Let's be clear, Tatiana Maslany is a great actress, but there's nothing that she can do to salvage this utterly vile character, this monster wearing a comically badly animated She-Hulk skinsuit.
After 3 hours of content, now that this is finally, mercifully over, I cannot think of a single example of Jen doing or saying anything nice or helpful, or even showing the slightest concern or interest towards any other person, except when:
1) She's paid to do it.
2) She's forced to do it.
3) She's thirsty in one way or another
Not one single example. Not the slightest consideration shown to her notional best friend, who exists only to flatter and serve her like some sassy Stepin Fetchit. Jennifer Walters, as written here, is a self obsessed narcissistic monster, incapable of displaying or even comprehending the most basic, miminal human decency.
And this episode ends her character arc on the exact same trajectory that it began: utterly flat.
The plot is an absolute mess too. Granted, it starts with a decent retro sequence, but all this does is highlight that the Bill Bixby / Lou Ferrigno Hulk was actually a more enjoyable show than this in every way.
After that, it's back to everything that we've come to expect. Meaningless pseudo-legalbabble; Ginger Gonzaga shrieking in a register audible only to bats; the villain turning out to be the audience; men - all men - being useless or ruthless or camp or supine simps; the writing staff literally self inserting them into their self insert character's story about themselves; an extended 4th wall break that makes the ending of Blazing Saddles feel like an exercise in credibility and restraint; execrable CGI and off-screen action; and as always - as always - no consequences for Jen.
In an episode that's all about accountability, we do actually start with Jen experiencing brief, minor inconvenience. But fret not, She/Her-Hulk fan (you must exist, surely?), by the end we're back exactly where we started: the bad man is taken away - no real reason given - and Jen is completely forgiven because... no real reason given.
It's quite astonishing. There's no rehabilitation, no reparation, no recognition of wrongness. Jen breaks the terms of her parole in exactly the same way that Emil does. Results: he gets 10 years of solitary confinement, Jen gets handed back everything she lost. Why? The show doesn't tell us, because the writers don't even understand the problem.
Jen is their self-insert, and so she can do everything that she wants, all the time, endlessly, without any consequences, even while loudly demanding - and getting - consequences for everyone around her.
Is this deliberate satire? Are we supposed to notice it, or ignore it? I'm genuinely unclear. I hope it's deliberate, because the alternative explanation is that either the writers lack the slightest shred of reflection and awareness, or they believe their audience does.
Well, it's done. It's over, it's finally over. We got to the end, and what did we learn? That the writers went ahead and did every single horrible thing that we predicted that they'd do to this beloved character.
After 3 hours of content, now that this is finally, mercifully over, I cannot think of a single example of Jen doing or saying anything nice or helpful, or even showing the slightest concern or interest towards any other person, except when:
1) She's paid to do it.
2) She's forced to do it.
3) She's thirsty in one way or another
Not one single example. Not the slightest consideration shown to her notional best friend, who exists only to flatter and serve her like some sassy Stepin Fetchit. Jennifer Walters, as written here, is a self obsessed narcissistic monster, incapable of displaying or even comprehending the most basic, miminal human decency.
And this episode ends her character arc on the exact same trajectory that it began: utterly flat.
The plot is an absolute mess too. Granted, it starts with a decent retro sequence, but all this does is highlight that the Bill Bixby / Lou Ferrigno Hulk was actually a more enjoyable show than this in every way.
After that, it's back to everything that we've come to expect. Meaningless pseudo-legalbabble; Ginger Gonzaga shrieking in a register audible only to bats; the villain turning out to be the audience; men - all men - being useless or ruthless or camp or supine simps; the writing staff literally self inserting them into their self insert character's story about themselves; an extended 4th wall break that makes the ending of Blazing Saddles feel like an exercise in credibility and restraint; execrable CGI and off-screen action; and as always - as always - no consequences for Jen.
In an episode that's all about accountability, we do actually start with Jen experiencing brief, minor inconvenience. But fret not, She/Her-Hulk fan (you must exist, surely?), by the end we're back exactly where we started: the bad man is taken away - no real reason given - and Jen is completely forgiven because... no real reason given.
It's quite astonishing. There's no rehabilitation, no reparation, no recognition of wrongness. Jen breaks the terms of her parole in exactly the same way that Emil does. Results: he gets 10 years of solitary confinement, Jen gets handed back everything she lost. Why? The show doesn't tell us, because the writers don't even understand the problem.
Jen is their self-insert, and so she can do everything that she wants, all the time, endlessly, without any consequences, even while loudly demanding - and getting - consequences for everyone around her.
Is this deliberate satire? Are we supposed to notice it, or ignore it? I'm genuinely unclear. I hope it's deliberate, because the alternative explanation is that either the writers lack the slightest shred of reflection and awareness, or they believe their audience does.
Well, it's done. It's over, it's finally over. We got to the end, and what did we learn? That the writers went ahead and did every single horrible thing that we predicted that they'd do to this beloved character.