SHE-HULK EPISODE 9 & SERIES REVIEW (SPOILERS)

 

            I can’t decide if the She-Hulk finale was pure brilliance or a genius cop-out.

On the other side of the glass.

            Skipping the usual episode recap, we got one done as a remake of the intro to The Incredible Hulk TV series (which was brilliantly handled). Picking up from last episode’s cliffhanger, we find Jen in jail and taking a deal to never be She-Hulk again for her release. With her reputation ruined and job lost, she decides to go to Emil’s (Tim Roth) sanctuary for a bit. However, she happens to pick the night when The Intelligencia is holding a gathering there. It’s discovered that Todd Phelps (Jon Bass), the creepy tech bro Jen had a horrible date with one time and who kept popping up during the show, was the founder of The Intelligencia and had stolen her blood to give himself Hulk powers. And then Titania (Jameela Jamil) crashed the party. And then Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) joined in.

Smashing those 4th walls like it's Matt Murdock.

            And then that’s when everything REALLY went off the rails. Echoing moments from the original run of The Sensational She-Hulk comic series, Jen breaks out of the show through the Disney+ menu to head to the Disney studio lot to confront the She-Hulk writers about the insanely overcomplicated finale. That leads her to confront the one in charge at Marvel Studios: Kevin. No, it’s not Kevin Feige making a cameo; rather, it’s a GLaDOS-like artificial intelligence named K.E.V.I.N. (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus). Jen proceeds to offer up common fan complaints about how MCU projects all have similar endings or too many plots converging at once.

"Now say: 'The cake is a lie.'"

This resulted in K.E.V.I.N. tossing out his “exciting ending” in favor of a new, quicker one. Todd and his cronies are being arrested; Emil is going back to jail for violating his parole; Daredevil (Charlie Cox) returns to help out too late and gets roped into a family barbecue; Hulk returns (again) at the barbecue and introduces his son, Skaar (Wil Deusner); Jen is a lawyer again prosecuting Todd and declaring she’ll take on guys like him in the courtroom and as a superhero; and Wong (Benedict Wong) returns to bust Emil out to stay at Kamar-Taj.

"Okay, the MCU--I have some notes."

Okay, to my conflict. Every reaction video I’ve seen loved the ULTIMATE 4^th wall break of Jen leaving her show for the Marvel Studios Office, while all the ones who have hated on this show since it came out and some comic guys have not. I, personally, thought it was great. I found every bit of that hilarious; from the sudden Disney+ menu screen to the little faux baseball cap on K.E.V.I.N.’s “head” mimicking Feige’s. This is probably the most I’ve laughed out loud for the entire season. I thought it was a perfect homage to all the times Shulkie was about to step out of her comic to deal with then-scribe John Byrne personally. Also, Tatiana Maslany was all of us, asking the big questions like “X-Men when?” This ending at least made it clear that Marvel has been hearing fans, acknowledge their flaws, and possibly hinting that they’re going to improve going forward (with upcoming schedules shifting and the format of planned projects being changed).

"You want X-Men? I got you, boo."

But then we get the ending. Or, lack thereof, as the series once again attempted to subvert expectations. Jen’s legal troubles? Gone. The whole Josh/blood-stealing plotline? Gone. The Intelligencia? Gone. Titania’s unhealthy obsession with Jen? Gone. For the entire season, later episodes had slowly connected to things established in earlier ones while building up an ongoing subplot even slower than that. But they decide to pull a Monty Python and give us a cop-out ending where everything is dealt with offscreen and hunky dory. We don’t see Jen reassemble her life, despite going off on K.E.V.I.N. about the stakes of the show being her life falling apart just as she was embracing being a Hulk. Titania became pointless. The Intelligencia became pointless. There was no payoff for anything. We didn’t get to see Jen complete her arc. I mean, give us the conclusion to something we’ve been watching! The Skaar reveal, I don’t mind so much because we know there’s a World War Hulk project in development and will likely fill in the gap between the episodes as this did with Shang-Chi.

"The X-Men movies had a blue mutant restriction...I think we need to talk about a green gamma restriction here."

Okay, overall thoughts. The series as a whole was a bit uneven. It was always entertaining, but didn’t always reach the levels it should have. Maslany slays as the Jade Giantess and has always been the highest point of the show. I absolutely love her father (Mark Linn-Baker) and how supportive he is whenever he appears (best MCU dad!). Many of the side characters were fun, but woefully underutilized due to the short runtime of the episodes. Touted as a “legal comedy”, we really didn’t get a lot of the legal side (and, depending who you talk to, some would say not much of the comedy, either) but there were some interesting cases in what we did get. A lot of deep cut characters made their MCU debut on the show, which is something I hope continues to happen. Let’s get audiences familiar with more than just the A-listers. I had a good time with the show, but it just didn’t feel like any of the ideas were allowed to fully bake. I hear there is a season 2 coming and I hope that, while the tone is kept exactly the same, they make things a bit tighter on the storytelling side. Break all the 4^th walls you want, just give us a story in the process!

"Heard you were doing a Fast and Furious ending. So I brought more family."

One last point: it’s no secret that this series took a lot of shots at toxic fanboy trolls. And, every step of the way, they accurately predicted exactly was they would say and post about the show (especially since this show was done about a year before its release). And, of course, you’ve got the YouTube videos out there saying “they hate men!” or claiming victory for “getting in their heads.” And then you’ve got the people who take umbrage with interviews where cast and crew say this was largely the point—to call these so-called “fans” out. Here’s my take: if that bothered you, then you’re probably one of the guilty ones. I’m a man, and I had no issue with the depiction of men on the show or them stepping in front of the toxicity often attracted by women-led and diverse projects (that’s not to say there isn’t good-faith criticism to be had on these projects; just that it isn’t generally the criticism that ends up being levied). And you know why? Because they were right. Every. Single. Time. You don’t like something? That’s fine. Move on. Why would you stick around? Just to get ammunition to complain? C’mon, life’s too short and, to quote Wong: “We’re truly in an age of peak TV.” Find your own yum instead of yucking everyone else’s.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT REVIEW (SPOILERS)

 

            This is going to be full of spoilers because I don’t think I can accurately say what I want to say while tiptoeing around plot points, so you’ve been warned.

            Werewolf By Night is the first MCU special and their first official entry into their horror “imprint” (you can arguably state Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was technically the first, but this one had the special Marvel Studios branding, hence my use of “official”). The special centered on the titular werewolf, Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal), as he infiltrated a gathering of monster hunters to mourn the passing of the greatest of their number and their leader, Ulysses Bloodstone (voiced by Richard Dixon). Bloodstone was possessor of the legendary Bloodstone, which he used in his battle against monsters, and those gathered are to compete for the right to become the next wielder. The catch? They had to defeat a terrible monster it would be affixed to in a massive labyrinth garden.

Gentleman Jack.

            This short marked the first time that Jack was seen in live-action, having previously appeared in several cartoons and video games, and the return of Man-Thing (known simply as “Ted”, played by Carey Jones & Jeffrey Ford) since the abysmal Sci-Fi Channel film in 2005. It’s also the debut of Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) in anything other than a video game. However, fans of the character may be surprised to see she’s not the foul-mouthed, gun-toting badass she is in the comics. Oh, she’s very badass, pulling out some killer fight moves in the few fight scenes, but this is more Elsa at the beginning of becoming the character in the comics (as stated in some interviews with Donnelly).

This is one Elsa that's not going to let it go.

            Werewolf by Night is Michael Giacchino’s third directorial effort, and the longest so far. And he did an incredible job. The whole special was an homage to the classic Universal monster movies of the 30s and 40s, with its being shot in mostly black and white (with spot coloring on the Bloodstone and full color at the end), the addition of film grain (although it was clearly shot on digital), extensive use of practical effects and sets (more so than other Marvel productions, which I’m sure the overworked VFX community appreciated), the opening and closing titles, and the music, which was also by Giacchino. They even did a retro “special presentation” intro like the networks used to do. The opening introduction to all the characters especially felt like a classic movie; it was only after they entered the garden did the modern start creeping in. And the way they did the werewolf transformation seen in only shadow and Elsa’s reaction to it was a real perfect way to build up the suspense. The werewolf costume and make-up looked great as well.

Shadow dance.

            The most interesting aspect of the special was the contrast between the so-called monsters and the monster hunters. Jack did everything he could to avoid hurting anyone, especially after he transformed (except those that deserved it, of course). Ted was acting in self-defense (those who know fear burn at the touch of the Man-Thing). And both of them actively worked to rescue the other. The monster hunters, however, were so eager to win the Bloodstone that they, without hesitation, were willing to slaughter each other to get it. And this was encouraged. So, it begs the question: who exactly were the real monsters?

You, uh, got a little something there...

            My only real negative was the final fight scene when the werewolf was unleashed. The choreography didn’t feel feral enough in parts. Werewolf Jack moved too much like a trained martial artist rather than a reactionary creature. Otherwise, the action was top-notch; with Elsa clearly getting some Black Widow-esque training and some savage finishing moves, and the visceral bloody ends to the Bloodstone goons delivered by the werewolf (this entry was allowed to be gorier than other Marvel projects since it lacked the color to indicate the liquid splashing the camera lens was blood).

Instructions from the dead.

            Overall, Werewolf By Night was fantastic (although I might’ve titled it Bloodstone, all things considered). In its short runtime it managed to accomplish everything it set out to do: introduce the horror side of Marvel, give us several new characters, and homage the classic monster films while giving us something completely new from the MCU. And yes, some of the MCU humor was present, but they were situationally appropriate and didn’t overstep their bounds like many feel it tends to do lately. The costume and special effects were well done, as were the few fight scenes. The lighting was on point, making effective use of the shadows with the lack of color. I hope the largely positive reaction I’ve seen towards this special encourages Marvel Studios to take more chances.

Just call him "Ted".

            Predicting it now: based on some reaction videos I’ve seen, Man-Thing will become the next Groot.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 8 REVIEW

 

Froggy-man, Froggy-man, does whatever a froggy can.

            Okay, let’s just get this out of the way: fans, rejoice! The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here! Yes, it’s the MCU debut of…LEAP-FROG!

The 'Devil, you say?

            No, no, I’m just kidding. Well, I mean, Leap-Frog does appear in the episode, but this is also the episode that finally features Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Now, I have to remind everyone: the Netflix Daredevil was rated TV-MA. She-Hulk is not. So don’t expect all the bone-crunching, bloody stuff you’re used to getting with the character. HOWEVER! That doesn’t diminish his awesomness in the episode. He’s got some slick moves, takes down a ton of guys on his own, and shows Cox hasn’t missed a step since Daredevil stopped filming. I don’t know if this is fully indicative of the MCU Daredevil going forward or if it’s just distilled through the lens of the show like Wong was, but if it is I’m here for it.  

Team-up!

            That said, this episode was just…wow. Keeping in mind we still have one episode to go, I’d call this the best episode of the series thus far. Shulkie gets to meet Matt Murdock when Eugene Patillio, aka Leap-Frog (Brandon Stanley), retains her firm to sue the designer of his costume after he’s injured when it malfunctions. Interestingly, the MCU chose to combine Leap-Frog’s character. In the comics, Leap-Frog was actually Eugene’s father; an engineer who turned to costume villainy when life kept dealing him bad cards (although mentioned as a prominent client of GLK&H, it’s not revealed if the elder Patillio ever donned the costume himself). Humiliated by his father’s past, Eugene decided to take the Leap-Frog suit and become the superhero Frog-Man. The MCU Eugene was reimagined as a spoiled rich kid who wanted to be a hero so badly that he ended up becoming the villain. But, like the comics, he remained as much of a joke as anyone frog-themed not named Throg deserves to be.

Shulkie is in a bit of a pickle.

            Now as fun as all that and as awesome as having Daredevil back on screen was, the real meat of the episode happened in the last five minutes. There isn’t much I can say without delving into spoilers, but I will say that The Intelligencia makes their move at the most inopportune time and manages to cause Jen some serious damage. I’m looking forward to the finale to see how things finally all connect together and we learn what the show has been building towards.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 7 REVIEW

 

            So, yeah, Jen has the worst luck with men. That’s just, like, an unfortunate truth at this point. If you hadn’t guessed by that vague statement, Josh (Trevor Salter), the dude from the wedding that seemed very much into Jen and not She-Hulk, ended up disappointing us all (although, honestly, he was suspect from the start). If you want to know how exactly, you’ll need to watch the episode.

Sharing is caring.

            Otherwise, this episode had a singular focus. Jen gets called up by Blonsky’s (Tim Roth) parole officer to accompany him to check out why Blonsky’s inhibitor stopped working. Jen gets stranded there and ends up experiencing what Blonsky’s little paradise has to offer; which allowed her to gain some introspective into herself and start to make some peace with the dichotomy of her existence. I can’t delve much deeper into that without spoiling everything that happens, because that’s all that happens. Which is a lot more entertaining than it sounds, believe me!

Blonsky's gang. But, y'know, not actually a gang. In case the parole board asks.

            We got introduced to a host of new characters, including Man-Bull (Nathan Hurd), El Aguila (Joseph Castillo-Midyett), Saracen (Terrence Clowe) and Porcupine (Jordan Aaron Ford). These guys provided the bulk of the episode’s humor, with their quirkiness and interactions with each other. While not as elaborately done as Ms. Marvel’s, it was fun to see the use of text messages in the episode. Also, the “No Service” gag got me laughing. Plus, episode/comic writer Zeb Wells obviously heard my complaint about the “Previously On” segment by throwing a gag about it in the episode. So, thank you, Zeb! (Obviously I’m kidding—these episodes were done long before I ever decided to start up this blog).

Existential dread.

            She-Hulk has a slowly progressing overlying plot that often gets overshadowed for some by the seemingly disconnected “days in the life of” approach the main stories seem to take. But each episode has been gradually laying pieces as the show chugs along to its finale, even if they aren’t immediately evident. It also has been continually subverting expectations, making it hard to predict what’s going to happen which is, frankly, refreshing. However, there is an odd mixed message as the show simultaneously tries to say that both parts of Jen matter while driving home the point that Shulkie is preferable to just Jen. A bit of a strange dichotomy there.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 5 REVIEW

            Finally! The moment you’ve all been waiting for!

A very good lawyer.

            …Is not in this episode. Sorry! BUT! The door for it to happen has been opened, so just wait and see.

Titania making that bank.

            Overall, this was a fun episode that saw Shulkie dealing with Titania’s (Jameela Jamil) legal shenanigans, on top of her bestie, Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga), going to great lengths to help Jen get a new wardrobe appropriate for her double lifestyle. I enjoyed myself quite a bit watching this. Nikki and Pug (Josh Segarra) are this episode’s Wong (Benedict Wong) and Madisynn (Patty Guggenheim) and make a fun pairing. Also, once again, the callbacks are coming in (albeit not THAT far back this time around).

A comic book show with great art.

And can we just give a shoutout to the phenomenal artwork of Kagan McLeod that graces the credits of each episode? Among the repeated images seen every episode, we get fun renditions or episode-specific scenes and even the fleshing out of what could be just throwaway lines of dialogue. It’s almost like getting a bonus scene in every episode.

"Okay, I will make her clothing. But no capes!"

            That said, this episode highlights the major problem of She-Hulk: the runtime. This half-hour runtime is doing a serious disservice to the potential this show could reach. The few cases they’ve presented so far have been interesting, but all-too-brief. The case comes in, they do some courtroom banter, case closed. And to remind you, that’s just a few minutes out of everything else going on. We don’t get much lawyering in this “lawyer show.” I, for one, would like to have seen more of the characters dealing with these legal situations in their unique, quirky ways.

Mallory Book will legally eviscerate you as soon as defend you.

            Additionally, the secondary characters are being woefully underutilized. Let’s take the character of Mallory Book (Renée Elise Goldsberry). Readers of Dan Slott and Juan Bobillo’s She-Hulk comics will recognize her as the office B who holds Jen in all kinds of contempt after Jen spoils her flawless winning streak in the courtroom. In She-Hulk the SHOW, she’s seen for all of 10 seconds in the third episode as a potential lawyer for Jen’s former colleague Dennis Bukowski (Drew Matthews). This was the first episode where we got her to any great degree, and while Goldsberry delivers a fine performance as the character, we don’t know why she is how she is, or why Jen is working so hard to be her friend, or why the moment outside of the courthouse meant a lot for both Jen and the character. Instead, she comes off as just another person who puts up a hard front but actually gives a crap inside (at least a teeny, tiny bit).

There's a fun pair in this episode, but it's not who you thiiiiiiiiiiink.

            But honestly, it says something when a one-off character manages to be more memorable than your regulars. Within one week of her appearance, Madisynn has gotten memes galore, an official series poster, and even her own emoji hashtag on Twitter. Characters like Pug and Mallory? I’ve seen YouTube reactors get their names wrong while they were watching the episode! Hell, I, myself, can’t even recall the boss’ name without looking it up. Yeah, we get a couple of cute character interactions and maybe a quirk or two, but overall, these characters are just not given the prominence they should in an ensemble. Nikki is only slightly ahead of the game by the virtue of her just being on screen more than the others. We shouldn’t have had to rely on the credits artwork to fill in some of those blanks for us.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 4 REVIEW

 

A boating outfit and a cat with a matching hat? Swipe right on that!

            Dating in your 30s, amirite? 

"And for my next trick: an express portal to a hell dimension!"

            This is one of those episodes where you really need to turn your brain off and just enjoy. Why do I say that? Well, we get Wong back for another bit of crossover fun, and this time he goes to Shulkie in order to get a magician who flunked out of Kamar-Taj (the magical training ground from Doctor Strange) to stop using a sling ring (the ring that opens up the circular sparkling portals in the MCU) in his hokey magic act before he does something that could potentially disrupt the universe. The “turn your brain off” part comes into play when you logically figure the “sorcerer supreme” could have dealt with this rogue element in any number of ways (such as sling ringing into the culprit’s room at night and snatching back the ring or, as suggested in the episode itself, casting him into the mirror dimension) without relying on Shulkie or the American court system. Especially as seen in the show’s climactic fight scene. But the tone of the show seems to affect everything it touches and Wong is played more as the straight-man in a comedy routine. Particularly when he ends up constantly paired with drunk party girl Madisynn King (Patty Guggenheim). Yeah, I can’t get too much into that without spoilers, but you’ll likely find her annoying endearing (and speaking of spoilers: if you haven’t watched The Sopranos yet and plan to, you may not wanna watch this episode first).

Sexy fun time.

            We seemed to get a lot more Shulkie this episode. A lonely Jennifer attempts to hit the dating circuit with an online profile, but finds her human side either gets ignored or ends up with a total loser. So she makes a profile for her bigger half and discovers the joys of dating as a modern adult (read: mind-numbingly horrible). It does start Jen on the road to embracing her other self and starting to feel more comfortable in her gamma-irradiated skin, while at the same time paints the bummer picture that her world couldn’t give a crap less about plain, ol’, ordinary her (outside of family and friends, ‘natch!).

Maidsynn being...helpful?

            And can we just give it up for supportive superhero families? We’re getting back-to-back portrayals with the previous (and excellent) Ms. Marvel and the Khans, and now Mark Linn-Baker’s Morris Walters. From the one-on-one moment back in the first episode, to attempting to protect his superhero daughter from future attacks complete with a shovel to hide the bodies. Good families for the win!

"Okay, Twitter--say hello to my little friend!"

            Overall, another fun episode, although one you really can’t think too hard about. I did especially enjoy the little dig at online trolls like they did with the last episode. I’m also looking forward to seeing how all of these seemingly unconnected events find a way to intersect as the show goes on. With Jameela Jamil’s Titania set to return in the next episode after being largely absent since the first, it looks like the callbacks are beginning.

DOWN THE STREAM

 

Streaming everywhere!

            If you’re reading this, you’re probably no stranger to streaming. Hard to believe the concept is barely a decade old, but it’s managed to radically alter the entertainment industry within that time. I mean, it basically started with Netflix before Amazon joined in, and then the various studios and networks saw how much people liked it and said “By golly, we need to get in on that!” However, for every person cheering on the ability to watch their favorite stuff on their phones, save space without having to buy physical media or save money by cutting the cable cord, there are those who were a bit wary.

The before times of home media viewing.

            First, you have the inconvenience factor. Just because something is streaming now, doesn’t mean it’ll be there later. Outside ones like Netflix basically ran like television networks that aired reruns: contracted for a set period of time before the program moved on to its next home. Then you’ve got the first-party ones who rotate things out regularly, with only originals sticking around for the long haul (once upon a time, anyway).

Sorry, were you watching that? Not anymore!

            But then there’s the control factor. A factor people are getting to experience first-hand with the recent HBO Max hoopla. The owners of the streamers get to decide what plays on that service, when and where it’s available (foreign versions have considerably different offerings than the American ones), and when to take it off. Studios have also gotten smart by progressively ending their physical media output in order to force people onto those streaming services if they want to see their favorite things again and again (or into pirating that material, if you’re of dubious character).

Most of the victims.

            Which brings us back to HBO Max. As part of the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, the new head of it all, David Zaslav, is on a mission to save the company $3 billion by next year. Part of his plan is to take a dive on almost-complete projects for a tax break—in particular the upcoming Batgirl movie—and cancelling a lot of recently green-lit projects. This week came the sudden removal of 36 titles from the service, 20 of them original to the streamer, and 200 episodes of Sesame Street.

Zaslav's preferred tools.

            The worst recipient of this mass axing has been projects from Warner Bros.' own studios. And we’re not just talking about obscure stuff, we’re talking raved about hits like Infinity Train (whose creator posted his own comments on the whole ordeal) where their entire official web presence has been scrubbed in the process. Besides the crappiness of just up and removing the hard work of thousands of people without any kind of advanced warning whatsoever, there’s been another consequence folks not in the industry were previously unaware of: residuals. Apparently, while the shows stream, the animators get paid residuals into their pensions and health plans. By pulling the shows and not canceling them outright, Warner Bros. Discovery no longer has to pay out, thus adding to Zaslav’s big savings plan. And aside from the monetary loss, there’s also the loss of thousands of hours of hard work that will never get seen, such as Summer Camp Island, unless the shows are able to move elsewhere (which not all of them can). (It should be noted that, as of this writing, some of those shows are still available on a pay-per-view basis on other services like iTunes, but there’s a question as to how long). At least Sesame Street fired back by pointing out they’ve got a YouTube presence.

A tale in two tweets. Summer Camp Island creator hyping up the long-delayed new episodes and her devastation when the show was removed.

            HBO Max aside, this whole thing is endemic of a couple of larger systemic problems. The big one is that media is gradually being gobbled up by these gigantic multi-media entities so that only a handful of companies control everything. And that number will continue to dwindle as more mergers and acquisitions happen—and they will happen (“Every restaurant is Taco Bell.” – Demolition Man). But the other problem is the continued disdain given towards the animation industry. Animation has gradually been pushed aside like the red-headed stepchild of studios with little regard given to the material itself or the people who make it. It’s not unlike my own home industry of comic books, where no matter how many billion-dollar movies branch out from them they’re still not regarded as a true artform or given any kind of respect outside of the people who were already fans.  

The perfect stocking suffer for Zaslav this year.

            And if this all turns out to only be temporary house-cleaning before the merging of HBO Max and Discovery+, then Zaslav clearly needs to work on his people skills.

*Bit of an update: apparently Cartoon Network is still committed to airing Summer Camp Island and Victor and Valentino, so at least that worked out okay to some extent.