'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law' Season 1 - TV Review

Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is a lawyer, and Bruce Banner's cousin (Bruce is still Mark Ruffalo). In a car accident that involves both of them, she gets some of his blood in her bloodstream and, well, "Hulks out" - although she retains a great deal more rationality than Bruce did initially. This first season consists of nine episodes of about 30 minutes each. Wikipedia describes the She-Hulk comic book: "... she often breaks the fourth wall for humorous effect and running gags." And yeah, the TV series has got that. Just like "Deadpool" - but less foul-mouthed and violent. Or maybe it's "Hawkeye" with more self-awareness ... either way, it's Marvel recycling ideas they've already used.

Jennifer Walters tells us that she doesn't want to be a superhero, she doesn't want the attention. She's determined to just return to her regular life. And yet by the end of the first episode the truth is (of course) revealed to the world at large. And here I stumble over the show's hypocrisy: she says she doesn't want the attention, and then turns to the camera and explains things to her audience of millions. Just a little self-contradictory.

The show spends nearly all its time mocking anything and everyone that comes on screen. So much so that when it tries to make emotional points or have character breakthroughs ... they miss their target. The most obvious place this occurs is with Jennifer's family - who are so objectionable (for comedy, of course ... except I didn't find them funny) that her continued involvement with them makes no sense at all. A close second is when she's more or less forced to join a retreat - the writers try to show her having an emotional breakthrough, but they've worked so hard to make everyone around her complete caricatures that it's pretty much impossible to buy into.

There are still issues with the technology that turns actors into big green characters: She-Hulk always moves a little awkwardly, suspiciously like someone walking on short stilts when she should look graceful and natural. And her face never looked quite right to me. James Cameron's "Avatar" proved this could be done ... but while Marvel TV probably has the financial resources to work at that level, it might bankrupt even them to do so. So we get a green face with a touch of the uncanny valley.

The ninth and final episode of the season sees her talking to the camera even more, and ultimately deciding to break out of the show itself (into what's supposed to be your streaming service interface) to re-arrange the plot. This truly over-the-top fourth-wall break was "quirky" but not actually funny, and added pretty much nothing to the series. It also convinced me that they can go where they want in future, I won't be returning. I don't mind "meta" if it's handled well: this just ... wasn't.