Studios’She-Hulk: Attorney at Lawis back with another mostly standalone episode, “The Retreat.” Jen visits Emil Blonsky at a wellness retreat for superhumans and ends up stranded there when a Z-list Marvel character named Man-Bull rams into her car and renders it undrivable. Tatiana Maslany continues to delight with her effortless charisma and spot-on comic timing in the title role. Tim Roth returns with his dryly hilarious turn as the new and improved Abomination alongside obscure scene-stealers like Nate Hurd as Man-Bull, Joseph Castillo-Midyett as El Águila, Jordan Aaron Ford as Porcupine, and Terrence Clowe as the vampiric Saracen.
Zeb Wells’ script has some of the series’ sharpest storytelling. It doesn’t follow the standard sitcom structure of a concurrent A-plot and B-plot. Instead, it sets up an internal conflict as Jen sleeps with Josh and then waits days for him to text her back, then sets up an external conflict with Blonsky’s wellness retreat, then brings the two together as she opens up about her insecurities and dating struggles during one of Blonsky’s group therapy sessions.Blonsky and his fellow reformed supervillainshelp Jen gain some self-confidence before taking her for some R&R in the yurt. And then, just as she’s leaving the retreat in a tow truck, more sure of herself than ever, the twist ending hits.
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Wells also penned some ofthe funniest lines in the showso far. After Man-Bull totals her car and apologizes to the matador-themed superhero he was fighting, Jen snaps, “Apologize to my Prius Prime… with money!” When Jen Hulks out upon seeing the Asgardian construction worker who attacked her and throws him across the room, Blonsky tells her, “I’m gonna need you to sit in the calming chair.” The fact thatShe-Hulkmostly forgoes comic book action in favor of a lighthearted sitcom style is only an issue when the sitcom parts don’t get a lot of laughs. But “The Retreat” is the show’s funniest episode since “Is This Not Real Magic?” withthe iconic duo of Wong and Madisynn.
Once again,She-Hulkimpresses with its ability topredict its own audience’s response. When the Wrecking Crew member steps into group therapy and Jen reacts with shock, she tells the viewer, “You probably don’t even remember who this guy is,” before initiating her own “Previously on…” segment to explain his significance. There’s also a great moment of anti-foreshadowing when Saracen suggests that Josh just wanted Jen’s blood. It’s shrugged off as a throwaway gag from a vampire who doesn’t understand normal human interactions, but he actually gives away the ending.
When director Anu Valia took over from Kat Coiro, she continued to handle the actors and their dynamics brilliantly, butShe-Hulklost some of its stylistic spark. The flourishes that Coiro brought to the table were absent fromValia’s first couple of episodes. But in “The Retreat,” she brings in some fun visual touches that recall the early episodes helmed by Coiro. The episode opens with a pan across Jen’s apartment with multiple Jens going about their day. Valia then dives into a montage of Jen’s blossoming romance with Josh as they grow closer and their doorway farewells get more and more intimate before she invites him in to spend the night. The camera follows Jen around the retreat with a “No Service” caption attached to her as she tries to find signal.
“The Retreat” is yet anotherShe-Hulkepisode where the most important plot point is crammed in at the very end. There’s still no Daredevil, no more development on the Titania front, and no answer as to the identity of “HulkKing,”the Intelligencia userwho wants Jen’s blood so badly. And speaking of “HulkKing,” the episode’s final twist is somewhat predictable. It seemed like there was something fishy going on last week when Jen met Josh at her friend’s wedding and he was just a little too perfect. His radio silence after spending the night with Jen confirmed that there was something sinister about him. So, when the final scene of the episode reveals that he’s working for the Wrecking Crew and that he extracted Jen’s blood in her sleep, it hardly arrives as a surprise.
The latest episode ofShe-Hulkexhibitsits most fun quality and its most frustrating quality. The supervillain wellness retreat offers a great standalone adventure-of-the-week storyline with plenty of opportunities for jokes, but it continues to drag out its ongoing narrative arcs with no real conclusion in sight. The season only has two episodes left, so closure on the Titania, Daredevil, and Wrecking Crew teases are surely right around the corner – but it’s seemed that way sinceMatt Murdock’s new mask was glimpsedin Luke Jacobson’s workspace and the show started skipping its mid-credits tags. The question is, with so many story threads in the air and so many standalone episodes stretching them out, will the writers be able to pull it all together in time for the finale?
