She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (Disney +)

Sigh. And the Marvel Studio series decline starts right on cue. I'm disappointed but not surprised.

I will say this. Because the series is a doofy comedy, even if it does become as underwhelming as every other Marvel show that limped to the barn, it at least won't turn into a bummer to watch. I still can't believe that happened to Ms. Marvel and I'm still steamed about it.

I loved Wong's appearance, and frankly I love that the show is giving Blonsky a genuine redemption arc, and even came up with a plausible reason for the prison break. It was so plausible, it was already set up! I was like "Oh, yeah!"

I'm giving that a solid three and a half stars, but I really think I should be giving it a lower grade on general principle. But this show's decline will not be Moon Knight or Ms. Marvel's decline. So that's something at least. Not much, but still. ***1/2.

I think the producers are under the mistaken impression Wong is a bigger fan-favorite character than he is. Don't get me wrong, I like him, but he certainly does not quality as one of the MCU's main scene-stealers.

That being said, his stuff with Madysonn WAS pretty funny, especially him being so upset she keeps spoiling The Sopranos. Frankly, I think they make a cute couple. It would not surprise me to see them being a thing in the third Doctor Strange movie.

Yes, the series is in a slump. Stipulated. But at least it's not a depressing one. ***.

Inspired silliness. I don't tend to like episodes from the middle part of a Marvel Studios' show's run, but this was solid all the way through. I like the idea that the show used Jen having to admit and go through her embarrassing dating life to win the biggest case of her career so far. I don't feel like there is a ton of perfect subtext in the Marvel Studios shows. And maybe there doesn't need to be. But I liked the message that sent both about Jen and what the show was trying to do with its premise at the same time. It felt right for that reason.

If next week is another twerking episode, I'm sure I'll forget how much I liked this week and be back to talking smack. But I DID like this week. ****1/2.

Jen confesses that this week is a standalone episode coming at a really inconvenient time. And contrary to what the writers think, that mea culpa doesn't make that actual fault any less true.

Complicating things further for me is this show has done a piss-poor job on giving Titania anything resembling even SLIGHTLY credible motivations.

I thought the Mr. Immortal stuff was all right, especially with everybody arguing over his legal liability to each of the women he defrauded. But yeah. The dude's a total turd.

I liked Jen's wedding boyfriend though. He seems cute.

Didn't really like the episode though, although it was technically decent qualitywise. ***.

That was delightful.

I've been spending the past few weeks comparing this show to the other Marvel shows and movies and maybe I need to cool it there a little. Maybe ALL Marvel fans need to cool it about that. Maybe in my rush to wonder how this will hold up to everything else, I'm forgetting to watch this show on its own terms. To be fair to me, Marvel makes things so interconnected that's difficult. But maybe on things like this that aren't asking too much of us, I can try and do that. It's hard to not look at the whole of the Marvel Cinematic Universe during a Doctor Strange Multiverse movie. Maybe a She-Hulk sitcom is okay for me to just chill a bit.

I can't pretend I will definitely have fond memories of this series. I look over my old reviews for Hawkeye, they were generally positive at the time, and I don't look back at that series fondly anyways. My opinion of what I watch changes all the time in hindsight for better or worse. But I like to think this encounter session with Emil Blonski is something I will remember fondly back on in time. It's not just fun, it's sweet.

I also think Jen watching Miss Piggy break out of prison during The Great Muppet Caper was the correct movie for her to be watching during her period of pain.

The one thing I didn't like was the reveal of Josh as one of the bad guys from the conspiracy group. Not just because it's cliched and an easy answer to make us hate Josh. But because the fact that Jen breaks the fourth wall and knows she's on a TV show makes me question how it is she doesn't know about stuff like that already. Deadpool's breaking of the fourth wall has never made me question how he does it or what he's ultimately aware of. Somebody keeping a huge secret from Jen on the show unfortunately does that.

But I really loved everything else, and I won't penalize the episode too badly for it. ****1/2.

Will there EVER be a Marvel Studios show that sticks the landing? That doesn't make me completely fed up by the time things are done? That damn (insert cartoon profanity) ending. Even if next week is great (which isn't out of the question) because of this episode I suspect I will not look back on the series fondly. I seem to recall giving positive reviews to the finales of Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel at the time, and in hindsight both those shows left a bad taste in my mouth and my memory. I think this episode is going to do that for this show.

Let me clue the producers in on something: Just because you CAN sexually humiliate Jen for pathos, doesn't mean you SHOULD. It doesn't mean I want to see that, or for a season that has acted like Jen's active sex life is empowering is something that she should be shamed for in front of her entire family. Joss Whedon loves sexually humiliating his female heroes too. And I hate him to death for it. I don't care if this had a female showrunner doing it. I'm sick to death of female characters being shamed for this specific thing to add drama... to a freaking comedy! Seriously. What. The. HELL?

I'd lie and say it was good seeing Charlie Cox as Daredevil again, but the truth is I hated Netflix's Matt Murdock with a passion, and thought Cox's interpretation was the worst I could ever imagine. What I will say is I didn't feel that here. Which makes the appalling ending just make me even angrier.

I'm sick of this crap. 1/2.