(WARNING: This post may contain minor spoilers! In case any of you have not yet seen the show in full, don’t worry because I will not be giving away any ‘major spoilers’ in this review.)
Recently I may have made it seem like I’m not that big a fan
of ‘darker’ superhero stories, hence why I usually prefer the lighter and more
family-friendly affairs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For the record,
that’s not entirely true. I mean, yes, at the end of the day I do sort of prefer
the lighter-hearted superhero flicks and TV shows as I feel that they’re easier
to get into, especially for someone like me who actually isn’t that big of a
comic book reader. But even with that said, I have liked ‘darker’ superhero
films in the past, namely Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’, which
still stands as the best superhero film trilogy to date. Ultimately the problem
that I have with ‘darker’ superhero stories is when they’re done for characters
that, to put it simply, are not known for having ‘dark’ storylines. The prime
recent example of this was ‘Man of Steel’, as the film’s extremely dour tone
really didn’t gel with the optimistic and inspirational tone that has usually defined
the ‘Superman’ franchise. That’s one of the reasons why I’m rather worried
about DC’s upcoming slate of films as I fear that their alleged ‘no joke’
policy (emphasis on ‘alleged’ as this may ultimately just be a rumor) is the
wrong way to go when only a few of their characters are fit for a ‘darker’
cinematic universe. And while I know that there are some out there who want to
see ‘darker’ MCU films, I’m not entirely on board with that because I feel that
doing so would exclude the franchise’s main target audience; kids.
But if you are one of those people who wants to see Marvel
Studios tackle darker material, then you’ll surely be very satisfied with the
shows that they’ve been producing with Netflix that will soon lead to a
‘Defenders’ crossover series. Of course earlier this year that partnership started
off with a bang thanks to the excellent debut series, ‘Daredevil’. After the
disappointing effort that was the ‘Daredevil’ film back in 2003, Marvel Studios
truly did the character of Matt Murdock AKA ‘The Man without Fear’ justice in a
gritty and hard-edged series that definitely went beyond the boundaries of what
you would normally see from the MCU films. But let me tell you, folks, the dark
things that happened on that show are nothing compared to the psychological
episodes that occur in Marvel’s second Netflix series, ‘Jessica Jones’. This
truly is Marvel Studios’ darkest entry to date… and as you might guessed,
that’s one of the reasons why it ends up being another great installment of
this ever-expanding universe. It’s a show that fully embraces its noir
atmosphere to produce a highly compelling and emotionally complex story headlined
by an excellent lead ‘anti-heroine’, a truly terrific main villain, and a
supporting cast of really well-developed characters. Thanks to shows like this,
‘Daredevil’, and the ABC duo of ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘Agent Carter’, I
think it’s safe to say that Marvel is now on DC’s level when it comes to the
superhero TV market.
After a brief stint as a superhero that ended in tragedy,
Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), capable of super-strength and the ability to
‘fly’ (or to be more specific, jump really high), takes on a new career as a
private investigator for the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen. One day she is
approached by a couple from Omaha looking for their daughter Hope (Erin
Moriarty), an NYU student who has been missing for about a month after she told
her parents that she was ‘taking a break’ from college. Jessica takes on the
case but is horrified to discover that Hope has been with Kilgrave (David
Tennant), the same man whose powers of mind control were directly responsible
for the incident that made her quit being a superhero and the PTSD that she now
suffers from because of it. Initially thinking that he had died during that
incident, Jessica quickly finds out that he’s still alive and fears that he’s
come back to get her. She manages to find Hope but Kilgrave’s mind powers end
up taking control of her again, forcing her to kill her parents. Now compelled
to prove Hope’s innocence, Jessica embarks on an all-out crusade against
Kilgrave so that he can be stopped before he ruins someone else’s life.
This is very much Marvel’s ‘noir’ series with its hardboiled
mood, edgy visual style, and dark storylines. ‘Daredevil’ dabbled in this
manner a little bit but ‘Jessica Jones’ fully embraces it and while both of
these shows are obviously geared towards older audiences, the latter is easily
much darker than anything that happened in the former, and not just because it’s
full of violence and sex. There are some seriously messed up things that happen
in this show, particularly in Episodes 8 through 10; ‘AKA WWJD?’, ‘AKA Sin Bin’,
and ‘AKA 1,000 Cuts’, which, not surprisingly, are the best episodes of the
season. And while the writing occasionally veers into formulaic territory from
time to time over the 13-episode run, it’s still the most mature story that
Marvel Studios has ever done through its psychological themes. The characters
are extremely well-layered, many of whom find themselves directly affected by
Kilgrave as a result of Jessica’s own mission to stop him and each dealing with
this trauma in their own way. Jessica herself is a very well-written lead
character reminiscent of another classic P.I. character, Veronica Mars, which
is a very fitting reference given that Krysten Ritter had a supporting role in ‘Veronica
Mars’. As noted earlier, the incident that caused Jessica to quit being a
superhero results in her having to cope with PTSD. This is really exemplified early
on in the series, before she actually does come face-to-face with Kilgrave
again, in moments where he appears to her in purple-bathed visions, which of
course correlates to the character’s comic identity as the ‘Purple Man’ without
actually having him have purple skin.
The interesting thing about this entry in the MCU lineup is
that it introduces not one, but two new main superheroes. Jessica Jones, of
course, is the main character but the series also introduces the character of
Luke Cage (Mike Colter), who will be headlining Marvel Studios’ third Netflix
series next year, presumably after Season 2 of ‘Daredevil’. As Jessica Jones,
Krysten Ritter brings the perfect mix of sarcastic wit, hard-edged tenacity,
and emotional vulnerability that makes the character such a compelling
anti-hero. And as Luke Cage, Mike Colter conveys a much more reserved but very
strong composure as the man with the unbreakable skin. Fans of the comics know
that these two end up having a relationship and Ritter and Colter have solid
chemistry while also having a very ‘interesting’ connection to each other that
ends up complicating their relationship as the series goes on. Backing the two
of them up is an excellent supporting cast of characters that, as noted
earlier, also end up getting thrown into Jessica’s crusade as well, each
affected by it in their own way. That includes Rachael Taylor as Jessica’s best
friend Trish Walker, a radio host with whom Jessica has a very strong
sister-like friendship with, Wil Traval as Will Simpson, a cop who goes a bit
too far in order to stop Kilgrave, Eka Darville as Jessica’s neighbor Malcolm,
a drug addict who goes through a major arc of redemption over the course of the
series, and Carrie-Anne Moss as Jessica’s steely lawyer associate Jeri Hogarth.
And then there’s David Tennant as the main villain, Kilgrave
AKA ‘The Purple Man’. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that
I’ve been much more positive towards the villains of the MCU films compared to
most of those on the internet who feel that Loki has been the only ‘good’
villain. But even with that said, I think we can all agree that the villains
headlining Marvel’s Netflix shows have been particularly excellent to the point
where they actually outshine Loki. First there was Vincent D’Onofrio’s
excellent turn as Wilson Fisk in ‘Daredevil’ and now with ‘Jessica Jones’, I
got to say… David Tennant manages to outshine even D’Onofrio to become the
franchise’s new ‘best’ villain. Kilgrave is such an intimidating foe that he
is, quite frankly, a pretty damn scary villain given his ability to easily take
over the minds of anyone he comes across and tell them to do whatever he
commands, with the most common command of his being the one to tell his ‘minions’
to kill themselves. But at the same time, despite being such a despicable SOB,
he also manages to convey an unexplainable charming persona. Tennant (AKA ‘the
fan-favorite Doctor Who’) really shines in this role, perfectly capturing the
character’s reprehensible attitude while also managing to provide some hilarious
‘dark comedy’ from time to time. Simply put, Kilgrave is one of those ‘perfect’
villains; one that you hate with a burning passion and yet can’t stop watching,
which actually makes sense given the fact that he could literally command you
to keep watching him.
Now unlike some of the people I’ve seen over the past week, I’m
not going to compare this show to any of the MCU films. I’m not going to
compare it to ‘Daredevil’, although I will say that I do sort of prefer it by
just a slight margin. And finally I’m not going to compare it to the other
female-led superhero show that debuted this fall, ‘Supergirl’ (an ‘early
impression’ post for that series is coming soon), because both shows are very
different in terms of execution. So while I won’t be making any sort of
hyperbolic statement that makes other superhero content seem inferior by
comparison, what I will do is commend this show for being another excellent
effort from Marvel Studios, whose partnership with Netflix has allowed them to
produce stories that are far darker than what, thankfully, we’ve seen in the
MCU films. And ‘Jessica Jones’ truly defines the term ‘dark superhero story’ with
its intense/violent action sequences and psychological twists. Until now,
Marvel has never really delved into the ‘noir’ genre but now they have this
show, which yet again shows how versatile the studio has been over the years in
regards to bringing to life stories that span all sorts of film/TV genres. And
the story they tell in this series is one standout tale with its highly
developed and emotionally complex characters and a main villain that not only
stands as one of the MCU’s greatest villains but also as one of the best TV
villains of all-time period. Seeing how ‘Daredevil’ is going to be getting a
second season next year, we may very well get to see another season of the
excellent show down the road.
Season Rating: 4.5/5
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