She-Hulk 2.1 - Issue #11

She-Hulk : Issue #11
Genre : Superhero / Comedy / Legal
Showrunner: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Writer : Chad Taylor
Based on the Marvel Comics characters

Cast: Jenny Slate, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Himesh Patel, F. Murray Abraham, Steve Howey and Griffin Newman

Previously on She-Hulk: Jen Walters, AKA She-Hulk, fought off the dastardly Absorbing Man with the help of some of her super friends. At Absorbing Man’s side was supposed to be Titania, Jen’s ex-best-friend Mary, but she bailed at the last second. Unfortunately for Jen, after J. Jonah Jameson revealed her secret identity, many conflicts of interest were raised in Jen’s superhero law career. Her bosses at Goodman, Liever, Kurtzberg, & Holliway gave her an ultimatum: stick with her law career or her superhero career, but not both.

Jen (Jenny Slate) gets dressed in front of a mirror. She looks down to her closet at her two options: professional wear for her lawyer career or a specially designed She-Hulk suit.

So I’ve made my decision…

A short but incredibly fast and sneaky supervillain named the Speed Demon (Griffin Newman) races through the streets of New York with bag full of cash from a bank robbery. Since there are not many places to truly get away, he cuts down to the subway and starts running through the tunnels, where the cops have to stop their pursuit. On one of the trains, we see a newspaper being read by someone with green hands on an otherwise empty train. The newspaper is lower to reveal She-Hulk smiling. She advises the driver to let her take over as there is a dangerous criminal roaming the tracks. He is hesitant but NYPD gives him the go-ahead.

In her ear, Stu (Himesh Patel) tries to give her Speed Demon’s coordinates but the underground location makes it difficult. Jen asks if there is any other way he can help, perhaps any comic book knowledge that would be useful. Stu thinks for a moment before remembering that he used to be called “Whizzer” before changing it to Speed Demon to make him seem cooler. Jen says perfect and thanks Stu.

Using the trains intercom, she calls out for “The Whizzer”, prompting a confused Speed Demon to stop in his tracks. “That’s not my name!” he shouts. She-Hulk can barely hear him so she keeps doing this to egg him on. “That’s. Not. My. NAME!!!” He reverses his path and starts to run towards Jen’s train. She sees him coming but realizes that the breaks won’t stop in time and that she may have went too far in her teasing. Seeing his small demeanor, she knows there is no way he will win in a battle with a train. She-Hulk leaps through the front window and starts running with the train pushing against her back, slowing it down in the process. Upon seeing the size of She-Hulk, Speed Demon starts to get scared and reverses course again but this time She-Hulk is able to catch up with him.

She tries to grab a hold of him but her leg is grabbed by a short hairless creature with yellowish skin. This freaks out both She-Hulk and Speed Demon as more of these things appear. They start to fight them off together, while She-Hulk snatches Speed Demon’s bag of cash. She yells for Stu who tells her that these sound to be Moloids but he isn’t sure. “Moloids?! What the hell is a moloid?!?” she yells and he tells her it may take a while to explain. She finally fights them off but Speed Demon has also escaped and is running away. She decides not to chase after him as she at least got the money he stole.

“New York Groove” plays as we see a montage of some of Jen’s exploits as the She-Hulk since the last time we saw her. As expected, she has become a full-on celebrity and is still the topic of tabloid gossip, this time the focus being on Jen Walters since her identity was exposed.

At dinner, Jen thanks Stu for his help earlier that day. Things are flirtatious between them but they are still taking it slow. She asks him how things are at the firm and he says the same old, same old. She asks if they miss her and he says they all seem pretty aggravated by her decision. “Typical Mallory.” she says but he says Holden, too. He says that he is risking his job by aiding her in her adventures but it is a risk he is willing to take. He asks if she has been able to get ahold of Mary yet. She says she finally responded and they’re set for lunch tomorrow. He isn’t sure what to say and wishes her best of luck, which they both share a laugh about. At the end of their dinner, they aren’t sure how to part ways and end up awkwardly hugging.

In the middle of the night, Jen is woken up by a text from her old boss Holden Holliway. She is too nervous to even read it so she leaves it unread for now.

At lunch, Jen and Mary (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) catch up. Jen says it seems like forever since they’ve seen each other and jokingly asks why Mary is ghosting her. Jen says she hated the sour note that they left things on and that hopefully time heals old wounds. Mary smiles and says she was hoping the same. Jen excitedly catches Mary up on the events at the courthouse and how her rag-tag group of friends took on this crazy guy who could change his skin into whatever he was touching.

In prison, we see inmate Carl Creel (Steve Howey) trying to make a phone call to no avail. “Come on, Mary, pick up!” he whispers frustratingly under his breath.

Back at the restaurant, Mary looks nervously at the camera and then back at Jen, looking fascinated by her story. Jen then tells Mary about he current predicament with the text from Holden. Should she look at it? Mary is supportive and says that Jen should definitely read it. Read it, in fact. She pulls out her phone and reads the message: “Call me when you can. Would like to meet. Not business related.” Jen and Mary look suggestively at each other “What do you think it is about? You wouldn’t think he wants to…” Mary says. “No, no, no. He’s way too old for me, anyways. Although his voice is rather soothing…” They both laugh. Jen decides that she will give him a call after their dinner. Mary gets an alert on her phone and says that she has a meeting to get to and they promise to start seeing each other more often.

Jen nervously gives Holden (F. Murray Abraham) a call and he says it is nice to hear from her. He would like to meet her the next day at Central Park, if possible. She agrees to it. Jen looks to the camera:

Here we go again!

While the first season felt a little slow at times, this can' be said about this season premiere, as writer Chad Taylor keeps things running smoothly, with a dash of action and humour along the way.

I liked the first season of this show and I'm enjoying its second season even more so far. Jenny Slate is a joy to watch as She-Hulk, now that she gets to roam around freely as the character and the world around her is set.

I had a hard time with the first season, but from what I've seen so far, it felt like a long introduction for the character. It finally has the action we crave in superhero movies or series, while being funny and smart at the same time.

Miami Vice 3.1 - Maynard

Miami Vice : Maynard
Genre : Crime / Drama
Showrunner: Peter Berg
Writer : Roy Horne
Based on the television series

Cast: Josh Holloway, Taye Diggs, Andy Garcia, Brad William Henke, Troy Garity, Desmin Borges, Richard Burgi, Marsha Thomason and Cameron Richardson

Plot: 2005. Sonny Crockett (Josh Holloway) is serving in the US Army in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He is tasked with protecting military police detective Ira Stone (Desmin Borges) while he is in the city. They ride in a transport vehicle through the city streets and out to a remote US facility. Stone takes Crockett inside the facility, which is being used as storage for dead soldiers. Stone unzips a body bag and shows Crockett that the body has been packed with heroin in order to smuggle it out of Afghanistan and presumably back to the US.

Back in the present, Crockett is attending the trial of a small time heroin dealer. The judge asks Crockett for a recommendation on the sentencing. Crockett hesitates, then says that he honestly doesn't have one and leaves the courtroom. Outside of the court house, Crockett is approached by Ira Stone, who tells him that heroin from Afghanistan has made its way to the streets of Miami. Crockett asks how, and Stone says that someone known as "The Sergeant" was responsible for all the heroin moving out of Afghanistan. Crockett asks if there are any suspects, and Stone informs Crockett that he suspects that Crockett's former commanding officer, Sgt. Maynard, is responsible.

Crockett and his partner, Ricardo Tubbs (Taye Diggs), head down to the VA hospital to ask around to see if they turn up any information. At first the former soldiers there aren't interested in talking to the police, but Crockett tells them that he served in Afghanistan. Finally, one of the soldiers warns Crockett that he shouldn't get asking about Afghani heroin around the building. Crockett and Tubbs head back to Crockett's boat where they find a folded up US flag. Crockett comments that it isn't a very subtle message. They head to OCB where Crockett tells Lt. Martin Castillo (Andy Garcia) what Stone informed him of. Larry Zito (Troy Garity) and Stan Switek (Brad William Henke) tell the team that Maynard now owns a real estate company just outside Miami.

Crockett goes to see Stone and takes him along to meet with Maynard (Richard Burgi). They ask Maynard what he knows about heroin being smuggled out of Afghanistan. Maynard insists that it was the Afghanistan military that was smuggling the heroin out of the country, not the US. Stone starts to argue with Maynard about it. Crockett tells Stone to calm down, and Stone storms out of the office.

Tubbs and Switek meet up with a Dakota (Marsha Thomason), who they believe is pushing the Afghani heroin locally. When they arrive, Dakota tells them that she can't meet with them since there is someone ahead of them. Crockett is unable to contact Stone, so he and Tubbs go to see Stone's wife, Allison Stone (Cameron Richardson). She says she doesn't know where Ira is, but doesn't car as she is preparing to leave him. Crockett asks why, and Allison says that Ira keeps getting calls from some woman named Dakota, so he's clearly cheating on her and she won't tolerate it. Crockett and Tubbs go to see Dakota, who reveals that she informed Maynard that Stone came to see her. Maynard then had his men kidnap Stone. Crockett and Tubbs demand to know where Maynard took Stone. Dakota tells that he probably had Stone taken to his warehouse.

Stone is tied up in Maynard's warehouse. Stone tells Maynard that he left all of his evidence with his wife, and she knows to turn it over to the press if she doesn't hear from him. One of Stone's henchmen then carries in a body bag. Maynard then goes over and unzips the bag, revealing the dead body of Stone's wife Allison. Maynard then shoots Stone in each foot. Stone screams out in pain as Crockett, Tubbs, Zito and Switek storm into the warehouse, killing all of Maynard's guards. Crockett chases after Maynard, but Maynard escapes on a boat.

Crockett, Tubbs and Castillo visit Stone in the hospital. They promise that they'll have Maynard arrested if he ever sets foot in Miami again. Stone tells them that isn't enough and turns away from the officers.

A police procedural show entering its third season can start to feel a little repetitive, but that's not the case with Miami Vice and I tip my hat to writer Roy Horne for that, but I can't help but feel like I want more out of the episodes.

Once again, I can't think of anyone else as Crockett and Tubbs other than Josh Holloway and Taye Diggs. Their chemistry and the way they embody their characters makes this series a must watch.

You've come to know what to expect from Miami Vice, but every once in a while, you get a high quality episode like this one to make you forget the bad ones. I particularly enjoyed the flashback sequences that gave a little backstory on the character while helping the plot move forward.