Jennifer Walters’ life has turned upside down and then some as she continues to grapple with the challenges of her new life as a superhero. The second installment of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was an incremental step in the right direction after the premiere was a mixed bag, to say the least. This week’s episode ended with a compelling twist, so expect some spoilers in our analysis of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 2.
The show opened with a brief recap of the premiere and delivered an expedited version of the origin story that the debut featured, as well as a reminder of Jennifer Walter’s reluctant coming out party as a superhero. This video package also highlighted Jennifer’s relationship with her cousin Bruce Banner, who tried to help her deal with her new powers, only for her to claim that she could figure them out herself because she’s a different Hulk.
Twist of Fate
In the opening minutes, we see news coverage hailing She-Hulk as a hero for the way she saved the day when Titania crashed the courtroom at the end of episode one. While civilians subsequently cheer her alter ego’s name at a bar, Jennifer is quickly brought back down to earth when her boss fires her. As it turns out, saving the lives of jury members can bias them in your favor, so Jennifer is viewed as a liability because the case was ruled a mistrial. Once she loses her job, Jennifer looks for work elsewhere and gets rejected each and every time in a montage that rings true in today’s job market. She seemingly reaches rock bottom, questioning what her years of grinding through law school and building her career have all been for when an unexpected visitor gets her back on track.
Mr. Holliway, a member of the opposing side in the aforementioned court case, approaches Jennifer and offers her a job. He wants her to be the face of his firm’s brand-new superhuman law division. The first complication comes with the terms of the deal; Jennifer must work in her She-Hulk form each and every day. The offer is bittersweet because she must struggle with the feeling that everyone will think she only got the job due to her powers, which is a somewhat true observation, based on Holliway’s recruitment pitch. Still, it’s too good to pass up for Jennifer, who was suddenly thrust into the world of unemployment and left without hope for salvation. By accepting these terms, Jennifer at least has a lifeline that will allow her to keep doing what she loves, albeit in a different context.
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Meet the Parents
The difficulty to genuinely connect with Jennifer as a person was one of the issues that hampered the premiere. This time around, we get a little more color as to who she is. She attends a family dinner, shortly after her life abruptly falls apart upon the loss of her job. When greeted by her parents, her dad quickly comes across as a nice, caring guy. Meanwhile, her mom seems snippy and not entirely likely to help make her daughter feel better. Whereas her father supports her and suggests that she shouldn’t worry about getting fired, Jennifer’s mom wrinkles her nose at the cake she brings to the party and says too much sugar is bad for the waistline. (Way to kick her while she’s down, mom.)
Jennifer’s dad also pulls her aside to check in on her, knowing that she’s going through a hard time. He tells her that it’s going to be okay and notes that she’s not the first Hulk they’ve had to deal with as a family. He also points out that, unlike Bruce, Jennifer hasn’t destroyed a whole city (yet), so she’s not doing too badly. Getting a more intricate look at Jennifer and learning about her relationships with her family helps make her feel like more of a real person, especially when compared to the fairly limited character we were introduced to in the premiere.
An Abominable Cliffhanger
As mentioned, Jennifer’s agreement with her new firm, GLK & H, has some strings attached. In addition to the mandate that she must work in her She-Hulk form, Jennifer is ordered to take the case of Emil Blonsky, also known as The Abomination. Tim Roth reprises his role as the villain from The Incredible Hulk. The man who tried to kill her cousin (during the film) has the chance to get paroled, and he’s in the market for a new lawyer. Jennifer initially refuses to take the case, citing the conflict of interest that stems from Emil’s history with Bruce. When she’s informed that she will only get the job if she represents Emil, she decides to pay him at the superhuman facility he has been incarcerated at.
Emil presents himself as a reformed man; he says he has found seven (yes, seven) soulmates through the facility’s pen pal program, and he would like nothing more than to start a new life with them. He tells Jennifer that he has changed spiritually and physically. As for The Hulk, he says that he was under direct orders from the government to stop a deadly threat. Emil points out that he thought he’d practically be the next Captain America, but he was instead villainized while The Hulk was held up to be a hero. He also convinces Jennifer that they had a case; he notes that he was full of super soldier serum when he went on a Rampage in Harlem. She decides to take the case because she trusts that Emil truly has changed. In the end, he did change, just not in the way that she expected.
In the closing moments of the episode, Jennifer accepts the job and tells her boss that the case will be a slam dunk. When he tells her to turn on the news, she is stunned to see that Roth morphed back into The Abomination, escaped the facility, and started competing at an underground fight club. The monster is on the loose, and it seems like it will take a She-Hulk-sized powerhouse to stop him. Here, the series makes its strongest step yet by establishing the opportunity to dive into the mostly neglected mythos of The Incredible Hulk and flesh it out in an MCU that has changed drastically since the film first premiered. Numerous possibilities are on the table, and it will be exciting to see how the series capitalizes.
