Whose Show Is This?
In the ninth episode of She-Hulk, Jen wakes up in a cage with no memory of how she got there. After realizing that she can’t control her anger, Jen claims that this is “how anyone would respond in that situation.” This is a fair point, except Jen has already told us that she can control her anger infinitely better than Bruce can. Would Bruce Banner have reacted in the same way? ..
Jen is offered a plea deal by the DA. The terms include her permanently banned from transforming into She-Hulk. She also quits her job and gives up her apartment too, moving back home with her parents. Dennis even goes on-air, adding insult to injury by claiming he dated Jen for a while and could see the issues there. ..
A video of She-Hulk dancing does the rounds – but it’s not the twerking in the office. It’s a video of Jen at college dancing about, which Jen’s embarrassed about, claiming she has work to do. That work includes Jen and Nikki working together to try and find out who has taken Jen’s information.
Nikki orders Pug to show himself and he does so. He claims it’s all due to nepotism and that he hacked Jen’s phone. Emil and Todd are there too, and they confirm that Pug is the one who did it. Jen arrives and notices them, and she’s shocked that she’s been betrayed.
Josh was actually hired by Todd to steal Titania’s blood so that he can become his own Hulk and take over the world. As he injects himself and starts to become a Hulk, Titania crashes through the wall and Bruce drops from the sky. And then everything just goes completely off the rails.
She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall, busting out of her own show and appearing in the writer’s room. She-Hulk wants to talk to Kevin Feige, unhappy with a big action set piece in her own show. After hurting innocent security guards who are just doing their jobs, Jen shows up and realizes that Kevin is actually an AI robot. Jen is unhappy with a big action set piece in her own show and She-Hulk busts out of the fourth wall to talk to Kevin Feige directly. ..
Jen claims that she’s not happy with the direction of her show, pointing out that it’s a legal comedy. She decides to rewrite the whole story, going on to completely belittle the original Avengers and point out the flaws inherent in all of Phase Four’s projects in the process.
She-Hulk returns to the story in a big way. Titania is there in the background for some reason, along with all the other characters. Todd is arrested and Jen tells him she’ll “see him in court.” Emil heads back to prison for 10 years, completely fine with what’s happened, while Daredevil drops from the sky because that’s what Jen wants. ..
Bruce arrives at the family barbecue and shows off his son Skaar. Wong saves Emil from prison and they share a moment.
The Episode Review
Marvel’s She-Hulk comes to an end with a finale that is unique in terms of its writing and bashing Marvel’s formula, The Avengers and the stale writing across Phase Four. It is shocking that we have reached the point where “nothing matters, who cares, lets just do whatever and break Marvel continuity” is a viable strategy for them. Thisbold strategy Cotton, let’s see how it pays off for them!
A lot of people have commented on Marvel’s declining writing and it’s nice to see it called out. But then that only matters if the writing improves from here. If Marvel doesn’t improve their writing, it’ll only be a matter of time until they’re relegated to the same level as DC and Marvel is left behind in the industry.
The three main stories in this issue were Moon Knight, No Way Home, and Wandavision. However, Multiverse of Madness had a lot of problems that made it a poor story.
This finale of She-Hulk feels like a disguised lack of stakes or genuine storytelling. There’s no explanation of how Todd hired Josh, what their connection actually is and why he was at the wedding in the first place. Why was Emily Blonsky working with them? And what was Titania was even doing in the finale. Oh, and that’s with overlooking the fact Jen broke her own parole by turning into She-Hulk to apprehend them!
The plot elements of She-Hulk are quirky, until you look at the details and see that the show is breaking its own established rules. But maybe that’s the point; throwing a bunch of random things at the screen and seeing what sticks. Marvel can answer this, but She-Hulk has been arguably the worst project Marvel have put out.
