The penultimate episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law featured the moment many fans have been waiting for — Daredevil finally appeared. Plus, the eighth episode kicked the series into high gear and then some, as the episode ended with a thrilling cliffhanger. Here are the three biggest takeaways from “Ribbit and Rip It.”
1. Hippity Hoppity
Before “The Man Without Fear” showed up, this episode introduced another hero, Leap-Frog. At first, he seems like a comically inept crimefighter; he tries to stop a robbery, and when that fails, he attempts to get away using his rocket boosters. Despite uttering his catchphrase, “Ribbit and Rip it”, the getaway goes horribly wrong as his sit malfunctions and he catches on fire. He then seeks legal counsel and naturally winds up as one of Jennifer Walters’ clients.
As fate would have it, Luke Jacobson made his suit, so Leap-Frog and She-Hulk share a tailor. Jennifer tries to peacefully reach an agreement with Luke, but he feels betrayed by the attempt. Worse yet, Jacobson’s lawyer turns out to be Matt Murdock, who winds up handing Jennifer a decisive defeat when they battle it out in court. Frustrated by this setback, Leap-Frog kidnaps Jacobson and takes him back to the Lily Pad, his secret lair, so She-Hulk and a new ally will have to save him.
As seen throughout She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the introduction of a relatively obscure character is executed in a fun way that makes sense and delivers several comical moments, which should be considered a win-win.
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2. Daredevil is Back
As noted, Matt Murdock first saves the day, for his client at least, in the courtroom. He then buys Jennifer a drink, and they hit it off. What could become a budding romance hits a speedbump when Jennifer finds a masked vigilante targeting Leap-Frog (before he brakes bad). She-Hulk and the masked man fight, and Jennifer even throws a car at the mystery man. Once she wins the fight, she unmasks him and sees that it’s Matt, who tells her that Leap-Frog is the bad guy in this situation. After she pokes fun at his red-and-yellow costume, noting that it’s daring to use a ketchup and mustard color scheme, they head over to the Lily Pad.
There, Daredevil shows She-Hulk the ropes as they disagree about the best approach. Jennifer wants to Hulk-smash, while Daredevil leans into his expertise and prefers to take a stealthy approach. They ultimately utilize both methods, and the two heroes shine in their own way. Daredevil and She-Hulk trade some witty banter about how they would try to defend Leap-Frog in court before the latter tries to escape. In doing so, he falls out of a window and crashes into the street below, so the police are able to apprehend him. Having rescued Jacobson, Daredevil and She-Hulk reconvene after the mission and pick up where they left off in the bar. Matt suggests that he could take Jennifer out to dinner the next time he’s in town, but she wants to skip to the fun part, so they hook up. The next morning, Daredevil does the classic “walk of shame” as he heads home, holding his boots in his hands.
Many fans have been eagerly waiting to see how the show would handle Daredevil, so his first appearance was a buzzworthy occasion. Now that it has finally arrived, it’s fair to say that the series took the hero’s persona in a new direction, as he smiled and cracked jokes much more often than viewers saw throughout his Netflix series. But Charlie Cox’s reprisal of the role is a home run, as he has a strong grasp on the character, so it still feels like the Daredevil we all know and love, despite these differences.
3. Plot Twist
Daredevil’s walk of shame would have been a fitting conclusion, but the last few minutes of the show are even more captivating. Jennifer breaks the fourth wall, noting that it feels like the episode should be over because the episode reached a satisfying conclusion. She predicts that we’re about to see a major twist, and she’s right. Jennifer goes to a gala and, along with several of her colleagues, wins the award for Female Lawyer of the Year. As she starts to give her acceptance speech, the gala is hijacked by the Intelligencia, a hateful group that has had it out for She-Hulk from, the start. They take control of the ceremony and, as they play footage of She-Hulk getting intimate with someone, they call her a slut. Humiliated, Jennifer is overcome with rage, and she smashes the screen the video was playing on.
Everyone at the gala runs in fear, and Jennifer nearly attacks a goon who seems connected to Intelligenica before armed officers arrive, forcing She-Hulk to stand down. The episode ends with her surrounded, setting the stage for what promises to be a can’t-miss finale.
The Intelligencia’s cruel act brings Jennifer back down to earth after her happy ending with Daredevil, and it could potentially push her to the limit. In some contexts, Bruce Banner’s Hulk is known to be a monster who strikes fear in the hearts of everyone around him. At the gala, as the security lights go off, the red lights cover Jennifer’s face, and it’s hard not to compare this outburst to one of her cousin’s similar smash-heavy incidents over the years. How Jennifer handles the fallout of this situation could be a major test for her character moving forward.
With the long-awaited arrival of Daredevil, which is as good as one could ask for, along with the nail-biting conclusion, the eighth episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was the series’ best installment yet, and it set a high bar for the finale.
