She-Hulk 1.1 - Issue #1

She-Hulk : Issue #1
Genre : Superhero / Comedy / Legal
Showrunner: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Writer : Chad Taylor
Based on the Marvel Comics characters

Cast: Jenny Slate, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Michael Richards, Finn Wittrock, Fiona Shaw, Richard Kind and Zach Woods

Plot:Jennifer Walters (Jenny Slate) lays face-down dying on an operating table, doctors surrounding her. Her father Morris (Michael Richards) rushes in but is turned away by nurses. Finally, Dr. John Jameson (Finn Wittrock) makes his calm-and-collected entrance and looks in control.

The camera pans under Jennifer’s face as time stops. She opens her eyes and speaks directly to the camera: “Look, I know this is a lot to throw you into right away. How do you think I feel?! It’s certainly not my most flattering angle! I would tell you my life story but this bullet in my head isn’t doing too good for my memory. So here’s what I’ve got…”

A younger Jen sits with her mom Sheila (Fiona Shaw) in her parents’ home, anticipating news. Finally, her father enters and tells them the results. She’s pregnant! Jen and Sheila look at him with a blank stare. He laughs at his own joke and then says that she passed the Bar Exam. She’s now a lawyer. They all celebrate.

“This was my dream job. That’s a bit nerdy, I know. My dad is one of the top law enforcement officials in New York City so I’d always been around law-and-order. But I knew I wanted to be a public defender and help my common man and woman.”

Jen sits bored out of her mind going through paperwork alongside Mary MacPherran (Phoebe-Waller Bridge), her co-worker and best friend. Jen is trying to get work done but she is too busy holding back laughter as Mary recounts her latest failed date. They are interrupted by Phil Leibovitz (Richard Kind), the head lawyer at their firm. He informs Jen that she has been assigned a new case. The folder reads “Danger Man” and she and Mary exchange puzzled looks.

“It’s still my dream job! I’m just willing to work my way up, that’s all. And, yeah, my dating life hasn’t been great, either.”

Jen sits at a restaurant table with a date (Zach Woods) across from her. An older lady waitress approaches and asks if they’ve left room for dessert - their pecan pie here is delicious. Her date is open to it and suggests they have it. Jen responds by saying that she is allergic to nuts. After a beat, she changes to an attempted sexy voice and says “well...not all nuts” with a devious smile. Instead of being turned on, her straight-laced date becomes immediately blushed with embarrassed with the waitress standing right there. In the awkward silence, Jen turns to the camera with near delight at her clumsiness.

“So that was my life. That was my life until…”

Jen wakes up in a hospital bed with Morris and Mary by her side. They are both happy to see her alert and catches her up on what happened. Her and her mother were attacked on the sidewalk on their way home from dinner. Despite multiple gunshot wounds, Jen received a major blood transfusion and her doctors were able to keep her stable. Jen’s first reaction is to ask where her mom is, which brings Morris to the verge of tears. He shakes his head no and tells her that she is still in a coma.

In the stunned silence, Mary tries to break the tension by saying that - on the bright side - Jen’s surgeon was hot. The silence continues and Mary looks around as if she never said anything. Morris excuses himself from the room, after which Dr. Jameson then enters and Jen turns to the camera: “She wasn’t wrong!”

He says he is glad to see Jen awake. He tells her that she was one of the most serious cases he’s ever faced but they made it. And now for some news: Jen is making exceptional, near unprecedented, progress in her recovery and could be free to go in a couple of days time. When he leaves, Jen has minor freakout - telling her why she didn’t say that her surgeon was John Jameson, one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. Mary excuses herself by saying she doesn’t read the gossip columns as much as Jen does. Jen says she can’t believe she had Dr. John freaking Jameson’s hands inside of her.

When she gets out of the Hospital, her first move is to visit her comatose mother. While no words are spoken between the two, Jen shares a tender moment with her best friend. At the hospital, Dr. Jameson reviews Jen’s medical files and finds that the blood used in the transfusion contained high amounts of gamma radiation - something he must have missed the first time around. He decides to keep this to himself.

At her mother’s burial, Jen’s mind is racing. She is wondering if there was anything she could have done to prevent this. In a mixture of agony and anger, she lets out a scream. By the end of it, she finds herself a foot taller, much more muscular, and with green skin. And, oh yeah, she has outgrown her clothes and must scurry to cover herself up at her own mother’s funeral. Time stands still as the handful of people there turn their heads at Jen, who turns her head to the camera.

“So...here we are.”

After a beat, time resumes and Morris asks “What the fuck?!?”.

I'm really curious about how this show is going to turn out. It certainly feels different from the other superhero series we've had in the past and She-Hulk feels like a bit of fresh air in the tired genre, thanks to Chad Taylor's tight, but high-paced script.

I never was a huge fan of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and everything that follows her and it takes a good amount of time to get accustomed to her quirks, but you can only fully enjoy She-Hulk once you get over it, but I didn't, yet. The jury is still out for me on this one.

The series really benefits from Phoebe Waller-Bridge trademark brand she's known for and I am all for it. It's a little off-putting at first, but the light and breezy feel of the show is more than welcome in an era where we seem to think "the darker the better"