Netflix continued its Marvel street level heroes universe with the long-awaited arrival of Jessica Jones season 2 today and boy what a start it was! Personally, Jessica Jones is my favourite of the Netflix heroes (Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist).
The previous offerings from Netflix have taken a massive dive in quality, in my opinion, The whole character of Iron Fist was pathetic and not only had a poor season but went on to ruin what should have been a fantastic Defenders series. So I was really hoping Jessica could pull the Netflix universe back on track and although it is only one episode in she hasn’t disappointed.
The series starts with Jessica returning to her old ways of photographing cheating partners for clients and still has her unfeeling, uncaring attitude. “Get the clues, get the cash” is her failsafe ideology. She comes across as someone who hates people but in reality, it is a defence mechanism. If she doesn’t care, people can’t get close to her because when Jessica gets close to someone they get hurt. Jessica chooses to live a life of relative isolation and suffers for it but her self-sacrifice enables stops those she cares about getting hurt.
Therein lies the beauty of Jessica Jones. Yes, she is super powered but she is broken. She isn’t a hero fighting against a tyrannical enemy and fighting to uphold some all American ideal or protecting the tenants of freedom. This is the dirty side of the MCU and the writers don’t shy away from this. It is made evident early on in this episode when Jessica gets the photos that prove a clients partner is cheating on her and the client offers to triple the fee if Jessica murders him.
The citizens of New York don’t she Jessica Jones as a superhero, they don’t shower her with admiration like they do Iron Man or the rest of the Avengers. They see her as a tool to be used, Someone who is approachable and can be paid to solve their problems. They would never approach Thor or Black widow to murder a cheating partner but Jessica killed a man who wronged her. She isn’t an Avenger, she is just like them but with powers. It is this approach to Jessica Character that made series one an amazing addition to the Netflix side of the MCU.
Episode one, as you would expect is full of groundwork that sets up what promises to be a deep, emotional and intense series. This is by all accounts an origin story for Jessica Jones and having the second season has an origin story is a stroke of genius. Jessica’s origin seems to be traumatic and painful. She didn’t ask for it and is really only just aware it happened. Her sister Trish is pushing the conspiracy and digging where Jessica doesn’t want to go but regressed memories, anger issues and a seemingly ignored but severe case of PTSD means this is one demon Jessica must face. We as an audience are invested emotionally in Jessica Jones so having her origin story now will be more impactful and meaningful to us as viewers.
The beautiful way that Jessica Jones is written means that the relationships between the characters feel natural and real, not forced or cheesy in any way. The moments of subtle comedy real shine and hit home such has Malcolm being fired every day yet returns to work the next day. Or Trish completely humiliating herself and doing a birthday party has Patsy in order to get a hospital file for Jessica.
The constant arguments between Jessica and Patsy also feel like two actual siblings and both viewpoints come from a place of Love. Trish wanting answers for Jessica so she can move forward psychologically and Jessica’s vulnerability making her feel that if this got dangerous she couldn’t protect Trish.
The intertwining and connectedness of each character are dealt with in a wonderful way too. Everybody has their own personal agenda and sometimes that takes precedence over the feeling of those close to them. Hogarth is setting up ways to take over Alias investigations so that she can employ Jessica again without her knowledge. Trish whilst at heart wants answers for Jessica is getting blinded by ratings and fame. Malcolm wants to learn from Jessica and refuses to take no for answer. He is sticking around and helping whether she likes it or not.
Last season we had the emotional roller coaster and deeply disturbing storyline of Killgrave and the removal of free will. This season seems to be setting up a deep conspiracy on the nature of superheroes and what lengths people will go to create and control them.
Jessica Jones continues to show the vulnerable, damaged and broken side of superheroes that we don’t normally get to see. This was a wonderful start to what promises to be an amazing series and I hope it continues to go from strength to strength.
What did you think to the first episode of Jessica Jones Season 2? Did you feel it set up the series well or were you dissapointed in it? AS always let us know your thoughts in the comments section below
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