Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
Jennifer Walters, played by Tatiana Maslany, gets into a car accident with her giant green cousin and accidentally becomes a Hulk.
Yikes, I think of all the Marvel series thus far that this was the worst opening episode. This first episode really doesn’t seem to understand the Marvel beat, whilst being so try hard in its almost parody of Fleabag it presents a very confused identity.
To add to this there is some really quite jarring editing choices that make the episode feel choppy and not quite right. The choice of flashbacks taking place just before and then in the middle of a trial which then features a random fight, all without much explanation at all, makes things difficult to follow.
In addition this first episode is very heavy handed on the social commentary, far more so then anything else we have seen from Marvel to this point. I have no issue with films and TV shows making comments on political/social issues as long as they have a fresh take and don’t feel like they are just repeating talking points, this does the latter.
Finally, I understand needing to shorten things for the sake of the episode’s narrative, but having She-Hulk immediately being able to control her powers and not needing to train much at all, beyond one montage, again feels unearned.
Overall, I had heard the first episode was rough and that things get better, let’s all hope that’s true.
Pros.
The Hulk fight was cool
Maslany is trying
It is watchable
Cons.
It is preachy
The CGI still looks bad
She-Hulk immediately being great is bad story telling
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Another Millennial Reviewer 