‘She-Hulk’ Episode 3 Review — ‘The People vs. Emil Blonsky’ Is Just Hilarious
The third She-Hulk episode, The People vs. Emil Blonsky, has to be the funniest episode of any Marvel series so far. It’s the first time the show has really delivered on the “lawyer comedy show” premise, and the show is all the better for it, with an A-and-B-storyline that are hilarious in equal measure.
Almost immediately after Jennifer Walters confronts Blonsky about his prison break, the show reveals that Wong is coming. Walters quickly turns to the camera and her acknowledgement that every audience member is excited to see Wong had me bellowing with laughter. She tries to dampen our expectations that She-Hulk will not be one of those shows that has a new guest star every week, before realizing that the first episode had Bruce Banner/Smart Hulk, and last week we had Emil Blonsky.
That kind of self-deprecating humor is incredibly endearing and sets the tone for a show not afraid to poke fun at itself. You can tell Benedict Wong particularly enjoys playing with the show’s comedic tone as he explains his role in Blonsky’s prison break. Elsewhere, Josh Segarra’s Pugliese and Drew Matthew’s Dennis Bukowski get a fantastic B-storyline where the former represents the latter in a superhuman law case. Matthews excels at portraying Bukowski as a comically entitled and delusional man, with Segarra playing the bemused straight man in response.
All through the episode, Jennifer has to deal with the public’s reaction to She-Hulk. Everyone wants to know more about her, but she sticks her head in the sand and hopes they’ll just forget about her. As a result, people start making up rumors, including stories that she was rejected by the Avengers and is also carrying her and Abomination’s love child. Each rumor got a bigger laugh from me than the one before. Eventually she decides to try to influence the narrative around her and answer some of these questions, but it’s clear that the world still has a way to go when figuring out how to treat female celebrities appropriately.
This is the best episode of She-Hulk so far, and I can’t wait to see what the show has in store for us next.
Spoilers ahead…
When Blonsky first claimed that Wong forcibly broke him out of his cell and that he chose to return of his own free will, I’ll admit that I really did not believe him. His story last week seemed contradictory to the truth, and I assumed that would be the case here. But no, Wong removed him from his cell because he wanted a challenging training session as the new Sorcerer Supreme. And that’s why we see them duking it out in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
It’s surprising that Wong is so naïve about how the law works, but Benedict Wong plays his ignorance surrounding the real world perfectly. He comes in, explains what happened, and expects that this will wrap everything up, insisting that Blonsky not be punished for his actions. Then, at the end of the trial when Blonsky is granted parole, he makes a hilariously swift exit when the panel reminds him that he actually broke the law in taking Blonsky out of prison. He politely excuses himself and portals away, presumably hoping that his actions will be forgotten.
It does feel harsh that a man who helped reverse the Blip would be punished for this, considering he put Blonsky back in confinement without any issues, but I can’t help but hope he pops up again somewhere in another series fulfilling some menial community service activity. That’s ripe for comedic potential.
I found it interesting that the condition of Blonsky’s parole was that he is required to wear an inhibitor chip disabling his powers indefinitely. I expect him to be part of the Thunderbolts movie in 2024, so presumably Valentina Allegra de Fontaine will come along eventually to get him out of that part of his agreement.
The B-storyline was full of laughs, with Dennis Bukowski seeking representation over his case against a shapeshifting female elf from New Asgard, who conned him into believing that she was the rapper Megan Thee Stallion so he would buy her loads of jewelry and other presents. It’s an incredibly funny storyline, with Jennifer Walters taking repeated delight in the fact that Bukowski would be so deluded to think that Megan Thee Stallion would actually be interested. That they got Megan Thee Stallion to film three cameos (one as the elf in her form, the other two as herself) was the icing on the cake.
Josh Segarra was predictably excellent playing the straight man as he maintained his professionalism while making it clear he could barely stand his client. I particularly loved when he played the elf impersonating Pug, loudly exclaiming that he loves harassing women in the workplace, only for the real Pug to emerge from his office protesting that he doesn’t.
Segarra played his embarrassment perfectly before reminding his female colleagues that he would never do such a thing. If you haven’t seen Segarra’s work before, I recommend his turn as the villain in season 5 of Arrow, where he also plays a lawyer, though that character is significantly darker.
The episode ends with the first hint of a bigger villain on the horizon. Jen is attacked by young men wielding Asgardian construction equipment outside her home, and the conflict is played seriously until Jen breaks the fourth wall and remembers that she can just transform into She-Hulk.
At first, I figured that this was just an on-the-nose metaphor for when women get accused of deserving to get attacked for the way they dress (one man literally says “If you’re gonna strut around showing off your powers, you’d better be able to back it up”), but it’s revealed that these men were actually working for someone else.
I’m inclined to believe they’re working for Titania, who is presumably jealous that she got her ass kicked by another woman with super strength, but I guess it’s possible that someone else could be pulling some strings in the shadows. Either way, with the Blonsky case dealt with, I can’t wait to see what She-Hulk has in store for us next week. Hopefully, it’s just as hilarious as this week’s episode.
Josh is a huge a fan of Star Wars, superheroes and video games. He spends most of his time wondering who would win in a fight between Boba Fett and Star Lord.
