Recap / She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S1E1 "A Normal Amount of Rage"

During a road trip with her cousin Bruce, a freak accident changes Jennifer Walters' life forever.

---

Tropes in this episode include:

• Ace Custom: Bruce's Hulk-scale Jeep Wrangler.
• Armed with Canon: Even Bruce doesn't understand how Natasha's infamous lullaby from Age of Ultron worked.
• Artistic License – Law:
  • Jen's opposing council is so laughably terrible it's amazing he was even allowed on the case. In short, he basically admits that his client committed the crimes that he is accused of, and that his knowledge of the resulting deaths was "debatable, and depends on your definition of knowing". Jen would have wiped the floor with him in her closing if Titania had not interrupted her.
  • Holliway is present at the trial, sitting at the table when Titania breaks in and Jen Hulks out. It's very, very unlikely that a senior partner — someone whose name is above the door — would be present at trial.
• At Arm's Length: Bruce and Jen get into a fight when she tries to leave Mexico which starts with him putting his hand on her forehead to hold her back. It backfires, because she grabs his arm and judo flips him.
• Bait-and-Switch: After Bruce explains how there is no going back to what she was before, she pauses for a moment like something is wrong with her. Bruce then asks what she needs, Jen starts stuttering, appearing like she needs something very important, and then the scene shifts to her eating pancakes for breakfast.
• Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Bruce and Jen engage in this during their fight over Jen trying to leave.
  Bruce: Lunkhead!
  Jen: Dummy!
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Jen directly addresses the audience almost immediately near the start of the episode. The flashback with Bruce shows her doing it "again" (the first time, chronologically), and being slightly confused herself about what she's doing.
• Broken Masquerade: At the beginning of the episode, the only people who know that Jen is now a Hulk are her parents, Bruce, and her paralegal Nikki. By the end, the secret is out.
• Call-Back: Bruce immediately incinerates the samples of his and Jen's blood after finishing testing and confirming everything is alright, warning Jen that people will try and get their hands on their blood for dangerous purposes and it's very dangerous. He definitely knows all about that.
• The Call Knows Where You Live:
  • A Saakaran delivery ship drops down in front of Jen's car as she is driving with Bruce. Bruce writes it off as a thing that happens to superheroes and intends to follow up on it later.
  • At various points Bruce tells Jennifer that she can't deny being the She-Hulk, and that having that power comes with the responsibility of being a superhero and protecting people. Jennifer is having none of it, going back to her lawyer job, but when she begins to deliver a closing speech to the jury in a court case, a supervillain comes barging through the wall, forcing her to go She-Hulk to deal with them.
• Car Fu: Jen inadvertently does this to Bruce when trying to leave Mexico in his jeep, flinging him into the mountainside near his hut. Bruce calls this a "dick move" once regaining his bearings.
• Catch and Return: Titania throws a table at She-Hulk, who easily catches it and throws it back at her, knocking her down.
• Clashing Cousins: Played with. Jen is not happy that she's now a Hulk, or that Bruce has relocated her to Mexico (much less when he initially claims it will take over a decade to learn how to control her powers), but aside from some good-natured mutual insults and one brief fight when neither will back down, it's clear the cousins love each other and are close friends.
• Clothing Damage:
  • Jen ruins two outfits with her first two transformations, though her clothing is only stretched as opposed to completely destroyed.
  • In the courtroom battle, Nikki has Jen remove her shoes so they'll be spared, and transforming tears one of her jacket sleeves, but the outfit otherwise survives intact.
• Comfort Food: Jen freaks out over learning she's now a hulk, so Bruce makes her pancakes.
• Company Cross References: Jen mentions Inside Out, a Pixar movie.
• Condescending Compassion: Part of the reason for their brief fight is that Jen already has to deal with a truckload of this from the men in her life, particularly another male lawyer that she works with, and she can't help but be very annoyed by her cousin's well-meaning but overbearing attempts to help.
• Continuity Nod:
  • To The Incredible Hulk (2008):
    • Bruce says that normally getting his blood into someone's system would dose them with a fatal amount of gamma radiation. Way back in his first MCU film, half a blood drop diluted into a full bottle was enough to poison Stan Lee from the very first drink.
    • Jen's version of the sonic clap, weaker than Bruce's but delivered several times in sequence, ends up mimicking the sonic weapons deployed by General Ross.
  • Bruce shows familiarity with the Sakaaran ship he and Jennifer crashed into, likely remembering when he had to drive one back in Thor: Ragnarok. He later explicitly mentions the time he was stuck as the Hulk for two years in space.
  • Bruce notes the times he turned back to normal included falling out of a jet, being punched by a giant robot, and Natasha's lullaby. He lampshades that he's not sure how the last one worked.
• Crocodile Tears: In The Stinger, Jen makes a whole act out of lamenting that Captain America died a virgin in order to guilt-trip Bruce into admitting he actually lost his virginity to a girl during the 1942 USO tour.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Upon Hulking Out, She-Hulk takes down Titania without breaking a sweat.
• Curse Cut Short: During the mid-credits scene Bruce reveals to Jen that Steve Rogers lost his virginity to a girl on his USO tour. Jen celebrates the confirmation by yelling "CAPTAIN AMERICA FU-" before getting cut off by the end credits.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: The end of the episode has Jen just trying to get on with normal lawyering when Titania suddenly smashes into the courtroom mid-case and starts attacking people for no given reason.
• Didn't See That Coming: Bruce approached the entire work with Jen on the assumption that she'd be just like him: imbued with rage upon transforming, an alternate personality, and it would take years of work to handle it. He's thus jarred that Jen not only retains her personality when she changes but can handle her new form much faster than Bruce ever did. He even tears out several pages of notes/procedures from a huge folder with "guess we can just skip all that then."
• Flipping the Bird: Jen does this to Bruce after he petulantly shoves her off a cliff during training. While in the trailer it was censored, it’s uncensored in the episode.
• Gilligan Cut: Downplayed. After the long flashback ends, Jen, in the present, mentions that there's been "no crazy Hulk stuff" since she left Bruce, and that it's not something she has to worry about. In the very next scene, Titania attacks the courtroom, which all but forces Jen to transform in order to stop her.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Pun aside, Bruce is clearly bitter that Jen immediately picked up on what took him 15 years to master, not to mention lacking the same Jekyll & Hyde Complex he had before merging his identities during the time gap in Endgame. Later, she effortlessly masters doing hulk stuff, like throwing things, doing a Hulk smash... When she throws a boulder further than him, he throws another out of the atmosphere. She smashes better than him, he knocks her off a cliff.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Much of this episode is Bruce teaching Jen how to manage her Hulk powers. He is adamant that she learn properly so she can avoid accidentally breaking cities. She reluctantly agrees to learn "how to hulk".
• How Is That Even Possible?: When Jen shifts into her Hulk form during the first test and breaks out of the testing chamber, Bruce tries to talk her down, only for a confused Jen to ask why he's treating her "like a stray horse". Bruce is stunned to realize that Jen doesn't have an alter ego like himself and the Hulk, and is still Jen, just taller, greener, and stronger.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: As a form of training, Bruce and Jen throw boulders, and although She-Hulk seems to be stronger, when Bruce decides to stop holding back he throws an even bigger boulder further and at speed, it starts to burn up in the atmosphere.
• Idiot Ball: Averted by Bruce. The usual plot device of keeping the dangerous blood/serum around for some accident or misuse later on is stopped dead in its tracks when Bruce destroys the samples he took once he's done with them. Jennifer thinks that is a bit extreme, having Genre Blindness on this point, but long-time MCU fans will know that given how much trouble Captain America's blood caused, never mind Bruce's back in Incredible Hulk, it's one hundred percent the right call.
• In Medias Res: The episode starts with Jennifer about to go to court, and she then does some Breaking the Fourth Wall to acknowledge that no-one is going to be bothered about the court scene until the whole She-Hulk thing is addressed, and the episode then covers it.
• Insane Troll Logic: Jen's opposing council's closing argument makes zero sense from a legal perspective. While claiming not guilty, he basically admits to his client's crimes, but claims they were justified because he was expanding his business. He gives no legal or ethical reason as to why this would be the case.
• It Runs in the Family: Genetically, at least. Bruce tells Jen that his blood getting into someone's system would normally be enough to dose them with a fatal amount of gamma radiation, but being cousins, they share the DNA sequence which lets them be turned into Hulks instead.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • In the opening scene, Jen’s colleague, Dennis, makes a valid point about how it isn’t smart to listen to a paralegal over a fellow lawyer for legal advice (Paralegals, although they can develop a wealth of legal knowledge over their careers, aren't required to undertake the same level of training as lawyers). Subverted, though, as his 'legal advice' is 'you didn't smile enough, and maybe I should just do it instead', which Jen understandably ignores.
  • Bruce also applies while trying to help Jen master becoming a Hulk. While his insistence that Jen absolutely has to be a superhero now that she's like him is rather dickish, he's entirely correct that as much as she may not want it, trouble is going to start following Jen wherever she goes now, and that she needs to be prepared for it.
• Just in Time: Jen, still upset and disoriented from the car accident, is aggressively hit on by a couple guys outside a bar. She snaps and hulks out, leaving them screaming in terror, but before she can attack them, Bruce tackles her and she wakes up in Mexico.
• The Kindness of Strangers: After the car accident, Jen finds her way to a bar and goes into the bathroom to clean herself up when suddenly, a group of party women come in. While they mistakenly believe she got assaulted by a romantic partner, they immediately give her comfort and aid without question, even going so far as to give her a coat and shoes and lending her a cell phone so she can call Bruce.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Bruce eventually eases up on Jen's training when he accepts that she doesn't have the same problems as him and she has a good enough handle on her powers, settling for just leaving the door open for if she needs the help rather than keep provoking her with well-meaning but unnecessary guidance.
• Lampshade Hanging: Bruce says he doesn't have a great explanation for how Natasha could turn him from Hulk to Banner using a lullaby, something that showed up without explanation in Age of Ultron.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • When Bruce gives a speech about being a superhero, Jen tells him that it sounds like it came straight out of a comic book.
  • Earlier on, Bruce calls his new merged form "Smart Hulk", noting that most heroes don't have much of a choice with what names the public give them.
• Like Brother and Sister: They're cousins, but Bruce and Jen bicker and banter like this. Including him shoving her off a cliff, with her flipping him the bird and shouting "Dick!".
• Named by Democracy: Bruce claims that the "Smart Hulk" nickname was something that stuck and that he had no say in the matter. Jen is unconvinced.
  Bruce: I didn't pick it.
  Jen: You're using it. Implied endorsement.
  Bruce: Don't lawyer me.
• Never Gets Drunk: According to Bruce, being a Hulk allows you to metabolize alcohol faster so you can enjoy the buzz without getting seriously drunk. Jen is not happy to discover that it doesn't stop her getting a hangover, since she turns back into her human form when she falls asleep (when she presumably still had a great deal of alcohol in her system).
• No Woman's Land: When Bruce questions how Jen is controlling her anger so well, she lists off a number of examples in a woman's everyday life where they have to control their anger in order to avoid being labeled "difficult" or even endangering themselves.
• Not What It Looks Like: After the car accident, Jen finds her way into a bar and goes to the bathroom to clean herself up. A group of women walk in and, seeing the cuts, bruises, and rips in her clothes, mistakenly believe she was assaulted.
• Playing Drunk: Jen does this during the stinger to trick Bruce into confirming whether or not Steve Rogers ever had sex.
• Post-Stress Overeating: When Jen freaks out over being stuck as a Hulk, Bruce makes her a pile of flapjacks.
• Psychological Projection: Jen accuses her cousin of projecting his own Hulk problems onto her when she gets frustrated with his lessons.
• The Reveal: It's revealed that the change in Bruce's appearance between Avengers: Endgame and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a result of Bruce inventing a device that allows him to return to his human appearance during times when his Smart Hulk form is inconvenient, such when he needs to ride in a car. Being in human form also allowed him to begin healing the damage the Infinity Stones did to his arm, but researching Jen's newly irradiated blood lets him skip that process and restore his arm to full functionality before Jen even wakes up in Mexico.
• Rule of Funny: Invoked. When Jen asks Bruce if using an air horn was necessary to wake her up, he replies it was, for comedy.
• Shockwave Clap: Bruce, and later Jen, perform the iconic Thunderclap move last seen in The Incredible Hulk (2008) — Bruce's clap sends a shockwave that sends Jen flying back several meters. Jen tries copying the move several times, but can't muster the same force as her cousin. However, her weaker version, when used repeatedly, causes Bruce to collapse from the loud noise her clapping creates, even if the individual strikes aren't as strong as his.
• Status Quo Is God: Bruce's Endgame injuries, which were thought to be permanent, are healed thanks to Jen's Hulkified blood, thus restoring the Hulk to 100%.
• The Stinger: After the Creative Closing Credits sequence is a scene of Jen and Bruce back at his bar, with Jen (feigning drunkenness) seemingly tearfully discussing Steve Rogers dying a virgin and then declaring she was right when Bruce corrects her.
• Superior Successor: Played with. In terms of control, Jen is leagues ahead of Bruce. She retains her mind right from the start (though the burst of anger gets the better of her the first few times), and she eventually learns to shift forms at will, compared to Bruce's transformations being strictly one-way. He took fifteen years to get where he is, while she is implied to have taken about a month or so at most. Though in strength, Bruce is still far superior if the boulder-throwing feat is any indication.
• Sweetie Graffiti: Bruce and Tony carved their initials into the bar. Jen adds her own after helping Bruce fix the damage from them crashing into it.
• Tempting Fate: After the flashback, Jen assures the audience that she'll never have to be a Hulk again, and that her show is strictly a lawyer show without superheroics. Cut to her closing argument and a random villain attacking the place.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Jen isn’t too happy when Bruce reveals to her it could take years for her to control her Hulk side.
• Title Drop: After scaring her awake and into Hulk form with an air horn, Bruce asks if Jen is feeling "overwhelming feelings of rage." Jen snarls back, "No! A normal amount of rage!"
• Toilet Humor: Jen makes fun of Bruce's attempts to guide her in meditation by implying she's heard the whole yoga spiel before.
  Jen: Let your thoughts drift away, relax your neck, bend your knees if that's comfortable, hold in your farts.
• Trailers Always Lie: The boulder-throwing scene in the trailer implies that Jennifer instantly gets the better of Bruce in the boulder-throwing training. However, straight after Jennifer throws the same-sized boulder further, Bruce picks up a much larger boulder and launches it into outer space. Downplayed, however, as later trailers did show the scene where Bruce threw a bigger boulder, then trying to explain it to Jennifer how he just wants to show how it is done.
• Training from Hell: Very briefly played straight then averted. Bruce has this in mind, actually locking her in a room with an Advancing Wall of Doom with buzz-saws on it at one point. Which She-Hulk then makes short work of, along with all the other aspects of the training, and gets back to her lawyer job.
• Troll: Bruce approaches testing Jen's new Hulk form with the scientific method, but at one point wakes her up (and triggers her change) by blasting an air horn in her ear. Though Bruce did consider this a valid scientific test: a sudden shock while Jen was asleep to determine if there really was a "Savage She-Hulk" in there or not, as well as make the point to Jen that she now lives in a world made of cardboard.
  Jen: Was the air horn really necessary?
  Bruce: For comedy, absolutely.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Jen is angry that Bruce is trying to keep her in Mexico so she can learn to be a superhero and she calls him out, saying she doesn't want to end up alone and dealing with a decade's worth of trauma like him. Then he calls her out, "What, you think you can say a bunch of mean stuff like that and then just take off?"
• Whole Episode Flashback: Most of the episode is shown as a flashback to a few months earlier, when Jen became a Hulk herself and how Bruce taught her to get used to it.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Averted, much to Bruce's surprise. While Jen experiences Unstoppable Rage the first few times she Hulks out, she ultimately retains her personality when transformed and only needed a bit of experience to get over the initial burst of rage.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility:
  • Jen's closing argument that she's rehearsing at the beginning essentially invokes this by accusing the opposing party of exercising their (financial) power irresponsibly.
  • Bruce tries to tell Jen this during the flashback, but she isn't ready to hear it at the time due to being annoyed with him. Though by the way she works it into her speech at the opening of the episode, she's starting to appreciate it.
• Would Hit a Girl: Bruce would, but only because he's trying to get Jen to understand how dangerous her powers can be if she can't learn to control them.

---