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Jessica Jones: AKA The Sandwich Saved Me

"There's before Kilgrave and there's after Kilgrave."

I love a good flashback.

Jessica and Simpson's animosity towards each was so jarring. Why? Where did that come from? In the last episode he was almost begging to be on her team and even breaking the law in the off chance that he might be able to give her something that might help catch Kilgrave. Here he is trying to get Trish to spill Jess' secrets and even questioning if she can be trusted. When they get to the hermetically sealed room, Simpson is inside and they both start bashing each other. While it was pretty funny to watch, it didn't make a smidge of sense to me.

It was really nice to see Jess and Trish in the flashbacks. When things were easier and their relationship made more sense. Just two friends grabbing drinks and trying to avoid lewd assholes. Two friends sharing secrets. Okay, the secret was super strength but still. It came across completely effortless and it made me hope that they give Trish more to do than following her BFF around.

In the episode's most obvious parallel, Kilgrave has broken Malcolm physically in the same way that he has broken Jess mentally. Instead of PTSD, Malcolm has addiction and a reliance on Kilgrave for a steady supply of drugs. I don't think anyone (in the audience, at least) blames Jess for whatever unspeakable horrors Kilgrave had her commit or Hope for killing her parents or Simpson for attacking Trish. But do we make the same allowances for Malcolm? He openly stated that it wasn't always mind control that made him show up at 10 am everyday. How many opportunities did he have to leave town, find an NA meeting, or tell Jess the truth?? On the other hand, an addict is a lot of times powerless to their addictions. Addiction make parents neglect their children and people steal and lie to the ones they love most. So how much choice did he actually have? And how much does that absolve him for his actions? Finally, as kind as it was for Jessica to send that picture and give her abuser exactly what he wanted in exchange for Malcolm's freedom and as difficult as it must have been for him to trash the drugs he so desperately wanted, sobriety is a fleeting unicorn.

My heart broke when Trish realized she had been taken down so easily. I mean if someone even looked at me with a taser I'd probably fall to the ground screaming, but after training so hard to be able to take care of herself, then almost getting murdered in the last episode and getting taken out so quickly in this the fight, the girls ego is understandably bruised. Of course, it was just as heartbreaking for Jess, and to a much lesser degree Simpson, as they watched their own justice and Hope's only hope drive away.

David Tennant takes the simplest lines and makes them ooze creepiness. 'You like Chinese food' made me want to swear it off forever just out of protest, and I love Chinese. Excellent casting and acting.

Lovely flashbacks and pretty funny.
3 out of 4 selfies for psychotic stalkers

Bits and pieces

There is a type of sandwich called a hero.

Hope really did look like she had lost weight and why are the other inmates beating her at night?

Was Malcolm only the second person that Jess tried to save?

I rather enjoyed getting to see Jessica pre-Kilgrave. Same sarcasm, but no pain darting out from beneath the surface.

Trish's mother abused her and took Jessica in after her parents were killed. Trish and Jess are close to sisters, and I wondered for a moment where Trish thought Jess was when she was being led around by Kilgrave and that she was probably worried sick. But maybe not. Krav magaing and turning her apartment into a fortress and a regular job might have taken up too much of her time.

Jewel the superhero, and that jumpsuit and the camel toe comment all had me roaring with laughter.

The internet machine told me that Jewel is a Jessica Jones alias from the comics.

In the park, there was a little kid in a Captain America costume.

Kilgrave's powers don't seem to work over the phone.

There was room here for Jess to blame Malcolm for Kilgrave getting his hands on her. If she hadn't stopped to save his life the first time, then Kilgrave might have kept on walking and never known the name Jessica Jones. It's still possible that could happen, but I hope not. Also, I'll admit the fact that I even thought of this possibility is proof that I've one too many night watching Lifetime movies.

Jessica: "He's also the guy that was filled with remorse about killing you. Until he decided to turn it into a booty call."

Simpson: "So what, you think because you have these abilities, you're a hero? I've seen heroes. You're not even close."
Um, she saved him from doing murder and suicide all in one day.

Little girl: "The sandwich saved me. Thank you."

Trish: "This is it! This is the one."
Jessica: "Tell me you're kidding."
Trish: "Superheroes wear costumes."
Jessica: "The only place anyone was wearing that was trick-or-treating or as some kind of kinky role-playing scenario."
Trish: "This is just a mock up. Ultimately it's going to be a lightweight, highly durable fabric, waterproof, flame resistant and it will hide your identity."
Jessica: "No."
Trish: "You can't keep saving people dressed as a giant hoagie."

Trish: "Jewel is a great superhero name."
Jessica: "It's a strippers name. A slutty stripper. And if I wear that thing you're going to have to call me Cameltoe."

Jessica: "If Kilgrave gets me–"
Simpson: "I'll take you out."
Jessica: "I was gonna say dart gun me, but sure, shoot me in the head."
Simpson: "Same here."

10 comments:

  1. great review....

    "If she hadn't stopped to save his life the first time, then Kilgrave might have kept on walking and never known the name Jessica Jones."

    I actually thought he set it up and it was not a coincidence....

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  2. I agree, pre-Kilgrave Jessica is as much annoying as she is now.

    My crush on Simpson gets worse. If NYPD has that kind of uniformed cops, it must be the safest city on Earth.

    A junkie on the verge of OD still having strength to turn down drugs? I don't buy it.

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  3. I like Jessica, and I think Krysten Ritter is doing a terrific job. I'd assumed that there would be heavy flashbacks and honestly, I'm sort of dreading them, but these were fun. And of course, the Kilgrave op -- had to fail. Too soon!

    migmit, I've never lived in New York but I am assuming it's *not* the safest city on Earth. :)

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  4. Poor Jessica having to smile for those photos.

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  5. I love Jessica, too. She's like the Daria of superheroes.

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  6. 2Billie: right, next time you'll be telling me Santa isn't real or something.

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  7. Hey. I love the show and your reviews so thanks! I got Jessica's animosity for Simpson because he's very aggressive. The way he attacked Malcolm and his paranoia bringing out the worst. It almost seemed a parallel to some cops in the media today especially considering the twin brother's comment about fearing Malcolm a little due to racism. Also, Jessica sees Malcolm as harmless and even sweet imo before the reveal so it was unnecessary force in her opinion. Then Simpson is all about killing Kilgrave and it's understandable why he is but Jessica is very wary of his insistent pushing on this. Plus Jessica has only one person in her life so far that she loves: Trish.

    And now the same guy who attacked Trish even if he was kilgraved, the same guy who is aggressive and aggressively paranoid, the same guy who cares more about killing Kilgrave then helping a girl or respecting Jessica's wishes who was far more violated (I think Simpson is smart enough to read in between the lines on that one) - is now sleeping with Trish and close to Trish in a way that freaks Jessica out. Plus add that Jessica probably never likes who Trish dates for whatever protective reason and she was going to openly dislike Simpson the minute he walked out of that bedroom.

    Simpson fears the things Jessica and Kilgrave can do. He strikes me as similar to a military friend of mine who can respect people in his field being better than him but if the enemy/someone different has the upper hand then he goes into assess the enemy mode to either destroy or manage them. Hence the questions to Trish about Jessica and her powers. Plus he senses her dislike, doesn't appreciate her attitude and she isn't even considering neutralizing the threat which makes her dangerous. Then Trish (this woman he really likes) clearly is ride or die for Jessica and he doesn't get that/ it bothers him.

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  8. Ok, so, the first episode of Jessica Jones was great. I was impressed by how the powers that be sold the tale of a villain that hadn’t even appeared onscreen. But then episodes two and three were somewhat boring, stretching a plot around sufentanil that they could have resolved in one episode only.

    I don’t mind slow developing arcs. I have a soft spot in my heart for Buffy season five, which has a slow and repetitive main arc. But it compensates with a lot of different elements that enrichen the story. Jessica Jones is not that rich yet, though.

    Let’s make a comparison to a TV series that resembles Jessica Jones more: Veronica Mars took a full season to resolve the mystery of Lilly’s death, but each episode had a standalone story that made the series more interesting and fast paced, while slowly built around the main mystery. Jessica Jones is like Veronica Mars without the cases of the week, and as a result we have people reminding us how dangerous Kilgrave is every thirty seconds. It’s bound to get repetitive.

    I remember that after watching episode three I thought “if they want to go slow, they really should have some cases of the week, then”. And, voilĂ , that’s what episode four gave us. Then the case had a boring resolution. Sigh. It did help with the pacing of the episode, though.

    Enter episode five. I thought it was the best one since the pilot. The flashbacks were great and I really appreciated how much respect the story had when dealing with Malcolm’s situation (although I agree with Migmit that there’s no way he would resist those drugs, and there’s no way Jessica would test him so soon). But, except for the creepy development of Jessica sending pictures of herself to Kilgrave, there was no significant development on the main arc. Stagnant much? Seriously, they either need to put more momentum into that story or take our attention away from it a little bit.

    On a more positive note, I love how they are giving Jessica her own Scooby Gang. I never would have guessed Simpson would turn out to be part of the team when he was first introduced as just another Kilgrave’s puppet. He is like Riley from Buffy, but cool. All military-y with his intel and sort of trying to be the big Knight in Armor (he is quickly realizing there won’t be a space for that around Jessica). Trish is also an interesting character, and I did feel for her. She shouldn’t feel so bad, though, because she went up against some really big guys.

    Jessica herself is great as the center of this series and Krysten Ritter impressed me. Prior to watching this show, I would never think of the woman who played Gia on Veronica Mars as an emotionally tortured superhero. Well done, Ritter, well done.

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  9. Jessica: "He's also the guy that was filled with remorse about killing you. Until he decided to turn it into a booty call."

    ...says the girl who sleeps with the widower of the woman she killed.

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  10. Really interesting flashbacks. The pre-Kilgrave Jessica still had the same core of a personality of the Jessica we know but wasn't quite so rough around the edges, which makes sense. I liked that they didn't make her a completely different person.

    Little things:
    1) A New Yorker would never use the word "hoagie"; she would say "hero." The writers were probably trying to avoid saying "hero" because they were already talking about the other kind of heroes, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
    2) Because Jessica Jones in the comics was from Forest Hills, Queens, NY, I'm a little disappointed that Jessica doesn't list real streets in Forest Hills instead of the generic sounding street names they went with.

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