She-Hulk Recap: Episode 9 | Jen Breaks the MCU

The season finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is finally upon us. While I’m going to miss seeing Jen (Tatiana Maslany) on my screen every Thursday, let’s get into it one last time. Episode nine, “Whose Show Is This?”, starts off with a great homage to the 70’s Incredible Hulk intro. After the self-aware homage, we are immediately back at the high-security prison where Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) was kept. Jen is currently in his cell after her outburst. However, she is quickly released after agreeing to wear an inhibitor. But things quickly take a turn for the worst for Jen. She loses her job, can’t turn into She-Hulk anymore, and has to move in with her parents.

Nikki(Ginger Gonzaga) being the best friend she is, stops by Jen’s parent’s house to help Jen figure out who created Intelligencia and who HulkKing is. It’s going to take time and in a very mom move, Jen’s mom sends Nikki a video of Jen having a great time in college which proves to be a valuable asset for Nikki later on. Feeling defeated, Jen decides to go to Emil’s retreat for a mental health break.

 

Before Jen arrives at the retreat, Nikki is back in the office. She is uploading the video of Jen dancing in college to Intelligencia. Don’t worry, she’s not betraying Jen, she’s just trying to bait these jerks into giving her information. And boy does it work! They send Nikki an invite to an event happening later that night. The only catch is they think Nikki is a man (of course) so she has to reel Pug (Josh Segarra) into her scheme.

Nikki and Pug arrive at the event. Nikki waits outside and has Pug wear an airpod so she can help him figure out what to say. Pug then meets HulkKing and surprise, surprise, it’s Todd Phelps (Jon Bass). Apparently, Todd and everyone at this event think that all female superheroes don’t deserve their powers and Jen only became She-Hulk because of nepotism. (sounds like a fun, cool group.) Anyway, Jen can’t find Emil so she goes to find him at his lodge. He is hosting a private event for none other than Intelligencia! But Emil is there as the Abomination, violating his parole.

In the best way possible, this is where the show goes off the rails and turns super meta. Obviously, Jen finds Emil as the Abomination and finds out that Todd is HulkKing and that he stole her blood. Todd injects himself with Jen’s blood (because he quote “deserves it”) and starts to transform into a Hulk. At this point, Jen turns to the camera and says, “This can’t possibly be where this season was going.” But trust me, it gets even weirder. Titania(Jameela Jamil) shows up and then the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) shows up! It’s a classic Marvel showdown with Jen saying, “This is a mess. None of these storylines make any sense.” And she’s right, it is a mess. So Jen does what she does best, she breaks the 4th wall.

Jen breaks her inhibitor and transforms into She-Hulk. The Marvel homepage on Disney+ pops up and She-Hulk literally smashes herself into another show, Marvel Studios: Assembled; Marvel’s behind-the-scenes show. She then breaks her way onto a Walt Disney lot. She crashes the writer’s room for She-Hulk to berate them over how the finale is going. She is rightfully pissed off and wants to see Kevin, yes that Kevin but she has to fight off security (possibly a hilarious nod to the weak security at Marvel after all of the leaks) to speak to Kevin. But in this world, Kevin is K.E.V.I.N. an A.I. machine that makes all the decisions.

Before K.E.V.I.N. can answer She-hulk’s questions, it asks her to transform back into Jen because she is expensive and the VFX team is working on another job. That’s when the drum beats from Black Panther play.  I told you we were getting meta! K.E.V.I.N. apparently possesses the “most advanced entertainment algorithm in the world” and produces the best possible outcomes. But Jen tells K.E.V.I.N. that it’s her show so she should come up with the ending. After going back and forth, Jen makes her closing argument.

This is the moment Jen breaks down the MCU and its flaws. She says, “The Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for its big spectacles and high-stakes plotlines, but it’s often said that Marvel moves all end the same way. Perhaps, this is a result of following some unwritten rule that you have to throw a bunch of plot, and flash, and a whole blood thing that seems super suspiciously close to Super Solider Seram at the audience in the climax. I propose we don’t have to do that.” Jen argues that her stakes aren’t the same as the other superheroes because her’s is finally figuring out how to live as Jen and She-Hulk; so she rewrites her story. She doesn’t have Todd turn into a Hulk, the Hulk turns back into Bruce and the Abomination turns back into Emil. Before she is done rewriting her ending, she says one of my favorite lines of the episode by saying, “Would not mind seeing Dareveil again. A woman has needs.” She really is just like us!

Before Jen finally leaves though, she does have a couple of important and pressing questions to ask K.E.V.I.N. like what’s with all the daddy issues in the MCU? Or when are the X-Men coming into the MCU? The A.I. machine makes sure Jen will never be able to access K.E.V.I.N again because she obliterated its ending and before we get back to the show, Jen says, “Yeah, that’s what Hulks do. We smash things. Bruce smashes buildings. I smash fourth walls and bad endings. And sometimes, Matt Murdock.”

Ok, now we are back to the regularly scheduled program. The big fight is over. Todd is being arrested and Jen will see him in court. But the twists aren’t over because Daredevil is back!!! He swoops in to help but the fight is already over. (at least their cute and fun banter can resume!) Emil is remorseful for turning into the Abomination but he still has to serve 10 years in prison for violating his parole.

The final few moments of the show bring us back to Jen and her family. They are eating outside with a special guest… that’s right, Matt Murdock is meeting Jen’s family! Matt is just visiting for a week but that’s fine, I’m just glad Jen got what she wanted. But again, the surprises don’t stop there because the Hulk shows up! He’s finally back from Sakaar and will explain where he has been but before he does that, he wants to introduce his son, Skaar. Yeah, clearly missed a few chapters there…

 

The very final moments of the show have Jen walking to a courthouse. The charges brought against her have been dropped and she can practice law again as She-Hulk. Before she enters though, a reporter asks for details about her lawsuit against Intelligencia and Todd. She says, “People like Todd Phelps have to be held responsible for their actions. The message is that if you attack, harm, or harass innocent people, I’m coming for you.” The reporter then asks if she means in the courtroom or as a superhero and she says, “Both.” It appears that Jen has finally accepted who she is. But before the credits roll, the reporter asks who Jen is wearing because that’s all we care about when it comes to women in the workforce…

Just like with every Marvel project, there is an end-credit scene. Apparently, Wong (Benedict Wong) never learned his lesson because he breaks Emil out of jail. Not sure where we will see the Abomination or Wong again but I’m definitely excited.

And with that, the season is over. The finale surpassed my expectations and might be my favorite Disney+ series so far. While She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will probably get a second season, I hope to see Jen pop up in other Marvel projects. (cough, cough, Daredevil: Born Again).

All episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are now streaming on Disney+