She-Hulk: Attorney at Law season 1, episode 1 recap: A Normal Amount of Rage
The Disney Plus and Marvel Studios series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has arrived! Season 1 episode 1 titled, “A Normal Amount of Rage”, doesn’t wait long to explain how the main character becomes She-Hulk and why.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 1 recap – She-Hulk origins
The episode begins with Jennifer Walters, practicing before her next case in front of her friends. Before they leave, Jennifer addresses the audience about how she became She-Hulk.
We flashback to car crash scene. As we’ve already seen, Jennifer and Bruce are discussing the love life of Captain America when a spaceship lands on the road.
The car crash ensues, resulting in Bruce’s blood dripping into one of Jennifer’s wounds. This results in her transforming into She-Hulk and escaping into the woods.
The next time we see her she has returned to her human form, stumbling into a bar that evening. After she is fixed up by a group of friends enjoying their night out, (who assume her husband or boyfriend harmed her), she calls Bruce and waits outside.
As a group of men begin to heckle her, she transforms into She-Hulk again. Before she can harm them, Bruce arrives.
Jennifer then wakes up in her human form again in Mexico at Bruce’s hideaway. Now in the form of The Hulk or Smart Hulk he tries to explain to Jennifer what happened however she’s more concerned about how her life has changed against her will.
Her only hope is that he can make her a device, similar to what he uses to keep The Hulk at bay. However, it could take years.
Without giving Jennifer an option, he explains that they need to train her how to be a Hulk as this transformation can become dangerous to everyone and everything around her.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 1 recap – Training
Jennifer and Bruce begin their training, which actually goes better than expected. Jennifer remains in control, even when she is She-Hulk.
Unlike Bruce, she does not have to battle The Hulk-personality. This surprises Bruce so they continue with strength exercises, to which unsurprisingly, she does better than him.
We are presented with a training montage, most of which we’ve seen in a clip beforehand, leading to the cousins enjoying a lot of drinks. Trouble is Jennifer is impatient, believing she has full control of her Hulk form and wants to return home to work.
The talk debate about the life and tasks expected of a superhero. Bruce sees is as inevitable and a way to make a difference in the world.
Jennifer sees it as sacrificing everything that matters to her for the sake of the world. After a very tense argument and fight, the two make peace rebuilding Bruce’s bar.
She returns home where it has been revealed that only Bruce, her family and best friend Nikki know she is She-Hulk. Since then, She-Hulk has not made herself known.
Jennifer believes she can continue her life without issue.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 1 recap – The secret is out
As we come full circle to the beginning of the episode, Jennifer arrives to a full court room. As she begins her rehearsed lines, a strong woman, who we’ll later learn is Titania, bursts through the wall.
Leaving Jennifer no choice she transforms into She-Hulk and easily defeats her. With a whole courtroom present, she returns to her human form and tries to continue as the episode closes.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 Episode 1 review
The first episode truly wasted no time in establishing who Jennifer is. While the process into how she became She-Hulk is different from the comics, it does create a lot of questions.
The fourth wall breaks were fun and didn’t take away from the overall story. The only issue is that the beginning felt very rushed.
From the car crash to the bar incident, it felt too quick and hastily cut. Jennifer and Bruce work well together, almost like brother and sister and both make valid points about the situation.
Bruce has accepted his fate and is willing to put up with all the responsibilities and often downsides of being a superhero. Jennifer finally has her life on track with her career and has no intention of giving it up for the superhero life.
We’ve seen enough Marvel films to know that not everyone is cut out to be a superhero. Just as not everyone is cut out to be a lawyer.
The end credit scene was humorous, but I like many, didn’t need to know about Captain America’s love life. He had a deep love for Peggy Carter, and that’s good enough for me.
What did you think of the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law? Share your thoughts in the comments below, we’d love to read them!
The next episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will air on August 25 on Disney Plus.