She-Hulk Review: "Just Jen"

I do love that this season (and I say "season" instead of "series" because I think Season Two is inevitable) has nine episodes, because it does seem to operate like a baseball lineup. We were just treated to the "cleanup" episodes centering on Titania's attempt to sue over the She-Hulk name, and failing badly. So what do we get in the last leg of the heart of the order? A wedding...as well as a divorce, because, of course, these things have to go together.

So Jen is invited as a bridesmaid to the wedding of her childhood friend, Lulu, despite the fact that they hadn't kept in touch for so long. Of course she emerges in a lovely new dress, and in her She-Hulk form, which wows all of Team Lulu, but not the bride herself. She tells Jen not to be "Hulk-y" at her wedding (after all, we can't upstage the bride, oh boy).

Meanwhile, Mallory and Nikki are handling a divorce case centering on a superhuman known as Mr. Immortal. The name speaks for itself; he has been married many, many times and got out of them by staging his "death". He described one moment when he literally walked into moving traffic, and this leads the pair to the obvious conclusion: he can't stand and can't handle any sort of confrontation. Case in point--as soon as he's confronted with this, Mr. Immortal jumps out of the window and falls many stories to his...unharmed, getting up like nothing happened and walking away. As for Jen, as she attempts to catch up with Lulu, she sees a familiar face at the wedding, and it's the last person she wanted to see.

That's right. Titania suddenly appeared at wedding, fresh off her courtroom defeat and her threat to get payback on Jen, who is alarmed when Lulu revealed that she invited Titania--who was dating one of the groomsmen--and they both shoot down Jen's statement that Titania only appeared just to get back at her, though Titania's evil gleam clearly gave that hint. Jen ends up venting to Josh Miller, one of the groom's friends, and back at the firm, all of Mr. Immortal's spouses confront their significant other, with one of his wives revealing that he learned how to fake his death from a site known as Intelligencia. After being read the riot act by Mallory, Mr. Immortal decides that he should split his wealth with all eight spouses equally, but that starts another argument, as a wife who was married to Mr. Immortal for 18 years felt she should get more than the others. However, they finally come up with an unorthodox settlement, consisting of reimbursements, apologies, and eye contact.

At the wedding, Jen gets loaded and parties, but her good time is interrupted by Titania, who punches her after she throws up. Titania wants her chance at revenge and ordered Jen to transform, while accusing her of having a name that she didn't want or deserve. The inebriated Jen forgets how to shift, but after she fully concentrates, she Hulks up and fights Titania, with Round 2 ending in embarrassing fashion for Jen's foe: in the form of falling on her face and damaging her veneers. Titania leaves in embarrassment, and at the first, Mallory and Nikki look into Intelligencia, and see a series of death threats against She-Hulk, after which Nikki calls Jen and tells her (despite Mallory telling her not to do so). Jen, however, is busy eating french fries with Mallory, and the episode ends with a mysterious group of scientists with a batch of needles, while also spying on Jen.

You know, right after I watched this episode, I couldn't help but have the following thought: will we witness a heel turn from Mallory? Maybe I've watched too many Lifetime movies, maybe I love a good twist, or maybe I just love to see a seemingly moral and upstanding woman revealed as a sinister villainess. But I do know this: Mallory and Jen aren't exactly friendly; she doesn't hate Jen, but there isn't much closeness. That's usually all it takes. When Mallory told Nikki not to tell Jen about Intelligencia, under the claim of "letting Jen live her life," that turned up my Spidey Sense. It led me to think, "Maybe Mallory's working for them." Anything's possible in the MCU realm. Mallory Book is played by Renée Elise Goldsberry, and if (or when) Mallory turns heel in the final one-third of this season, it will not mark Goldsberry's first time playing a villainess. Goldsberry appeared in the 2018 film, The House With a Clock on Its Walls, as the evil Selena Izard.

Episode 6, "Just Jen," was released on Disney+ on September 22, 2022, and with this episode, we are two-thirds through the season. The bottom one-third should be quite interesting, and we should really get to learn more about the actual people who are trying to do in She-Hulk.

Thanks for reading my review; feel free to leave a comment below! If you like it, click the heart and click subscribe if you want more, and feel free to leave a tip or pledge (if you want)!