After last week’s episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, I was expecting a rebound episode. The latest episode of the first season, titled “The Retreat”, was exactly what the show needed. Reintroducing Emil Blonsky in his new, more subdued persona was a treat. But for every fun moment that occurred during the episode, the ending left me feeling emotionally raw.
Spoilers ahead, so don’t read if you haven’t watched the latest episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Picking up where the wedding episode ended, we see a montage of Jen and Josh as they go on a series of dates. In my review of the last episode, I opined Josh was part of the nefarious group of hates targeting Jennifer Walters. Unfortunately, I was correct in that assumption, as we see at the ending of the episode. Before we get into that, I will point out that the initial dating scenes were cute, with Jennifer clearly enjoying herself without being She-Hulk. For once, it looked like she found a guy that was interested in her, not her alter-ego.
Except once she finally slept with him, he ghosted her.
Having been on the receiving end of this treatment in real life, I can tell you it’s emotionally heart-wrenching. If you’ve ever been intimate with someone and they completely stop contacting you, it causes an emotional tailspin. Looking back at the montage, it’s clear that Josh was engaging in the practice of love-bombing. By showing affection and attention, Josh wormed his way into Jennifer’s heart and her bedroom.
While dealing with this sudden and disheartening turn of events, Jennifer has to go out to the remote retreat with Blonsky’s parole officer. Blonsky’s ankle monitor has acted up and the parole officer would feel more comfortable having a Hulk with him if things go awry. To be fair, Blonsky nearly tore down Harlem on a rampage, so that’s a safe call. Instead, we find Blonsky at his retreat and his attitude is still the serene one we saw earlier in the season. I expected Blonsky to make an immediate face-heel turn once paroled from prison, but that isn’t what we have here. Instead, Blonsky has created a haven for other super-powered individuals.
The group of super-powered individuals is a hilarious crew of C-tier Marvel superheroes, such as Man-Bull and Porcupine. The characters are trying to work out their own mental neuroses under the calm guidance of Blonsky. We even get to see the return of Wrecker from the Wrecking Crew (the group of men that attacked her and tried to steal her blood earlier in the season). I laughed when Jen broke the fourth wall and called for an immediate “previously on” to remind the audience who Wrecker was.
Instead of being antagonistic, Wrecker apologizes (in a roundabout way) for attacking Jennifer. What follows is one of the most heartwarming sequences I’ve seen in the series up to this point. Surrounded by superheroes with issues, Jennifer doesn’t feel awkward or alone. For the first time since the start of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jennifer can open up about the difficulties she’s faced, including Josh’s disappearing act. The group embrace Jennifer without reservation, showing her the support she’s needed from the beginning. They even show an immediate protective streak, asking if she wants them to handle Josh for ghosting her. She turns the offer down, but it’s clear that she appreciates the sentiment behind it.
But then we get to the ending and we see exactly why Josh ghosted Jennifer Walters. It turns out that Josh is part of the Intelligencia trolls who have posted hateful messages about Jennifer online. Not only did Josh steal a vial of Jennifer’s blood after sleeping with her, he took a picture of the sleeping Jennifer while she was naked. The unmitigated glee on Josh’s face is sickening to look at. What this means for Jennifer moving forward is unknown, but I sincerely hope Josh gets his comeuppance. The seventh episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law felt like a great rebound from last week’s episode. Funny and light-hearted, the episode shows the writers have a good grasp on how to center the comedy around normal human emotions. I knew the ending was coming as soon as Josh ghosted Jennifer. That didn’t make it any easier to watch. With only a few episodes left in the season, I’m intrigued to see where things go from there.
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