She-Hulk: Attorney at Law season 1 episode 3 recap & review: The People vs. Emil Blonsky

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+ chronicles the life of Jennifer Walters. A lawyer and cousin to Bruce Banner, she transforms into a gigantic green superhero herself after Bruce’s blood comes into contact with her.

Recap

After watching the news of Emil Blonsky’s escape from prison and subsequent return, Jen visits him to say that this incident will severely jeopardise his case in front of the parole board.

Blonsky claims that he was forced out of his prison cell against his will and chose to return of his own volition. When Jen asks him who was responsible, he tells her that it was Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme. She reaches out to Wong with Nikki’s help in the hope that he can corroborate Blonsky’s story.

Jen is called into Holden’s office where she sees her former colleague, Dennis Bukowski. Dennis needs help going after a shapeshifting Asgardian Light Elf who disguised herself as Megan Thee Stallion and convinced Dennis to buy several gifts for her before dumping him.

Dennis and Jen despise each other and do not want to work with each other. Thankfully for Jen, Wong opens a portal and enters the office right then, giving Jen an excuse to leave. Dennis is left with another lawyer, Augustus “Pug” Pugliese, to represent him.

Wong confirms Blonsky’s story of forcing him to escape because he needed a strong enough opponent in his quest to prove himself worthy of becoming Sorcerer Supreme. Pug gets the details of the case from Dennis, but soon after he leaves Dennis returns to say that he wants to drop the case.

That actually turns out to be the Runa, the Light Elf, trying to weasel out of the case. Jen heads to the prison for Blonsky’s parole hearing and she’s hounded by reporters outside although she walks right past them.

The parole board wants to reject Blonsky’s proposal because of the recent escape but Jen states that they do have a witness who can clear his name regarding the escape. The board agrees to hear Blonsky’s testimony as well as that of several members of the prison system that Blonsky impacted personally.

Jen tries to stall for as long as she can since Wong isn’t there yet but he arrives just in time to give his testimony.

At the courthouse, the judge is considering the motion for dismissal from Runa’s lawyer but Pug claims that Dennis was truthfully scammed and the judge agrees to let the case go to trial. Runa tries to impersonate the judge and overturn his decision but gets called out.

Returning to the parole hearing, Wong gives his account of the events and insists that Blonsky voluntarily returned to prison so that he can serve out his sentence. The board brings up the question of whether Blonsky will be a threat whenever he turns back into the Abomination.

Blonsky tries to allay their fears by turning into the Abomination then and there and shows that he is in full control but all he does is scare everyone in the room. Jen uses this situation to her advantage and explains how Blonsky could have escaped at any time but didn’t.

The board says that they will come back with a decision and Jen kicks back at a bar with Nikki complaining about the media attention she’s getting when Pug joins them, complaining about how annoying Dennis is.

Jen and Nikki agree that Dennis is completely delusional and Pug asks Jen to say the same thing under oath in court. Her testimony wins the case for Pug and Dennis as Runa is sentenced to pay damages and 60 days in lock up for impersonating a judge.

The parole board returns and grants Blonsky his parole under the condition that Blonsky cannot change into the Abomination anymore and will always have to wear an inhibitor. He thanks Jen and then inspires her to embrace the media attention and spin it on her terms.

She appears on the news as She-Hulk to set the record straight. On her way home, Jen is attacked by the Wrecking Crew, a supervillain team. After a brief moment of struggle, she remembers her powers and turns into She-Hulk, successfully repelling her attackers.

The Wrecking Crew retreats and rues the fact that their boss will be angry with them for not being able to get a sample of Jen’s blood.

Review

• She-Hulk: Attorney at Law continues to be consistent when it comes to the level of humour on display. Having cameos by Wong and Megan Thee Stallion as herself upped the entertainment factor of the episode.
• While the use of the fourth wall break is certainly enjoyable, there can be an over-reliance causing the novelty to wear off. For example, the moment Jen acknowledges the fact that she’s being looped into the episode’s side plot didn’t necessarily need to happen.
• Benedict Wong is hilarious as Wong in this episode. He’s got a trademark sense of humour that truly adds to the amusing nature of the series.
• The introduction of the Wrecking Crew and a “boss” that wants Jen’s blood promises to bring in some seriousness and stakes to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

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