Did the ‘She-Hulk’ Finale Take Breaking the Fourth Wall Too Far? (POLL)
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the She-Hulk Season 1 finale “Whose Show is This?”]
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s season finale has arrived and for a show that constantly breaks the fourth wall, any remaining shreds were officially shattered in this closing installment, aptly titled, “Whose Show is This?”
The latest Disney+ Marvel series garnered mixed reactions from fans since its arrival as She-Hulk diverted from the kind of expectations MCU fans have become accustomed to over the years. While showrunners and stars repeatedly labeled the half-hour comedy as a fun lawyer show, viewers seeking more of the superhero action were left frustrated by the procedural format with some throughlines connecting episodes.
Cameos nearly every week also built expectations, but as Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) repeatedly reminded viewers, this was her show, not Wong’s (Benedict Wong), Emil’s (Tim Roth), or even Daredevil’s (Charlie Cox). While it was fun to see her interact and cross paths with beloved characters, the series is about Jen’s journey of finding the balance between her life as her original self and the She-Hulk version she’s still getting used to.
(Credit: Disney+/Marvel)
To further drive this point home, Jen’s fourth-wall-breaking took an extra leap, right outside of the Disney+ interface. Leaping into the square for Assembled, She-Hulk stepped onto the Disney lot, walked to the writers’ room, and then K.E.V.I.N.’s office at Marvel. K.E.V.I.N. is supposed to represent the head of Marvel, Kevin Feige, but turned out to be an A.I. system calling the shots.
Transforming into her human self, Jen has a conversation with the system, makes demands, and essentially helps to write the rest of her story for the season. It’s the kind of satisfaction that no other MCU heroes have gotten and Jen diverts expectations once more, forgoing a final battle like most MCU fare goes for in its final moments, and instead, concluding the season with a family barbeque featuring everyone’s favorite Hell’s Kitchen lawyer by day and vigilante by night, Matt Murdock/Daredevil.
It stays true to the fun lawyer show tone that was always reiterated throughout the season’s run and honors Jen’s power to remind viewers that this is her story, and she can have it end almost any way she wants. The fourth-wall-breaking taking place here is unlike anything we’ve really seen from Marvel, even outdoing Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool, who is now technically part of the MCU after Disney’s purchase of Fox.
Did it go too far or get things just right? We want to hear from you. Let us know what you thought of the She-Hulk finale in the reader poll, below, and sound off in the comment section.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Season 1, Streaming now, Disney+
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P
I'm not sure whether I hate or love the ending
I actually loved the show, I like how they make shows that focuses on heroes and their daily lives. I wasn't expecting it, but I liked it. And they weren't cheap about it as well unlike most of the superhero daily lives shows out there that uses the word superheroes just to make superhero fans watch a normal drama that almost has nothing to do with superheroes/superpowers and all. I can see people expecting a lot of action disappointed by this but I myself enjoyed this show.
Well, until the finale. I like the fourth wall breaking but at the same time it was too long, ended making the ending anti climatic, and also completely ignore all the build ups towards it. When she got back to her own world, all her problems were solved, we didn't even get to see how (okay, we technically did)
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C
I honestly thought the ending was kinda meh. Part of the problem was her ‘disorientation’ was shown but she never hear her actually say how she’s feeling. She just seems mopey.
So they were good at showing her anger but sorrow or depression? Not so much.
Part of me wants to praise the ending just for the fact that I know a ton of trolls hate the show. But it just felt a little anti-climactic. She didn’t earn a solution, she never struggled with learning to break the fourth wall. So it turned out all of her problems could have always been solved by threatening a robot in our world.
So like on one hand it was clever but on the other… it just wasn’t a story. Nothing was resolved. She simply was obstinate to a robot. If she’d have outwitted Kevin, or done anything where she used leverage, then she’d have resolved her problems. She didn’t though.
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