credit: She-Hulk
If there was any doubt that the MCU is hitting a low point at this time, then this episode of She-Hulk should make that fairly clear since the show has gone full-blown huggy-feely in a way that a lot of people might like, but others might be getting frustrated with. About the only saving grace for this episode is the fact that the man that Jen met, Josh, does eventually turn out to be less than she wanted, which is bound to shatter her sense of self-worth once again and maybe remind her that she’s a lot better off as She-Hulk than she as Jen. But for the sake of this episode, it would appear that Emil Blonsky is still on the level as he’s set up his own retreat and invited some rather interesting characters to partake of his type of therapy. When Jen is called up by the man in charge of Emil’s ankle inhibitor, she’s reminded once again that her role as She-Hulk is valued no matter how much she considers it to be a pain in the neck. Before she’s called up, however, she does manage to go on a few dates with Josh, which eventually result in him spending the night at her place. Unfortunately, three days later, he hasn’t called her, and she’s doing everything she can to not appear desperate by texting him back over and over. Ah yes, the problems of a superhero…in some way.
credit: She-Hulk
Jen is so hung up on having a normal life that she doesn’t appear to see the overall value of being She-Hulk.
In all fairness, Jen wants to be the woman that she turned herself into, and She-Hulk hasn’t factored into that for most of her life. But now that life has thrown her a curveball. She’s doing whatever she can to cry foul while at the same time trying to deal with her life as the hero that her cousin has already told her that she’s meant to be. There’s little doubt that she needs a bit of relaxation time, but this episode is enough to set a person’s teeth on edge as the retreat ends up being inhabited by a bunch of individuals who are genuine wonders in one way or another but are still highly emotional individuals that could rightly be called kooks by a lot of people. Plus, seeing the Abomination become a therapist and revert from a seriously disturbed individual into someone that speaks like a new-age psychiatrist is kind of awkward.
The fact that this is what some people want to see doesn’t bode well for what might be coming later.
This could be a lull in the action, it could be the calm before the storm, but the way that the She-Hulk series has been going thus far makes one feel that if there is still action to be had, it’s going to need to be something that blows the roof off. As of now, She-Hulk has been kind of a bust since the series started, as the best action at this point has been the brief scuffle that Jen had with her cousin Bruce. Everything else has been kind of a joke since it feels as though the writers are taking it easy on her and focusing more on her status as a woman than her development as a hero. Like it or not, She-Hulk is, in the comics, a hero as well as a lawyer and a woman who knows what she wants. It’s a big hope that we’ll get to see the full picture, meaning the fully fleshed-out character, at some point. As of now, we’ve only been invited into Jen’s personal problems and her struggles as a lawyer that’s trying to make her own way in the world. Hopefully, we’ll get to see her stand out as a hero at some point.
credit: She-Hulk
Is this the future of the MCU?
Its’ a broad and kind of ridiculous question since it would appear that the MCU is going to get a little darker moving forward. Maybe She-Hulk is a way to bolster the emotions of the fanbase and give a solid base from which to work. That’s an interesting thought to be certain, but as of now, it feels that the MCU is headed on a course that might place more emphasis on the type of character development that will seek to build a character up in a way that will focus on their inner desires rather than on the actions and deeds that make them the heroes they are. In other words, it feels as though the MCU is going to become a lot more introspective.
Things have to start getting better, right?
A lot of people might think that this review is anything but positive, and to be sure, it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of how great this episode was. The reason for this is that it would appear that the MCU writers are doing whatever they can to show how sensitive they can make a hero while at the same time ignoring what made these characters great in the first place. Yes, that same old argument is going to come up again and again, especially when it becomes apparent that the MCU is sacrificing the story for added content that the fans didn’t ask for.
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