Spoiler-Free ‘She Hulk’ Episode 4 Review: Looking For Love In All The Wong Places
Image Source: Cinema Blend
Well, episode 4 of She-Hulk is out, and what an episode it was. With a runtime almost as long as the premiere, we had plenty of time for hijinks, shenanigans, and everything you’d expect from a sitcom. So let’s get to the details.
Last week’s episode was a huge step forward, and I was interested to see if they could continue the momentum. Honestly, I loved it. It was just as funny or funnier than last week. I have seen a few articles related to the twerking in last week’s episode, and some people had a problem with it. I thought it was funny personally, but you also have to adjust your expectations. It’s a sitcom set in the Marvel universe, not the usual Marvel property, with some quips added. There will be silly gags and strange premises, which episode 4 cranked up a few notches. The 4th wall breaking and self-awareness were on point, grounding reality-bending, dimension-hopping magic mixed with the legal procedure was solid. While I missed Pug, we were introduced to my favorite non-comic character from Marvel in a while.
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I don’t want to hype up Madisynn too much, but I loved every scene she was in. Having “Wongers” in the episode was great, but I want her to have a spinoff where she just finds her way to somehow getting swept up in a different avengers adventure each week. It’s a type of character that’s been done a million times, but it just seemed like something was fresh about it. She was one the best examples of Marvel making characters out of regular people, which is one of the reasons the MCU has done so well. That and her post-credit scene were a nice conclusion to the episode and her arc.
Another aspect of the MCU that She-Hulk has carried over is doing the little things well. This episode was the first time I noticed that Jen is wearing oversized suits to go to work before she hulks out. While being very silly, the legal aspect has seemed believable and well thought out for a world where shapeshifters and magic are real. What felt like a missed opportunity was the throwaway line to reveal that Jen’s assistant Nikki is attracted to women. It just seemed like another example of Disney representation where they bring it up once, and that’s that. I hope it will be explored a bit more as the show progresses or that there will be a bit more representation and that Disney will prove me wrong. What felt fresh, though, was the first time seeing a superhero dating in a real-world setting. Seeing a hulk trying out dating apps was both funny and believable.
Image Source: Superhero Hype
On the subject of her dating, they did a good job again this week of depicting what it was like being a woman without getting knocked over the head with it. While it may have leaned a bit too hard back to all the male characters being jerks, the dating portion was quite well done. Seeing Jen’s dating struggles in both forms spanned the spectrum of showing men’s reactions wildly different reactions to the same person in 2 different bodies. It highlighted how varied people’s responses are simply based on initial perceptions. It also showed the struggles from different sides, with Jen coming across as quirky, less confident, and intimidating vs. She-Hulk being a strong woman. The one successful date felt like a missed opportunity and that they went right for an expected stereotype in the end, but it didn’t hurt the episode either.
I re-watched episodes 1 and 2 to see if I had been too hard on them. I hadn’t. Last week’s episode and this weeks have really stepped it up. The order got rearranged relatively last minute, and it seems obvious now through the discrepancy in the past 4 episodes. On a side note, we had no follow-up on the meta arc setup last week, so we will see what comes of that. Overall, another great step forward has got me even more excited to see what we get next week.
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Source(s): Disney+