SHE-HULK EPISODE 1 REVIEW

 

            TL;DR, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. TS;WR (too short; wanna read)? Okay, here’s my thoughts (may contain slight spoilers, be warned!):

"Oh, look--another internet rando with a hot take."

            Let me start off by saying I was looking forward to this show. A lot of people had trouble with the marketing, but I thought it made it look quite good and each new promo got me anxious for the premiere date to roll around.

Silent judgement for "M-SHE-U" critics.

            So, the good. Tatiana Maslany, I think, is going to be a good voice for the character. She looks like she’s having fun and I hear she’s uber talented (as of this writing, I have yet to see Orphan Black. I’m behind on EVERYTHING, sue me!). Her interactions with Mark Ruffalo were fun, and any concerns over the CGI and continuity and nerfing of Hulk from the “M-SHE-U” crowd were proven to be non-existent. It looks like it’s going to be fun without veering too far into the silly, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes. Also, I laughed much harder at that post-credit scene than I should’ve. That alone was worth the price of admission.

"Wake up! We only have 9 episodes!"

            That said, I often hear the criticism of Marvel’s Disney+ shows being that they have pacing issues. To a point I agree—most of their shows go along at a good pace in the beginning then seem to need to rush everything at the end to fit the prescribed episode limit with their story (they show signs of improvement on that front with each subsequent entry). However, this was the first where I’d say the beginning had some pacing issues. This debut episode attempted to get all of the origin stuff out of the way right away, so it went through everything quickly. The introduction; the inciting incident (which hopefully will be explored more later); going to Bruce’s private estate to “train”; returning to the world as a Hulk. That third thing took up the bulk of the episode, and was arguably the best part.

Zen and the art of Hulking.

            I feel like a lot of moments were short-changed as a result. Jen’s transformation into She-Hulk was extremely abrupt. I also feel like we didn’t get enough time to get to know Jen pre-Hulk to fully appreciate her new circumstances. This isn’t like the comic’s Jen—she’s not the mousy, self-doubting lawyer who discovers new confidence as a Hulk and therefore always wants to remain that way. Her personality was pretty much already set from the beginning, and it seems like she’ll just be adjusting to her new stature. I also feel like they kinda “yadda yadda’ed” the pseudo-science that explained why she was different from Bruce in her Hulk-ness. “Oh, you’re a different kind of Hulk, but we won’t get into any specifics about that.” And that ending was rather…abrupt.

It's a lawyer show.

            Ideally, this episode should have been split into two. Begin with a look into Jen’s pre-Hulk life before she reconnects with Bruce. Have the inciting incident expose Jen to Bruce’s blood. Have the transformation be more gradual, keeping up the mystery over what kind of Hulk she is. Then end with her “asking” to be trained, with the rest of the episode’s events happening in the next episode.  

A real power suit.

             But, that’s just me. As I said, the episode was fine. It got in, did its job, and hopefully cleared up the rest of the way for the series to be what it needs to be. If the remainder of the episodes can live up to the promise of the marketing, I will be completely satisfied. I look forward to each coming week, and patiently wait for them to add her to the Marvel’s Avengers video game. Let’s make it happen already, people!