Recap / She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S1E9 "Whose Show Is This?"

Jen finds herself in trouble with the law and struggles to pick up the pieces of her life.

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Tropes in this episode include:

• Added Alliterative Appeal: While talking to K.E.V.I.N., Jen mentions that the plotline involving her blood "seems super suspiciously close to Super-Soldier Serum."
• A.I.-cronym: K.E.V.I.N., the name of the robot who determines MCU content, stands for Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus.
• All Just a Dream: Discussed; the writers want to make Season 2 of She-Hulk a dream sequence.
• Audience Surrogate: Jen actually asks K.E.V.I.N. when the X-Men will be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something the audience continues to wonder.
• Author Powers: As the one responsible for overseeing all of the stories in the MCU, K.E.V.I.N. is able to rewrite the episode (and the rest of Jen's reality) to address Jennifer's complaints.
• Back for the Finale:
  • Played for Laughs; both the Hulk and Titania come out of nowhere to join the Final Battle. Jen complains that their sudden reappearances make the already-messy climax even messier.
  • Jen later invokes this herself by asking K.E.V.I.N. to drop Daredevil back into the story, just so she could see him again.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Pug goes to the Intelligencia party with Nikki providing guidance through an earpiece. He's too uncomfortable to act convincingly and takes a while to respond to people.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • At first, we're led to believe that Abomination was part of Intelligencia this whole time, as he shows up to their meeting to give a Rousing Speech. It turns out that he didn't even know they were a malicious hate group, he just assumed they were regular clients hosting a private event at his venue.
  • She-Hulk's invasion of Marvel Studios builds up to her coming face-to-face with Kevin Feige. When she finally reaches his room, she's greeted not by Feige himself, but by a robot named K.E.V.I.N. (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus).
    K.E.V.I.N.: Were you expecting a man?
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: Emil asks Wong "You got sucked into another show, din't ya?", to which Wong replies that "We're in the era of great television".
• Be Careful What You Wish For: In the first episode, upon discovering that she has acquired Hulk powers like her cousin Bruce, one of Jen's first reaction was to beg him for the same type of inhibitor he was using so she would never have to change into the She-Hulk. In this episode she finally gets that inhibitor, and she doesn't like it one bit.
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Marvel Studios is run by a robot called K.E.V.I.N. who strictly enforces a formula. Jen proceeds to call it out on this and forces some changes to be made.
• Blaming the Victim: At the beginning of the episode, an imprisoned Jen tells Nikki, Pug, and Mallory to start locating the members of Intelligencia so that they can be held responsible for stealing and distributing her private information, only for Mallory to say they've come to discuss the charges filed against Jen for her rampage at the end of the previous episode. When Jen indignantly protests that anyone would've responded the way she did, Mallory bluntly states that due to Jen's status as a Hulk nobody cares what Intelligencia did to provoke her, only seeing her as an out-of-control monster; and that the DA is blaming her for the incident.
• Boring, but Practical: While Nikki tries to convince her to use violence against the Intelligencia, Jen simply decides to find out who they are so she can sue and press charges against them, which turns out to the better choice in the end.
• Borrowed Biometric Bypass: Jen uses a security guard's face to retinal scan her way into K.E.V.I.N.'s office.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The entire series has done it, but it comes to a head here as Jen literally busts out of the climactic fight scene via the Disney+ menu to give the writing team (and Marvel Studios as a whole) a piece of her mind for the developments that led to it.
• The Bus Came Back: Bruce returns after being gone since the second episode.
• Call-Back:
  • Back in the first episode, Hulk talked about how Steve Rogers had sex at a point he was offscreen. Here apparently, he himself was in a similar situation and procreated during his offscreen years as a Sakaaran gladiator.
  • One of the drawings in the credits calls back "The Retreat" when Blonsky said that his inhibitor wasn't working probably because he got a shock from the electric fence. The drawing depicts Blonsky putting the inhibitor around Princess Silk Feather's neck, explaining how he's been turning into the Abomination without arousing suspicion from parole officers.
• The Cameo:
  • Titania, Hulk, and Daredevil make brief returns. The show acknowledges that these are completely gratuitous and play no role in the finale's overall plot. Wong, meanwhile, shows up in the stinger.
  • The entire writers room of the show, including showrunner Jessica Gao, and several other Marvel Studios staffers are seen at the Marvel Studios offices.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time Daredevil arrives to aid She-Hulk, all of the villains are being carted off in handcuffs.
• Comically Wordy Contract: Before she can see K.E.V.I.N., Jen has to sign the standard Marvel Studios NDA, which takes her at least 10 screen swipes on a tablet to get through.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When Wong takes Emil to Kamar-Taj, Emil asks about the wi-fi situation (itself a nod to the lack of signal at Abomaste) and Wong confirms they have wi-fi, calling back to the exchange from the first Doctor Strange movie:
    Strange: Shamballa. What's this, my mantra?
    Mordo: It's the wi-fi password. We're not savages.
  • One of the guys of Intelligencia mentions Jane Foster as she became "Lady-Thor" in Thor: Love and Thunder.
• Contrived Coincidence: Jen decides to head to Abomaste to talk to Emil about her problems, whilst Intelligencia are themselves holding an event at the same location to celebrate "defeating" She-Hulk — which Nikki and Pug are crashing to gather proof of Intelligencia’s identities. Then the show elevates to the point of parody by having Titania and Hulk spontaneously arrive to take part in the climax, which ultimately leads to Jen deciding that enough is enough.
• Cosmic Retcon: Jen declares that the messy climactic battle doesn't make any sense for her story and goes to Marvel Studios to tell them to revise it. Back in the show, Todd does not get Hulk powers, Emil Blonsky does not remain the Abomination, and Bruce does not drop in during the climax.
• Costume Porn: The opening sequence that recreates the original Hulk TV series opening is full of amazing costumes and haircuts. The dress Jen wore in the previous episode remains unchanged, showing the costuming department went all out designing something that would be perfectly appropriate for both 2022 and 1977.
• Creator Cameo: Show creator, executive producer, and writer Jessica Gao and writers Cody Ziglar and Zeb Wells appear in the writers' room (only the last one is credited, as "Ham Guy", because he's cutting a slab of ham). Interestingly, Gao and Wells are depicted in the writers' room scene (as, respectively, "Writer Jessica" and "Writer Zeb"), but are played by actors, not themselves.
• Deus ex Machina: Jen's solution to all of the problems plaguing her is to break out of the fourth wall, storm Marvel Studios, and demand a happy (and more sensible) ending out of K.E.V.I.N. He complies, and Jen returns to find that everything has been resolved optimally; Todd and Blonsky are arrested, her own name is cleared, and Matt Murdock randomly shows up to be with her.
• Didn't Think This Through: Nikki immediately answers the invitation to the Intelligencia meetup and has an "oops" moment when she's addressed as "bro" by members of Intelligencia, realizing that a woman would stick out like a sore thumb in a She-Hulk hate group. She quickly realizes that she can use Pug as a stand-in.
• Double-Meaning Title: "Whose Show Is This?" is referring both the barrage of spotlight-stealing cameos in the original climax, as well as K.E.V.I.N. asserting that the show belongs to him, not to Jen.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything seems to be falling apart for Jen just as she was getting used to being She-Hulk, Jen successfully exposes the criminal conspiracy against her, gets cleared of previous conviction, and returns to being a lawyer and superhero at the same time. Plus she seems to finally have a good relationship brewing (with Matt) given that she brings him to a family cook-out.
• Earpiece Conversation: Pug joins the Intelligencia meetup with Nikki in his ear instructing him on how to be a douche, and he's uncomfortable enough there that he needs all his lines fed. Pug at first thinks it's a bad idea because it would look suspicious, but Nikki brushes that concern off because having bluetooth earpieces is pretty normal when everyone has a smartphone.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: Video, in this case. Jen's mother shows off a video of Jen dancing while in law school. Nikki later uploads it to Intelligencia to bait them into inviting her (thinking she's a guy) to a meeting in real life so she can identify them.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Some Intelligencia trolls, including Todd, comment that Pug is hot, and one says he would smash Pug.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Nikki and Pug have trouble communicating because the meeting place has bad cell reception. This was a problem Jen ran into when she visited Abomaste, hinting at where the meeting is happening.
  • During Jen's conversation with K.E.V.I.N. about the climax, he protests against removing Bruce as his appearance is needed to set-up another character's debut. Sure enough, Bruce's arrival following the climax sees him introduce his son, Skaar, to the rest of his family.
• Fun with Acronyms: K.E.V.I.N. is revealed to be a robot, whose name stands for Knowledge-Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus.
• Gainax Ending: Jen breaks into an episode of Assembled to talk the writers into fixing the mess of a climax she's in, then ends up talking to the AI that secretly runs the MCU and convinces him to make a better conclusion. The End!
• Glassy Prison: At the beginning of the episode, Jen is imprisoned in the same glass-walled cell that Emil Blonsky was in before he was released on parole.
• Guilt by Association Gag: Even though Emil wasn't part of Intelligencia, because he had been transforming into Abomination, he ends up going back to prison. Fortunately, he ends up getting sprung by Wong.
• Hypocrite:
  • Several Intelligencia members complain that Jane Foster was handed her powers and claim that they would hate Jane even if Jane was male. The hypocrisy is not only was Thor, who Jane received her powers from, born a god, meaning he was basically handed powers, he is also male but does not gain the ire of them. Similarly, they don’t have any ire with other heroes who were “handed” their powers like Steve Rogers, who was chosen for the Super Soldier Program for his good heart, something none of them have.
  • Todd chastises Jen for not earning her powers, whilst at the same heading up a plot to steal her blood and synthesize it to give himself Hulk powers that he hasn’t earned. He even says that Jen was "handed" her powers right as someone hands him a syringe that would give him those same powers.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • K.E.V.I.N. tells Jen to turn back to her human form off-screen because She-Hulk and the transformation sequence are expensive to show on screen. However, K.E.V.I.N. is an entirely CGI creation and they're talking in a CGI set and weren't cheap to create and animate.
  • Emil also was against cell service in his retreat, but when he takes Wong's offer to stay at Kamar-Taj, the second question he asks is if they have WiFi.
• I Believe That You Believe It: Not in so many words, but when Jen asks K.E.V.I.N. if they can agree that the show is a legal comedy, his response is a decidedly noncommittal "If you say so."
• In-Series Nickname: Jen's nickname for her cousin Bruce, "Smug Hulk", is visible on her phone as Bruce's name on her contact list.
• Insistent Terminology: Jen's mother refers to her alter-ego as "Girl Hulk" forcing Jen to correct her to "She-Hulk".
• Interface Spoiler: If you have the closed captioning on when Jen confronts the writers and says she's going to talk to Kevin (referring to the real Kevin Feige), the writers refer to him as "K.E.V.I.N.," spoiling the twist that "he" is actually a sentient AI (or at least cluing you in that something's up). This was changed later to only refer to the human Kevin, until Jen encounters the A.I. version.
• It Only Works Once: K.E.V.I.N. tells Jen she won't be able to make another visit to Marvel Studios because they've already updated the Disney+ platform to keep her from repeating how she got there in the first place.
• I Want Grandkids: Jen's parents not-so-subtly hint that they'd like for Matt and Jen to get together and have children.
• Karma Houdini: Josh isn't mentioned when Jen is planning how to deal with the Intelligencia, even though he broke California law by recording her during sex and releasing the recording publically without Jen's consent.
• Last Episode, New Character: Bruce introduces his son Skaar near the end of the episode.
• Late to the Action: Daredevil drops in only to find that he's too late — the Intelligencia members and Emil are getting arrested, and everyone else is standing around outside.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the stinger Emil asks Wong if was delayed because he was "caught up in another show" meaning either Wong's habit on binge watching TV or his frequent guest appearances in Marvel Projects.
• Locked Out of the Loop: When Bruce drops into the original climax, he sees Abomination holding Jen in the air and immediately starts attacking, not realising that Emil is actively protecting her at the time.
• Lotus Position: Blonsky's Deep Haikus poetry book has a cover depicting him sitting with his feet in the lotus position, but with his palms together — appropriate for a Mellow Fellow with an Abomaste retreat.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The episode opens with a shot-for-shot parody of the intro for The Incredible Hulk (1977), with Jen in place of her cousin. It even has a muscular bodybuilder playing the "Savage" She-Hulk.
  • Speaking of the "Savage" epithet, it's a reference to the first title of her solo comic series, The Savage She-Hulk. The epithet was changed to "Sensational" in John Byrne's run.
  • The Disney+ menu gag is inspired from something Jen did in the comics (busting through an ad page).
  • Issue 51 of The Sensational She-Hulk would feature Jen leaving her comic to go straight into the Marvel offices to discuss her issue, very much like how she leaves her show and goes to Marvel Studios in this episode.
• Non-Protagonist Resolver: In the original climax before Jen rewrites it, Bruce shows up literally out of nowhere to save the day. This was one of her major complaints to K.E.V.I.N. she had. Averted with the rewritten ending where Jen beats Todd herself in court.
• Noodle Incident: Whatever Bruce ended up getting up to on Sakaar is completely unrevealed. K.E.V.I.N. planned on revealing it, but Jen insisted on saving it for a movie. The one thing we do learn is that he apparently conceived Skaar, and brings him home to introduce him to his extended family.
• No One Sees the Boss: When Jen confronts the writing staff they tell her that nobody is allowed to meet with "K.E.V.I.N.". Jen ignores this and heads to his office anyway, fighting through Disney security guards on the way.
• Not So Above It All: For all his talk about how important the lack of cell reception is for self-healing in Abomaste, Emil is quick to ask Wong whether Kamar-Taj has WiFi before entering the portal.
• Not What It Looks Like: The Abomination picks up Jen to protect her from Todd and the Intelligencia guys. Bruce crashes into Abomaste and sees the Abomination holding Jen, and believing she's in danger, commences fighting with him.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Emil speaks at the Inteligencia meeting, he starts riling up the crowd with talk of being unhappy with their place in life and finding the power to change. He's talking about therapeutic helping oneself out of depression; they're talking about being 'subjugated' for being men in a society 'ruined' by strong women.
• Pet the Dog: Despite K.E.V.I.N.'s insistence on following the established formula, he does heed Jen's criticisms and make her requested changes to the finale because she makes a case that said changes will make for a better story.
• Poke the Poodle: As Jen is leaving K.E.V.I.N.:
  K.E.V.I.N.: Okay, now get back to the show. See you on the big screen.
  Jen: [softly, looking hopeful] Really...?
  K.E.V.I.N.: No.
• Poster-Gallery Bedroom: Jen's childhood bedroom has memorabilia from the schools she graduated from, in addition to posters for Legally Blonde and Erin Brockovich (both turn-of-the-millennium films about plucky female lawyers, like Jen herself).
• Production Foreshadowing: After K.E.V.I.N. tells She-Hulk to turn back to Jen offscreen in order to save on money, he mentions that the VFX team has moved on to another project, followed by a snippet of "Theme of Black Panther" playing, in reference to the next MCU project: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
• Put on a Prison Bus: Subverted. At the end of the show, it looks like Emil is heading back to prison for violating his parole without any chance of coming out for ten years... only for Wong to show up to offer him sanctuary in Kamar-Taj, which he graciously accepts.
• Rage Against the Author: Jen dislikes the jumbled direction her show's grand finale is taking so she confronts the writers and then, when they don't cooperate, goes straight to the top to get K.E.V.I.N. to wrap things up on her own terms.
• The Reveal:
  • Todd Phelps is HulkKing, the mastermind who created Intelligencia.
  • Bruce has a son named Skaar, who he introduces at the very end of the episode.
• Scandalgate: One of the news networks at the beginning of the episode calls the events at the award dinner "Galagate".
• Self-Deprecation: The last act is loaded with it, what with references to the MCU having a formula, how all of their movies seem to end the same way, the writers being dopes that carelessly mix storylines together, and portraying Kevin Feige as a literal robot driven by an algorithm (and who has a ridiculously devoted fanbase despite that).
• Sequel Hook: The MCU writers mention plans for a She-Hulk: Attorney At Law Season 2. K.E.V.I.N. also alludes to wanting to save Skaar for a new Hulk movie.
• Shooting Superman: Jen mows through the Disney security guards that come to stop her when she goes to see K.E.V.I.N., considering they're vanilla humans and she's She-Hulk.
• Shout-Out:
  • Among the wall decor in Jen's bedroom at her parents' house are Legally Blonde and Erin Brockovich posters, a cover for the Backstreet Boys album Black & Blue, and a poster for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  • When Jen is scrolling through her texts, they're all readable for a moment. One recent text from Grant goes, "A full commitment's what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy".
• Signature Headgear: There's a thin, rounded piece on the housing above K.E.V.I.N.'s rotating lenses (face), calling to mind Kevin Feige's penchant for baseball caps.
• The Stinger: A mid-credits scene shows Wong portaling into Blonsky's cell and taking him to Kamar-Taj.
• String Theory: Nikki has created a board during her investigation of the people behind Intelligencia, with handwritten and typed-out notes, user avatars, and other documents spread out on the board and connected with red strings.
• Take a Third Option: With his only choices to live permanently without his powers or go back to prison, Emil seems remarkably blase about having violated his parole and having to serve the remaining ten years of his sentence. The Stinger reveals this is because he had no intention of doing so, having taken Wong up on his offer of sanctuary at Kamar-Taj.
• There Was a Door: Titania crashes into the lodge through a wall during the climax. Nikki lampshades, "Does that bitch ever use the door?"
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • Pug is very unhappy with needing to infiltrate Intelligencia by interacting with and speaking like incel trolls.
  • More subtly, K.E.V.I.N. gets a borderline You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! reaction when Jen sits down, indicating that this matter isn't anywhere close to being done.
• Three-Point Landing: Daredevil drops into the show (literally), landing in a crouch with one hand on the ground.
• Transformation Discretion Shot: Jen's transformations mostly occurring offscreen is lampshaded by K.E.V.I.N., who asks her to transform back to Jen before they can talk, because "you are very expensive", and that she should transform when the camera cuts away from her. Before Jen goes back into the show, she asks K.E.V.I.N. if she should transform back now, and what the most budget-friendly way to do that would be. Cut to the Abomaste, where Jen is back as She-Hulk.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: While the Marvel Studios staff are understandably alarmed at a clearly annoyed She-Hulk showing up with a few choice words about the way her story is being written, none of them seem remotely surprised that a fictional character has escaped from her show and is roaming the studio campus.
• Verbal Backspace: Pug recognizes Todd Phelps as a client at the Intelligencia thing.
  Nikki: Todd? No, wait, that tracks.
• Wham Episode: She-Hulk takes her fourth wall-breaking to new levels when she escapes her own show, traverses through the Disney+ menu, and steps into Marvel Studios itself, where she confronts both the show's writers and the brains behind all of the MCU, Kevin... who's portrayed here as an omnipotent AI.
• Wham Line:
  • HulkKing's true identity gets revealed:
    Pug: How did you get involved with this group here?
    Todd: I created Intelligencia. I'm HulkKing.
  • Bruce returns at the end to visit his family, and he brings along a surprise guest...
    Bruce: This is my son, Skaar.
• Wham Shot:
  • As the climax of the finale gets utterly messy, the show suddenly turns into the Disney+ menu, and then Jen punches the thumbnail for her show out before she traverses into Marvel Studios via the thumbnail for Marvel Studios: Assembled.
  • Jen meets up with Kevin...who is portrayed as an AI instead of a human.
• Who Writes This Crap?!: Jen gets so fed up with how messy the episode is becoming that she leaves the show and confronts the writers, and eventually K.E.V.I.N., about it.
  Jen: What the hell, you guys? What kind of stupid finale is this?

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