The new Netflix series, Jessica Jones, debuted November 20th and stars Krysten Ritter. It’s a hard hitting new show as the second of Marvel’s shows to debut this year on the streaming service after Daredevil. With only thirteen episodes it could be a pretty quick watch. Which is what I did. I binge watched the entire first season in two days.
Jessica Jones is based on a Marvel comic called Alias written by Brian Bendis and drawn by Michael Gaydos. It’s also part of a four show deal with Netflix which includes future shows Luke Cage, whose character appears in Jones, and Iron Fist.
When Daredevil debuted this past April, it raised the bar for what shows can with the superhero genre. Jones definitely matches the bar that was set by its predecessor. Daredevil was known for being much darker than the films Marvel had been churching out in recent years and Jones goes even darker.
The show is about a young woman, the title character Jessica Jones, who is a private investigator and secretly/not so secretly has powers. When we met the young protagonist it has been a year since she escaped from a man only known as Kilgrave. Her captor has the ability to make other people obey his will, even if it kills them.
The show also traverses the topics of PTSD and sexual assault as Jones deals with the aftermath of being mind controlled by Kilgrave.
Ritter has played quirky characters in the past but was able to bring some weight to Jones in way she hasn’t done with her past characters. She also hasn’t been in many shows where she was expected to carry this much in the past so this is all new ground for her and viewers.
Kilgrave is played by David Tennant of Doctor Who fame. The villain quickly becomes of Marvel’s better characters. This is especially important since the Marvel movies aren’t exactly known for their strong well rounded villains. There aren’t too many memorable villains outside of Loki.
There are several scenes that show how twisted Kilgrave can be. In most movies, a villain will be shown stabbing someone repeatedly in order to show how demented they can be. Jones is able to take it to another level. In one scene, Kilgrave is picking out magazines in a park and the owner of the tiny shop yells at him to buy one. In response, Kilgrave orders the barking man to pick up a cup of hot coffee and throw it in his own face. In another scene, he forces two people to watch for Jones and doesn’t allow them to blink until she returns hours later. These are some very creative ways to show the level of dementedness the villain has that someone certainly wouldn’t see on Law and Order: SVU.
After watching the show over two days, I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes dark action shows. Even to those who like cop procedural shows. There is something that is a bit controversial at the end but I’ll leave that alone for another discussion. So, Jessica Jones, check it out.
