She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: The People vs. Emil Blonsky Books Included

September 1, 2022 6:27 AM - Season 1, Episode 3

Jen and friends battle legal proceedings and a Light Elf from Asgard, as Emil Blonsky and his better eighths plead his innocence, with the help of the Sorcerer Supreme.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (44 comments total)

The continues to be delightful and am I here for it. One could argue that it's a bit all over the place and there are numerous issues (the cgi, where is Titania), but show excels at knowing what it wants to do, which is have fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:30 AM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

I liked this episode! Funny, she gets to do some actual legal stuff, feels like the series is hitting its stride. Would like more of Runa the Light Elf though, she was fun.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 7:38 AM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

As Ryan Arey points out in his easter egg video, there is a (different) shapeshifter character in the She-Hulk comics whose role Runa could easily fill. So more Runa is quite possible.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 7:48 AM on September 1, 2022

This show is so much fun and I am a huge Megan Thee Stallion fan so this episode was amazing!
posted by ellieBOA at 8:00 AM on September 1, 2022

"Dial It Back"

I LOVE THIS SHOW.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:00 AM on September 1, 2022 [3 favorites]

Also, Wong is the GOAT, and the casting agents for MCU properties are straight up magicians.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:01 AM on September 1, 2022 [5 favorites]

Another solid episode. Maslany is probably the best performer the MCU has ever put on screen. Roth is no slouch either, and Blonsky here is a far more interesting character than 2008 Blonsky was.

To my mind, this is the only MCU Disney+ series that surpasses WandaVision. I see it has a mediocre rating on IMDb, which only reinforces caricatured views of insecure, terrified teenage boys being of weak will and easily manipulated.

The ratings page has 1/10 as the most frequent vote. I am reminded of a past job where I had to oversee customer feedback for a national chain. I would occasionally see comment cards come in where the respondent had checked the lowest rating — Very Poor — for every single category: this would include “hours of operation” for places open 24 hours a day. I always thought it polite for these respondents to kindly check off a box declaring, “I have no valuable data to contribute and my views can be ignored.” Thanks, my dude! 👍
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:36 AM on September 1, 2022 [6 favorites]

She-Hulk has had the biggest review-bombing campaign so far, starting the downvotes before the first episode even aired.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:45 AM on September 1, 2022 [2 favorites]

Well, they are small and scared. And on the off chance they watch the thing they are reviewing, probably none too happy about how they get portrayed in this episode. Sadness.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:29 AM on September 1, 2022 [5 favorites]

I also just finished watching that screencrush video and now I'm intrigued Gideon Wilson is Sam Wilson's brother (in the comics). Looking forward to whatever screwy plot spackle to bridge the existing canon if that is to happen.

The editing rly makes the timing of the punchlines pop. I genuinely cackled at Wong's kumite line.
posted by cendawanita at 11:02 AM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best. Mid-credits scene. EVER.

This episode also lampshaded the incel whining so that was nice.

Emil is absolutely going to start a cult with his monsterfucker ladies. They were INTO his Abomination form.

Asgardians: causing trouble! I dare to hope this leads to a Valkyrie cameo.

Mugger dudes were out for Jen's blood! Wonder who the "he" was that sent them?

Wong has social media?
posted by emjaybee at 11:12 AM on September 1, 2022

Wonder who the "he" was that sent them?

Kingpin. We have still to see NY-based Daredevil in LA, and what better rationale than this?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:43 PM on September 1, 2022

Had a "Hey, is that The Wrecking Crew?"/"OH GOD I AM A COLOSSAL NERD" moment in this episode.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:03 PM on September 1, 2022 [9 favorites]

Here are my favorite moments from this episode:
Calling out the 'bros! Wong refusing to erase memories! Runa! Ultra-High Security Prison! Rejected by Avengers! Wong being late! Bronsky being a shrink to the prison guard! Bronsky's endeavor ! The library is no longer just a quiet place to shiv someone! Kumite! Thor's inspirational speeches are not admissible in court! Guard chasing Runa! Kamar-Taj is lovely this time of year! Bronsky wears crocs! "Wong." "Sorcerer Supreme."! Connecting the A and B story, nice! Mr. Pugliese! Pathologically entitled man! Megan Thee Stallion! Diet and exercise secrets! "oh, wait"! Twerking! "Dial it Back"!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:22 PM on September 1, 2022 [6 favorites]

continuing with my assessment that we need to bottle up what she's bringing to Jen because it's amazing.
posted by drewbage1847 at 3:32 PM on September 1, 2022 [2 favorites]

Here are my favorite moments from this episode:

I cannot dispute any part of this list but perhaps you have overlooked the bit where Wong used to work at Target before he became librarian and subsequently Sorceror Supreme.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:34 PM on September 1, 2022 [12 favorites]

How much do I want an episode (or whole series) of Jen hanging out with Kamala Khan? Their energy together would be fantastic.

Shoutout to the couple of custom images slipped into the end credits every episode. They’re the most fun end credits since—well, since Ms. Marvel.

I’ve kept this bottled up for years but here goes: I hate the grammatical construction “a Hulk.” I hated it when Tony Stark said “we have a Hulk” in the Avengers movie, and I’ve hated every time someone in this show (especially Bruce) has said something like “you’re a Hulk now,” as if “a Hulk” was an existing and defined category and not sui generis until now. That’s my secret, Cap—I’m always pedantic.
posted by ejs at 4:40 PM on September 1, 2022 [5 favorites]

I want more Runa, she was hella delightful.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:49 PM on September 1, 2022

Asgardians: causing trouble! I dare to hope this leads to a Valkyrie cameo.
Point of order, they weren't Asgardians. They'd mugged an Asgardian construction worker.

(which, of course an Asgardian construction worker has a glowing safety helmet and etc)
posted by coriolisdave at 5:17 PM on September 1, 2022

The Asgardian shape-shifter is an interesting addition and maybe a preview of the sort of thing I imagine will happen in “Secret Invasion” with the Skrulls.

Overall I like this show’s sense of whimsy because I’m a sucker for whimsy. And I also really like the aesthetic of the watercolor animated end credits every week.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:34 PM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

Oh shit, you probably meant the shape-shifter which means I need to object to myself now
posted by coriolisdave at 5:57 PM on September 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

Hey, haters who hate girls, I'm gonna go watch this show again and give it more hits. This is a delight. The twerks, the Megan, the "oh yeah, I can beat you guys up," the "did you rob an Asgardian construction site?", a guy so egotistical he literally does think he can bag Megan, and of course, the screenshots of haters on the Internet.

I almost kinda wanted him to get probation?
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:22 PM on September 1, 2022 [6 favorites]

^^^ All of this

My nearly-13y.o. daughter adooooores this show, the art at the end, the jokes, the everything.

More pls.
posted by coriolisdave at 6:57 PM on September 1, 2022 [4 favorites]

The thing about the Wrecking Crew was that they were trying to get a sample of Jen's blood... probably trying to see if they could capture whatever X factor (H factor?) that turned her into a Hulk in the first place. This series has continued the Department of Damage Control as the agency responsible for policing and imprisoning superhumans who break (or are suspected of breaking) the law; maybe it's them, wanting to have the option of hulking out some of their own. Or maybe Titania is looking for an edge for her rematch. Since this is a Books Included thread, I can mention that, in the comics, Titania got ahold of the Power Stone, and used that... but, of course, the Power Stone no longer exists in the MCU. Hmmm.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:23 PM on September 1, 2022

Daredevil cast could be a likely candidate, so Kingpin, but I still think the comedic checkpoint is not Jen in NYC but the Devil of Hell's Kitchen in sunny LA which to me is connected - why would Wilson Fisk be there too? Though... not to mention Roxxon is already a plaintiff in ep1.

The Screencrush gang is also thinking another Incredible Hulk easter egg is likely (the Leader) but I think DD gang is more likely. Or even Sharon Carter or the Baroness.
posted by cendawanita at 8:47 PM on September 1, 2022

My favorite joke in the entire series so far is that Wong wasn’t running late due to any Sorcerer Supreme heroics, but rather just because he lost track of time.
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:10 PM on September 1, 2022 [8 favorites]

My favorite joke in the entire series so far is that Wong wasn’t running late due to any Sorcerer Supreme heroics, but rather just because he lost track of time.


What if "time" is a double entendre? There's going to be a bunch of time/multiverse hijinks going forward with Kang and whatnot.
posted by Fleebnork at 4:26 AM on September 2, 2022 [4 favorites]

Honestly, I wondered if the Mystery Men were a Marvel property when the muggers first showed up. The crossover event of the season!
posted by Kyol at 6:21 AM on September 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

I just assumed Wong was talking about some kind of spell when he said he’d “lost track of time.” Like in Defending Your Life when Rip Torn says he “was trapped near the inner circle of thought.”
posted by wabbittwax at 7:20 AM on September 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I just assumed Wong was talking about some kind of spell when he said he’d “lost track of time.”

Yeah, I feel like this was a setup for some future movie/show/flashback/postcredits where Wong appears and you'll seem him have to run off after some battle/spell and catch a glimpse of the probation hearing through the portal.
posted by mikepop at 7:45 AM on September 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

I hated it when Tony Stark said “we have a Hulk” in the Avengers movie

It was a parallel construction to Loki's line that prompted it: "I have an army." The floating opposites suggest that angry Banner is more of a threat than the Chitauri army, and the "we" trumps the "I."

Whedon's worth as a human being is open to question. He has some skills as a screenwriter.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:49 PM on September 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

I just assumed Wong was talking about some kind of spell when he said he’d “lost track of time.”

I assumed that he'd been chasing one of those godlike cosmic beings that Dr Strange comics are littered with, like Eternity and The Inbetweener and so forth.

(In fact, I don't know, and will probably check after I've written this, which I realise is the wrong order of things, but if there isn't a cosmic, mystical Marvel character called The Time Being, for whom we do everything, then they'll have missed a trick, and I don't think they were the kind of people who missed tricks.)
posted by Grangousier at 4:31 PM on September 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Yeah, The Time Being is in a committed relationship with A Round Tuit.
posted by sixswitch at 9:31 PM on September 2, 2022 [6 favorites]

I’ve kept this bottled up for years but here goes: I hate the grammatical construction “a Hulk.” I hated it when Tony Stark said “we have a Hulk” in the Avengers movie, and I’ve hated every time someone in this show (especially Bruce) has said something like “you’re a Hulk now,” as if “a Hulk” was an existing and defined category and not sui generis until now.

From the character's first appearance in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962):

FAN OUT MEN! WE'VE GOT TO FIND THAT--THAT HULK!!

LOOK SHARP THERE! DON'T LET THE HULK GET HIS HANDS ON YOU!

[AND THUS A NAME IS GIVEN TO BRUCE BANNER'S OTHER SELF, A NAME WHICH IS DESTINED TO BECOME--IMMORTAL!] -- (Stan Lee caption box)

I've reproduced the comic book all-caps lettering to show that it's not clear whether the second HULK is capitalized or not. The first one surely isn't. It's like the first guy said "We gotta find that...hippo!" and the second "Don't let the hippo get it's hands on you." The Hulk was named after hulks because he was a hulk.

Also mad props to Stan Lee's incredible called shot. Sixty years later and "The Hulk" is one of the most recognizable names in the world.
posted by straight at 1:02 AM on September 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Also, in the MCU, The Hulk was revealed to the world during his fight with the Abomination. As far as most people know, there were from the beginning two of these great big green hulking monsters. Bruce Banner became known as The Hulk, but Blonsky was also a hulk.
posted by straight at 1:07 AM on September 3, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also it's probably not quite justified to label Stan's pronouncement a called shot. He wrote something like "YOU WILL MEET THE MOST DRAMATIC BEING OF ALL TIME!" or "ONE OF THE MOST FANTASTIC TALES OF ALL!" or "THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE!" hundreds of times on the covers of almost every comic he wrote. (Those three examples are all from the same cover, Fantastic Four #13).
posted by straight at 1:27 AM on September 3, 2022 [5 favorites]

@mcucomfort on Twitter had a behind the scenes shot of Tatiana Maslany and Megan Thee Stallion.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:23 PM on September 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

She's acting on a little movable stage while draped in mocap gear for all the She-Hulk scenes???? Good lord. My (already high) respect for Tatiana Maslany is now through the roof.
posted by Mogur at 3:52 AM on September 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Haha can you imagine being Tatiana and getting to the audition question, “and how comfortable are you with dancing in complicated motion-control/motion-capture contraptions and setups?” and being like, “I got this, guys”
posted by sixswitch at 8:36 AM on September 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Today’s #ShowerThought #WaitAMinute,CaptainAmericaLostHisVirginityDuringUSOTourIn1942,ButItWasn’tSpecifiedThatItWasWithAWoman
posted by sixswitch at 8:39 AM on September 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

"Ok, guys. So Hulks have split personalities? There's like Bruce, Raging Hulk, Ragnarok Hulk, Professor Merged Hulk... How many separate personalities are you gonna want for She Hulk? Five? Six? I can do seven distinct ones, no problem."

"Uh... can pretend you're talking to the audience?"
posted by straight at 2:43 PM on September 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

I seem to recall that for Orphan Black she had to do every shot 4 times - once as Orphan A against a stand-in, then as Orphan A against a blue tennis ball as a reference point, then as Orphan B against a stand-in, then finally as Orphan B against the blue tennis ball. And that would be a *simple* shot.
posted by Mogur at 3:08 PM on September 5, 2022

By the way, you can follow Titania's social media, call Jen's law firm, and read some Blonsky haikus now, per this article.
posted by emjaybee at 11:02 AM on September 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I am really liking this show, but I have a few quibbles. The main one is that the Hulk CGI is awful and never fails to pull me out of the scene. I don't know why they couldn't have just put Maslany in green makeup and used some Lord of the Rings "Gandalf and the hobbits" type camera trickery to make her look bigger, especially if she's just going to be standing around talking in a courtroom. She's a great actor, let us look at her actual face!

I also continue to be disappointed by the dirt that the MCU does to my favorite B-list villains. These are some great, campy characters with big personalities. First they somehow managed to drain all the personality out of Batroc the Leaper, a guy whose main attributes are Frenchiness, boastfulness, and leaping, and turn him into a taciturn, second-rate action-movie lieutenant who is (kind of offensively!) Algerian and does not leap anywhere, and now the Wrecking Crew shows up and don't even get to make any construction-themed puns.

Besides that, and the fourth-wall stuff getting right up to the line between clever and annoying, I still think this is one of the best of the MCU TV shows so far.
posted by whir at 8:52 AM on September 7, 2022