"THE RETREAT"
Written by Alex Gilston / October 3, 2022
Jennifer Walters may have finally found love without She-Hulk, but when there’s an alert that Emil Blonsky may have broken his parole she must go to his wellness retreat to keep a lookout on him.
This week She-Hulk starts with a lovely montage between Jennifer and Josh, a guy she met at last weeks wedding, as they get to know each other and become closer. But after Josh ghosts her she’s called to Emil Blonsky, the Abomination's wellness retreat to investigate a possible parole break. Jennifer is then confronted with her feelings by Blonsky and some other super-beings grappling with their identities. If the past few episodes have been about Jennifer coming to terms with her “hulkness” then this episode is more about her coming to terms with Jennifer Walters. The focus is pulled right back into Jennifer in this episode which is refreshing because it was starting to feel like a generic show rather than a show about her. She’s helped to this personal epiphany by a rogues gallery of superheroes, including Man-Bull, Porcupine, and even Saracen, a vampire (Yes we’re thinking exactly the same).
Tatiana Maslany proves further that she’s bossing in her MCU debut. She delivers a killer monologue where Jennifer comes to the conclusion that she has to love herself, as well as She-Hulk to be able to get by. It’s a climactic moment in her character development that Maslany plays brilliantly. Tim Roth deserves the world and hopefully this won’t be the last time we see him as the now emotionally transformed Abomination.
She-Hulk's episodic nature is turning out to be its biggest strength. In a cinematic universe that’s connected to within an inch of its life it’s a welcome change of pace to have something different each week. With that in mind the end of the episode this week suggests that the last couple of episodes might retract back into more standard MCU territory.