Jessica Jones is far from your typical superhero series. The main focus isn't on how many people Jessica can punch or kick. When the villain is defeated, there is no grand celebration. Jessica Jones is about so much more than that. It's about psychological trauma, it's about having choices stolen, it's about surviving in an uncaring yet often cruel world. This series delves far deeper into psychological scars than anything else in the MCU, and tackles some pretty hefty subject matter without kid's gloves. Rape, incest, all kinds of abuse, addictions; it's all covered here. And it's all through the eyes of a woman who has lived through hell, but always comes out alive in the end.
The color theory in this series is also rather brilliant. One thing I didn't really touch on in my Daredevil retrospective was its use of colors, and it is a recurring theme throughout all Netflix shows. Each protagonist is defined by one or two colors, and they are used liberally in every aspect of the show. Daredevil is represented by red, Luke Cage by brown and gold, Iron Fist by green, and the Punisher by black and white. Jessica Jones is represented by the color purple, but this color holds a special significance for Jessica. In this case, Jessica isn't associated with purple; she's haunted by it. When she has PTSD episodes, the show breaks with realism as the lights turn into a deep purple. In this sense, Jessica Jones embraces its neo-noir roots with its stylized use of lighting to convey tone, not to relay visual information that makes sense.
The color purple is actually associated with Kilgrave, a meta-human with the ability to control people's thoughts through his voice. In the comics, the experiments committed on him literally turned him purple. Here, he just likes to wear a lot of purple; which signifies power, mystery, creativity, and arrogance. After Jessica's time in his captivity, she has become permanently damaged by him. The color purple doesn't embody her, it stains her.
Something else I didn't hint on enough in my Daredevil chapter was its unique depiction of powers, which carries over here. In the Netflix shows, they are presented not with elaborate visual effects but very matter-of-fact. Jessica snaps locks with ease, doesn't show any pain when she jumps off a tall building (and doesn't cause the asphalt to break), and breathlessly throws people like rag dolls. These are just ordinary things she does, and the show presents them as such.
Of course, this show's realistic approach when it comes to everything but Jessica's nightmares wouldn't work if the actors weren't believable. Thankfully, most of the performances are not only great, they're some of the best in the entire MCU. The show centers, of course, on Jessica; played flawlessly by Krysten Ritter in a star-making performance. Considering her bubbly presence on social media, it's surprising to see just how effective of a hard-ass she is on this show, but it works. Jessica is a person who has gone through a tidal wave of shit all her life, and it is no wonder that she has become so cynical and depressed. Ritter delivers a performance that allows us to root on Jessica, even if she does and says extremely mean things to her closest friends and colleagues. She's convicted in what she does, but also makes it so easy to sympathize with her when she comes face to face with her traumas in both seasons. Frankly, this show would suck if Jessica were played by a lesser actress because it does have a lot of issues (more on that in a bit).
Another extremely noteworthy performance belongs to David Tennant as Kilgrave. Like most people, I was introduced to Tennant as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who and he's probably my all-time favorite. Here, he delivers a performance that makes me completely change my view of him all over again. Kilgrave is the embodiment of the male power fantasy. He rapes (though he doesn't see it that way), steals, kills with no consequences because he knows he can get away with it. I don't believe there is a single person in the MCU more evil than Kilgrave. Sure, some villains want to destroy the world, but none of them go on such an incomprehensibly personal level like Kilgrave goes when he sets out to destroy a person. To see Jessica have her freedom ripped away from her, and for that experience to forever scar her, is simply heartbreaking. And every time Tennant yells her name or stands firmly in control, it makes one's skin crawl. He's terrifying on a level that someone like me could never know, but many people do.
The rest of the supporting cast also holds its own quite strongly. Mike Colter is introduced as Luke Cage in the first season, and his dynamic with Jessica is charming. He brings to the role a lot of warm lovability, even though his skin is impenetrable. I don't want to go too deep into his portrayal here; though, we'll save that for his own show. Moving on, Carrie Anne Moss plays the dangerous and manipulative attorney Jeri Hogarth. Hogarth is kinda scum; she cheats on her wife with younger women, she pulls strings to get what she wants, and revels in seeing her enemies implode. Her subplot in season 2 only feels tangentially connected to the overarching plot, but it is well acted and captivating even if it is a distraction from the main story.
Eka Darville plays Malcolm, Jessica's neighbor and self-appointed associate to Alias Investigations. We are first introduced to him as one of Kilgrave's many victims, pushed into drug abuse so that he could keep tabs on Jessica for Kilgrave. This is a character who constantly struggles with his addictions whether they be drugs or sex, and his awareness makes it all the more heartbreaking when he feels himself slip. Out of the entire supporting cast, he is the closest to being a genuinely good person who just keeps slipping into weaknesses. And then there's Rachel Taylor as Trish "Patsy" Walker...
...Okay. I just finished season 2, and I don't want to go into too much detail because it's still new and many of you might not have watched it. In season 1, Trish is reliable. She's hard-working, she's caring, and though she has her demons (everyone in this show does), her bond with Jessica allows her to overcome them, or at least keep them in check. Season 2 decides to throw all of that out the window. Everything that happens in this season is her fault. She goes on a self-righteous crusade that comes out of nowhere and only makes things exponentially worse. This goes beyond a character making mistakes and shoots straight into unlikability. And in the end, she still gets what she wants and it's presented as something to be excited about. Instead, all I could think about was not wanting to spend another moment with her ever again. Season 2 dropped the ball hard on her.
Both seasons have a similar issue of the story going around in circles, but it is amplified in the second season. A big revelation occurs about halfway through the season, and then the story just starts and stops mercilessly until the inevitable conclusion. This is a common problem across all Netflix shows (except season 1 of Daredevil and The Defenders), so you won't see the last of me complaining about this. It's as simple as the seasons being far too long at 13 episodes. 8-10 would be a much better balance, that way we could have fewer cases of people dying before they say too much or characters making increasingly annoying decisions.
The show also has a weird habit of getting distracted by subplots that don't really amount to much. I mentioned Jeri's subplot in season 2, but there's also the aforementioned incest angle which was just gross and badly-acted. One of the coolest episodes of season 2 involves Jessica dealing with the return of her biggest trauma, but it doesn't add anything to the story and is resolved as quickly as it's introduced. These could work as stand-alone stories, but Jessica Jones insists on having overarching plots, so these additions become padding.
Jessica Jones is an important series, but it is not a perfect one. The show isn't afraid to dive deep into the effects of trauma. Our characters get wrapped up in toxic relationships or make careless mistakes because they're flawed (or just stupid in Trish's case). Jessica is not an average hero; she drinks all the time, she engages in attachment-free sex, and she's almost afraid to do the right thing because that means potentially opening herself up to more hurt. But she keeps fighting because she gives a damn, whether she wants to or not. She lives in a twisted world with twisted people with twisted pasts, but she will survive as she always has. The day before this was written, Krysten Ritter announced that the show got renewed for a third season. So I guess she's still some shit to take care of. While the show itself may have its flaws in writing, it has a character that will keep me coming back.
Before we officially begin phase 3, I'm going to make another slight detour. Around this time, Marvel began producing short films intended for release on the internet to tie in with their properties. Much like my coverage of the one-shots, this will be a brief article. Still, I think it's worth covering because it's fun to see how many pies the MCU sticks its fingers into.
Next time: Marvel Digital Shorts
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