![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerUpcoming reviews include Twin Peaks: The Return (Blu-Ray), Doctor Who: Series 9, Doctor Who: Series 10, Class: Series 1, The X-Files: Season 10, Avengers: Age Of Ultron (Blu-Ray), Ant-Man (Blu-Ray), Captain America: Civil War (Blu-Ray), Doctor Strange (Blu-Ray), Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (Blu-Ray), Spider-Man: Homecoming (Blu-Ray), Daredevil: Season 2, Luke Cage: Season 1, Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 2, Marvel's Agent Carter: Season 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Blu-Ray), X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse (Blu-Ray), Logan, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 1, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Season 2, Zootopia, Moana (Blu-Ray), Tangled: Before Ever After (DVD), Inside Out (Blu-Ray), The Good Dinosaur (Blu-Ray), Finding Dory (Blu-Ray), Cars 3 (Blu-Ray), Once Upon A Time: Season 5, The BFG, Tomorrowland, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Blu-Ray), Star Wars Rebels: Season 2, Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures: Season One, Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow (DVD), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (Blu-Ray), Justice League Action: Superpowers Unite!, Teen Titans Go!: Get In Pig Out, Teen Titans Go!: Recess Is Over, DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games, LEGO DC Super Hero Girls: Brain Drain, The LEGO Batman Movie, Batman Vs. Two-Face, Suicide Squad (Blu-Ray), Wonder Woman (Blu-Ray), The Flash: Season 2, The Flash: Season 3, Arrow: Season 4, Arrow: Season 5, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 1, DC's Legends Of Tomorrow: Season 2, Supergirl: Season 1, Supergirl: Season 2 Vixen: The Movie, Gotham: Season 2, Gotham: Season 3, iZombie: Season 1, iZombie: Season 2, iZombie: Season 3, Lucifer: Season 1, Lucifer: Season 2, Samurai Jack: Season 5, Be Cool Scooby Doo!: Spooky Kooky Fun!, Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Prod.: Hare-Raising Tales, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug: Extended Edition, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies: Extended Edition, The Simpsons: Season 18, Red Dwarf XII, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Beyond The Known Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Earth's Last Stand, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Shredder, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, Tales Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Final Chapters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half-Shell Heroes: Blast To The Past, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, Power Rangers (2017), Power Rangers: Zeo: Volume 2, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, Power Rangers Turbo: Volume 1, Power Rangers: Turbo: Volume 2, Power Rangers In Space Volume 1, Power Rangers In Space: Volume 2, Power Rangers Samurai: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Megaforce: The Complete Season, Power Rangers: Super Megaforce: The Complete Season, Transformers: Robots In Disguise: Season 1, Heroes Reborn: The Complete Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1: Water, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 2: Earth, Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 3: Fire, The Legend Of Korra: The Complete Series, Haven: Season 5 - Vol. 1, Haven: The Final Season, The Dark Tower, Under The Dome: Season 3, Sleepy Hollow: Season 2, Sleepy Hollow: Season 3, Sleepy Hollow: Season 4, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 2, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 3, Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 4, Airplane! / Airplane II: The Sequel: Double Feature, The Jurassic Park Trilogy, Jurassic World, Back To The Future: The Complete Animated Series, Shaun The Sheep Movie (Blu-Ray), Shaun The Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas, 12 Monkeys: Season 1, 12 Monkeys: Season 2, Grimm: Season 4, Grimm: Season 5, Grimm: Season 6, The Wonder Years: Season 4, The Wonder Years: Season 5, The Wonder Years: Season 6, The Peanuts Movie, Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales, Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go!, Bob's Burgers: Season 5, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call, Community: Season 6, Danger Mouse: The Complete Series, Prison Break: Season 5, Game Of Thrones: Season 5, and Game of Thrones: Season 6.
Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season
This came out in 2015? That's a bummer. If it had come out late last year, or early this year, I have a feeling it would have broken out a LOT bigger than it did. For the same reasons Colony and their "Red Hats" and The Handmaid's Tale and their fundamentalist oppression did in 2016 and 2017. Jessica Jones is a LOT more relevant now than when Obama was President. To be fair to the show, it's not a political show in the least, but the allegory is absolutely perfect for the Trump regime. What happens when somebody is given the biggest and most dangerous power on the planet, and they were literally the last person who should have it? What if the one guy who can get anyone to do anything he says, is a complete sociopath with no regard for anyone else, or even an iota of human decency? I struggle with the idea that this came out a couple of years ago. Because it is actually relevant now. House of Cards seems to have come out a couple of years too late. This was a couple of years too early.
What really upsets me most about Kilgrave is David Tennant's performance. I know, he's a rapist, and he SHOULD upset me, but he upsets me specifically because Tennant doesn't play the character as upsetting at all. Kilgrave is exactly as outwardly charming and goofy as the Tenth Doctor. It is literally the exact same performance. And that messes my head up beyond belief. I cannot get over seeing Ten do and say the things he does in the exact same inflections he used when he was saving humanity and goofing around with Rose Tyler. The producers think Kilgrave is secretly sympathetic on the level of Vincent D'Offrio's nuanced performance of Kingpin from Daredevil. I do not, and the most upsetting thing about Kilgrave is that the producers think I perhaps should think that. I hear the comparisons and they are bogus. I legitimately do not think Wilson Fisk is a monster or a terrible person. There is literally nothing about Kilgrave that isn't terrible.
Mind control sucks. What I love about the show is that it agrees with me. And it seems to be the only superhero show that does. Most superhero shows (including other Marvel ones like Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) think mind control is a fun way to make their hero do something horrible and not have to actually deal with the fall-out from that. It's the producers way of having their cake and eating it too. I think it sucks. I think it is a trope only engaged by hack writers who cannot actually think up good stories, and decide to give the heroes an artificial set-back to add a little fake drama. I complain a LOT about what a storytelling crutch nanotech is. Mind control is about a thousand times that, probably because nanotech isn't actually present in every genre show ever, and mind control is. But mind control is used by writers with no talent or imagination, who refuse to tell their narratives responsibly, or have their heroes respond to the violation of the scenario in any real-world way. In reality, somebody who has been forced to do the things Superman has been forced to do REPEATEDLY would have a huge case of PTSD, and practically be a quivering basketcase. The producers would argue he can do that because he's Superman, but even the non-superpowered humans seem to be able to walk it off by the next episode. Which is morally wrong for a writer to portray. And I firmly believe that.
Which s why Jessica Jones is a great show. There are actual traumas involved, and support groups for people who have encountered Kilgrave. Kilgrave's power isn't neat, and a way for a hero to not take responsibility for their actions. The real struggle is the hero and the other victims not being able to totally believe they held no responsibility whatsoever. Which is the correct reaction, even if it isn't their fault at all. Real victims of abuse and violations question themselves all the time. They don't have a ready made excuse like mind control ready, so that Superman and Batman can say, "Not my problem" and move on. "Is there anything I could have done differently? Was my abuser in control the entire time, or were there a couple of times I could have run, but chose not to? Did part of me not fight back hard enough?" All of these are questions that a real person would have after being mind-raped, and that every other superhero show ever doesn't think are worth exploring. And frankly, this probably makes Jessica Jones better than any other live-action superhero show I can think of. It's not the highest quality thing ever, but d*mn it, it commits to the storytelling and consequences for the characters in the way no other superhero project is ever willing to. And it gets more credit from me for that than anything else on the air.
Best episodes are the Pilot, which wound up being the best episode of the season (AKA Ladies Night), The beginning of the downfall of Will Simpson (AKA 99 Friends), Kilgrave as Hannibal Lecter (AKA Sin Bin) and the (mostly) satisfying season finale (AKA Smile). No bad episodes this year but I'm not especially fond of "AKA I've Got The Blues". It seems incredibly weak when compared to the rest of the season. Season Overall: ****1/2.
AKA Ladies Night:
And the Pilot ends with Jessica deciding she's gonna do something about it. Perfect. Do you know what strikes me as especially cruel about that ending? Kilgrave didn't actually need to have Hope kill her parents to deliver that message. It turned out GREAT for him ultimately, because proving Hope's innocence is the thing keeping Kilgrave alive for the rest of the season, but don't tell me he planned that. Kilgrave does not have that much foresight or perception about what upsets people. It is all SO freaking unnecessary. And just the fact that he has Hope tell Jessica to smile shows that he's cruel for the sake of cruel. I love that the broken door thing is treated as a normal broken window / door action moment in a superhero show. Except Jessica Jones is NOT Bruce Wayne, and does NOT have an Alfred to clean up after her. She's going to have to find the time and the money to fix the door herself, and it's sort of a background problem all season, as is Malcolm's love of chunky peanut butter being some kind of giveaway. Speaking of Malcolm, I love that he says she uses sarcasm to distance herself from other people and she laments that he's still there. Another funny moment was upon Jessica needing money, Malcolm offers her his TV, before clarifying he stole it. She figured. I personally love that Jessica throws up after she has sex with Luke. She should. She is disgusting for it. I love their bad sex. It doesn't start out as bad, but it peters out into something very unsatisfying to them both, because neither is aware the other has superpowers, and are each holding back for fear of hurting the other one. What strikes me as especially unforgivable about Jessica sleeping with Luke is that she did NOT get carried away in the heat of the moment. He did not come on to her. She 100% initiated the encounter with the husband of the woman she killed. She planned this. She is so gross. I love that after Jessica destroys that kid's art she calls it a mercy killing. "I'll pull your underwear through your eye," is a great threat, especially because you kind of have to pause and think for a moment how she'd actually do that. Kilgrave licking her face in the dream being the thing that wakes her up is all kinds of ick. I love Jessica's fake bubbly voice when she impersonates hot girls over the phone. What I especially love about the voice is that there seems to be a hidden contempt underneath it. She's a bit TOO ditzy and pathetic and she almost seems to be daring her victims to call her on it. And they don't. And she's right to be disgusted by what a pass a hot voice gets you. I like that Luke lacks enough pretense to admit that he only invited Jess in for Ladies Night, because she's hot and that attracts customers, and similarly that Jessica is insightful enough to peg that Luke only flirts with people to get them to drink and pay more in his bar. Neither denies either of those things, which is interesting about the both of them right off the bat. The guy who spilled the wings was named Melvin? Is that the same Melvin from Daredevil? I like that the first thing the Asian waiter does upon realizing Jessica knows Kilgrave is to desperately ask her, "He's not coming back, is he?" Kilgrave is precisely the kind of wipe who will order a complex Italian dish in an Asian restaurant. He just LOVES inconveniencing people. The scene of Jessica dragging Hope out of the room while she was covered in her own p*ss, was brutal and harsh in its violence, and so effective because it instantly sets up the level of power this particular power has, and how useless people are at fighting it. It's the one thing in the episode besides Hope killing her parents, which really sets up the stakes for the audience, even if this is something Jessica is already familiar with. Speaking of the parents, there is a little moment I love. Jessica expresses surprise that they were referred to her at a police station. That is very unusual. And when the mother asks, "Why? Is that unusual?" Jessica feels the need to lie and say, "No, of course not," simply so she sounds like an actual professional. Something like that is the kind of thing that would get someone like Jessica instantly suspicious, except she has to keep up the veneer of respectability, which prevents her from exploring it further at the time. It was a really fascinating moment. The moment where the doorman warmly welcomes Jessica back and asks if she'll be staying awhile made my skin crawl. For all of the appropriate reasons. Great Pilot to a great show. *****.
AKA Crush Syndrome:
Robin and Ruben are pretty much the most messed up brother-sister act ever. Is he wearing a diaper? Robin is quite the perceptive @$$hole. Even at this stage of the game, Ruben is incredibly sweet. Kilgrave's scene at the end shows that he never orders anyone to do anything remotely good or in their own best interest. The fact that he took two of a guy's kidneys says the same thing. He stomps on that kid's car and them makes the kids stay (and pee) in the closet. The fact that we never learned that family's ultimate fate tells me it was bad. I like Hope saying that she blamed Jessica for what happened, and that Jessica should kill herself. Jessica's response? "Maybe. But right now I'm the only one who knows you're innocent." I love how angry Jessica was at Hogarth's jury pool quip. Hogarth sucks. I like that Hogarth was surprised when Hope told her Jessica was a victim of Kilgrave. And I like that moment because Jessica certainly doesn't ACT like a victim, so maybe that's why it never occurred to Hogarth. That poor guy on the dialysis machine. His mother being a Bible Thumper and thanking God for the situation shows exactly why Godbotherers often suck. They often unknowingly celebrate somebody's misery and confuse it as a sign from God. I'll say one good thing about Jessica: She hid the "Kill me" note from the pious mother. I might not have in her place. I love that Luke's expression during his fight with the rugby hooligans is abject boredom. These hosers ain't even worth getting worked up over. Him telling that guy to go home and be with his wife, and that he was just going to forget the whole thing was probably more than that numbnuts deserved. Jessica is right about Trish being controlling. Sending a guy out to fix somebody's door unasked, and then offering to pay his hospital bills when Jessica nearly kills him are the acts of a control freak. Trish seems to think it's a low blow that Jess is comparing her to her mother. In this episode at least, the comparison is accurate. I love how afraid the professor is of Jessica. He's seen her picture, and he assumes that by seeing her there that Kilgrave is close by. The one consistent thing about everyone who has met Kilgrave is that they never want to meet him again. He is such a nutsack. I really like the ending where Jessica confesses she came over to fix things, and Luke telling her she can't fix him, because he's unbreakable. That was really cool. I do have to say that the idea that he was under Kilgrave's influence at this point does not play. Sure, Kilgrave can order him to say the things to Jessica he does here. But he can't order him to be a good actor, or do such a convincing job that she never suspects something is wrong. That does not play during this episode at all. ****.
AKA It's Called Whiskey:
Will Simpson is pretty much every woman everywhere's worst nightmare. It's the fact that he's well-intentioned, and that none of the horrible things he does are entirely his fault, which is why he is so dangerous. Can you believe Kilgrave ordering him to walk off the side of a building? There is no part of Kilgrave that doesn't suck. His "charming" phone call to Trish sort of said how badly she had stepped in it. Frankly, I'm a little bit surprised no-one bothered to ID Kilgrave on the phone to vouch for Hope's story. That would have been my first instinct. Both Simpson and Hogarth are interesting villains and unlike most other comic book villains in that they aren't actually evil. Simpson does evil things either under someone or something else's influence, and Hogarth makes a couple of deliberately evil choices, but as much as I hate them, their ultimate intentions are not harmful, but selfish. It's sort of an interesting dynamic to show in a series about a person forcing people to do horrible things, some of the people involved making poor choices on their own. This is the only episode of the season where the entire main cast appears and it credited in the opening title. You almost feel bad for Malcolm for what Jessica does to him in the hospital until you remember that he's the one who took the pictures. The fact that the family that Kilgrave lives with and their apartment is entirely different than the last family with small children tells me he killed that entire family and their kids. I hate him so much. I love Jessica wondering if she can take on three people at the hospital, sees one of the nurses is pregnant and counts it as four. Jessica has a conscience. That proves it. Ruben's "Everyone is a little bit racist" thing sort of disturbed Jessica because maybe she wondered if part of her felt that way about Luke. He DID ask if it was a racial thing. "Sweet Christmas." I know he said that for the fans, but I question the fan who actually wanted to hear him say it. SO dumb. Kilgrave operating Luke the whole time doesn't usually seem to play in hindsight, but if Kilgrave IS pulling the strings at this point, that might be the main and only reason he dismisses Jess' claims of mind control out of hand. Which raises an interesting question as to how much control (and responsibility) a person actually has in this scenario. As I was rewatching this, I was thinking, "No-one under mind control would ever have the perspective of 'You can see my skin. You can touch it. You don't know what I'm thinking.'" And the more I thought about it, the less sense it made that Kilgrave made him say that using those exact words. But Will's performance at the door with Trish sort of hints how he did it. Kilgrave did not direct Will to warn Trish about this winding up on the news so she'd open the door. The person under the control has to do what Kilgrave says, but they can use their own guile and methods to get the result Kilgrave wants. Which is absolutely horrible, and should drive the successful murderers that Kilgrave has directed insane with guilt. If I were Will Simpson, I would be questioning the fact that if I REALLY didn't want to hurt Trish, why was I so manipulative to get her to open the door? Kilgrave did not direct that part of the performance. And you only get how horrible this superpower is by thinking about its limits and implications for the people who suffer it. Luke is pretty sly in general this episode. When Jessica asks how unbreakable his skin is he asks if she wants to know on a scale of "I don't know to I don't want to find out". That's clever, as is Luke pointing out that he's a bartender in Hell's Kitchen when she ask him if he knows any drug dealers. It is almost tragic in hindsight that Wendy does not believe Jessica about Kilgrave, and refuses to help her. She got the drug anyways later, so I don't think anything would have changed, but there is an irony in store for this woman who didn't believe Jessica's crazy sounding story. We should have guessed Kilgrave had no hold over Jessica anymore just based on the flashback. If that didn't do it, the fact that he didn't try to control her this episode should have been the second giveaway. The moment I love upon their glare is right when Jessica is about to break through the door and grab him, he looks behind her and directs her gaze to Will falling off the building. Were I Jessica, I would have found that suspicious in hindsight, and a major clue he could no longer control me, and had to find a different way to get me to bug out. Kilgrave's Jessica room was super creepy, but then Kilgrave himself is super creepy. Speaking of which, Ruben is, generally speaking, cute. I actually found the scene where it turns out he has been watching Luke and Jessica bone with the door open more than a little bit creepy. And don't get me started on the tin foil covering the windows. Even Jessica doesn't want to know the deal with that. I like the guy who was fixing the door telling Jessica he doesn't run a charity for women with broken doors. I don't know why that's funny, if it's the fact that his son had to translate it, or just the fact that it seems deliberately unimaginative, but I laughed really hard at that. Disturbing episode otherwise though. ****.
AKA 99 Friends:
Sob! Not Malcolm! I totally get Jessica's single tear at the end. Do you know what else Will Simpson is? The perfect cautionary tale of abusive men. He is truly disgusted with his actions, and thinks he's a monster, and is filled with genuine shame and remorse. And all of the times he has hurt Trish this season were when he was under Kilgrave's influence, or under a drug's. The fact that he is willing to bust down Trish's door to find her body and incriminate himself suggests he is even willing to take responsibility for his actions, and is a good person deep down. So are many abusers. Many abusers are also under the influence of drugs, or have a VERY good reason as to what made them commit the abuse. Everybody has demons. This is why Simpson is the perfect cautionary tale. He's good. He's decent. He's remorseful. It's never his fault. But see, that doesn't mean he isn't gonna do it again. And he'll do it over and over and over and over again until Trish realizes he's not gonna stop, as much as he hates doing it. That's how abusive people work. Not every abusive person everywhere has a completely black soul, and doesn't regret their abuse. But they are also either unwilling or unable to change. This was the first episode that made me seriously think that Hogarth was the second worst person on the series besides Kilgrave. Her referring to Kilgrave's mind-raping powers as a "gift" and "a shame he isn't on our side" is a startling insight into what an amoral person she is off the top of her head. But I think the worst thing is that she takes Pam to the restaurant her ex-wife proposed to her at. And when she tells Wendy she is never going to get back with her even if she breaks her new coupling up, I was like, "That's not why she's upset. At all." The look of pain and regret on Wendy's face said less that she regretted that things were over, and more that they had gotten as far as they did in the first place. What kind of person says and does those things? And even Pam looked sick about it. Speaking of sick people, Audrey's plan for revenge was outright stupid. When Carlos says at the end of the scene of Jessica destroying their apartment, "I want a divorce," I was like "Yeah, and Jessica probably wants the entirety of the past couple of days back." The divorce line was pretty much the perfect punctuation to the end of that scene. Jessica's rant as she destroyed their apartment was righteous. It is NOT freaking normal to go around killing random strangers when you lose someone. The fact that Kilgrave uses a little girl to deliver such a dark message to Jessica shows exactly that he is 100% the last person who should have the specific power that he does. Jessica is truly disturbed in that moment going by dialogue alone. "Stop it. Je$us." I like Will's justification for burning his G.I. Joe's and his sister's Dreamhouse was that he was committed to the scenario. The montage of the various victims of Kilgrave, real and fake was by turns comical and disturbing. Kilgrave is pretty much the perfect alibi for a neighborhood of virgins getting knocked up. I realized something unsettling about Kilgrave's orders. He doesn't simply order someone to "Do this" or "Do that". He's prefaces what he says with "You'd like to" as if it's a suggestion rather than an order. He makes the people he makes do horrible things actually like doing those things while they are doing them. I don't know how a person like that could ever live with themselves, just based on the "You'd like to" thing. Trish claims she only won an acting award because her mother blew half the awards jury. Trish was still a kid when she was acting. So how did she know that? Did her mother tell her? It's the fact that the episode doesn't actually say or pretend it's weird which is why I think it's a totally bogus idea, and plot point. I like Jessica telling Pam she couldn't hear her over her print. I liked that when Hogarth asked Jessica when she was paying her tab, Jessica's answer was simply, "Not today, Hogarth. Not today." I liked Jessica telling Will at the beginning that Trish was just being dramatic. I was like, "Dude! Trish can actually hear you!" Watch out for Will Simpson, ladies. And NEVER open the door. No matter how sorry he is. ****1/2.
AKA The Sandwich Saved Me:
Before Kilgrave / After Kilgrave is such a powerful concept that is hammered home by what happened to Malcolm. He was going to be a social worker before all this. And when Jessica sees the drugs in the toilet she decides to send the picture. It is less a victory for Kilgrave than for Malcolm. I am impressed that Malcolm admits that he often went back to Kilgrave no longer under his power, simply for the drugs. He's partly trying to push Jessica away by saying that, but I kind of feel like if he hadn't immediately admitted that, and we found out a couple of seasons after the fact, I might not have forgiven him. As of now, this is a betrayal that I (and Jessica) are willing to let him come back from. I was incredibly moved when he said "You can't save me again" and his history with her was detailed. I especially liked her dropping the pretense and saying that he was her fault and that if he dies Kilgrave wins. She asks him to save her for once and that's the thing that gets through to him. Eka Darville's eyes were amazing in that scene. They were dark and so filled with regret and pain. I like Ruben and Jessica because Ruben is the only person on the series who treats Jessica like a normal person. I really regret him being killed off because her disturbed reactions to normalcy were not only funny, but also instructive as to the life she leads. Who gives somebody banana bread they baked? And yet, he did. What does he get out of it? Jessica's confusion over Ruben is not just funny, it endears them both to me. I like the fact that we didn't actually hear Jessica's response to his idea to taking her out to a movie. The romantic in me likes to think she said yes, even if it was just to get him off her back. I like that after Kilgrave removes the tooth he laughs. He has never been in more mortal danger in his entire life, and he loved every second of it, because it had never happened before. They actually almost pulled it off. The reason they didn't was because Kilgrave was smart enough to hire help that wasn't controlled by him. Kilgrave would be much less dangerous if he were stupider. Because he plans for things like that, is why he is going to be tough to beat. I am about as squicked out by Will and Trish as Jess is, but as the rest of the season proves, I'm kind of supposed to be. "Pants?" "Good call." Funny moment. Kilgrave is awful in ways big and small. He tells a newsstand owner to throw hot coffee in his own face, and then yells to Malcolm, "Come, junkie!" as if he's a pet. He is such an incredibly dehumanizing person. Sociopaths are all terrible people. Kilgrave is somehow even worse than most of them. I like Jessica's first meeting with Kilgrave because the viewer is aware of what danger she is before she is. I mean, he's funny and charming, and even if he's making her go with him, he hasn't done anything remotely evil yet. And she's intrigued. And I think that might be where part of her survivor's guilt comes in, and her need to believe she could have done more. But hindsight is 20/20. I like that the Marvel Universe is a place where a kid can go outside dressed in a random Captain America costume and it's not even Halloween. Part of me wants to live in the Marvel Universe. I like the Jewel reference and Jessica shooting the name down as that of a stripper. The costume was tacky too. The flashbacks at the beginning were so much fun and hinted that Jessica could have been a reasonably well-adjusted person if not for Kilgrave. I loved her blackmailing her boss into firing her (and then knocking over the cabinets) and then humiliating the bald headed bishop guy like that. How messed up is a guy to admit he yanked at a child star? I don't care if he was 12 at the time, it's a super creepy thing to remember fondly. I like Trish telling Will she's pretty sure he is a decent person. The tragedy is that she's probably right. Hope's meeting in prison with Jessica devastated me. Hope has completely run out of, well, HOPE. Malcolm's scene with Jessica in the elevator was a great bit of acting from Eka Darville and Krysten Ritter. Malcolm senses something's off, and he's trying to desperately pretend it isn't. Tense moment. I like that Kilgrave is disappointed in the flashback that Jessica doesn't actually have a superhero name and his mock disgust over the idea that she helped somebody and made a difference. Just the fact that she said that honestly and without irony tells me exactly how thoroughly Kilgrave ruined this good person. Great episode. ****.
AKA You're A Winner!:
Jessica doing a bubbly bimbo voice over the phone will never get old. It totally threw Luke too. This was not his world. I have to say, this was the most horrific abortion scenario I could ever imagine. If you were completely, 100% anti-choice, and against it even in cases of rape and incest, and to protect the life of the mother, I sincerely doubt you would still have a problem with Hope's decision here. It's not a real-world scenario, but it's the best way to win a Game Of Scruples with a fundie, and pretty easily to boot. I'm antiabortion, and when she says "It feels like he's raping me all over again. It feels like he's shooting my parents all over again," it is another thing that affirmed to me that my personal distaste for the subject is utterly irrelevant to whatever scenario the woman is facing. This isn't a real-world scenario. But maybe a ton of other real-world scenarios are just as justified if I sat and listened the stories the women could tell me. And it's not a cut and dry issue, whether I want it to be or not. When she seems to say a prayer for the pill to work quickly, I realized exactly how much she was suffering. When Luke tells Jessica she's a piece of sh*t, I agree with him, just based upon the sins he listed that Kilgrave had nothing to do with. She was never going to tell him? Even I didn't suspect that. And she claims sleeping with him "just happened"? Rewatching the first episode, that is not true. She made a conscious overture there. She initiated things in a scenario that would never have happened if she had not. She is full of b.s. about that. The reveal at the end of the street signs saying Birch and Higgins brought home exactly how horrific Kilgrave buying that house was. Those streets are her mantra because that was her one safe space. And he's now taken that from her. I find it interesting that he refuses to use mind control when he buys the house. He believes he has to do this one thing completely properly and legally to lay claim to Jessica's soul. And it's pretty much the only thing he did this season that I didn't absolutely loathe. It told me where the line was, and that he has a small, specific code in this one area. It's not much, but for Kilgrave there is literally nothing else about the guy worth praising. The poker game was so stupid. Does Kilgrave actually enjoy doing that? Because it's stupid, and if I played games of chance, that would be totally ruining the experience. He doesn't just suck because he ruins everyone else's life. It's that he has no clue what a worthwhile life feels like to begin with. And that moment is the Stonecutters letting Homer win at cards. And nothing more. And it's as if Homer were dumb enough to actually like it. How he takes pleasure in an risk venture whose outcome is never in doubt is beyond me. The worst thing? He tells the guys he's humiliated that they'll now have an unbelievable story to tell their wives and girlfriends. He actually thinks he was doing them a favor, or as if the money he stole was actually services rendered. Hogarth keeping the fetus is another thing to hint at how detestable the character is. I wish she was actually evil. She'd be much harder to hate then. It's also incredibly stupid. She never thought about what would happen to her if Kilgrave found out? It's not like he's the kind of person who can order somebody to tell them anything he wants. And we see that's exactly what happened by the end of the season. And this was the specific information her guilty conscience decided to tell him. What was she thinking? Man, this episode bummed me out at the end. Because you kind of only realize exactly how much Jessica sucks upon Luke laying out all of her crimes against him like that. I've been pretty much rooting for a terrible person all season. I think the worst part of the episode for me is that it does not hang together in hindsight. The last episode of the season says that Luke has been Kilgraved all season. Which makes no sense whatsoever in this episode. If he WAS Kilgraved, Luke would probably already know the truth about Jessica, or at least not be as surprised and angry as he seemed by it. In fact, if Kilgrave HAD been controlling Luke, he probably would have directed him to instantly forgive her to keep up the farce. I understand that Mike Colter wasn't contracted for every episode, but there is no part of the idea that Luke has been Kilgrave's the entire time that holds up to the slightest bit of scrutiny, due to this episode. Plus, he never would have needed to ask Malcolm about Kilgrave, as that would raise Malcolm's suspicions, and there was no need to do that if he DID know who Kilgrave was. Speaking of Malcolm, I love that he tries to protect Jessica from Luke, as if the poor sap could. It's a little annoying that Luke thinks he's sweet on her, but his devotion to Jessica is far deeper than that. I love that he says Elves don't exist. He's never seen Thor: The Dark World. Lucky guy. I love that Jessica asks Luke if the dogs are okay. Because if she didn't, the audience would wonder about that. It was literally the first question on my mind when he reappeared. If the show played that moment jokier, they could have made it a legit meta moment. Sissy saying she has to keep her digits to pleasure the ladies shows that Sissy is disgusting. That's not homophobia on my part, by the way. That's just a super gross thing to say, gay or straight. Interesting to note that as angry as Luke gets, he refuses to strike Jessica. Very sharp contrast with Will Simpson and Trish. Good episode, but it doesn't really fit the mythology in hindsight. ****.
Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season
This came out in 2015? That's a bummer. If it had come out late last year, or early this year, I have a feeling it would have broken out a LOT bigger than it did. For the same reasons Colony and their "Red Hats" and The Handmaid's Tale and their fundamentalist oppression did in 2016 and 2017. Jessica Jones is a LOT more relevant now than when Obama was President. To be fair to the show, it's not a political show in the least, but the allegory is absolutely perfect for the Trump regime. What happens when somebody is given the biggest and most dangerous power on the planet, and they were literally the last person who should have it? What if the one guy who can get anyone to do anything he says, is a complete sociopath with no regard for anyone else, or even an iota of human decency? I struggle with the idea that this came out a couple of years ago. Because it is actually relevant now. House of Cards seems to have come out a couple of years too late. This was a couple of years too early.
What really upsets me most about Kilgrave is David Tennant's performance. I know, he's a rapist, and he SHOULD upset me, but he upsets me specifically because Tennant doesn't play the character as upsetting at all. Kilgrave is exactly as outwardly charming and goofy as the Tenth Doctor. It is literally the exact same performance. And that messes my head up beyond belief. I cannot get over seeing Ten do and say the things he does in the exact same inflections he used when he was saving humanity and goofing around with Rose Tyler. The producers think Kilgrave is secretly sympathetic on the level of Vincent D'Offrio's nuanced performance of Kingpin from Daredevil. I do not, and the most upsetting thing about Kilgrave is that the producers think I perhaps should think that. I hear the comparisons and they are bogus. I legitimately do not think Wilson Fisk is a monster or a terrible person. There is literally nothing about Kilgrave that isn't terrible.
Mind control sucks. What I love about the show is that it agrees with me. And it seems to be the only superhero show that does. Most superhero shows (including other Marvel ones like Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) think mind control is a fun way to make their hero do something horrible and not have to actually deal with the fall-out from that. It's the producers way of having their cake and eating it too. I think it sucks. I think it is a trope only engaged by hack writers who cannot actually think up good stories, and decide to give the heroes an artificial set-back to add a little fake drama. I complain a LOT about what a storytelling crutch nanotech is. Mind control is about a thousand times that, probably because nanotech isn't actually present in every genre show ever, and mind control is. But mind control is used by writers with no talent or imagination, who refuse to tell their narratives responsibly, or have their heroes respond to the violation of the scenario in any real-world way. In reality, somebody who has been forced to do the things Superman has been forced to do REPEATEDLY would have a huge case of PTSD, and practically be a quivering basketcase. The producers would argue he can do that because he's Superman, but even the non-superpowered humans seem to be able to walk it off by the next episode. Which is morally wrong for a writer to portray. And I firmly believe that.
Which s why Jessica Jones is a great show. There are actual traumas involved, and support groups for people who have encountered Kilgrave. Kilgrave's power isn't neat, and a way for a hero to not take responsibility for their actions. The real struggle is the hero and the other victims not being able to totally believe they held no responsibility whatsoever. Which is the correct reaction, even if it isn't their fault at all. Real victims of abuse and violations question themselves all the time. They don't have a ready made excuse like mind control ready, so that Superman and Batman can say, "Not my problem" and move on. "Is there anything I could have done differently? Was my abuser in control the entire time, or were there a couple of times I could have run, but chose not to? Did part of me not fight back hard enough?" All of these are questions that a real person would have after being mind-raped, and that every other superhero show ever doesn't think are worth exploring. And frankly, this probably makes Jessica Jones better than any other live-action superhero show I can think of. It's not the highest quality thing ever, but d*mn it, it commits to the storytelling and consequences for the characters in the way no other superhero project is ever willing to. And it gets more credit from me for that than anything else on the air.
Best episodes are the Pilot, which wound up being the best episode of the season (AKA Ladies Night), The beginning of the downfall of Will Simpson (AKA 99 Friends), Kilgrave as Hannibal Lecter (AKA Sin Bin) and the (mostly) satisfying season finale (AKA Smile). No bad episodes this year but I'm not especially fond of "AKA I've Got The Blues". It seems incredibly weak when compared to the rest of the season. Season Overall: ****1/2.
AKA Ladies Night:
And the Pilot ends with Jessica deciding she's gonna do something about it. Perfect. Do you know what strikes me as especially cruel about that ending? Kilgrave didn't actually need to have Hope kill her parents to deliver that message. It turned out GREAT for him ultimately, because proving Hope's innocence is the thing keeping Kilgrave alive for the rest of the season, but don't tell me he planned that. Kilgrave does not have that much foresight or perception about what upsets people. It is all SO freaking unnecessary. And just the fact that he has Hope tell Jessica to smile shows that he's cruel for the sake of cruel. I love that the broken door thing is treated as a normal broken window / door action moment in a superhero show. Except Jessica Jones is NOT Bruce Wayne, and does NOT have an Alfred to clean up after her. She's going to have to find the time and the money to fix the door herself, and it's sort of a background problem all season, as is Malcolm's love of chunky peanut butter being some kind of giveaway. Speaking of Malcolm, I love that he says she uses sarcasm to distance herself from other people and she laments that he's still there. Another funny moment was upon Jessica needing money, Malcolm offers her his TV, before clarifying he stole it. She figured. I personally love that Jessica throws up after she has sex with Luke. She should. She is disgusting for it. I love their bad sex. It doesn't start out as bad, but it peters out into something very unsatisfying to them both, because neither is aware the other has superpowers, and are each holding back for fear of hurting the other one. What strikes me as especially unforgivable about Jessica sleeping with Luke is that she did NOT get carried away in the heat of the moment. He did not come on to her. She 100% initiated the encounter with the husband of the woman she killed. She planned this. She is so gross. I love that after Jessica destroys that kid's art she calls it a mercy killing. "I'll pull your underwear through your eye," is a great threat, especially because you kind of have to pause and think for a moment how she'd actually do that. Kilgrave licking her face in the dream being the thing that wakes her up is all kinds of ick. I love Jessica's fake bubbly voice when she impersonates hot girls over the phone. What I especially love about the voice is that there seems to be a hidden contempt underneath it. She's a bit TOO ditzy and pathetic and she almost seems to be daring her victims to call her on it. And they don't. And she's right to be disgusted by what a pass a hot voice gets you. I like that Luke lacks enough pretense to admit that he only invited Jess in for Ladies Night, because she's hot and that attracts customers, and similarly that Jessica is insightful enough to peg that Luke only flirts with people to get them to drink and pay more in his bar. Neither denies either of those things, which is interesting about the both of them right off the bat. The guy who spilled the wings was named Melvin? Is that the same Melvin from Daredevil? I like that the first thing the Asian waiter does upon realizing Jessica knows Kilgrave is to desperately ask her, "He's not coming back, is he?" Kilgrave is precisely the kind of wipe who will order a complex Italian dish in an Asian restaurant. He just LOVES inconveniencing people. The scene of Jessica dragging Hope out of the room while she was covered in her own p*ss, was brutal and harsh in its violence, and so effective because it instantly sets up the level of power this particular power has, and how useless people are at fighting it. It's the one thing in the episode besides Hope killing her parents, which really sets up the stakes for the audience, even if this is something Jessica is already familiar with. Speaking of the parents, there is a little moment I love. Jessica expresses surprise that they were referred to her at a police station. That is very unusual. And when the mother asks, "Why? Is that unusual?" Jessica feels the need to lie and say, "No, of course not," simply so she sounds like an actual professional. Something like that is the kind of thing that would get someone like Jessica instantly suspicious, except she has to keep up the veneer of respectability, which prevents her from exploring it further at the time. It was a really fascinating moment. The moment where the doorman warmly welcomes Jessica back and asks if she'll be staying awhile made my skin crawl. For all of the appropriate reasons. Great Pilot to a great show. *****.
AKA Crush Syndrome:
Robin and Ruben are pretty much the most messed up brother-sister act ever. Is he wearing a diaper? Robin is quite the perceptive @$$hole. Even at this stage of the game, Ruben is incredibly sweet. Kilgrave's scene at the end shows that he never orders anyone to do anything remotely good or in their own best interest. The fact that he took two of a guy's kidneys says the same thing. He stomps on that kid's car and them makes the kids stay (and pee) in the closet. The fact that we never learned that family's ultimate fate tells me it was bad. I like Hope saying that she blamed Jessica for what happened, and that Jessica should kill herself. Jessica's response? "Maybe. But right now I'm the only one who knows you're innocent." I love how angry Jessica was at Hogarth's jury pool quip. Hogarth sucks. I like that Hogarth was surprised when Hope told her Jessica was a victim of Kilgrave. And I like that moment because Jessica certainly doesn't ACT like a victim, so maybe that's why it never occurred to Hogarth. That poor guy on the dialysis machine. His mother being a Bible Thumper and thanking God for the situation shows exactly why Godbotherers often suck. They often unknowingly celebrate somebody's misery and confuse it as a sign from God. I'll say one good thing about Jessica: She hid the "Kill me" note from the pious mother. I might not have in her place. I love that Luke's expression during his fight with the rugby hooligans is abject boredom. These hosers ain't even worth getting worked up over. Him telling that guy to go home and be with his wife, and that he was just going to forget the whole thing was probably more than that numbnuts deserved. Jessica is right about Trish being controlling. Sending a guy out to fix somebody's door unasked, and then offering to pay his hospital bills when Jessica nearly kills him are the acts of a control freak. Trish seems to think it's a low blow that Jess is comparing her to her mother. In this episode at least, the comparison is accurate. I love how afraid the professor is of Jessica. He's seen her picture, and he assumes that by seeing her there that Kilgrave is close by. The one consistent thing about everyone who has met Kilgrave is that they never want to meet him again. He is such a nutsack. I really like the ending where Jessica confesses she came over to fix things, and Luke telling her she can't fix him, because he's unbreakable. That was really cool. I do have to say that the idea that he was under Kilgrave's influence at this point does not play. Sure, Kilgrave can order him to say the things to Jessica he does here. But he can't order him to be a good actor, or do such a convincing job that she never suspects something is wrong. That does not play during this episode at all. ****.
AKA It's Called Whiskey:
Will Simpson is pretty much every woman everywhere's worst nightmare. It's the fact that he's well-intentioned, and that none of the horrible things he does are entirely his fault, which is why he is so dangerous. Can you believe Kilgrave ordering him to walk off the side of a building? There is no part of Kilgrave that doesn't suck. His "charming" phone call to Trish sort of said how badly she had stepped in it. Frankly, I'm a little bit surprised no-one bothered to ID Kilgrave on the phone to vouch for Hope's story. That would have been my first instinct. Both Simpson and Hogarth are interesting villains and unlike most other comic book villains in that they aren't actually evil. Simpson does evil things either under someone or something else's influence, and Hogarth makes a couple of deliberately evil choices, but as much as I hate them, their ultimate intentions are not harmful, but selfish. It's sort of an interesting dynamic to show in a series about a person forcing people to do horrible things, some of the people involved making poor choices on their own. This is the only episode of the season where the entire main cast appears and it credited in the opening title. You almost feel bad for Malcolm for what Jessica does to him in the hospital until you remember that he's the one who took the pictures. The fact that the family that Kilgrave lives with and their apartment is entirely different than the last family with small children tells me he killed that entire family and their kids. I hate him so much. I love Jessica wondering if she can take on three people at the hospital, sees one of the nurses is pregnant and counts it as four. Jessica has a conscience. That proves it. Ruben's "Everyone is a little bit racist" thing sort of disturbed Jessica because maybe she wondered if part of her felt that way about Luke. He DID ask if it was a racial thing. "Sweet Christmas." I know he said that for the fans, but I question the fan who actually wanted to hear him say it. SO dumb. Kilgrave operating Luke the whole time doesn't usually seem to play in hindsight, but if Kilgrave IS pulling the strings at this point, that might be the main and only reason he dismisses Jess' claims of mind control out of hand. Which raises an interesting question as to how much control (and responsibility) a person actually has in this scenario. As I was rewatching this, I was thinking, "No-one under mind control would ever have the perspective of 'You can see my skin. You can touch it. You don't know what I'm thinking.'" And the more I thought about it, the less sense it made that Kilgrave made him say that using those exact words. But Will's performance at the door with Trish sort of hints how he did it. Kilgrave did not direct Will to warn Trish about this winding up on the news so she'd open the door. The person under the control has to do what Kilgrave says, but they can use their own guile and methods to get the result Kilgrave wants. Which is absolutely horrible, and should drive the successful murderers that Kilgrave has directed insane with guilt. If I were Will Simpson, I would be questioning the fact that if I REALLY didn't want to hurt Trish, why was I so manipulative to get her to open the door? Kilgrave did not direct that part of the performance. And you only get how horrible this superpower is by thinking about its limits and implications for the people who suffer it. Luke is pretty sly in general this episode. When Jessica asks how unbreakable his skin is he asks if she wants to know on a scale of "I don't know to I don't want to find out". That's clever, as is Luke pointing out that he's a bartender in Hell's Kitchen when she ask him if he knows any drug dealers. It is almost tragic in hindsight that Wendy does not believe Jessica about Kilgrave, and refuses to help her. She got the drug anyways later, so I don't think anything would have changed, but there is an irony in store for this woman who didn't believe Jessica's crazy sounding story. We should have guessed Kilgrave had no hold over Jessica anymore just based on the flashback. If that didn't do it, the fact that he didn't try to control her this episode should have been the second giveaway. The moment I love upon their glare is right when Jessica is about to break through the door and grab him, he looks behind her and directs her gaze to Will falling off the building. Were I Jessica, I would have found that suspicious in hindsight, and a major clue he could no longer control me, and had to find a different way to get me to bug out. Kilgrave's Jessica room was super creepy, but then Kilgrave himself is super creepy. Speaking of which, Ruben is, generally speaking, cute. I actually found the scene where it turns out he has been watching Luke and Jessica bone with the door open more than a little bit creepy. And don't get me started on the tin foil covering the windows. Even Jessica doesn't want to know the deal with that. I like the guy who was fixing the door telling Jessica he doesn't run a charity for women with broken doors. I don't know why that's funny, if it's the fact that his son had to translate it, or just the fact that it seems deliberately unimaginative, but I laughed really hard at that. Disturbing episode otherwise though. ****.
AKA 99 Friends:
Sob! Not Malcolm! I totally get Jessica's single tear at the end. Do you know what else Will Simpson is? The perfect cautionary tale of abusive men. He is truly disgusted with his actions, and thinks he's a monster, and is filled with genuine shame and remorse. And all of the times he has hurt Trish this season were when he was under Kilgrave's influence, or under a drug's. The fact that he is willing to bust down Trish's door to find her body and incriminate himself suggests he is even willing to take responsibility for his actions, and is a good person deep down. So are many abusers. Many abusers are also under the influence of drugs, or have a VERY good reason as to what made them commit the abuse. Everybody has demons. This is why Simpson is the perfect cautionary tale. He's good. He's decent. He's remorseful. It's never his fault. But see, that doesn't mean he isn't gonna do it again. And he'll do it over and over and over and over again until Trish realizes he's not gonna stop, as much as he hates doing it. That's how abusive people work. Not every abusive person everywhere has a completely black soul, and doesn't regret their abuse. But they are also either unwilling or unable to change. This was the first episode that made me seriously think that Hogarth was the second worst person on the series besides Kilgrave. Her referring to Kilgrave's mind-raping powers as a "gift" and "a shame he isn't on our side" is a startling insight into what an amoral person she is off the top of her head. But I think the worst thing is that she takes Pam to the restaurant her ex-wife proposed to her at. And when she tells Wendy she is never going to get back with her even if she breaks her new coupling up, I was like, "That's not why she's upset. At all." The look of pain and regret on Wendy's face said less that she regretted that things were over, and more that they had gotten as far as they did in the first place. What kind of person says and does those things? And even Pam looked sick about it. Speaking of sick people, Audrey's plan for revenge was outright stupid. When Carlos says at the end of the scene of Jessica destroying their apartment, "I want a divorce," I was like "Yeah, and Jessica probably wants the entirety of the past couple of days back." The divorce line was pretty much the perfect punctuation to the end of that scene. Jessica's rant as she destroyed their apartment was righteous. It is NOT freaking normal to go around killing random strangers when you lose someone. The fact that Kilgrave uses a little girl to deliver such a dark message to Jessica shows exactly that he is 100% the last person who should have the specific power that he does. Jessica is truly disturbed in that moment going by dialogue alone. "Stop it. Je$us." I like Will's justification for burning his G.I. Joe's and his sister's Dreamhouse was that he was committed to the scenario. The montage of the various victims of Kilgrave, real and fake was by turns comical and disturbing. Kilgrave is pretty much the perfect alibi for a neighborhood of virgins getting knocked up. I realized something unsettling about Kilgrave's orders. He doesn't simply order someone to "Do this" or "Do that". He's prefaces what he says with "You'd like to" as if it's a suggestion rather than an order. He makes the people he makes do horrible things actually like doing those things while they are doing them. I don't know how a person like that could ever live with themselves, just based on the "You'd like to" thing. Trish claims she only won an acting award because her mother blew half the awards jury. Trish was still a kid when she was acting. So how did she know that? Did her mother tell her? It's the fact that the episode doesn't actually say or pretend it's weird which is why I think it's a totally bogus idea, and plot point. I like Jessica telling Pam she couldn't hear her over her print. I liked that when Hogarth asked Jessica when she was paying her tab, Jessica's answer was simply, "Not today, Hogarth. Not today." I liked Jessica telling Will at the beginning that Trish was just being dramatic. I was like, "Dude! Trish can actually hear you!" Watch out for Will Simpson, ladies. And NEVER open the door. No matter how sorry he is. ****1/2.
AKA The Sandwich Saved Me:
Before Kilgrave / After Kilgrave is such a powerful concept that is hammered home by what happened to Malcolm. He was going to be a social worker before all this. And when Jessica sees the drugs in the toilet she decides to send the picture. It is less a victory for Kilgrave than for Malcolm. I am impressed that Malcolm admits that he often went back to Kilgrave no longer under his power, simply for the drugs. He's partly trying to push Jessica away by saying that, but I kind of feel like if he hadn't immediately admitted that, and we found out a couple of seasons after the fact, I might not have forgiven him. As of now, this is a betrayal that I (and Jessica) are willing to let him come back from. I was incredibly moved when he said "You can't save me again" and his history with her was detailed. I especially liked her dropping the pretense and saying that he was her fault and that if he dies Kilgrave wins. She asks him to save her for once and that's the thing that gets through to him. Eka Darville's eyes were amazing in that scene. They were dark and so filled with regret and pain. I like Ruben and Jessica because Ruben is the only person on the series who treats Jessica like a normal person. I really regret him being killed off because her disturbed reactions to normalcy were not only funny, but also instructive as to the life she leads. Who gives somebody banana bread they baked? And yet, he did. What does he get out of it? Jessica's confusion over Ruben is not just funny, it endears them both to me. I like the fact that we didn't actually hear Jessica's response to his idea to taking her out to a movie. The romantic in me likes to think she said yes, even if it was just to get him off her back. I like that after Kilgrave removes the tooth he laughs. He has never been in more mortal danger in his entire life, and he loved every second of it, because it had never happened before. They actually almost pulled it off. The reason they didn't was because Kilgrave was smart enough to hire help that wasn't controlled by him. Kilgrave would be much less dangerous if he were stupider. Because he plans for things like that, is why he is going to be tough to beat. I am about as squicked out by Will and Trish as Jess is, but as the rest of the season proves, I'm kind of supposed to be. "Pants?" "Good call." Funny moment. Kilgrave is awful in ways big and small. He tells a newsstand owner to throw hot coffee in his own face, and then yells to Malcolm, "Come, junkie!" as if he's a pet. He is such an incredibly dehumanizing person. Sociopaths are all terrible people. Kilgrave is somehow even worse than most of them. I like Jessica's first meeting with Kilgrave because the viewer is aware of what danger she is before she is. I mean, he's funny and charming, and even if he's making her go with him, he hasn't done anything remotely evil yet. And she's intrigued. And I think that might be where part of her survivor's guilt comes in, and her need to believe she could have done more. But hindsight is 20/20. I like that the Marvel Universe is a place where a kid can go outside dressed in a random Captain America costume and it's not even Halloween. Part of me wants to live in the Marvel Universe. I like the Jewel reference and Jessica shooting the name down as that of a stripper. The costume was tacky too. The flashbacks at the beginning were so much fun and hinted that Jessica could have been a reasonably well-adjusted person if not for Kilgrave. I loved her blackmailing her boss into firing her (and then knocking over the cabinets) and then humiliating the bald headed bishop guy like that. How messed up is a guy to admit he yanked at a child star? I don't care if he was 12 at the time, it's a super creepy thing to remember fondly. I like Trish telling Will she's pretty sure he is a decent person. The tragedy is that she's probably right. Hope's meeting in prison with Jessica devastated me. Hope has completely run out of, well, HOPE. Malcolm's scene with Jessica in the elevator was a great bit of acting from Eka Darville and Krysten Ritter. Malcolm senses something's off, and he's trying to desperately pretend it isn't. Tense moment. I like that Kilgrave is disappointed in the flashback that Jessica doesn't actually have a superhero name and his mock disgust over the idea that she helped somebody and made a difference. Just the fact that she said that honestly and without irony tells me exactly how thoroughly Kilgrave ruined this good person. Great episode. ****.
AKA You're A Winner!:
Jessica doing a bubbly bimbo voice over the phone will never get old. It totally threw Luke too. This was not his world. I have to say, this was the most horrific abortion scenario I could ever imagine. If you were completely, 100% anti-choice, and against it even in cases of rape and incest, and to protect the life of the mother, I sincerely doubt you would still have a problem with Hope's decision here. It's not a real-world scenario, but it's the best way to win a Game Of Scruples with a fundie, and pretty easily to boot. I'm antiabortion, and when she says "It feels like he's raping me all over again. It feels like he's shooting my parents all over again," it is another thing that affirmed to me that my personal distaste for the subject is utterly irrelevant to whatever scenario the woman is facing. This isn't a real-world scenario. But maybe a ton of other real-world scenarios are just as justified if I sat and listened the stories the women could tell me. And it's not a cut and dry issue, whether I want it to be or not. When she seems to say a prayer for the pill to work quickly, I realized exactly how much she was suffering. When Luke tells Jessica she's a piece of sh*t, I agree with him, just based upon the sins he listed that Kilgrave had nothing to do with. She was never going to tell him? Even I didn't suspect that. And she claims sleeping with him "just happened"? Rewatching the first episode, that is not true. She made a conscious overture there. She initiated things in a scenario that would never have happened if she had not. She is full of b.s. about that. The reveal at the end of the street signs saying Birch and Higgins brought home exactly how horrific Kilgrave buying that house was. Those streets are her mantra because that was her one safe space. And he's now taken that from her. I find it interesting that he refuses to use mind control when he buys the house. He believes he has to do this one thing completely properly and legally to lay claim to Jessica's soul. And it's pretty much the only thing he did this season that I didn't absolutely loathe. It told me where the line was, and that he has a small, specific code in this one area. It's not much, but for Kilgrave there is literally nothing else about the guy worth praising. The poker game was so stupid. Does Kilgrave actually enjoy doing that? Because it's stupid, and if I played games of chance, that would be totally ruining the experience. He doesn't just suck because he ruins everyone else's life. It's that he has no clue what a worthwhile life feels like to begin with. And that moment is the Stonecutters letting Homer win at cards. And nothing more. And it's as if Homer were dumb enough to actually like it. How he takes pleasure in an risk venture whose outcome is never in doubt is beyond me. The worst thing? He tells the guys he's humiliated that they'll now have an unbelievable story to tell their wives and girlfriends. He actually thinks he was doing them a favor, or as if the money he stole was actually services rendered. Hogarth keeping the fetus is another thing to hint at how detestable the character is. I wish she was actually evil. She'd be much harder to hate then. It's also incredibly stupid. She never thought about what would happen to her if Kilgrave found out? It's not like he's the kind of person who can order somebody to tell them anything he wants. And we see that's exactly what happened by the end of the season. And this was the specific information her guilty conscience decided to tell him. What was she thinking? Man, this episode bummed me out at the end. Because you kind of only realize exactly how much Jessica sucks upon Luke laying out all of her crimes against him like that. I've been pretty much rooting for a terrible person all season. I think the worst part of the episode for me is that it does not hang together in hindsight. The last episode of the season says that Luke has been Kilgraved all season. Which makes no sense whatsoever in this episode. If he WAS Kilgraved, Luke would probably already know the truth about Jessica, or at least not be as surprised and angry as he seemed by it. In fact, if Kilgrave HAD been controlling Luke, he probably would have directed him to instantly forgive her to keep up the farce. I understand that Mike Colter wasn't contracted for every episode, but there is no part of the idea that Luke has been Kilgrave's the entire time that holds up to the slightest bit of scrutiny, due to this episode. Plus, he never would have needed to ask Malcolm about Kilgrave, as that would raise Malcolm's suspicions, and there was no need to do that if he DID know who Kilgrave was. Speaking of Malcolm, I love that he tries to protect Jessica from Luke, as if the poor sap could. It's a little annoying that Luke thinks he's sweet on her, but his devotion to Jessica is far deeper than that. I love that he says Elves don't exist. He's never seen Thor: The Dark World. Lucky guy. I love that Jessica asks Luke if the dogs are okay. Because if she didn't, the audience would wonder about that. It was literally the first question on my mind when he reappeared. If the show played that moment jokier, they could have made it a legit meta moment. Sissy saying she has to keep her digits to pleasure the ladies shows that Sissy is disgusting. That's not homophobia on my part, by the way. That's just a super gross thing to say, gay or straight. Interesting to note that as angry as Luke gets, he refuses to strike Jessica. Very sharp contrast with Will Simpson and Trish. Good episode, but it doesn't really fit the mythology in hindsight. ****.
