Alright everyone, by now you should all know that I am a huge Marvel fan. The movies of course but also the Netflix original series’. There were five superheroes that were brought back into the mainstream; Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Punisher.
Each show I found had their own individual flair, their own style. Even though they all took place in New York, they show a different aspect of the city. In Daredevil we are in Hell’s Kitchen and Luke Cage highlights the lives of people of color in the ghetto; it was smart for the writers to show injustice all around the city no matter what you looked like and stay true to the origins of the heroes and what their goals were.
My favorite out of the five was Jessica Jones. Before this show, I had never even heard of her but after binging the first season she became one of my new favorites. They are a limited amount of women in the MCEU anyway so her addition was worth the wait.
For those who do not know, Jessica Jones tried the superhero thing but it was not for her. So when we meet her she is working as a private investigator working out her apartment. She takes cases, suffers from PTSD, helps out a crooked lawyer named Hogarth and drinks…a lot. She is not the normal female protagonist. She is jaded, self-loathing and has extreme strength and leaping abilities.
Her powers aside, she is one of the more relatable female superheroes. Black Widow was trained as a super spy, Gamora is a battling alien, Scarlet witch basically chose to become a Nazi; all these characters are great but not as grounded as Jessica.
Throughout the first season, Jessica has to confront her past in a very real way. When she accepts a case from a mother searching for her missing daughter, Jessica follows clues that point to Kilgrave being back. Kilgrave was Jessica’s evil mind controlling ex who does awful things around city, to many people.
A quick side note, Kilgrave is an amazing villain played by David Tennant. Yes! The fabulous tenth Doctor and Scrooge McDuck is a bad guy. If anything you can just watch the show for him. Every time he is on screen, his demeanor commands respect but at times he can be charming. Although that charm doesn’t detract from his evilness, it plays into it.
Anyway, Jessica is forced to confront the man who raped her, used her to kill, and brainwashed her. Watching her and Kilgrave occupy the same space in the show is a great representation of watching a game of cat and mouse. At times it is hard to tell who is in control; who is the cat and who is the mouse. They play against each other very well. While Jessica doesn’t want to be a hero, Kilgrave forces her hand. She ruins one of his plans, he pushes harder.
For Kilgrave, Jessica was the one who got away, the only one in fact. His obsession fuels his attempts to get her back. Near the end of the first season, she gives in, going away with him. He recreates her childhood home, thinking this would be what would fully win her over. It’s pretty creepy. Jessica makes this decision though, waiting on another plan to come through to take him out.
In the end she does defeat Kilgrave which closes one chapter of her life but then comes the fact of her powers. She meet Luke Cage in the first season, his presence makes her believe that there are more people like her somewhere in the world.
I speculate that season two will deal with the aftermath from the Defenders, where Luke, Daredevil, Iron Fist and Jessica come together Avengers style. And it will also deal with her finding out how she got her powers and from where. The second season of Jessica Jones comes to Netflix on March 8, 2018 and I for one will be watching.
