She-Hulk review, Episode 9: “Whose Show is This”

And just like that, She-Hulk comes to a hilariously meta conclusion. I know people have had a lot to say about the series. From the wacky CGI to the minimal use of secondary characters, not everyone has been thrilled with what Marvel has offered with the 30-minute legal comedy.

On the other hand, I’ve had a fun time watching the show because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Plus, it gave us Matt freaking Murdock (Charlie Cox), who has triumphantly made his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after hanging in contractual limbo for the past few years.

There is a lot to like about She-Hulk, including that it never takes itself too seriously. The season 1 finale reminds us of that in a big way. It knows it is working on shaky ground and embraces it. I loved every moment of this insane finale, and I hope other viewers did too! So let’s dive into the major moments from “Whose Show Is This”!

She-Hulk gets a plea deal

She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) is reeling from the rampage she went on in last week’s episode. Do we blame her for going all She-Hulk on everyone? Someone leaked a sex video of her and has been trolling her for weeks; that is just not cool!

After all the chaos, Jen is given a plea deal offer from the District Attorney; she is freed on the condition that she never again turns into She-Hulk. This leads to a domino effect: she leaves her fancy lawyer job, leaves her apartment, and moves back home with her parents. It’s not an ideal situation, and a huge downgrade after sleeping with the Daredevil.

Frustrated and angry with where life has ended up, Jen decides to turn to the one person she thinks will understand her: Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). He does have a pretty stellar retreat to retreat to, so I don’t blame her.

Marvel goes meta

Jen heads to Emil’s mansion and finds some peace there until she walks into a gathering in the lodge. It’s a meeting of Intelligencia, which has gathered there to bash She-Hulk.

Pug (Josh Segarra) goes there at the behest of Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) to get some intel. He tries to join in on the misogyny and quickly learns that Todd (Jon Bass) is behind the hacking incident. He hired Josh (Trevor Salter) to hack Jen’s phone and seduce her just to get closer. To make matters worse, Blonsky is there too…as the Abomination, who’s been hired to speak. Jen feels betrayed when she walks in.

The plot thickens as it’s revealed that Josh is HulkKing, the guy who created Intelligencia and the one who plotted to steal her blood with the intention of becoming a Hulk himself. As we take this in, Titania (Jameela Jamil) randomly crashes through the wall just as Bruce/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) drops out of the sky. It’s very weird to see all this happening at once, with no rhyme or reason behind all these characters showing up.

She-Hulk Season 1, Episode 9 ending explained

It is at this point that She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall to take care of the writing on her show. She can’t grasp why the writers have decided to make the finale so bloated and nonsensical.

This is where the episode takes an entertaining turn, and I was here for every second of it. She-Hulk heads to the Marvel Studio offices to talk to Kevin Feige, fighting security guards on her way in.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t find Kevin Feige but rather K.E.V.I.N., the artificial intelligence in charge of all Marvel plots and stories. She-Hulk wastes no time telling the robot that she is unhappy with how her legal comedy has turned out. She wants to rewrite the entire story and break out of Marvel’s usual formula. I love how much they rag on themselves here. You have to appreciate Marvel’s willingness to try something new and accept that they aren’t perfect. The “break the fourth wall” bit is a fun way to get at this stuff.

After changing her story, She-Hulk heads back to her TV show, where all those characters who showed up are hanging out in the background. Todd is arrested and Emil is sent back to prison for 10 years for breaking his parole.

Of course, the episode couldn’t end without Daredevil appearing out of nowhere, because that’s how Jen wants the story to end. As the episode closes, we see Matt joining Jen’s family for a barbecue. It’s super adorable and made my heart melt. Then Bruce joins and randomly introduces the family to his son…yes, son… named Skaar. We don’t get any explanation on that front, but we’ll go with it. Maybe later?

In the post-credit scene, Wong (Benedict Wong) shows up to bust Emil out of prison and take him to Kamar-Taj. Don’t we just love a random, silly scene that may have consequences in some future Marvel show or movie? I know I do!

All in all, the She-Hulk Season 1 finale was entertaining. It didn’t take anything too seriously, and while there are many unresolved plotlines, I think that was the point. We didn’t need closure because that is just how it goes sometimes. We don’t know much about the Intelligencia, what Titania’s purpose was, or what will happen next. What I do know is that it is a pleasant change of pace when we can step away from the multiversal madness and just get a silly comedy!

Grade: A-

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