A new episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has arrived on Disney+. The fifth episode of this Marvel Cinematic Universe legal comedy is called “Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans.” It follows Jennifer Walters as she discovers superpowered influencer Titania has trademarked She-Hulk and is suing Jennifer for copyright infringement. We have gotten four episodes of this superhero series; unfortunately, the fifth is not a step in the right direction. Instead, episode 5 is a continuation of everything that makes this show a weak outing for the MCU.
The episode begins by giving us more of Titania, portrayed by Jameela Jamil, who is excellent as this annoying, self-centered influencer. Jamil nails an American accent and delivers an entertaining, albeit exaggerated, performance for the MCU. She has been using the She-Hulk name to sell her so-called beauty products, and she has a lawsuit against Jennifer for using the name. On paper, the idea of exploring a small-scale conflict in a world of superpowers and world-ending stakes is funny, but nothing about this show uses any of these ideas to their full potential.
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One of the questions a TV series like this may have the most trouble answering is, “why should we care?” This episode follows She-Hulk as she teams up with Mallory Book (Renée Elise Goldsberry) to prove that Jennifer Walters used the name She-Hulk before Titania filed the trademark. This is such a mundane conflict with zero stakes involved that you do not care about anything happening on screen. In the first few episodes, Jennifer needed to take on the Abomination case because if she didn’t, she would lose her job. In this episode, what’s the worst that can happen? Jennifer can no longer use She-Hulk, a name she has voiced her disdain for multiple times.
An easy defense for this series is that it is not trying to be a Captain America: Civil War or anything along those lines and wants to have fun. However, a key issue with this legal comedy is the actual comedy, which is a gigantic element to mess up. This show is not funny enough to justify its existence. MCU projects can be funny, as we’ve seen in Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. Courtroom comedies can be funny, as we’ve seen in Legally Blonde and Liar Liar. But the jokes in this series are so formulaic, with all of them having the most straightforward punchline that can barely induce a chuckle out of the audience.
The episode struggles to get any mileage out of the fact that She-Hulk needs to use her online profile dates to testify on her behalf. It could have been much more awkward and funny, but the writing gets nothing out of it. The show doesn’t need any world-ending stakes, but the least they could do was have emotional stakes between characters. They could have built more conflict between Jennifer and Mallory, as they are two competing lawyers who then find friendship through this case. But nothing feels like it is of any substance at all.
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The result is an episode with no heart, no laughs, and nothing to report home about. This annoyingly small-scale show barely builds to anything with its story. It’s okay for a show to take its time, but She-Hulk is not funny or interesting enough for any of this ride to feel worthwhile. While we get the Daredevil tease at the end of the episode, he was already featured in the marketing, which removes all of the surprise factor. It almost feels like the writers are dangling a look at Matt Murdock in our faces to keep us watching because the show has nothing else to appreciate about it.
SCORE: 4/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 4 equates to “Poor.” The negatives outweigh the positive aspects making it a struggle to get through.
