She-Hulk is at its best when it lets the supporting cast shine

Jen's best friend, Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga), has been a constant (though vastly underutilized) feature in "She-Hulk." She stood by Jen to provide moral support and her own brand of witty banter in the courtroom, but other than that, she largely lacked a real place on the show. "She-Hulk" remedied that in Episode 5 by pairing Nikki with Augustus 'Pug' Pugliese (Josh Segarra) in a goofy odyssey to score superhero sons...and strengthen the superhero sneaker connection. of Pug. Of course, her motivation is still largely centered around helping her friend - but Gonzaga, at the very least, has the chance to flex her impressive improvisational chops back and forth. This goes to show that "She-Hulk" can effectively use all the tools at his disposal.

Then there's Jen's intimidating co-worker Mallory Book, played hard by "Hamilton" and "Altered Carbon" star Renée Elise Goldsberry. Goldsberry is also no stranger to comedy: She worked with "She-Hulk" director Kat Coiro in the girl group-centric sitcom "Girls5Eva." She cuts down on the latter's inherent absurdity to play the Straight Man in "She-Hulk," and it's a perfect match for the series. Her role in the ongoing feud between She-Hulk and super-influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil) is just the foundational presence the show needs, but she also seems to be establishing a genuine – if not tentative – connection with Jen around her. 'a glass.

Mallory and Jen bonding more than average, the titled men echo some of the show's best beats to date. It makes perfect use of the show's broad strokes "Men Are Pigs" theme - which I normally wouldn't have a problem with, if "She-Hulk" only approached it with a little more finesse. Fortunately, Goldsberry has that in spades, which puts Mallory's interactions with Jen on par with the perfect bathroom scene in the "She-Hulk" pilot.