TV REVIEW
JESSICA JONES- SEASON TWO
After almost two and a half years, Jessica Jones has
returned for her second season on Netflix. There are going to be some slight
spoilers in the discussion of the second season today, so if you haven’t
finished the season, bail out now. Just to let you know you are all being
warned. In order to really discuss how the second season of Jessica Jones
succeeds and how it fails, we’ll have to dig deep into the text of the show. So,
don’t get mad if I give certain things away, this will be a spoiler filled
zone.
When “Daredevil” hit our Netflix screens in 2015, it
felt like a bomb going off. It blew away the 2003 Ben Affleck movie, but it
also felt like the world of superheroes-on-television was changing. This felt
more dangerous, more visceral and just rawer than any other superhero shows I’d
seen on TV, and I sat back and happily awaited what Netflix Marvel would do
next.
That next big thing was “Jessica Jones.” This show was even cooler
because it felt so unique. Jessica Jones wasn’t a person who had a day job,
then went home and put on a cape. She was a private eye who happened to use her
mysterious superpowers at night. She never put on a costume, because frankly,
she felt she didn’t need it. She was a “superhero” who mouthed off to people
who annoyed her and spent ungodly amounts of time at a bar and didn’t seem to
care about one-night stands. It didn’t feel like a person we usually see in
superhero stories, told on the big or small screen. Again, Netflix Marvel did
the unthinkable, and I patiently waited for the next big thing.
Then came “Luke Cage” which started out strong but
featured a story that shouldn’t have lasted thirteen episodes, but somehow it
did and it hurt an overall good season of TV. Sadly, the notion of taking a
story that could wrap up in a two-and-a-half-hour movie and spreading it across
thirteen hours has become commonplace with these Netflix Marvel shows. I often
wonder if Netflix has some kind of quota for Marvel that they have to have
thirteen episodes per season. Although their mini-series “The Defenders” was
only eight. No matter how you see it, the recent Netflix Marvel shows usually
run out of steam before episode thirteen. I was so depleted by boredom watching
“Iron Fist,” that I never finished season one. “The Defenders” left me cold,
even at eight episodes. They got “The Punisher” right for one episode, then
decided to tell a painfully uninteresting story about corrupt military when all
they had to do was make thirteen episodes of The Punisher going all Paul Kersey
on random bad guys. How you fuck up The Punisher is quite frankly, sad.
I began season two of “Jessica Jones” with low
expectations. For the first five or six episodes, I felt those low expectations
would be justified. “Jessica Jones” season two is a real slow start. There’s a
funny cameo moment with an old golden age Marvel character called The Whizzer,
which made me laugh out loud. There is some set up for a shadowy organization
that took Jessica in as a teenager, and who is responsible for giving her
powers. But again, it’s an example of Marvel taking set-up that could take an
episode to properly complete and stretching it across five hours.
Usually, these Netflix Marvel shows tend to start
strong, then run out of steam. The second season of “Jessica Jones” seems to
start slow then finish strong. I suppose its better that way, and I am sure
those low expectations I had played a part too, but I firmly believed that this
second season got progressively better after episode six and that it made for a
very enjoyable season overall. Which is actually more amazing than it sounds. Besides
the pacing, “Jessica Jones” season two had a couple things against it. It’s a
tough second season overall because Killgrave; who died last season, and Luke
Cage; who is getting with another girl, don’t show up this season. There is one
episode where Jones hallucinated Killgrave but that’s it. With all the
chemistry and provocation those two brought to the show, it makes for a slower
season two without them. Plus, Will Traval’s Simpson from season one appears in
one episode then dies. I wanted Jessica Jones versus Nuke goddammit!
I am sure Marvel thought Trish Walker (Racheal Taylor)
and Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Ann Moss) would fill that void, but they are not
nearly as interesting as Killgrave or Cage were. I love Carrie-Ann Moss, but
she isn’t given much to do. So, she falls ill to ALS and other corporate tools
are trying to muscle her out of her job, like we haven’t seen that before. Her
story arc is telegraphed to extreme predictability. Walker’s story arc is
actually kind of interesting, but like the first six episodes of this second
season, boring in the way it paced and played out. We find Trish Walker
addicted to a drug that is enhancing herself. We meet Trish’s biological and
Jessica’s adoptive mother Dorothy Walker (Rebecca Mornay). Mornay’s great, but
she’s a typical blithering bitch who lives in her own world. But Trish’s
backstory is better investigated and she certainly dents her relationship with
Jessica, which could lead to an interesting season three. I’m sure Marvel fans
will love to see if Trish suits up as Hellcat soon, but it just doesn’t play
like Killgrave and Cage did last season.
Jessica’s main storyline may both fascinate and
frustrate casual viewers. Superhero stories are already a quasi-laughing stock
when the hero fights a villain who has THE EXACT SAME POWER BASE AS THEY DO.
The “villain” of this story is a flying woman with super-strength. But the
woman in question is also Jessica’s real mother. Oh yes, both Jessica and her
mother Alisa Jones (played by Janet McTeer) were taken by mad scientist Karl
Malus (Callum Keith Rennie) who operated on them and gave them superpowers. The
story plays pretty compelling throughout, and I think McTeer does incredible
work with Jessica. The climax is more dramatic and really doesn’t end on the
typical superhero fight. In fact, the season on a whole is driven by its drama
instead of superhero antics, and that might win over some casual viewers who
maybe don’t care about the comic book aspects of the show. Maybe that’s also
why I personally didn’t mind Jessica Jones versus Anti-Jessica Jones, because
the drama created with Jessica and her troubled family history was enough to
buy me over. And I loved how things didn’t just erupt into comic book action to
settle storylines.
There is a very good, perhaps even great story hidden
inside this second season, you just have to cut through lots of padding in
order to get to it.
I would also keep an eye out for Eka Darville who
returns as Jones’ partner Malcolm. He’s got quite the storyline here to which
will make for a juicy season three. The themes of this second season are about
people hitting rock bottom, then discovering their full potential. It’s about
discovering who you are and what you are capable of and how that affects the
others around you. By the end of season two, Jessica and her supporting
characters aren’t the people we met in season one. This could pay off big time
in a third season. Everyone does top-notch acting work, and while some
storylines are predictable, they certainly have helped set up for a season that
could improve upon what’s already there.
So, if you could weave through the slow start and if
you don’t mind a couple stuttering storylines, then I think you’ll have fun
with “Jessica Jones” season two. I can’t say I enjoyed better than season one,
but it’s some very good TV halfway through. It’s much better than “Iron Fist”
or “The Defenders” or “The Punisher” combined and I applaud the show for making
a dramatic season without relying on the superhero antics of the genre. I think
audiences will be surprised how it leans on character work and drama instead of
big fight scenes. Compared to “Daredevil” though, it doesn’t go down nearly as
smooth.
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