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A Complete Unknown is far from the worst thing you'll see this Christmas season, and many people will probably like it simply because of the various performances.
Posted in: Disney+, Kaitlyn Booth, Marvel, TV | Tagged: daredevil, disney, marvel, she-hulk, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, tv
She-Hulk Episode 8 Review: Exploring Uniquely Female Betrayals & Fears
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode eight finally stopped trolling everyone for Daredevil, brought back the Devil of Hell's Kitchen for all of us to see, and revealed just how in tune with the female experience this show truly is. It also, thank god, finally decided that it was time to actually blend being a lawyer show and being a superhero show at the same time. It was like all of this show's potential for an entire season finally happened, and we got the chance to see the show we could get if a season two ever happens or if a movie is ever coming along. It's also one of the darker episodes in terms of exploring themes, fears, and betrayals.
She-Hulk And Daredevil Sitting In A Tree
Fans have been begging to see Jennifer Walters and Matt Murdock face off in a courtroom since the moment we found out that Daredevil was going to happen in the Marvel universe, and we finally got to see it. It's also a case that actually fits with something that Jennifer really would take on as someone representing superheroes. A wanna-be hero's super suit gave him severe burns, and he wants to sue the man who made him the suit. The debate that Matt and Jennifer end up having about the merit of discovery when it comes to a man who makes super suits and how that could put people at risk if their identities are exposed, but that discovery like this is par for the course for a case like this, is something that we've wanted to see more of in She-Hulk. It's an interesting conundrum, and it's the most the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever had to say about the concept of privacy and how it pertains to superheroes. It looks like the supreme court didn't overthrow Roe vs. Wade in the MCU since they do still have the right to privacy; the little bits of worldbuilding in this show that we learn.
It's also a moment where we find out that the Sokovia Accords were repealed, so those of you who were Team Cap in Captain America: Civil War can use this episode of She-Hulk as evidence should you decide to have a debate at your local Comic-Con [would highly recommend this as a panel, it's fun concept]. It also seems that this version of Daredevil hadn't made much of an impact outside of New York City since Jennifer had no idea who he was when she met Matt in his costume and he told her his name. They have a neat little fight, and we get a Netflix-era throwback hallway fight just like the good old days. In many ways, this aspect of the series is a bit of a backdoor pilot for Daredevil: Born Again. But Charlie Cox and Tatiana Maslany have a ton of chemistry, so here's hoping they come up with an excuse for Jennifer to make a trip out to New York during that show as well.
The show very much acts on that chemistry as well, and we get to see Jennifer hook up with someone who isn't an asshole and someone who seems to like both versions of herself. Matt tells her that she can do essentially what he is doing in New York City; Jennifer Walters can help people through the law, and She-Hulk can help people that the law cannot. It's a little dicier for Jennifer considering everyone knows who she is, but it's good to see that Jennifer really realizes her own potential. We also see Matt do a walk of shame in the yellow Daredevil costume.
Tapping Into Women's Worst Fears
She-Hulk is very aware of the female perspective from the first episode in the bar when all of the women immediately support Jennifer and are willing to go to war for her. There have been plenty of moments throughout the show, but the violation of the previous episode that we were worried they weren't going to explore, is coming back in a big way in the final moments of this episode. Jennifer is feeling the best she has ever felt. She is wearing a beautiful dress, strutting her stuff in her She-Hulk form, winning awards for being a lawyer, and feeling on top of the world. That is when the betrayal that she was breaking the fourth wall earlier about happens because we find out that the violation that Josh made when he slept with her wasn't limited to sleeping with her under fall pretenses, thus removing consent and taking away her bodily autonomy by taking her blood, but he also recorded the two of them sleeping together. It is now being projected to the world.
At the end of the day, that is revenge porn, and it's up there with one of the more unique fears women face whenever we date. Jennifer was violated, slept with under false pretenses, recorded without her consent, and now that recording was leaked in front of everyone that she works with and her family, all while slut shaming her. Matt doing a quirky walk of shame in an episode where Jennifer is being slut shammed because she decided to sleep with a guy that she was dating is about as subtle as a 2×4 to the face. For the first time since the first episode, we see Jennifer lose control of her emotions. Everyone immediately sees her as a threat for having an extreme reaction to having every aspect of her violated and exposed for everyone to see. The episode ends with Jennifer standing with the guns trained on her as if she is the one in the wrong and the implication that the ones in the room on this stunt got away.
In the 2020 film Promising Young Woman, the main character Cassie is trying to get revenge, catharsis, and closure for her best friend who was raped and, the film implies, after losing the criminal case, takes her own life. At the end of the film, she is staring down the man who attacked and ruined her best friend's life, and she is going to hurt him, inflicting real physical violence on someone for the first time since she started this quest. He tells her, "It's every man's worst nightmare, getting accused of something like that." Without missing a beat, Cassie replies, "Can you guess what every woman's worst nightmare is?" She-Hulk, the comedy Marvel show, is shining a spotlight on women's worst fears, and that is a big swing for a show like this. It's commendable, not the direction anyone would expect, but the creative team behind this show understood the sanctity of women's bathrooms in bars; it makes sense that they would know a women's worst nightmare.
Why A Mediocre Man Is Probably The Final Villain In She-Hulk
The exact grievance of the villain in She-Hulk remains unclear, but one line does seem to indicate that they think Jennifer is unworthy of the power that she has been given. They say that she doesn't "deserve" the attention, praise, or power she "stole" from the Hulk. So it's probably going to be a mediocre man that feels emasculated by the fact that Jennifer could break them in half without even trying. My money is on Todd; they have brought up the fact that he's in tech, and he demanded a dinner with Jennifer and was at the gala. If his motivations are really as simple as "the big strong woman made my penis feel very small, so I want to steal her blood so I can get the powers because she doesn't deserve them," then the show doesn't really need to explain much else. The amount of women who are dead because they accidentally made a mediocre man feel emasculated is disgusting, and, once again, this show is leaning toward an accurate female experience. This is just taking rape culture, misogyny, and toxic masculinity to another level by adding gamma radiation. This show hasn't missed on that front yet, but we'll have to see how next week ends up. More Marvel finales have failed than succeeded so far.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Ep. 8
9/10
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode 8 delivers on the promise of Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, while exploring uniquely female betrayals and fears that Jennifer experiences.
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