Recently, Marvel has dumped its newest Netflix original into our lives, and boy, is it a stark difference from its movies. Its previous series “Daredevil” (not the god-awful film) focused on Matt Murdock and his struggle to clean up Hell’s Kitchen, a small section of New York rife with violence and corruption.
“Jessica Jones,” set in the same location, takes that up to 11. Not holding back any punches, Jessica slams onto the scene as a foul-mouthed, super-strong private investigator. Other than nursing a bottle and lurking in alleyways, her job consists of “exposing cheaters,” as she so aptly puts it. Alongside Jessica is Trish, part best friend, part caretaker and part ass-kicker.
The plot takes off when Jessica takes on the case of Hope Shlottman, a woman convicted of her parents’ murder; she did shoot them, but she’s not guilty.
Jessica is the only one who knows that Hope was under the mind control of a sociopathic monster who goes by the name Kilgrave. Kilgrave becomes the boogeyman and main antagonist throughout the series.
“Jessica Jones” feels like a cut-up movie more so than a TV series, which means the first few episodes have more of a slow-burn effect. However, once it revs up, the series moves like a steamroller with the momentum of a bullet train. The action is fast and gritty, more akin to a brawl than the heavy Kung Fu battles of “Daredevil.”
In the same way that Jessica doesn’t pull punches in a fight, neither does the show’s subject matter. Jessica and alcohol are tight throughout the series and sex is realistically displayed the way it should be ¬– not slow and through soft-core lighting, but rather rough and not at all elegant.
Sex and alcohol are frequently covered topics, and you can get away with just tossing them around. But when it comes to abuse and rape, Jessica doesn’t balk. The topics are handled tactfully, but they don’t tiptoe around it. Jessica is blunt and to the point, being a former victim of both.
Being a Marvel show, it does often reference the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although Captain America and the Hulk don’t show up, there are mentions of “the guy with the shield” and the “green monster” here and there.
Just like with “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones” does not disappoint in terms of doing justice to the source material, while also just being a great program. Great does not mean perfect, however. Some of the subplots, like Jessica’s ally Jeri getting divorced, didn’t have enough pay-off for the time that was dedicated towards it.
Some of the fighting felt uninspired, and apparently super-powered people are commonplace but someone with mind control is hard to swallow. At the end of the day, none of this takes away from the overall appeal of this modern day noir crime drama with a Marvel twist. Don’t let this show pass you up.
