In the same vein as Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, Jessica Jones is a super-powered private investigator living in New York City. Based on the comic book “Alias,” the Netflix Original brought to us by Marvel first aired in 2015 and currently has 8.0 IMDB score.
Created by Melissa Rosenberg, it features an extraordinary cast combined with solid writing which has kept viewers on the edge of their seat episode by episode. The tone of the series resembles a classic noir as it has pessimism, fatalism and lots of menace, as well as most of the scenes are shot at night, which once again, helps with the gripping stories found throughout the episodes as well as understanding the character development a lot better.
Krysten Ritter stars as Jessica Jones, a private investigator with a special power – her super strength. She is independent, strong, bitter, lonely and at times terrified due to her past trauma that’s left her paranoid and defensive.
Even though throughout the series we always see her act alone and face the challenges thrown at her without asking for any help, she does have a few people close to her. Trish (Rachael Taylor) as her lifetime best friend, Malcolm (Eka Darville) as her addict neighbour, Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) as her main provider for cases through her lawyer career and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) as her occasionally one-night-stand which eventually develops into something way bigger than that.
However, the gripping storyline begins with Kilgrave (David Tennant), the man who abused Jessica Jones in the past. His ability is to be able to convince everyone in doing exactly as he says with the power of his voice.
Of the main reasons which gets everyone hooked on this series is how good Jessica’s character development is portrayed throughout the episodes. Coming from an abusing background in which she had no power over her actions, always relying on Kilgrave telling her how to act and what to say, as well as being completely drawn to him made it impossible for her to escape him.
When she’s finally able to, she focuses her entire energy into her private investigator career. However, there’s a twist – the trauma has not faded away. She relies on alcohol to control her feelings which ends up on her making various bad decisions on the long-run.
Mike Colter plays a significant supporting role as Luke Cage, owner of a small bar in Jessica’s
When Kilgrave returns to New York City, Jessica Jones finds him through one of her cases. She then makes it her priority to finally stop him from hurting anyone else as well as making sure no other girls will relive what she had to endure for many years – the ability to have no control over yourself and relying on one man to be able to make it through the day.
We’ve seen mind control in movies and shows before, but what makes Jessica Jones stand out is the way in which Melissa Rosenberg is able to tell the story of a girl who was abused, raped and left without any power over herself making it into the real world.
If you wipe away Jessica’s superpower, her story is not uncommon and unfortunately, many women have come across a man like Kilgrave which left them completely powerless, leaving them with emotional consequences. Every woman out there watching the series can relate to Kilgrave’s character and associate him with that one man in her life she was not able to say no to even though she should’ve.
David Tennant is utterly terrifying as the man who can have anything he wants. His performance as Kilgrave makes him one of the most memorable villains everyone has seen in a while. He is handsome, menacing, scary and vile which makes him able to charm up every scene he has on the series. One of the most surprising twists many viewers experienced throughout the show is the fact that you end up liking Kilgrave, as badly as that sounds.
The feeling of empathy comes up once his childhood is portrayed in the series, making everyone realise that he truly did have a difficult life and awful childhood, making it a slight bit more easier to understand his actions and how he wrongfully chose to use his powers. That is why the creator of the series, Melissa Rosenberg, is truly a mastermind – being able to take a villain and make him a human being.
Jessica Jones is the definition of what a vulnerable hero is, while also being an antihero. This show isn’t about her powers. It truly is a survivor story. This show is about her past, about how punished she feels about things that she’s done and how she has to deal with the things that are happening to her in the present while also relying on alcohol to help her through the day.
Her character is very easy to become unlikeable as she treats everyone poorly, she drinks a lot and she only has a few people who like her, but once the first layer of the show is peeled back and you understand the experiences she’s gone through, choices that she makes in the show make sense. She clearly suffers from PTSD and she often relies on her defence-mechanism which helps her in presenting herself as a cynical and sarcastic drunk.
With this show, Marvel understood that the best way to get to people’s hearts is the personal story first, having the CGI effects and battles they are known for being secondary to the plot. Similar to Daredevil, Jessica Jones presents a superhero who deals with life on the ground. It presents a superhero who can admit she’s damaged at all costs and has no shame in facing it.
However, her vulnerability is what makes the character so special in the end as we discover the story of an abused woman with a sad and disturbing past going out of her way to help people, even though at times it may cost her life.
In conclusion, this series was an absolute hit. Whether you love Marvel or you don’t, Jessica Jones’ characters and incredibly well-written script will grow on every viewer. It is a psychological thriller combined with a detective show, with a storyline strong enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seat throughout the entire episode.
It is a story worth watching as you might find yourself surprised by the ability of it hitting home throughout the series and finding yourself recommending it
Due to the immense success of the entire series, season three was confirmed by Netflix in April 2018 with filming beginning in June. Jessica Jones is expected to be released around mid-late 2019. However, Netflix has confirmed that season three will be the final one.
