This week’s episode trades gamma for glitz, as the action shifts to Chicago — a city under the sway of Allure, a woman whose beauty is matched only by her greed. With hypnotic powers and a taste for control, she’s built an empire on charm and compulsion. “People don’t make me happy,” she purrs. “Things do.” It’s less a confession than a mission statement — and a warning.

Allure doesn’t fight the Hulk. She seduces Bruce Banner. And that’s the clever twist: she doesn’t need to overpower the monster when she can manipulate the man. Banner, vulnerable and guilt-ridden, becomes her pawn — until jealousy, migraines, and a certain green cousin start to unravel her plans.

But if you tuned in hoping for a full-throttle gangster romp with Mr. Fixit — the grey-suited, Vegas-born bruiser with a bad attitude and a mean right hook — you’ll be disappointed. He’s here, yes, but barely. And when he does show up, he’s saddled with She-Hulk in yet another bafflingly impractical outfit, more cheesecake than character.

Still, there’s something satisfying in watching Allure’s empire crumble. Her power, her wealth, her control — all stripped away. Bruce doesn’t just defeat her. He cures her. Removes the anomaly in her brain. And with it, the illusion. No more hypnosis. No more shortcuts. Just a woman with nothing left but herself — and no idea what to do with that.

It’s a decent episode, buoyed by a strong emotional throughline and a rare win for Banner’s intellect. But like much of this season, it can’t help but sabotage its own momentum. For every step forward — a clever premise, a solid character beat — there’s a stumble. A missed opportunity. A Fixit episode with barely any Fixit.

Still, there’s something to be said for watching a villain fall not in battle, but under the weight of their own emptiness.

Chicago’s underworld bends to a new queen. Allure — hypnotic, ruthless, and insatiable — uses her powers to dominate the city’s mob scene. Her enforcer is the Absorbing Man. Her scientists fail to enhance her abilities, so she kills them. Then she places an ad, seeking a brilliant mind.

Bruce Banner answers. He travels to Chicago with She-Hulk at his side. But as they arrive, Banner is taken — hypnotised by Allure, who bends his will with ease. He accepts the job. She-Hulk tries to intervene, but fails.

Banner begins work on a device to amplify Allure’s power and cure her migraines. The Absorbing Man, jealous of Banner’s closeness to Allure, plots his downfall.

But Banner doesn’t break. He transforms — the Gray Hulk emerges and fights back. The Absorbing Man flees. She-Hulk finds her cousin and proposes a plan: go undercover. She becomes Ms. Green. Hulk dons a suit and becomes Mr. Fixit.

Together, they infiltrate Allure’s empire. The new couple in town starts dismantling her operations. Allure retaliates, sending Absorbing Man and her goons to crush them.

Mr. Fixit and She-Hulk fight hard. But Absorbing Man absorbs Hulk’s strength and lands a brutal blow. Hulk reverts to Banner, who is captured and taken back to Allure’s lab. The police arrive and arrest her remaining crew.

In the lab, Banner resists Allure’s hypnosis — his love for Betty anchors him. Allure doesn’t notice. Banner completes the device and activates it. Her migraines vanish. So does her power.

She-Hulk and the police arrive. Allure is defeated. She mourns her loss — but Absorbing Man reminds her she hasn’t lost him. They kiss.

She-Hulk watches, moved. Tears in her eyes, she and Bruce walk out of the building.

This is the only episode of the series in which Bruce does not transform into the green Hulk. It’s also the only episode where he doesn’t speak.

The villainous Allure is an original character created for the series. She bears an uncanny resemblance to the X-Men’s Emma Frost and is voiced by Jennifer Hale – who voices the Black Cat on Spider-Man, amongst many other voice roles.

Bruce paraphrases Bill Bixby’s David Banner from the live-action television series: “Don’t make me mad. You won’t like me when I’m mad.”

Mr. Fixit is usually more associated with Las Vegas than Chicago. He is, however, seen wearing his comic accurate blue tuxedo.

There are flashbacks, once again, to Betty and Bruce’s non-wedding in Darkness and Light (Part 3).

A scream is heard twice in this episode that sounds suspiciously like Norm Spencer’s Cyclops from X-Men‘s X-Ternally Yours. It’s used here as stock dialogue.

Whilst poking around the warehouse for tech supplies, Banner is shocked to find a Unicron Transformer inside – it’s an obvious Transformers reference.

CRUSHER CREEL: THE MAN WHO CAN BECOME ANYTHING

Carl “Crusher” Creel first appears in Journey into Mystery #114 (March 1965), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. A boxer turned convict, Creel is chosen by Loki as a pawn in his schemes against Thor. Gifted with the power to absorb the properties of anything he touches — steel, stone, energy, even magic — Creel becomes the Absorbing Man, a living weapon with no upper limit.

Creel’s powers are simple in concept but terrifying in execution. He doesn’t just mimic materials — he becomes them. His body shifts into whatever he touches, making him nearly indestructible. But beneath the brute force lies a tragic figure: a man constantly manipulated, never quite in control of his own destiny. Whether used by Loki, the Leader, or other villains, Creel is often a tool — powerful, but expendable.

Over the decades, Creel evolves. He battles Thor, Hulk, and the Avengers. He falls in love with Titania, forming one of Marvel’s most enduring villain couples. He joins the Masters of Evil, clashes with heroes across dimensions, and even flirts with redemption. In Immortal Hulk, Creel’s powers take on a more existential edge — absorbing not just matter, but identity, memory, and pain.

Outside comics, Creel’s legacy stretches wide. He appears in The Incredible Hulk animated series as a gamma-powered enforcer. In Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, he’s a recurring threat. But it’s in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. where Creel gets his most nuanced portrayal — a conflicted soldier, haunted by his past, trying to find purpose beyond violence.

Creel isn’t just a villain. He’s a mirror — reflecting whatever the world throws at him, becoming what others fear, need, or exploit. And in that reflection, there’s something deeply human. He’s not the strongest, smartest, or most ambitious. But he endures.

Because when the world tries to break you, sometimes the only way to survive is to become unbreakable.

Mind Over Anti-Matter | Fashion Warriors