She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has taken a lot of lumps for a show about someone so indestructible. Beyond the obvious and typical “Why Woman in Comic Book Show” internet troglodytes, the show’s sitcom format, which leans heavily into humor over combat, and its all too brief half-hour format have drawn criticism from even longtime Disney/Marvel fans. But this week’s episode showed the series can still proudly carry the MCU banner high.
Marvel’s Disney Plus series have a habit of burning slow, almost as if the creators choose to wallow in the multi-episode format that allows them longer than the usual feature film runtime to establish the characters and set up a satisfying climax. But whatever their motivations, it’s become a tradition for each series to really put the rubber to the road on their respective penultimate episodes, and She-Hulk is, thankfully, no exception.
“Ribbit and Rip It,” the eighth episode of the season, stacks up against similar next-to-last efforts such as Moon Knight‘s “Asylum,” which revealed the truth about MK’s Steven Grant identity, Hawkeye‘s “Ronin” which re-introduced The Kingpin, and Wandavision‘s “Previously On,” which revealed the backstory of Agatha Harkness and showed Wanda’s initial Hexing of Westview.
“Ribbit and Rip It” immediately jams the pedal to the metal, introducing us to Eugene Patillo, aka the wannabe superhero The Leap-Frog, and then flooring it as we finally see Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, who faces Jen toe to legal toe in the courtroom. Thankfully, after several episodes of full-on teases, we get to see Murdoch as his superhero alter ego Daredevil, as he suits up in his new gold and red fighting suit in one of the most anticipated Marvel team-ups in the Disney Plus franchises.
Finally, we get the set-up for the series finale where Jen will have to save her reputation and confront the secret big bad that’s been barely hinted at throughout the last seven episodes. And if episode eight is any indication, she just may stick the landing.
The finale for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will stream next week on October 13 on Disney Plus.
