What I’m Watching: She-Hulk

She-Hulk: Season 1, Episode 7 “The Retreat” (B)

This episode was perfectly fun but felt a bit like filler, and we only got a payoff at the end when it turned out that Josh was reporting suspicious progress on something serum-related. It probably wasn’t a great idea for him to ghost her since she would have been much less likely to make a big deal of his disappearance if it had happened after things petered out a bit (see the most recent episode of “Abbott Elementary” for more on this tactic and how it can be particularly helpful). But she did get to process how she feels about having this new identity of She-Hulk and how it feels like the cool friend everyone always wanted to hang out with, giving her as Jen an inferiority complex. The therapeutic circle was entertaining, but the best part of all of this was seeing Blonsky as an enlightened and very calm leader, not at all like the Abomination that we’ve come to know in the past. After seeing Tim Roth play some especially terrible or just seedy and manipulative people, it’s a treat to have him in this much more relaxed and lighthearted role. It’s also good that Jen and She-Hulk are making allies in different places since, one things get started again, she’s likely going to have to fend off threats she didn’t even see coming from different directions. With just a few episodes left in this season and potentially this series, I’d love to see things pick up so we get to spend time with the entire ensemble and her extended universe.