Jessica Jones is the second Marvel tv show to be streamed on Netflix, the MCU’s second female-led property, and first superheroine-led property. Based on the Alias comics, this is the story of Jessica Jones- a woman with super strength, and she can jump really high (but not fly, per se). She lives in Hell’s Kitchen, parallel to Daredevil’s Matt Murdock, and runs a private investigation agency.
It’s dark. It’s full of complicated people and complicated relationships and one of the best portrayals of a female friendship I’ve ever seen. It has two profoundly broken people trying to find a little connection in a world that doesn’t make it easy for them. It recognizes that it’s in the same universe as the Avengers without requiring you to have seen all of them.
Krysten Ritter is Jessica- dark, traumatised, alcoholic Jessica Jones. At the beginning of the show, it’s been about a year since she was held captive by Kilgrave (a super creepy David Tennant), a man with mind control powers. He tells you to do a thing, and you do it. “Make me dinner.” “Give me your jacket.” “Give me a kiss.” “Smile.” Jessica was with him for a year, and thought he was dead after she got away, but no, he was not. The arc of the season is trying to find and neutralize Kilgrave, when you never know who might be under his influence or not.
Jessica isn’t alone in this fight- there’s Luke Cage (Mike Coulter), the bartender down the street and…
fellow superpowered love interest. GUYS. The banging one can do when she’s super strong and he’s unbreakable? It’s hot.
But the person most of Jessica’s side is her best friend and foster sister, Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor).
The relationship between Jessica and Trish is beautiful.
Trish is a former child star turned radio host, and her mother adopted Jessica after her family was killed in an accident essentially as a publicity stunt. Trish and Jessica haven’t been inseparable- trauma will do that to a girl- but they are, unconditionally, on each other’s side. Trish is the friend you can text, “Ow. Can you pick me up?” and she will (along with putting in a panic room and beefing up security and trying to convince you to move in with her). Jessica will do whatever she can to protect Trish. Trish will do whatever she can to not be a liability around Jessica’s neck.
And they’re not the only complex women here! Carrie-Ann Moss (who barely looks like she’s aged since the Matrix) is Jeri Hogarth, a lawyer that Jessica does the odd job for sometimes, and she’s got herself into a triangle with her wife and her assistant. There’s another victim of Kilgrave named Hope, and Jessica’s upstairs neighbor Robyn. There are more women in this show than dudes, and they’re all complex and fantastic.
https://twitter.com/mojorojo/status/670495742503489537
The truth is this show is a show about surviving assault. It’s not even a metaphor that Kilgrave is Jessica’s rapist. She calls out what he did to her as rape. What Jessica is trying to do is learn how to live with what he did to her, and what he made her do, and neutralize him so he stops doing it to other people. And while this is a show about rape and the after effects of sexual assault, it never, not once, goes down the road of portraying that assault in a way that titillates or sexualizes the assault (just as Mad Max did, to our undying appreciation). This is about Jessica and her experience, not his.
And that’s deliberate. Melissa Rosenberg (the showrunner, who was the writer of the Twilight movies) has been very direct in that. Kilgrave is a composite of those dudes who tell women to just smile, only writ large and scarier. He doesn’t recognize that what he did to Jessica (and who knows how many other women) was rape. There’s no ambiguity about that, either. He says that he does not see his actions as rape: “Well I arranged things so she couldn’t say no, and since she didn’t say no, that meant she wanted it.”
We all know that’s bullshit (and if anyone reading this isn’t sure, let me assure you that it is bullshit).
Kilgrave is that guy who thinks he’s entitled to everything, even Jessica’s smile. He’s a stalker, plain and simple, who thinks that his version of reality is the way it is for everyone, and that’s what makes him one of the scariest villain in the MCU. We all have met this guy. Some of us have dated this guy. Many of us have been afraid of this guy. This guy has terrorized and killed women, and this culture we live in encourages it. That’s why he’s so terrifying.
And seeing Jessica and his other victims learn how to live with and beyond what he did to them? Awesome.
Now, there’s a corner of the fandom that has decided that Kilgrave is totally redeemable, and that he and Jessica have incredible chemistry and totally should be together. Let’s unpack this a little bit, because we need to talk about it.
First: Kilgrave is played by David Tennant, who has chemistry with everything and everyone, up to and including a telephone pole. That’s his fucking job. Second: the trope of Draco in Leather Pants and the desire to woobify a villain is a long standing tradition. Whether it’s because we want to make the villain less scary, or there’s just something about bad boys, I don’t know. But Kilgrave being as terrible as he is, it’s kind of scary how intensely some people are identifying with him.
Yes, there’s backstory to him that go to some efforts to explain how he became who he is, but an explanation does not equal an excuse. And as always:
Plus there’s the added complication of the fact that Jessica’s actual romantic pairing is a black man, so there’s a heavy implication of racism thrown in there, too.
Now, when JJ first dropped, there were mutterings that because Jessica Jones was a success, that meant that Supergirl was going to get yanked, because I guess there’s only room for one female superhero show at a time.
That’s such a load of bullshit I can’t possibly unpack all of it. But I’ll hit a few key points:
WOMEN VIEWERS ARE NOT A MONOLITH. Supergirl and Jessica Jones are as different as True Detective and Castle. Both are cop shows, but one is a light-hearted romp and the other is grim dark with boobs and philosophy. And hell, even if they WERE the same fucking show, we have NCIS and Hawaii 5-0, don’t we? (And CSI and Law and Order and NCIS LA and CSI Cyber and the fact that they’re all the same damn show doesn’t hurt them, does it? It does not.) Between Jessica Jones and Agent Carter (premieres Jan 19th) and Supergirl (Thankfully picked up for a full season), we have three different heroines and three different approaches to the comic book genre. We need all of these ladies!
Elyse:
So much was addressed in this show that I want to discuss. I think it’s so important that the show tackled the topic of rape without actually showing it.
Look at Game of Thrones and how much it used rape to titillate. Rape and sex are often conflated in TV and movies and they aren’t the same thing at all. Jessica Jones makes the deliberate choice not to show Jessica’s rape because we don’t need to see it. We can hear her say it happened and it was awful and we just believe her without needing to witness it.
Then Jessica tears down the victim blaming that goes on in a rape culture. Kilgrave tells her that she must have wanted to stay with him because for 18 seconds she wasn’t under his control. The whole 18 seconds thing is ridiculous and I suspect it was supposed to be–because the argument that a victim of rape or violence is somehow complicit in their assault because they don’t somehow manage to escape is bullshit. I think about Elizabeth Smart and all the times she had to answer that question: well, he couldn’t have been controlling you all the time, right? He had to sleep right?
Jessica can’t escape because she’s confused and traumatized and scared. It takes awhile to get past that, and only when Kilgrave is totally neutralized by being run over by a bus does she manage to get away.
There’s also the message that anyone can be a victim of assault. Jessica is literally a superhero with superhuman strength. Rape still happens to her. It can happen to anyone. Everyone has the potential to be victimized and it doesn’t nullify what makes them strong or special.
Jessica is also allowed to experience her trauma fully.
The show even deals with abortion. Hope wants an abortion because she feels like she’s being raped all over again. She’s in agony. The show runners make a point of showing the fact that her pregnancy is an extension of her trauma and something she cannot survive–after all the horror she’s endured, that’s pushing her too far.
Even Kilgrave, perfectly cast, isn’t a cardboard monster. For a few minutes we start to feel for him–when we learn about his terrifying childhood. Then almost immediately Kilgrave reveals that he’s a sociopath and irredeemable. I think if Tennant hadn’t played The Doctor there wouldn’t be such an effort to woobify Kilgrave because Kilgrave is a horrifying, terrifying monster. He is incapable of empathy, and childish in his rage. He’s deliberately, creatively cruel. Once he’s done using a person he forgets them entirely like a discarded toy. His sole focus is himself and his ability to completely remove a person’s agency is what makes him horrifying.
But the thing I loved most about this show is that of all the Marvel extensions, this one does the best job of creating a hero who is exceptional even outside of her superpowers. Captain America tried to do that–little skinny Steve was always trying to be a hero, but it wasn’t until he got bulked up that he effected change. Jessica uses her strength to her advantage, but she triumphs because she’s smart, resourceful and tenacious. She’s a hell of a detective. This show made me think that Jessica would have ended up in the same place at the end even without her powers.
So what did you think of AKA Jessica Jones? Have you watched it all?
Jessica Jones is available on Netflix.
I think this show might contain the most eerily accurate representation of the psychology of MRA / PUA bullshit ever. And it even manages to make it feel understandable — there’s a moment where Kilgrave is frustrated at not having control of Jessica and he whines about how horrible it is to just have to sit around waiting and hoping people will do what he wants. And as you listen to him, you get that — wouldn’t the world be easier if everyone just did what you wanted all the time? — but at the same time, you recognize how petulant and self-absorbed it is to have that as a basic expectation of the world.
Thank you so much for writing this! A wonderful, thoughtful dissection of an awesome show and some of the important issues it spotlights.
“Kilgrave is that guy who thinks he’s entitled to everything, even Jessica’s smile. He’s a stalker, plain and simple, who thinks that his version of reality is the way it is for everyone, and that’s what makes him one of the scariest villain in the MCU. We all have met this guy.”
This. A hundred times this.
Kilgrave is, for me, the most terrifying Marvel villain. The moments that get me the most aren’t necessarily the blatantly horrific things he commands, for example, Jessica and Hope to do, but the seemingly smaller moments like that skin-crawling ‘smile’ command. I think that’s a command almost every woman has received at some point–and while we may not have psychic mega villains in our world, we unfortunately have a plethora of seemingly mundane, average people who find other ways to enforce that and other ‘rights’ our society regularly suggests men have over women. I literally shudder watching most of Kilgrave’s scenes. I still absolutely love the show, though– mostly because of how disturbing the portrayal is.
FYI: The spoiler tags aren’t working on my iPad – it is all visible in plain text
@Lammie
OOPS. Thanks for the heads up – all fixed.
I finished this the first weekend, and was blown away. Most of the Marvel series have so much camp in them (which works for the other properties), but this watches like an old-school gumshoe/film noir, almost. I can totally see Jessica being in the same situation and getting out of it WITHOUT her powers, which is refreshing (she barely uses them in the series, mostly just as a short cut).
I don’t understand how anyone could think that Kilgrave is a sympathetic villain. He is so masterfully played by Tennant that you really can’t see any other outcome than what happens at the end. There is a moment when you feel it’s possible he’s redeemable, but it’s before the full extent of his crazy is unleashed on us (and far enough removed from the Hope storyline that we kind of have forgotten about it for a moment).
So glad you are highlighting Jessica Jones. It was a hard show to watch, but incredibly well done, and you highlighted so many of the praiseworthy aspects. I love the fact that our universe of female comics heroes is expanding. I was reflecting after watching JJ how Peggy Carter and Jessica are both completely badass, in totally different ways. (Although I would love some kind of convention panel with Krysten Ritter and Hayley Atwell…) I am hoping a Season 2 is ordered–of course, they have to work around the other Marvel series that are planned but honestly I would insta-watch another Jessica Jones season, much more so than the Daredevil Season 2 that’s already planned…
I adore this show. Everyone in it is just amazing (it’s funny, I just finished Gilmore Girls and Krysten Ritter was in the last season as a friend of Rory’s, and she was the most cheerful, bright, adorable bit of adorableness that ever adorabled, so you know, range). I’m watching it with my husband, and I’m over here going, “LET ME LOVE YOU’ and my husband is pretty much, “This concerns me.” He initially really didn’t like it, which he said was due to his lack of familiarity with the source material (pfft, like he was all that familiar with Thor, Captain America, or Iron Man prior to the movies), and I think was more his lack of comfort with the subject matter. I don’t think a show has ever been as forthright about how damaging the aftereffects of assault are, and that did make my husband uncomfortable. It was funny, because the person who really called him on why he was feeling uncomfortable? My dad (who is also very invested). It was funny to watch.
And now that I’ve gotten through the critical reasons I love the show and my husband is still reticent (though he is still watching it, which is more than I can say for OITNB), let me be shallow for a moment. Luke Cage: GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY. To whoever the casting director was that found him (I had to look up where I had seen him before and it was The Good Wife), I salute you.
I love, love love this show. Love that it is women-driven (LIKE MY LIFE) and doesn’t make a big deal about it, love that it doesn’t provide the answers, love that it lets the characters slowly unfold. And Kilgrave is such a great (in a horrifying way) villain. Everything Rachel said above — yes to the yes.
Thanks for this. I just finished the series last week. I immediately called my sister to discuss just how freaking terrifying I found Kilgrave. Without exception I have found Marvel villains to be campy and a bit fun. Kilgrave was on another level. He reminded me of scary men I have known. The sense of menace, the horror of what he did, how casually he treated people, especially women, as though they were dolls, made only for his pleasure. Excellent acting by Tennant. Also: I was just astounded by the number of fully realized female characters. I loved Jessica’s best friend (who is slated for spin-off I hear) and Carrie Anne Moss is amazing. Really exciting development in the Marvel oeuvre.
I’m crazy about this show and this review is spot on about why I love it. Haven’t managed to finish yet (on vacation at family’s and they don’t have wifi, let alone netflix) but it’s the first thing I’m doing when I get home.
My husband and I are midway through the series, savoring each episode, parceling it out. Don’t want it to end. One of the best series for 2015. Your post is a nice analysis of why the show is a must-see.
I don’t know how anyone other than another obsessed sociopath could be rooting for Kilgrave and Jessica, honestly. I’m really glad I saw Tennant in Dr Who first though, because he played Kilgrave SO WELL that if this was the first I saw him in, I’m not sure I could watch him play anyone else.
The casting all around was absolutely superb. Tennant gave me chills. Kilgrave is possibly the scariest villain I’ve ever seen, he is absolutely terrifying. My husband agrees (but probably for different reasons – if Kilgrave was into guys too, I’m sure it’d be a different story).
Your review is spot on. I love how the handled rape, abuse, and trauma – they did it with a level of respect for those things you don’t usually see. I also love the women in this show (omg the women rock). And Jessica succeeding using her brain and skills (not necessarily her super strength, which I agree really just sped some things up – she would have succeeded anyway) was fantastic. This whole show was well thought out and plotted, and it’s definitely dark and gritty but it is superb.
Trish was fantastic, but can I say how much I love Hogarth? Brass balls the size of Texas. There is so much good in those two performances it’s not even funny.
Also, goddamn Luke Cage, I would do you in a heartbeat.
All the words. ALL THESE WORDS. And the gifs, one being probably my favorite tweet ever. Thank you for writing so eloquently about this amazing show. I’m four episodes in and savoring every moment of strong, complicated women. I want more. And Mike Coulter looks like knives wouldn’t hurt him IRL either. Suddenly I like scowls.
I was just recommending this to a friend yesterday! I am not much into superheroes at all, but I LOVED Jessica Jones. It is so gritty and real. The plotting, the characters, everything is fantastic and terrifying. I cannot wait for season 2!
This is a perfect review of why we love Jessica Jones. I’m midway through the season, but yes to all of your points!!!
Also? I cannot fathom why anyone finds Kilgrave attractive. He’s like the deranged, powerful child in the classic SF story “It’s a Good Life”, by Jerome Bixby. The idea of people writing fanfic with a HEA for Kilgrave and Jessica squicks me out to the max!
I absolutely LOVED Jessica Jones. I binge watched the whole series on a Saturday. I have to say, Kilgrave is the creepiest villain in the cinematic universe right now. I think the character does have a natural charisma to him. To me, that made him even more scary.
So I found this show incredibly gripping, and I’m glad I watched it, but I don’t think I really enjoyed it until the last two episodes when the show started to let more of the characters connect to each other a little more. It was just so joyless – and with good reason, given the subject matter. I do think one of the steps of recovery after trauma is figuring out how to have moments of joy again, and if the second season (fingers crossed) let’s more of the characters have that stage of recovery every now and then, I think I’ll watch it. If it doesn’t, I will cheer when it gets renewed and then leave it to other people to enjoy.
When you write for TV you find that you have very little time to watch it, but I binged Jessica Jones in three days, because it was that good. As someone who has pitched and written in Hollywood, I can tell you that the deck is stacked against getting three dimensional, flawed female characters on screen. What Melissa Rosenberg has done is a major accomplishment and paves the way for more. If you’re suffering Jessica withdrawal, try Scott & Bailey, which you can find on some PBS channels and streaming on Hulu. It’s a female driven police drama by Sally Wainwright, who also wrote Last Tango in Halifax.
I’m ashamed that I couldn’t sit through the first episode because feminism. It boils down to the fact that I have very little time to watch grown-up TV and I want it to be enjoyable. I feel like there are shows that are similarly dark but easier to watch.
@Hannah: And that’s okay! I recognized pretty quickly that this was not a show I would enjoy- and that doesn’t mean it’s not a good or important show; it’s simply not for me right now. I’m tired and scared and frustrated and angry just from living in the world right now, and I can’t handle grimdark TV on top of it. I’m glad I’m able to read all these good discussions and analyses of JJ, but I just don’t think I can sit through it for a while, if ever.
The most pathetically PC show ever.
“Watch, he’ll be black!” (he was)
“Watch, she’ll be gay!” (she was)
Hi, millennials, a TV show can be fun without conforming.
Trish, this comment is completely inappropriate. “pathetically PC” by which you mean “Hey this show does recognize that there are people that aren’t in the “straight white” demographic and allows them to be complete three dimensional people.” (And “oh hey look this character that has ALWAYS BEEN BLACK IN THE COMICS IS STILL BLACK)
Or, you can look at it like this: “Ugh, so PC” translates to mean “Ugh, people aren’t allowing me to act like a total asshole by being dismissive and disrespectful towards them.”
Also no one gets to shit on Millennials on my watch. You have the entire rest of the internet for that. Do NOT do it here.
@Trish
The majority of entertainment made and distributed in the United States is made by white heterosexual males about white heterosexual males for….white heterosexual males. Conformity would mean more of the same.
If you really want to have your Marvel Universe mind messed with, Season 2 of the British detective series Broadchurch just arrived on Netflix. Watched it directly after JJ, and it was whiplash to have David Tennant in the hero’s role (well, sort of) and our beloved Jarvis of “Agent Carter” (James D’Arcy) as a really twisted, creepy murder suspect.
I appreciated the show for the things it got right like confronting rape culture, showing positive relationships between woman, having LGBT representation. However as woman of color, for me there were many things that were problematic. Aside from Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple/Night Nurse), there are no prominent women of color at all on the show, plus she was just a guest crossing over. They decided to cast a significantly lighter woman to portray Luke’s dead wife even though she is clearly depicted as dark in the comic. The only people of color they go further in depth with on the show are Luke and Malcolm who are mistreated by the main character, and is it posited as supposed love and friendship (nope). I guess I’ll be waiting on Luke Cage (Misty Knight) and Black Panther. Oh and Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect and Sarah Lancanshire in Happy Valley were much better portrayals of a “complex” woman in crime fighting, Jessica was predictable and unsurprising for me in that regard.
I really liked the show, a lot. It has issues with pacing, specially by the second half but is so good. I’m watching Daredevil now and it’s… it’s good but I don’t know how to explain it. I think DD has great things that JJ lacked but JJ is winning for me.
This is a great write up of a great show, although to be honest I did keep hoping that Kilgrave would redeem himself (SPOILER: HE DIDN’T). This was the first and (so far) the only tip-toe into Marvel I’ve enjoyed, and so much of that is because of the exploration of MRA bullshit.
Let’s unpack this a little bit, because we need to talk about it.
No, we don’t. People are entitled to like what they like without having to pass some kind of SJ test. Leave that shit on Tumblr please.
Megan: I don’t know how anyone other than another obsessed sociopath could be rooting for Kilgrave and Jessica, honestly.
I know, right? How dare women have dark fantasies! Right-thinking people like the OP and Megan have to set them straight!!
Ugh, fuck off with this kinkshaming crap.
What an awesomely good show. Seriously after having seen it, I went out and got Alias comic books – I’m reading them right now. And after that I’m watching this for the second time.
I just finished watching Jessica Jones and I loved it so much, your article sums it up perfectly! Only one thing I don’t agree with:
I think people are “defending” Kilgrave not because they identify with him (even though they themself are saying that), but because they are attracted to him (which I can understand 100%) and they know it’s wrong, so they look for another reason.
But saying that there’s the added complication of the fact that Jessica’s actual romantic pairing is a black man, so there’s a heavy implication of racism thrown in there, too. is absolute nonsense. The show is mainly watchen by younger girls, I would say, who generally are not at all racist, and just because they ship Jessica and Kilgrave or are interested in his character doesn’t mean they are racist!
Just because I like ice cream more than pancakes does not mean I hate pancakes…