In conjunction with International Women’s Day, Netflix decided to release the second season to its female-led Marvel series – Jessica Jones. After David Tennant’s terrifying performance as the mind-controlling murderer and rapist Kilgrave, did Season 2 deliver? Let’s find out together. Note that there may be spoilers in this review. So, if you really want to go into the show blind, perhaps this review may not be for you.
Regarding Season One
In order to properly critique a second season of a show, I guess it is important to talk a little about my thoughts on the first season. I absolutely loved it! Season 1 was a dive into the darker side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daredevil was gritty but Jessica Jones was dark. Season 1 dove into uncomfortable concepts like abuse, trauma and the all-around shitfest that surrounds it. With David Tennant at the helm as the season’s villain, Kilgrave, it made Jessica Jones’ first season something special. A terrifyingly real villain that could exist, especially without the powers. The supporting cast was also great, albeit a bit chewed up between the dynamics of Kristen Ritter and David Tennant. All in all, I’d give the first season an easy 8-9 out of 10. Now, onto discussing the second season.
Plot
Once again, this is a personal story to Jessica Jones as she has to go back into her past, a past before Kilgrave. She must find out the truth behind her powers and the circumstances that created it. After investigating a few mysterious murders, her friend, Trish Walker, pushed her into diving deeper into a large mystery. This is a follow up on something hinted at during the show’s previous season. The mysterious hospital called IGH.
My main problem with this IGH plotline was that the payoff wasn’t the most satisfying. I was expecting Hydra or AIM. Heck, there is an episode where they used a lot of Octopus imagery with no connection to Hydra at all! (Unless, I missed it.) IGH turned out to be disappointingly small and there wasn’t a large government conspiracy that needed to be solved. The whole mystery gets wrapped up in the first half of the season.
So, what would a crime noir detective show do when the mystery is solved? Well, apparently, they decided to take a page from the Winter Soldier. A character who was thought to be previously dead comes back to life and is trying to reconnect with Jessica. Oh, right. The person is also a crazy murderer. Overprotective of Jessica but unstable enough to hurt Jessica half the time. Wait, didn’t Agents of Shield already do this plot line? So, in the end, the genre changes midway from mystery to thriller.
There are also two main sub-plots in this season. These sub-plots are focused on two supporting characters, Jeri Hogarth and Trish Walker. Hogarth’s plot involves her discovering that she isn’t in as much control of her life as she would like, both physically and on a career level. I felt that the plot took too long to tell us what was actually going on with her as by the time they did announce it in the story, I had already stopped caring. However, what was really interesting about her sub-plot was the second half when she experienced an event that made her do some beautifully despicable things. Revenge can be artistically petty and pleasing at the same time!
Regarding Trish Walker’s sub-plot, it builds on the Simpson story of the previous season and Trish’s quest to find recognition beyond being a faded child star. She finds it through addiction, both literally and metaphorically. As the season progressed, I started feeling less and less sympathy for this character due to a lot of decisions made. However, I guessed that it was intended that way.
The Characters
In this section, I will be going into my feelings on the individual characters.
Firstly, let's tackle the titular character, Jessica Jones. Through Season 2, she seemed to have forgotten that she was a Private Eye as most of her “investigation” skills involved knocking heads around. This was somewhat disappointing as her ability to solve smaller puzzles for a greater one was what made her distinct compared to the other Netflix-verse heroes who would just blindly plow through any opposition. A comparison would be if Batman was just some guy in a bat suit and wasn’t the world’s greatest detective. It just wouldn’t be as compelling.
In terms of character development, Jones does have some. However, it is more random than anything. She was portrayed as a super hardass but suddenly she gets really vulnerable due to certain parties being involved. The sudden change in personality confused me. But I guess some development is better than no development as I felt that after this season, Jessica had become a more fleshed out character. This is promising for her as I think the show has gotten rid of all the emotional baggage that would have stopped her from progressing as a character for the 3rd Season. If all the mysteries of her past are solved, hopefully, she can focus on the present.
Trish Walker’s addiction sub-plot is a huge part of Trish’s character growth. Her addiction to power and to ‘the big scoop’ costs her everything and makes her aggressive and unlikeable. I know they are building her up to be Hellcat but… wow. It isn’t fun to watch her act all entitled.
Jeri Hogarth is a character who steals this season away with her amazing performance. As mentioned earlier, she has a prominent sub-plot in the story. In this sub-plot, she participates in corporate espionage and something truly life-changing. Jeri is a very flawed character but she is just the BOSS! Her flaws define her in a beautiful way. You get to see her at her lowest and her highest in this season. I really hope to see more of her in future installments of the Netflix-verse. I can’t really say much without giving it away but IF YOU NEED A REASON TO WATCH THIS SHOW, JERI HOGARTH WILL BE THE REASON!
Malcolm Ducasse is another great character. In the previous season, Malcolm was a drug addict under the influence of Kilgrave. Now, he is trying his best to be better. He really grew from the broken addict we saw before as he is now working with Jessica Jones and learning things really quickly. This is how to write a supporting character! He is useful, not annoying and has a purpose in the story. His professional relationship with Jessica becomes strained due to Jessica’s own emotional volatility. Since Malcolm is an individual and doesn’t care much for toxicity, he is independent enough to work with his own initiative, not relying solely on Jessica. However, he is still flawed as hell as he has other addictions that he didn’t account for. Overall, it was very fun to watch Ducasse grow through this season.
Now, for the villain. Again, not trying to give too much away. The villain was not as compelling as Kilgrave. David Tennant is hard to beat. Heck, they even brought him back as a force ghost this season. This season’s villain isn’t really much of a black-and-white villain. Overall, it was very grey. However, halfway through the season, when all is revealed, the villain just stops being a villain. So, there wasn’t a real ‘Big Bad’ for the season. This is interesting as superhero shows tend to require a villain to satisfy their narrative. For some reason, Jessica Jones didn’t and I was somewhat okay with it. I wouldn’t say it was awesome as I am a sucker for cool fight scenes. But I wouldn’t say that the lack of a definitive villain was terrible.
Integration into the Greater Universe
There was a prominent MCU location mentioned frequently in this season. I thought it was quite interesting for them to bring it up especially since the Netflix-verse is trying to be distinct from the other Marvel Cinematic Properties.
It was also really neat of them to mention other heroes like Danny Rand in this story. At least it reminds us that we are still in the Marvel Netflix verse and I am a sucker for name drops in any connected universe.
Last Words
Overall, Jessica Jones season 2 was not the best. But at the very least, it wasn’t Iron Fist or Inhumans. It is, by no means, comparable to its first season in terms of compelling storytelling or interesting characters. But to be fair, Jeri Hogarth is amazing in this season. Carrie-Anne Moss… Props to you, mate! I am curious to see where the Marvel Netflix-verse goes for here on out. I would give this season a 6/10. It isn’t great but it isn’t bad.
