She-Hulk wraps up its inaugural season by going more Meta than ever before and breaking the fourth wall in the least subtle way possible. It was different. It was unpredictable. And it didn’t really work for me. But given the warranted criticism launched at Marvel and its formula for both movies and TV series, this was an excellent move that was executed poorly.

Let’s start with the good. It was different. Marvel is a lot like the Disney Animation Renaissance. It has a tried-and-true formula that has churned out financial success after financial success. That formula makes a lot of its films and series predictable. From the beginning of this series, “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” tried to take those tropes and turn them on their heads. She-Hulk addressed the audience, acknowledged Twitter complaints, called out the toxic part of the fanbase, and avoided most action in favor of a “legal comedy.” It worked at times, but it didn’t at others. It was finding its way but seemed to have found a rhythm going into the finale.

That’s when the show flipped everything even further. From mocking the big former guest stars return for a big fight, to the “surprise villain” acquiring similar powers to the hero, everything looked hysterical. Then, we had the menu pop up, She-Hulk leave her show to find the writers, Jen address K.E.V.I.N, with a visor made to look just like Kevin Feige; and the unusual ending with Matt Murdock having dinner with Jen’s family when Bruce shows up with his son Skarr. Plus, we see Wong break Blonsky out of prison, again. I commend them for breaking the formula.

Now to the bad. While I liked seeing them break the formula, I wasn’t a fan of how. I liked Jen not having a big fight with Todd and his new Hulk powers, but I would’ve liked to have seen Jen take Todd down in the courtroom. I liked Jen pointing out she didn’t need Bruce to show up at the end to save the day in her show. But I didn’t like her idea of Blonsky taking responsibility for his actions without us seeing more from him as Abomination. I didn’t like how Titania really had very little to do with the show after the wedding episode. I feel like the idea had so much potential and was executed poorly.

A great ending can improve a flawed TV show. I look back more fondly on “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Ms. Marvel” than I thought I would because their endings were good. In contrast, a bad ending can leave a less than desirable taste in your mouth for a show you once loved. Ask most “Lost” or “How I Met Your Mother Fans” about their endings. I didn’t like this show as much as those, but this ending reminds me of those because I walked away just disappointed in what we got and what could’ve been. I commend them for trying something new, but I just didn’t like how they did it.

Ranking: 3 stars

What did you think of “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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