She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Episode 6 is appropriately titled “Just Jen”, as it attempts to give Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) some time away from her gamma-powered alter ego. Keyword on “try”. After winning her court case against Titania (Jameela Jamil), Jen is looking forward to visiting her high-school friend Lulu (Patti Harrison) for her wedding. However, Lulu has one rule: Jen cannot transform into her She-Hulk form while at the wedding. This leads to Jen dealing with the classic bridezilla issues, as well as Titania unexpectedly showing up.
Writer Kara Brown and director Ana Valia manage to deliver one of She-Hulk‘s best episodes with “Just Jen”. The humor feels more in line with a romantic comedy, thanks to Brown’s sharp scripting. Jen even engages in one of her trademark fourth wall breaks to tell the audience that it’s “a self-contained wedding episode”. True to her word, this episode leans into all the wedding tropes. There’s the self-absorbed bride, the date who turns out to be different than expected, and even unexpected chemistry with another guest. Valia even delivers a montage of Jen getting drunk and dancing like crazy that got a few chuckles out of me.
This being a superhero show, there is a superpowered fight between She-Hulk and Titania toward the end of the episode. Or at least there’s an attempt, as Jen is too drunk to Hulk out. I don’t think that Jamil is given enough credit for her performance as Titania; she radiates the “self-absorbed” and “vapid” aura that one would expect from a famous influencer. That self-absorption just happens to be magnified due to the fact that this particular influencer could bench-press a truck over her head and gets into fights with a gamma-powered opponent. Equal kudos go to Maslany. She has an amazing sense of comedic timing, with her sighs and thousand-yard stares having as much punch as a well-told joke. In fact, watching She-Hulk Episode 6, I thought “she could definitely lead a romantic comedy if she wanted.”
Even the B plot of the episode improves considerably. With Jen out of the office, it falls to Mallory Book (Renée Elise Goldsberry) and Nikki Ramos (Ginger Gonzaga) to handle a case involving the self-proclaimed “Mr. Immortal” (David Pasquesi). Marvel fans may recognize him as a member of the fan-favorite team known as the Great Lakes Avengers – I should know, I was one of those fans! And everything about this B-plot, from the chemistry, that Goldsberry and Gonzaga share to the hilarious resolution of Mr. Immortal’s custody case, stands toe to toe with the A plot. Should She-Hulk get a second season, it would be great for more and more C to D list Marvel characters to show up in a similar vein.
The sole issue with She-Hulk Episode 6 is the introduction of a new villainous group. While that group is another deep cut to Marvel comics canon, it feels like they should have been name-dropped an episode or two earlier. As there are now three episodes left in the season, it feels like rushing to have a major threat for the villain to fight. Not only is this a similar problem that plagued Ms. Marvel, but it also doesn’t fit the general vibe of the show. It’s a half-hour legal comedy with superhero elements, lean into that! Not everything needs to be “punch the bad guy in the face.”
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Episode 6 delivers upon its promise of a ‘self-contained wedding episode’, delivering humor and heart in a series-best episode. Hopefully, the series continues this track, even with a new group of supervillains being crowbarred into the main plot. And hopefully Tatiana Maslany considers a potential rom-com down the line.
New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law premiere Thursdays on Disney+.
She-Hulk Episode 6
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8/10
TL;DR
She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Episode 6 delivers upon its promise of a ‘self-contained wedding episode’, delivering humor and heart in a series-best episode. Hopefully, the series continues this track, even with a new group of supervillains being crowbarred into the main plot. And hopefully Tatiana Maslany considers a potential rom-com down the line.