She Hulk : Attorney at Law Review – The People vs Emil Blonsky

After two episodes of mostly strong setup, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law hits the ground running with The People vs Emil Blonsky.

Throwing Benedict Wong into the mix alongside the captivating performances by Tatiana Maslany and Tim Roth more than makes up for Mark Ruffalo‘s absence.

The People vs Emil Blonsky is the first episode of the series to properly utilize the sitcom format within the She-Hulk universe. For the first time in the series, there’s actually a B story. The case tangentially connects to Jennifer Walters initially but merges with Jennifer’s A story near the episode’s finale. In perfect 4th-wall-breaking fashion, Jennifer even mentions the A and B stories connecting at the bar.

Both storylines are entertaining with ample laughs. After Abomination’s escape from prison at the end of Superhuman Law, Jennifer works with Blonsky and Wong to convince the board to grant Blonsky’s parole. Meanwhile, Augustus ‘Pug’ Pugliese, Jennifer’s male colleague introduced in the last episode, takes on another case. This particular case involves Jennifer’s former misogynistic colleague at the DA’s office Dennis Butkowski. The woman he was seeing had shape-shifting powers and resulted in Butkowski believing he was dating Megan Thee Stallion.

Both of these storylines are hilarious and represent the kind of lunacy I expected from this series. There are a ton of cameos in The People vs Emil Blonsky. All of them really sell the chaotic nature of the show.

My only issue is with Wong’s reason for breaking Blonsky out of prison. Breaking someone out to test your skills doesn’t really sound like the type of move Wong would make. Obviously, Wong broke Blonsky out of prison during the time of Shang-Chi, which was before Spider-Man: No Way Home or Multiverse of Madness. However, it still feels like a move Stephen would pull, not Wong.

She-Hulk is just a ton of fun to watch. With House of the Dragon starting up and Rings of Power set to debut, it’s nice to have a show with humor, a few surprises and ample heart.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood out in The People vs Emil Blonsky. There may be some minor spoilers. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is available to stream on Disney Plus.

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The People vs Emil Blonsky

Jennifer opens the episode on the warpath. She blasts into the prison to confront Blomsky following the news report of his escape.

She believed Blonsky told her he couldn’t transform into an Abomination. Blonsky corrects her. He is in full control of the transformation and simply chooses not to. Jennifer’s not the best listener at times. He also explains he was broken out by Wong to participate in the fight ring.

Back in her office, Wong appears and corroborates Blonsky’s story. Essentially, Wong used the fight with Abomination to test his skills as Sorcerer Supreme. He agrees to show up to the parole hearing.

Wong doesn’t show up to the parole hearing on time. Jennifer has to stall. In attendance are Blonsky’s seven pen pals who are revealed as gorgeous women fawning all over him (hilarious). Without warning, Blonsky reveals his control over the Abomination transformation. Similar to Smart Hulk and Jennifer, he retains his mind while in the monstrous form. He terrifies everyone on the parole board while Jennifer tries to get him to turn back into Emil. He transforms back into his human self with ease.

Wong finally shows up. He delivers his testimony and leaves. Emil is granted his release and offers some words of wisdom to Jennifer.

Every moment with Roth as Emil Blonsky is just delightful. He truly seems like a good guy, yet I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Luckily, it never does and when he imparts his advice to Jennifer it feels right.

Catfishing in the MCU

While Jennifer is fighting an abominable foe, she runs into the narcissistic Dennis Butkowski at her new law firm. Holden Holloway is considering taking Dennis’s case. He’s been dating a woman who he believes is Megan Thee Stallion.

In actuality, the woman is a light elf from New Asgard who has forced Dennis into spending $175,000 on her. Due to their work history, Jennifer neglects to take the case. Pug steps up to represent him.

The courtroom scenes involving the light elf are hilarious. She constantly changes her form in front of everyone. She impersonates the judge, which is a crime, among many others in the courtroom. Basically, ruins her own case.

Jennifer and Nikki meet up with Pug at the bar. Pug figures out Jennifer’s disdain for Dennis is actually an advantage. You see the jury’s going to have a hard time believing that Dennis actually believes in himself enough that he could date Megan the Stallion. Pug puts Jennifer on the stand. Jennifer tells the truth about what a terrible, stupid person Dennis is and yes he would – in a completely delusional way – believe he can land any woman.

The B story was just as entertaining as the A story. Every comedic bit in the courtroom hits and the way they completely deflate Dennis’s character is a great comeuppance for Jennifer.

Fame finds Jennifer

One recurring theme that’s in the background is Jennifer’s fame. The prospect of fame isn’t appealing to Jennifer, but she is drawing more attention. News channels are talking about Jennifer and specifically She-Hulk more often.

She eventually does an Access Hollywood-type of news show via satellite. All of the topics of the conversation center around She-Hulk.

Jennifer’s frustration is boiling over quite yet, but it seems like a situation that could tilt over as the season continues. Fame is a pendulum that’s constantly moving. From this point forward, Jennifer and more prominently She-Hulk will always be in the public eye. Right now, the public sees Jennifer in a good light, but what happens when she fails? You get just a tease of the latter after Blonsky’s parole is granted.

The People vs Emil Blonsky Final Thoughts

The People vs Emil Blonsky was simply a ton of fun from start to finish. The inclusion of Wong was a blast. Watching Benedict Wong and Maslany on screen together was terrific. I’m a little concerned with how the series used Wong’s character, but it’s a small critique on an otherwise strong comedic outing for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

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