She-Hulk Ep. 8 is really kinda doing it for me.
We're all feeling this, right? It's not just me?
The Short Take:
It all makes sense now. Everything led us to this, dare I say, perfect episode. Was the means to the end worth it? I’m tempted to say yes.
[WARNING: These SPOILERS will She-Hulk smash you over the head if you haven’t seen the episode.]
The Long Take:
Like Head Writer Jessica Gao, I’m going to make you wait a little bit before I get to Daredevil. Think of it as an additional way of making my main point, which is that whatever doubts I may have had along the way about where this story was going and what it was doing, I can now say that they did it. This penultimate episode — but especially the final sequence — cashes in a jackpot of storytelling. It made all of my past viewing experiences worthwhile.
In the very first episode of She-Hulk, Jen says to Bruce that she’s had more practice controlling her anger because she’s a woman. In an arresting monologue, she says, “I’m great at controlling my anger. I do it all the time: When I'm catcalled in the street; when incompetent men explain my own area of expertise to me. I do it pretty much every day because if I don't, I will get called emotional, or difficult, or might just literally get murdered. So I'm an expert at controlling my anger because I do it infinitely more than you.” The anger and fear that Bruce says plagues a Hulk is, to Jen, the “baseline of any woman just existing” because so much sexism around her needles her daily — at work, in her dating life, on the street. For many women, a “normal amount of rage” is different than their male counterparts. I remember the response to this was mostly positive, with many women saying that Jen saying this to Bruce was extremely cathartic and validating. That they also felt this way.
Other, more toxic voices on the Internet started the backlash, arguing that Jen’s statement ignores or invalidates all the struggles with identity and mental health Bruce Banner has gone through as a character in the MCU and the comics. Others had even less reasoning and simply hated She-Hulk because they hated that Marvel was, according to them, shoving a Hulk that was a she down their throats. The most clever decision Gao and her team made in designing She-Hulk’s narrative is designating these very fans, with those terrible, sexist takes, as the villains of the series. We learn that the online group Intelligencia sent Josh to not only steal a sample of Jen’s blood and take a creepy photo of her while she was sleeping, but also to film their intimacy without her knowledge in order to publicly shame her at the “Female Lawyer of the Year” awards ceremony. Upon seeing Josh’s video on the projector behind her, Jen Hulk-smashes the screen and the rest of the gala ballroom. This plot point effectively turns average women’s lived experience into a superhero story. And that’s brilliant.
The reaction Mallory and Nikki both have when they see Jen getting angry is a subtle yet brilliant touch in the writing and staging of this final scene because it brings the themes of Jen’s initial monologue with Bruce back into focus. All they can both say is, “Jen, don’t do it.” They desperately want her to control her rage and not play right into Intelligencia’s hand (clearly the incels anonymous club wanted her to react this way as masked members film her violent outburst on their phones and then run away). In Episode 1, Jen very specifically says to Bruce that there are consequences for expressing her anger that may not apply to many men. That if she gets visibly angry and acts out against sexism, “I will get called emotional, or difficult, or might literally get murdered.” We see this play out all too clearly in the final minutes of this episode as dozens of red dots appear on her silver Luke Jacobson gown from all the guns pointed at her. I got the impression that no matter how justified Jen is in her rage, no matter how flagrantly Intelligencia is in the wrong, the world is still going to focus on her reaction, calling her a monster for letting her inner rage show. She looks so scared in that final fourth wall-breaking look at the camera because she knows she blew it; she failed to play by the rules of a gendered double standard.
This thematic arc — that begins with Jen’s comments to Bruce and ends when she snaps at the gala — has a massive payoff in the final scene of this episode because we have so many moments of Jen dealing with so many instances of sexism across so many episodes, from her colleague Dennis’ obnoxiously chauvinistic comments, to Todd calling her a specimen on their date, her friend Lulu’s disgusted reaction when she says that she doesn’t have a boyfriend but is very happy with her career, or the endless supply of media commentary sprinkled throughout episodes, ranging from patronizing dismissals to death threats. Without all of the smaller-stakes stories leading up to this episode, seeing her do this would have been so much less impactful. Because the writers have put in the work, this incident clearly comes across as the straw that broke the camel’s back.
This is a brilliant end game for the series for a few reasons. First, it brings us full circle to cousin Bruce, not only because he tries to warn her about how hard it is to live with a Hulk form but because it recasts classic Hulk themes like being seen as a monster, dealing with anger and inner demons, and being horrified by the destruction you cause in a feminist context. This is arguably the first time we see Jen turn into She-Hulk and then lose herself in the process. At the end of her smashing it seems as if she stops and realizes what she’s done, which implies that in the moment she lost control. When she looks at the camera, she looks mortified, and that’s something we have seen Bruce struggle with too. The similarities in this moment almost highlight their differences even more, though, or make the circumstances of Jen’s version of the struggle more specific to her and her experience as a woman.
I know that in previous weeks (but mostly last week), I expressed some dissatisfaction with the way in which the show positioned Jen as bad at dating or a narrative punching bag in the romance department. I now see Gao’s vision and wish to recant any past complaints. Now that I can see the payoff — both with the Intelligencia plot and with her meeting Daredevil (yes, we can talk about him now) — I will admit that I was wrong to doubt that it would all come together in the end.
Part of me still wonders if the writers reverse engineered the plots of individual episodes based on this endpoint, which is so indisputably powerful, at the expense of individual episodes that had to introduce characters or plot lines that would feed into this moment. I’m thinking of the bad dates and meeting Josh at the wedding specifically here. But I’m willing to say that if they were a means to an end, then I’m happy enough and won’t overthink it.
What redeems Jen’s dating arc up until the episode the most, however, is She-Hulk’s dalliance with Daredevil. Again, I know I had been complaining about the show presenting Jen as terrible at dating, implying that if anyone’s interested in her it has to be too good to be true, but seeing Jen meet, flirt, fight, and…have fun with Matt Murdock balances the scales for me. Their scenes were just so well done and such a positive experience for Jen. Their legal battle in court was witty and charming, and established that they’re both very good lawyers. Lawyer shows often lean into the intellectual sparring element — which I personally love — and I thought that was well-represented here, right before Leap Frog ruined it by admitting to trying to use jet fuel in his Luke Jacobson suit. This Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn-esque banter continues when they meet again at the bar. It was fireworks from start to finish and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. This is what I had been hoping and waiting for all season, since the first dating app episode. This is what moves the series closer to that happier, more optimistic place that I was saying it had the potential to last week. The fact that it was with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil was just a size-able bonus.
Sorry, Elektra, but I will now ship She-Hulk and Daredevil FOREVER. This cannot be undone. These two were just too good together and seeing them attracted to one another brought me more joy than I ever thought it would. The writing between the two of them was pitch perfect, with She-Hulk hassling Daredevil about his mustard and ketchup color scheme or how he wants to waste a half hour “picking off hench-goons one by one” when she could just go in and smash up the place in two minutes. The clash of their fighting styles was so fun to watch, and made the big action sequence very engaging. To me, this is exactly why MCU fans love to see team-ups and crossovers; each one is a fun thought experiment in which you try to imagine how each characters’ power sets match up.
And the way they nudge each other on that roof top was too cute. Just two great characters (played by two great actors) who are attracted to each other and good to and for each other. What’s not to love? The sparks-flying chemistry between Tatiana Maslany and Charlie Cox also helped sell this pairing. The looks they’re giving each other! I couldn’t look away.
What’s more, Matt Murdock/Daredevil’s insertion into the show serves a narrative purpose. It’s not just a fun cameo to pander to fans; Matt serves a key role in Jen’s development as a superhero. He’s a good influence on Jen/She-Hulk when he tells her that she could do a lot of good: helping people legally as Jennifer Walters, Attorney at Law, and then coming to their aid as She-Hulk when the law cannot. He first tells her and then, once she finds out he’s Daredevil, shows her that she can balance her two selves and two different lives. He gives her hope that she can have it all. Now, I know that it’s unrealistic that these two will actually become a long-term MCU power couple (but how amazing would that be?!). The occasional team-up followed by a non-committal rendezvous is probably all the MCU machine can handle with Daredevil Born Again and Echo on the horizon. But as someone whose bi-coastal dating eventually became a happy marriage, I think they could make it work.
What also works — way better than I thought it would — is the porting of Daredevil from the much darker, grittier Netflix series to a lighter, brighter MCU and, more specifically, the sometimes searing sometimes goofy world of She-Hulk. There were enough callbacks to the series to indicate that while tonally or even plot-wise we might not be picking up where that series left off, Marvel isn’t about to erase our memories and pretend that series never happened. We hear the Netflix Daredevil theme playing when Matt says, “I’m Daredevil” like Jen should already have heard of him (so funny that she hasn’t, considering how mega-famous and popular he is with fans). Then, early on in the fight with the Leap Frog Squad, we get a hallway fight scene reminiscent of the famous long take in the Netflix series. (Sorry, I have to say long take whenever I get the chance. That’s just good branding.) I highly recommend Season 1 of the Netflix series if you haven’t seen it, but if you don’t plan to watch it, at least look up this hallway fight scene on Youtube. It is magnificent.
A lighter Daredevil makes perfect sense here, and I thought that the writers masterfully adapted him so that he would both blend into She-Hulk and maintain the integrity and familiarity of the character for fans. Matt Murdock has always had a kind of wry playfulness to him, and that worked well opposite Jen Walters. I’m so glad that the show didn’t treat him with kid gloves just because he’s this well-loved, highly anticipated preexisting character. The walk of shame scene was especially inspired, and reflects the kind of confidence that I kept hoping the series would own from start to finish. I hope other Daredevil fans feel the same way. Also, if you don’t usually stick around for the courtroom drawing end credits, then I suggest you go back and check out the ones for this episode. The Daredevil-related ones are priceless.
I don’t want to end on Daredevil, though, because I know whose show this really is. Tatiana Maslany, Jessica Gao, and the other writers and creators behind this show have sold me on She-Hulk and She-Hulk. I want to see her in everything, and, like her support group from last week, I’m in her corner and will come for anyone who messes with her. That’s a huge achievement that, no matter what happens next, we should celebrate.
I know I usually end a late season episode like this one with speculation as to what’s to come, but I kind of don’t want to after this episode. I love Jen and so many of these other characters so much, and I was so happy with this episode that I kind of just want to enjoy it for now. Even if the finale next week disappoints with whatever Disney+ MCU-ness descends, I’ll choose to remember this episode as the finale instead.