Recap: ‘She-Hulk Attorney at Law’ Episode 7 – “The Retreat”

Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer "Jen" Walters/She-Hulk in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 Marvel.

We’re finally back from the fun side story wedding of last week, and now we’re onto a wellness retreat, so welcome to 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law' episode 7, “The Retreat.”

We begin by looking in on a bathroom and Jen (Tatiana Maslany) receiving a text from Josh (Trevor Salter), the guy she met in the last episode. We’re shown a cute montage of her getting ready, and Josh arriving. The two have a fantastic date, and we see them growing closer and closer as the meetups continue.

Finally, the two meet up for a movie, and Jen invites him home and wakes up to him gone. Sitting with Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga), her friend tells her to set a limit on her phone during work. That worrying about when Josh is going to text back is a bit overreacting on Jen’s part.

Come Saturday, he hasn’t texted her yet, and Jen is nervous. Staring at her phone and unable to focus on anything else-not even a scene featuring Miss Piggy from ‘The Great Muppet Caper.’ (Disney synergy at it's best!) She finally goes to bed, only to wake up to Emil Blonsky’s (Tim Roth) parole officer, Chuck Donelan (John Pirruccello).

Tim Roth as Abomination/Emil Blonsky in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 Marvel.

There was a malfunction alert on his inhibitor and he asks Jen to go with him to the retreat. He feels it’s a lot safer if he has a Hulk with him, and Jen agrees to go. She’s still nervous about Josh, so much so that she’s texting and driving, and not paying much attention.

He asks her to become She-Hulk, and she stands with him while the parole officer looks at the inhibitor. Blonsky explains that he got hit by an electric fence while saving his favorite chicken, and that he wasn’t doing anything sketchy.

As Jen goes to leave, her car is hit by two super-human men fighting each other. Blonsky explains that their fighting off their anger in a safe environment, and she finds out the two men are Man-Bull (Nathan Hurd) and El Aguila (Joseph Castillo-Midyett).

But with them fighting, the men have destroyed her car and left her stranded. Jen is not excited that the tow truck is going to take forever to arrive, and Blonsky explains he’s glad that she’s here, and talks about everything his self-help center does.

(L-R): Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer "Jen" Walters, Nate Hurd as Man-Bull/William Taurens, Joseph Castillo-Midyett as El Águila/Alejandro Montoya, and Tim Roth as Abomination/Emil Blonsky in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2022 Marvel.

He offers for her to join a session and Jen refuses, really needing to get in contact with the outside world. She wonders the grounds, attempting to find Wi-Fi, and discovers a cabin in the woods. Finding a bit of service inside, she accidentally steps into a session with Blonsky and the retreat members.

In the meeting is the two men from earlier, with Saracen (Terrence Clowe) who thinks he’s a vampire, and Porcupine (Jordan Aaron Ford) who refuses to take his costume off. But another man walks in, and Jen starts up a fourth wall break “previously on”, revealing its Wrecker (Nick Gomez), one of the men who attacked her in episode 3.

She attacks him, and it makes the group angry. Wrecker wants to talk through their last meeting and “make amends”, while Jen really doesn’t want to do that with him, for good reasons. She fights back against them wanting her to open up about her anger, and she finally does, but it’s only about Josh.

The men want to listen and help, as well as making comments on her terrible dating prowess. They bring up that maybe she is just being ghosted. She mentions that he never brought up She-Hulk, and she goes on to say that her Hulked-out form is like an old friend that’s so much cooler than she is.

Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer "Jen" Walters/She-Hulk in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

No one really pays attention to Jen; they all pay attention to She-Hulk. Really, she just wants someone to like her for both versions of herself. The men act accordingly, saying they want to kill Josh! That he’s not worth it to her. Blonsky stops them from being violent.

But the group brings up some fantastic points, even boosting up Jen as a person. She now has a whole group of men who want to be her friend. Wrecker even pointing out that maybe, she needs to stop using She-Hulk as a shield.

Even Porcupine takes his mask off, but he is immediately told to put it back on because of the smell. Back to the group, they tell her to even delete his number, which she does. Instantly making her feel better.

Jen goes to “sweat it out” in a sauna and it seems that she’s now around people who care about her in both forms. The men wave her off as she goes to leave with the tow truck.

Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer "Jen" Walters/She-Hulk in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

We then skip back to three days earlier in Jen’s bedroom, and learn that while she was sleeping, Josh copied everything from her phone. He then takes a picture of her lying in bed before he leaves.

He then sends it to the “Intelligencia” website, with an emoji filled text that implies he has taken a sample of her blood, which is what the Wrecking Crew was originally hired to do. At the same time, Josh’s text reveals to the audience that he is actually working for the mysterious “HulkKing.” The episode then ends.

When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s handling of character’s dealing with the “superhero” life, no show has really done it more down to earth than ‘She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’ especially looking at the other MCU stories.

The other shows, such as ‘Moon Knight’ and ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ have never really covered the “normal aspects” of being a superhero. Not the everyday, dawn to dusk life one could live, really, until now!

Our superhero has a day job, must pay the rent and has a family that’s constantly asking her if she has a boyfriend. We get to see Jen deal with her love life and how it may (or may not) be going well. We also get to see a superhero being an actual person.

(L-R): Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer "Jen" Walters, Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki Ramos, and Drew Matthews as Dennis Bukowski in Marvel Studios' 'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,' exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

That’s why the show is as fun as it is. How often have you looked at the MCU and thought, “What would a normal life be like living in that universe? How would a lawyer act if they were really defending super powered people?”

No Marvel series before it has covered that aspect so well. While other MCU properties have attempted, they often overly emphasize that this people are heroes, with crazy names and over the top personalities.

While yes, we know Jen as She-Hulk, we also know her just as Jen, a lawyer, best friend to Nikki and cousin to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). She’s not an Avenger, she’s just herself. And that’s what makes her so much more relatable than other MCU superheroes.

This week’s episode was full of important heart to hearts, and with only two episodes left, we can only imagine that next week’s episode will reveal more secrets ahead of the finale.

See you next week!

'She-Hulk: Attorney At Law,' exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Marvel.