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More so than perhaps any of its predecessors, the seventh installment of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is all about Jennifer Walters. Yes, even more than last week’s episode, which is titled, “Just Jen”. The show continues to dive into the dynamic between Jennifer and her superpowered other half, particularly the complications and insecurities that stem from it. In some ways, “The Retreat” is even more self-contained than “Just Jen”, though there’s some substantial character growth and a villainous tease at the end.
1. A New Crew
Earlier in the series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law briefly introduced the Wrecking Crew, a group of would-be thugs that tried and failed to attack the hero. One member, Wrecker, returns in this episode, but he’s quite different compared to the last time we saw him. Thanks to the life coaching at Emil Blonsky’s retreat, Wrecker has emotionally evolved, and he takes responsibility for his actions. But he’s not alone; Emil is also working with others, and they all come from the comics.
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Jennifer bumps into Man-Bull and El Aguila rather violently; they smash her car during a fight, which Emil calls a way to work out their resentments in a safe environment. Aguila’s debut is particularly noteworthy because he’s a mutant. He has the power to channel energy into his sword, and beyond his charm as a swashbuckling villain, Aguila is remarkable because he’s one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first mutants. Fans have seen them pop up here and there recently in Ms. Marvel and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Namor will join the lineup in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the grand scheme of things, Aguila may not be as significant as some of the others, but his mere presence demonstrates the growing population of mutants in the MCU, which is bound to change the status quo sooner rather than later.
2. Group Therapy
The heart of this episode comes in an emotional scene where Jennifer opens up during group therapy. Emil is hosting a session for Aguila, Man-Bull, Wrecker, Porcupine, and Saracen to work through their issues. Jennifer, in her She-Hulk form, accidentally stumbles into it, and while she initially dismisses the process, she eventually delivers what could be considered her most heartfelt moment of the series. She describes how, as She-Hulk, she can literally transform into the more popular friend one had in high school. In doing so, she can make her life easier because everyone likes She-Hulk more. But this pattern hurts Jen; everyone overlooks her and practically casts her aside. She questions whether people would still like her if she was just Jen. Speaking through tears, she also says that Jennifer is great, but nobody seems to care.
Here, Jen makes a major breakthrough. Aguila and the others embrace her and tell her that she’s surrounded by a group of guys that would like to spend time with Jennifer, rather than She-Hulk. She bonds with them, and she even tries out Emil’s sweat yurt after she says she’s “hurtin’ for a yurtin.’” In the end, the group gives her a card and tells her they love both Jennifer and She-Hulk. This moment substantially progresses the narrative of the show; one of the core focuses has leaned on Jennifer’s struggle to balance her human life with her identity as a superpowered individual, and Emil’s retreat helps her in this regard.
3. Ghosted with a Twist
Jennifer’s breakthrough comes as a consequence of some heartbreak. As seen in the previous episode, she met Josh, a nice guy, at her friend’s wedding. “The Retreat” opens with a montage that’s right out of a Rom-Com, as they go on multiple dates and eventually sleep together. But when the fairytale ends when Jennifer wakes up the next day and Josh is gone. She texts Josh about how she can’t stop smiling, but he doesn’t reply. Jennifer then goes to Emil’s retreat, which doesn’t have cell signal or Wi-Fi, so she can’t tell whether Josh texts back. Her monologue in the group therapy session kicks off with her talking about Josh and his lack of contact, and the group encourages her to block his number because he ghosted her. Jennifer takes their advice, but the situation is more complex than it seems.
In the closing moments, after Jennifer happily leaves the retreat, we get a flashback that rewinds to the night she hooked up with Josh. As it turns out, Josh is up to no good, beyond his perceived ghosting. While Jennifer was sleeping, he copied the data on her phone to his, and he also took a picture of her. He then sends emojis of a syringe with blood in it, a vial with Gamma green fluid in it, and a thumbs up to “HulkKing”. This is the latest tease of some nefarious scientists targeting She-Hulk, and one can only imagine what dastardly plans they have in store moving forward.
“The Retreat” is both a self-contained episode that feels fairly inconsequential, given its intimate settings and an installment that notably moves things along by having Jennifer make meaningful progress in her attempt to embrace her superpowered self. The reveal of Josh’s betrayal at the end sets up an exciting next step while Daredevil’s looming arrival is sure to leave fans looking forward to next week’s episode.
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