As I type this, in a few seconds from now, the second season of Jessica Jones will launch on Netflix. The aim of this post is to share my enthusiasm for this series, listing what some found appealing about the first series, relaying what some early reviewers have said about the first 5 episodes of the second season, and finally, concluding with my hopes for the second season.
In November of 2015, the first season of Jessica Jones was released, and was greeted with critical acclaim, earning an 8.1/10 on IMDb, 81% on Metacritic, and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Originally, Jessica Jones was a Marvel Comic book series featureing a protagonist of the same name. Though I've never read any of the comic books, my understanding is that some of the events in the comics are closely mirrored in the first season (which I did watch and thoroughly enjoyed).
A Few Things That Fans Liked About The First Season of Marvel's Jessica Jones
First, we have a strong, yet vulnerable female superhero who seems very human. While she does have superhuman powers, they don't exempt her from having to earn a living like most people do. Jessica Jones is the owner and, at least as far as I've seen, the sole investigator at Alias Investigations, which is a private detective agency.
People like the noir look and feel of the show. It's dark—not dark in the sense of the horror genre, but rather, the Jessica Jones color palette reflects some of the dark themes that the first series touched on.
Some of the themes the show deals with are perhaps ones that society doesn't like to talk about, yet cannot deny. Psychological abuse and manipulation are just two themes that come to mind. (In fact, some categorize this show as a psychological thriller.)
What Some Early Reviewers Have Said About Season 2's First 5 Episodes
- From the 3 review videos I've seen, I can tentatively make one conclusion: the first 5 episodes ask for patience. That is, it may not start with the same pacing that fans will expect, but there's hope that the first 5 are a good setup for a rewarding payoff we'll see in the later episodes.
- In a video by The Ruby Tuesday, it was stated beautifuly (and I paraphrase): season 1 was about Jessica Jones' efforts to rectify something psychological, and season 2 is more about her heart, and/or trying to find out who she is.
I've heard of the character-vs-plot polarity, which is the idea that some stories are more character-driven than plot-driven, whereas the opposite holds true for other stories.
In my opinion, great stories are a balance of the two, as they're reflective of each other.
But I digress.
Anyway, in a similar vein, I feel that season 1 will be seen as more plot-driven than season two, and convesely, season two will be seen as a character-driven plot where Jessica searches for something she needs to come to grips with.
And, for her sake, I do hope she finds what she's looking for.
- I was going to mention this elsewhwere, but it's worth stating here: the release date of March 8th was selected because it's International Women's Day. That's significant because the writing and production of the second season emphasized the contributions that women make to film.
Some feel that, for most of the history of the movie industy, women have been under-represented in key production roles, such as writer and director. However, for season 2 of this series, it was previously known that a number of key roles, both in front of the camera and elsewhere, would be held by women.
I'm not sure exactly why this was the case, but I would surmise that since the second season is launching today (International Women's Day), the move to have women in key roles was to highlight the contributions that women make to film and cultural dialogue.
My Hopes for Season 2 of Jessica Jones
I mentioned earlier that I do hope Jessica finds what she's searching for. From the trailers I've seen, it seems that she wants to get come closure on something, or at least come to grips with it.
Reviewers have indicated that the first 5 episodes are slow, and for me, that's fine. Sometimes, to go fast, you need to go slow, and perhaps this slow build-up will set the momentum for a glorious climax and rewarding finish. After I watch and fully devour the 13th episode, I do hope I'll say, "Yes, I know why people felt the first 5 episodes were slow, but they couldn't have done it any other way. What a finish!"
Ah, look at the time: it launched a few minutes ago...
Attribution: image courtesy of Netflix.com