By Is it just me or does She-Hulk: Attorney at Law feel like it’s treading water at this point? After a modest start and a decent follow-up episode, everyone’s favorite green lady has not been able to consistently stay interesting in her own series. For the fifth episode, titled “Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans,” we finally get a confrontation between Jen and Titania (Jameela Jamil) that mostly goes nowhere. Despite sharing second billing on the series, Jamil has barely been a presence and her “threats” at the end of this week’s trial don’t leave me worried for the future.
Picking up from last week’s “bombshell” announcement that Titania has trademarked the She-Hulk name, Jen sees an ad for Titania’s new line of beauty supplies and starts to seethe a little. She catches up with Nikki to go visit Tatania’s new exhibit and proceeds to give the “villain” a piece of her mind. If you thought that might involve hulking out and actually giving Jen some development, I’m sorry to disappoint you.
Back at her office, Jen and Nikki do some research on Titania while Nikki glances over Jen’s outfit. Looking rather clerical in her duds, Nikki thinks it would be best for Jen to rethink her image and potentially stake a new claim under the She-Hulk name. Just as their chat is over, Pug (Josh Segarra) comes to Nikki to ask her a favor but then gets roped into revealing his “guy” for superhero suits. Apparently, a famous designer runs a very exclusive tailoring company out of a boba tea shop that caters specifically to the needs of crimefighters. After lying about Jen being in the Avengers, the two secure a meeting to hook her up with some new clothes.
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Back at GLK&H, Jen’s boss calls her into his office and proceeds to eat nuts. Unsure of why she’s there, Holliway explains that if Jen can’t control the situation with Titania, it will reflect poorly on the newly formed superhero division. Since Jen can’t exactly represent herself, Mallory Book (Renee Elise Goldsberry) is tasked with preparing a defense. Book has something of a rivalry with Jen that hasn’t really been established well in past episodes, but she makes it a point to remind Jen that her outfit is doing her no favors. We gotta link the two plotlines somehow.
Cut to the courtroom and both Book and Titania’s lawyer give their opening statements. Titania’s entire defense rests on the idea that Jen has rejected the She-Hulk name and she even comes prepared with a clip where Jen says as much. Book counters that by claiming Titania didn’t care about the branding until She-Hulk made headlines, to which Titania rebukes by stating Jen didn’t care at all until this whole debacle started. The judge doesn’t render a verdict just yet but tasks Jen with proving that she was using the She-Hulk moniker before Titania did, even if the trademark is legally under Titania’s name.
After court is adjourned, Jen and Nikki head to the tailor to meet with this mysterious superhero costumer. He introduces himself as Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews) and is obviously meant to be a play on RuPaul. Not impressed with the lies that Nikki told him, he rejects Jen until she reveals her special powers to him. While he’s still not sold on the idea of a lawyer as a superhero, he’s intrigued by her ability to change size at will and is ready to craft a new suit.
©Disney/Marvel, 2022
When returning to the office, Jen and Nikki wind up spotting Todd (Jon Bass), the crummy date from last week’s episode that completely ignored her and is still acting like a pompous shithead. Jen then comes up with a brilliant terrible idea. She remembers that she created a Matcher profile under the She-Hulk name and was dating people as She-Hulk. While all those dates were horrible, it gives her concrete evidence of utilizing her moniker for personal gain.
The following day in court, Book invites Jen’s dates to come to the stand and give testimonials about their experience with She-Hulk. It goes about as well as you’d expect with most of the men claiming they are somehow better than her despite literal superpowers. It’s not until the final date, Arthur (Michel Curiel) comes up that things swing in her favor. He explains how incredible his date with She-Hulk was but then gets a bit honest with his feelings. If Jen had been what he first saw, Arthur would have no interest whatsoever. It seems the She-Hulk identity is what draws people in, which is likely a huge blow to Jen’s self-esteem.
Embarrassment aside, Book is able to win the case for Jen, and Titania’s line of beauty products is slated to be pulled from shelves. While Jen is happy with the result and even willing to accept Arthur’s rather harsh words, Book pulls her aside to let her know that she deserves better. The two aren’t quite on friendship terms yet, but Book now understands the plight that Jen is facing as a giant green woman.
©Disney/Marvel, 2022
To close the episode, Jen returns to Jacobson’s place to pick up her outfit. While we aren’t given a look at it just quite yet, the camera slowly pans around the room to reveal a surprise: Daredevil’s new helmet. I guess Matt Murdock also shops at Jacobson’s, but we’ll have to wait for next week for this long-anticipated introduction.
Overall, this episode felt the most like filler out of the currently available ones. We didn’t even get an after-credits scene, which while not important on its own, was a recurring gag for the past month. This comes off as a stop-gap between the big inclusion of Daredevil, though I do have to give this fifth episode props for not including a cameo. Jen finally got an episode to herself, even if basically nothing of substance happened.
