‘She-Hulk’ Episode 8: Jennifer Walters vs. Daredevil

Ribbit and Ripit!

Night has fallen over Los Angeles. Somewhere, in an empty parking lot, two goons load TVs that have clearly been stolen into a van when who should appear? Why it’s crime fighter Leap-Frog!

Jennifer Walters is already over this. The unmasked Leapfrog, Eugene Patilio, tries to explain his case to her. Looking to escape the goons, Eugene activated his getaway system (hydraulics on his suit) but things go horribly wrong when Leapfrog’s inflammable suit catches on fire. He’s got third-degree burns and Leapfrog deserves justice. Plus compensation. And who does he want to take down on court? Luke Jacobson.

Ribbit and Ripit!

Realizing this is a huge conflict of interest for her, Jen approaches Holliway asking to be taken off the case. Can’t Pug take this one considering Jen’s connection to Luke? She feels ethically compromised taking this and Holliway throws back that she’s done something like this already. Remember Emil? That case hit way closer to home, so this one shouldn’t be that bad. Right?

Wrong. Now approaching Luke, Jen explains that she’s been retained by a client who received a faulty suit from him— and excuse me? How dare Jen suggest that Luke has made a defective suit? He flies off the handle, ripping the suit he was making for Jen off the mannequin, declaring for all to hear that he’s never going to make another suit for her ever again. See you in court.

Now sitting in court, Luke is noticeably alone and the judge wonders where his council is. As if on cue, the doors to the courtroom open, and in walks Matthew Murdock, attorney at law. Jen gives this smartly dressed blind lawyer a once over, clearly trying to size him up.

Matt came prepared to argue on behalf of the fashion designer, and the first thing he wants is the opposing council’s motion to produce Luke’s client list be dropped because it’s not relevant to the current case. Turning to us, Jen can’t help but wonder, “Who’s this asshole?”

Jen isn’t buying this. She wants Luke’s client list because there might be other faulty suits out there and it might produce more evidence. Matt isn’t letting go of this so easily, arguing back that producing a client list, especially one with Super Heroes on it, could be dangerous — Luke’s customers are allowed to keep their anonymity. Matt also can’t help but add that the Sokovia Accords have been repealed. It’s not his fault, and it shouldn’t be Luke’s fault, that Jen has chosen to operate in the public eye as a big, green lawyer. Maybe others don’t want that.

The judge sides with Matt, and seeing this as a loss, Eugene whines that he just wants a new suit. Pulling out the charred outfit, from across the room it’s clear that there’s a new scent and Matt can’t help but ask what kind of fuel he used in his boosters? Eugene used jet fuel, duh.

What! Luke explains that his instructions do not say to use jet fuel. The judge notes that with this, the plaintiff ignored the manufacturer's instructions, then the defendant is absolved of all liability. Case dismissed.

Jen immediately starts trying to apologize to Luke, hoping that he’ll be her tailor again, but he hates her now. So no.

Over at Legal Ease, Jen sits alone at the bar when a new drink is placed in front of her. It’s been sent by the man over there — who happens to be Matt. He asks to join her, hoping to extend a peace offering between the two of them. The first thing Jen must know is why Matt, who is from New York City, flew all the way out here to defend Luke. Matt explains that Luke made him some suits, so he owed him a favor.

And how did Matt know about the jet fuel? Matt offers up that it was a “hunch.” He also goes on to explain that he has a practice in Hell’s Kitchen and likes to do pro bono work to help others — only taking bigger cases when the bills start to pile up. Jen’s deflated by that, noting that she’s so tired from working the bigger cases she doesn’t have time to think about anything else.

“You say that but I think you’re in a unique position to do some real good,” Matt tells her. “The way I see it, Jen Walters can use the law when society fails. And She-Hulk can help people when the law fails.”

Jen doesn’t hate the sound of that. And she also wants to make sure that we’re all feeling this. The her and Matt thing. It’s not just her?

While Matt steps away to take a call, Jen gets a message from Todd — THAT GUY — asking her to meet up later. Ugh. She tries to brush him off, suggesting another round of drinks to Matt, but something’s come up and he’s got to go.

Guess Jen’s got to go meet Todd. Sliding into a booth with him, he first starts talking about how he just recently acquired a Wakandan war spear in an auction. He’s got pictures! He has a collection of African art, and before Jen can stop him he’s doing the Wakandan salute and yelling “Wakanda Forever!” Please Todd, on behalf of all of us, don’t do that again.

But what does this have to do with Jen and any sort of legal aspect? Todd slides closers to Jen, handing her some wine, and cuts right to the chase. He knows there’s something between them and he doesn’t play games. Nope, goodbye. Jen is out of there.

Returning home, Jen collapses on the couch and her phone immediately starts buzzing. It’s Eugene and he’s being attacked! Uh, legally or physically? Eugene assumes it’s physically because he’s driving fast in his car to the Lilly Pad and someone is attacking his car. Jen is just about out the door when she remembers she’s got the perfect suit for this…

Jen meets Eugene at the parking garage, but he’s not alone. The man who’s been chasing him — wearing his own super suit with a devil’s cowl on his head — squares off with Jen, and no matter what punches she throws he’s just a little more agile than she is, easily dodging all of them. Jen then throws a whole car at him, which he just barely misses. What really takes this masked man down is a powerful Hulk thunderclap.

Having enough of this, Jen picks up the man and pulls his mask off — it’s Matt Murdock?? First, Jen needs to know if he’s really blind, because if he’s pretending that’s messed up. Matt assures her that he really is blind, but he’s got a special method that he uses to see. Oh, so like echolocation.

That’s neither here nor there, because secondly, why was Matt attacking Eugene? Matt explains that Eugene’s the bad guy in this situation, and Jen can’t help but note she just assumed the guy in the devil costume was the foe to fight. And uh…is he a Super Hero? He is like…the gold devil?

“I’m Daredevil,” Matt says matter-o-factly. And even though there’s a familiar music cue for us watching at home, none of this rings any sort of bells for Jen.

Meanwhile, over at the Lily Pad, Eugene has Luke pouring over a sewing machine making him new things. Jen peers in through a window overhead, wondering about the henchmen — Matt’s quick to explain that henchmen believe in the cause, while goons are just there for the paycheck. The guys with Eugene? Total goons. And there are 25 goons in the building.

Wait, how does Matt know there are 25 goons in the building? He explains that he can hear their heartbeats, which Jen doesn’t buy. Turning his attention to her, Matt says that he can hear her heart, too. And it’s beating pretty fast. Are you guys feeling this?

But these goons. Matt’s going to sneak in and take all of them out, should only take 15 seconds per goon. Jen doesn’t want to sit around and wait for a half hour (not the correct math, but moving on), so she’s just going to go in and smash things. Matt points out that they have weapons, Jennifer, while she retorts back that She-Hulk is indestructible, Matthew.

Just let Matt do his thing.

Inside, we find a bunch of goons in a hallway. A hallway! That’s when Daredevil appears in all his glory, clearly ready to take out all these goons in a hallway and the fight is on. While he is able to stop all the ones currently there, backup is on the way and soon five more goons appear for him to fight in a hallway. Get ready…

For She-Hulk to smash through the roof and take them all out underneath the rubble.

The duo then head into Eugene’s main lair, as Matt quickly gets to taking them out one by one. Jen heads for Luke and unties him, turning to Eugene and ordering him to stop before he gets into any more legal trouble. They might be able to plead temporary insanity, and Matt, from across the room, mentions that’s not a bad idea.

“So the devil ninja guy is a lawyer?” Eugene asks through the chaos. No, according to Matt, he’s just a big fan of legal dramas. And you know what? This is really kind of doing it for Jen.

Taking a lull in the battle to run, Eugene jumps out the window and immediately hurts his whole body. He’s later taken away by the paramedics, while Jen tries to patch things up with Luke. The good news is that he’ll still make her gala dress! There’s no bad news here, Luke’s still just mad at her.

Sitting high above the chaos below, Jen joins Matt on the ledge of the building. He’s not really a stick-around-and-talk-to-the-cops kind of guy, and Jen rolls her eyes. So brooding. But, she is thankful for all his help. And Matt’s thankful for Jen’s help. When does Matt leave for New York again?

He leaves tomorrow and suggests that the next time he’s in town they grab dinner. Jen suggests they just skip all of that.

Cut to, Jen and Matt making out as they stumble back into her apartment. Jen struggles trying to get his super suit off, but don’t worry, they eventually manage it as the door closes behind them. The next morning, Matt is a sight to be seen as he walks home, barefoot, in the Daredevil suit.

Seems like a pretty solid end to the episode, huh? So why are we still hanging out here? Jen wonders that aloud to us, when Nikki bursts into the apartment with her glam bag. But what is this scene? As Jen tells us, this episode already came to a very satisfying conclusion. Nikki, from the other room, yells to Jen that she’s got to get ready for the gala.

Jen works through her confusion. “Wait, we’re doing the gala? That doesn’t feel right. Is the next episode the finale? Oh, just like a tacked-on set piece near the end of the season. This is the big twist, isn’t it? But the question is, is it the kind of twist that’s like, oh there’s another Hulk but this one is red, or like, I’m getting frigid?”

Whatever, Jen’s game.

Arriving at the gala, looking fabulous, Jen heads inside to meet her parents. She also waves hello to Holliway, who is standing with, ugh Todd. No time for chitchat, as they find their seats at the banquet table, and no sooner are they sitting down, but it’s time to announce the Female Lawyer of the Year! And the award goes to Jennifer “She-Hulk” Walters!

And also Sarah Hunter. Alice Chen. Barbara Wells. And Mallory Book. Okay, so they’re all sharing the award. On stage, the presenter asks what it’s like being a female lawyer, and it’s Mallory with the sass, adding that she’s constantly asked what it’s like being a female lawyer. Snaps from the audience from both Nikki and Pug.

When Jen gets the mic, she starts to give a little speech but it’s quickly interrupted by a HulkKing emoji flashing on the screen behind her, wondering if the audience wants to know who She-Hulk really is. Intelligencia has hijacked the presentation, telling the crowd that She-Hulk doesn’t deserve their attention. Snapshots of images from Jen’s phone flash across the screen, exposing all of her Matcher matches, text messages, and also pictures of Steve Rogers. The worst part is when a video that Josh took of them hooking up is played on the screen.

Mallory, just off stage, knows what’s about to happen. “Don’t do it, Jen,” She warns, but it’s too late. Jen, for the first time, lets her rage boil over and she smashes the screen behind her. Alarms start going off as people rush to the exit to evacuate.

In the chaos, Jen spots a group of men with their faces covered, clearly Intelligencia. She goes racing after them, grabbing one of the stragglers. Raising him up high as she roars, Nikki’s now the one to yell at her to stop. Jen drops the man, as agents from Damage Control move in, with their weapons pointed at her.

Jen takes some deep breaths and turns to us. Oh no.