The
biggest influences on "Jessica Jones" are not from the Marvel
universe. Jessica may have her origins in a Marvel Comics title, but
her television show is the offspring of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,"
"Veronica Mars," and maybe just a bit of "Orphan Black." Our heroine is
a gifted, resourceful young woman who finds herself up against the
forces of darkness, and goes through considerable personal strife in
reconciling with her inevitable status as a do-gooder. However, she has
a harder time of it than most.
Jessica
(Krysten Ritter) is introduced as a private investigator operating out
of Hell's Kitchen, who has super strength and can almost fly. She's
constantly drinking, has a terrible attitude, and hates herself. Her
allies are few, but include an attorney who sends her work, Jeri Hogarth
(Carrie-Anne Moss), a junkie next door neighbor, Malcolm (Eka
Darville), and her foster sister Trisha (Rachael Taylor), a successful
radio talk show host who refuses to give up on Jessica. There's also
her new love interest, a bar owner named Luke Cage (Mike Colter) with
unbreakable skin. Most of Jessica's problems stem from her past
encounters with a villain named Kilgrave (David Tennant), who can
control minds, and forced Jessica to do terrible things under his
influence. Kilgrave's inevitable return forces Jessica to get her
priorities in order, and prepare for battle.
I've
complained before about how some of the recent Marvel Universe films
aren't as kid-friendly as the earlier ones, despite being aimed at a
younger audience. I'm perfectly fine with Jessica Jones cursing up a
storm, multiple sex scenes, and a constant stream of teeth-clenching,
gut-churning material involving Kilgrave, because the series
emphatically makes clear that it's for adults. The series format allows
for a much more nuanced, carefully considered portrayal of a more
complicated set of characters, and their more complicated problems. Of
course, this is still a genre show, so expect the usual outsized
melodrama, wild plot twists, and pontifications on the nature of good
and evil. Occasionally it gets a little carried away displaying how
dark and twisted it gets to be, but the show is never too gratuitous. I
also found it unusually sensitive in the way that it deals with
violence against women, exploring myriad types of abuses through a
fantasy lens, without ever feeling exploitative. Kilgrave is the
ultimate nightmare ex-boyfriend/stalker who likes playing mind games and
knows too many secrets.
I really like the cast
in this. Krysten Ritter is appropriately sour, but still vulnerable
and sympathetic. She's not easy to root for at first, though, so I'm
glad that the series also introduced Mike Colter's excellent Luke Cage
here, who will be getting his own Netflix series next. And then there's
David Tennant as Kilgrave, who is by far the most terrifying and
effective villain that the Marvel Universe has served up yet. I was a
little worried at first that the marketing was leaning so heavily on
Tennant's involvement to sell "Jessica Jones," but rest assured that he
doesn't overshadow our heroes. I also came away from the series
impressed with just about every member of the ensemble - Darville,
Taylor, Moss, and Wil Traval, who plays a police officer caught up in
Kilgrave's schemes.
I'd put the first half of
"Jessica Jones" up against anything else in the Marvel Universe, or any
television series that premiered this year, even. However, the second
half fell prey to some bad writing and wonky plotting, that seemed to be
aimed at stretching out the content to fill thirteen episodes, but just
ended up killing a lot of the momentum. "Jessica Jones" probably would
have been better as a ten episode series, or even less than that.
However, I like the way that it builds its characters and their
relationships, clueing us in to what happened in the past bit by bit. I
like the way it keeps its connection to the rest of the Marvel Universe
to a minimum, and that it took risks that it didn't need to take - the
lesbian divorce subplot, for example.
"Jessica
Jones" could have been done better, probably, but for fans of comics who
want something more adult, that reflect the strides that the medium has
made in the past few decades, it's a big step in the right direction.
It's disappointing that the film series is never going to have a place
for a hero like Jessica, but it's heartening to find that she fits right
with all the other anti-heroes and kickass ladies on television.
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