Marvel's Jessica Jones (Netflix) (SPOILERS)

[thecolorsblend]

Couldn't find an existing Jessica Jones thread. If one exists, feel free to merge this thread with that one.

Just finished season 03. I enjoy this show primarily for the portrayal of Jessica and the performance of Krysten Ritter. I'll go out on a limb and say that those two features are probably the best elements of the show. At certain times, they've even be the show's sole redeeming qualities.

Specifically, Trish. I can't remember ever liking Trish. Even back in season 01, I found her annoying. As season 01 progressed, my thoughts never changed about her. Getting into season 02, I started thinking that if Jessica just dropped Trish off a building, most of her problems would vanish all by themselves.

In season 03, Jessica literally does drop Trish off a building but that's not enough anymore to stop the wretch's reign of terror.

Thing is, I get the idea that the narrative was trying to make viewers love and care about Trish. But considering that all she ever did was screw things up for everybody else, it was hard to experience anything but loathing for her. The actress plays the role well, don't get me wrong. But the character is just a vile wench of a human being.

Still, Jessica Jones as a show staked out the "gritty detective drama" corner of the Netflixverse. The cancellation of Daredevil will always be what hurts the most. But man, I'm REALLY going to miss Jessica Jones.

But yeah, Trish sucks, no doubts there.

[thecolorsblend]

It's weird how JJ got three seasons but it never got real traction among fans.

Daredevil was everybody's darling from start to finish. For reasons I still don't understand, Iron Fist was everybody's pariah. Even around here, I couldn't find any other thread or posts about the show.

Anyway. Felt like doing a rewatch. Partly it's because I'm a longtime fan of the character and partly it's because I just kinda like Krysten Ritter but this is a good little show. Finishing up a rewatch of season 01 rn and I've rly enjoyed it.

Trish is still the show's blackhole. This, I do affirm. But still, not very much is wrong with season 01.

[Silver Nemesis]

This is weird... I could have sworn I'd written lengthy reviews of both seasons 1 and 2 and posted them on this site... Very odd indeed.

I was fairly hyped about JJ before it started, mainly because I saw it as something to tide me over while I waited for DD season 2. I think I was hoping Cox's Daredevil might make a cameo like he did in the prequel comic.

I'd already read the Purple Man Alias storyline years ago, and I bought the hardback Alias omnibus and read every issue a couple of months before the first season landed. I can't say I'm a huge fan of JJ, either in the comics or the TV show, but I think for people who are it was a decent adaptation. Ritter was perfect in the lead and I've got several female friends and cousins who enjoyed the show and thought it was better than Daredevil (they're entirely wrong, of course).

I've watched almost all of the Marvel Netflix shows, but there are a few episodes I've yet to catch up on. I've watched all three seasons of DD and The Defenders multiple times, and I've watched all the seasons of JJ and IF. I've seen the first season of The Punisher and almost all of season 2. I just need to watch the last two or three episodes. With Luke Cage, I watched the whole of season 1 but only the first episode of season 2. I'm not sure if I can conjure the effort to go back and watch the remaining episodes, knowing that they're not leading anywhere. I always felt that LC and IF should have been combined into a single Heroes for Hire show following their introductory solo seasons. But I'm glad each of the five main Netflixverse heroes got at least three seasons:

•   Daredevil: DDs1, DDs2, The Defenders, DDs3
•   Jessica Jones: JJs1, The Defenders, JJs2
•   The Punisher: DDs2, TPs1, TPs2
•   Luke Cage: LCs1, The Defenders, LCs2
•   Iron Fist: IFs1, The Defenders, IFs2

Is the Netflixverse truly dead? There have been consistent reports of Cox returning, with some online sources claiming that he's been seen on the set of Spider-Man 3, and I've heard rumours that Ritter might be back as JJ in an upcoming MCU production (most likely the She-Hulk series). Ritter said she was done with the character in an interview following the show's cancellation, but I expect she'd return if they asked her. If Cox and Ritter return, can the other Netflixverse heroes be far behind?

[thecolorsblend]

This is weird... I could have sworn I'd written lengthy reviews of both seasons 1 and 2 and posted them on this site... Very odd indeed.

If you did, I couldn't find them.

•   Jessica Jones: JJs1, The Defenders, JJs2

I think you're overlooking JJs3 there, bro.

Is the Netflixverse truly dead? There have been consistent reports of Cox returning, with some online sources claiming that he's been seen on the set of Spider-Man 3, and I've heard rumours that Ritter might be back as JJ in an upcoming MCU production (most likely the She-Hulk series). Ritter said she was done with the character in an interview following the show's cancellation, but I expect she'd return if they asked her. If Cox and Ritter return, can the other Netflixverse heroes be far behind?

The latest gossip is that D'Onofrio is being courted rather aggressively to migrate to the MCU too.

The way things are rn, it might be that the plug was pulled on the Netflixverse prematurely. These are not super expensive shows to make, they've got built-in audiences, they're popular IP's unto themselves and seasons can be produced relatively quickly. I assume that Netflix is the party who dropped the ax on these shows. I have no way to know that for sure tho. And I'm not predicting that all shows and all characters will get ported over to Disney+ but you could make stupider decisions in COVIDworld than continuing popular franchises like these.

But there is considerable wisdom in keeping Cox, D'Onofrio, Ritter and Wilson Bethel on speed dial. Y'know, just in case.

[The Dark Knight]

This is something I'm keen to check out, mainly for the presence of Carrie-Anne Moss.

[thecolorsblend]

This is something I'm keen to check out, mainly for the presence of Carrie-Anne Moss.

She's welcome in anything afaic.

Something else, there's a ton of Netflix material out there. It's pretty ambitious when you think about it. At one point, there were four seasons coming out in a single year and they were all season 01 of something. It's pretty remarkable how well it all came together.

Daredevil season 01, April 10, 2015
Jessica Jones season 01, November 20, 2015
Daredevil season 02, March 18, 2016
Luke Cage season 01, September 30, 2016
Iron Fist season 01, March 17, 2017
The Defenders season 01, August 18, 2017
The Punisher season 01, November 17, 2017
Jessica Jones season 02, March 08, 2018
Luke Cage season 02, June 22, 2018
Iron Fist season 02, September 07, 2018
Daredevil season 03, October 19, 2018
Jessica Jones season 03, June 14, 2019
The Punisher season 02, January 18, 2019

And what rly works for me is how there's only the one season of Defenders. Rather than run the team-up thing into the ground, they told a quick eight-part story, put the dice down and went back to solo characters. Say whatever you want about the quality of The Defenders show but it definitely didn't overstay its welcome.

Your move, Arrowverse crossovers.

[The Laughing Fish]

Initially, I wasn't hyped about the first season when I first watched it. But it grew on me after I gave another shot. David Tennant's Killgrave is definitely one of the best Marvel villains, so pompous yet still disturbing.

Trsh Walker definitely had quite a character arc over the course of the series. The third season was not something that I had expected. But then again, once she involved herself in going after Jessica's mother, killing her, and her own ambition in going after the serial killer in the third season, it was always going to end in tears.

[Silver Nemesis]

If you did, I couldn't find them.

I've found an old file on my computer from 2015 containing my review of JJ season 1, but if I posted it online then evidently it must have been on a different site. I'm sure I wrote a review of season 2 as well, but I can't find that file now. Oh well. It's unlikely I wrote anything interesting or insightful.

I think you're overlooking JJs3 there, bro.

Whoa. I genuinely forgot that season 3 even existed until you mentioned it. That's another one I haven't seen. The part of my brain retaining memories of this series must have atrophied from disuse. I stopped thinking about it after Netflix announced they were canning all their Marvel shows. If they'd delayed that announcement until after season 3 dropped, then I might have watched it. But since I wasn't a huge fan of the first two seasons, I mightn't have bothered anyway. In any case, announcing the cancellation before the final season aired was a tactless move on the part of Netflix.

Say whatever you want about the quality of The Defenders show but it definitely didn't overstay its welcome.

Judging from discussions I saw online, a lot of people were expecting The Defenders to be the MCU's answer to Watchmen. It was going to be an r-rated drama for a mature and sophisticated audience, and it would capitalise on its long-form serialised narrative to tell a complex and layered story that would feel epic in scale. The Netflixverse got off to a great start with the first few seasons, but then Iron Fist failed to meet fans' expectations and ruined the depiction of the Hand. That dampened the general enthusiasm for The Defenders, which ultimately felt like an anticlimactic payoff for the mysteries that had been teased since DDs1.

I'm one of the few people who actually enjoyed The Defenders, although I agree with the consensus that it should have been a lot better. A slow-burn mystery in the same vein as Watchmen could have been great. It's not hard to draw parallels between the Netflixverse heroes and those in Moore's book.

Rorschach/Punisher

Burnt-out vigilante who doesn't work well with others. Is wanted by the police, uses lethal force against criminals and has a strained friendship with another superhero (Nite Owl II/Daredevil). At one point he gets sent to prison where his fellow inmates attempt to kill him, but he slaughters them and subsequently escapes.

Ozymandias/Iron Fist

Blond blue-eyed billionaire who travelled the world studying martial arts before returning to New York to fight crime. Is in peak physical condition, owns a powerful corporation and possesses the skills and reflexes to stop a bullet.

Silk Spectre II/Jessica Jones

Embittered cynic who resents her former life as a crime fighter, yet inevitably gets drawn back into it. Is romantically involved with another superhero (Doctor Manhattan/Luke Cage) and has a complex relationship with her mother.

Nite Owl II/Daredevil

Costumed crime fighter with a kind-hearted alter ego and a strong sense of morality. Avoids lethal force but isn't above breaking bones when his rage gets the better of him. At one point he has a romantic relationship with another super powered character (Silk Spectre II/Elektra). He has also worked with a costumed ally whose extreme methods he disapproves of (Rorschach/Punisher).

Comedian/Black Sky

Morally dubious hero-turned-villain whose death instigates a troubling sequence of events that brings the other heroes together. Is blasé about killing enemies and once had an unhealthy relationship with another hero (Silk Spectre I/Daredevil), the emotional scars of which have longstanding repercussions.

Doctor Manhattan/Power Man

Ok, this one's a stretch. But they're both bald, muscular heroes who became practically indestructible following an experiment gone wrong. Both are romantically involved with a female superhero (Silk Spectre II/Jessica Jones). That's about it.

I think we will be seeing more of at least some of these characters in the future, so the potential is still there for the epic miniseries that The Defenders didn't quite deliver.

[thecolorsblend]

Whoa. I genuinely forgot that season 3 even existed until you mentioned it. That's another one I haven't seen.

It stands out to me only because that was rly the jump the shark moment for that series. From the get go, Trish was always an albatross around JJ as a series. But the third season rly took her incompetence, lack of accountability and poor decision making to the Nth degree. With friends like her, who needs enemies?

Judging from discussions I saw online, a lot of people were expecting The Defenders to be the MCU's answer to Watchmen. It was going to be an r-rated drama for a mature and sophisticated audience, and it would capitalise on its long-form serialised narrative to tell a complex and layered story that would feel epic in scale.

I'd forgotten about that! But it's true, people were hoping for a dark, talky character piece to contrast the shiny happy first Avengers team-up film. And I must tell you, that idea is as interesting to me now as it was back then.

The Netflixverse got off to a great start with the first few seasons, but then Iron Fist failed to meet fans' expectations and ruined the depiction of the Hand. That dampened the general enthusiasm for The Defenders, which ultimately felt like an anticlimactic payoff for the mysteries that had been teased since DDs1.

I get that. And in a thread about Jessica Jones, maybe it's hypocritical for me to say that my primary investment in the Netflixverse was always Daredevil. But it's true. My gateway into Defenders was how well Murdock's character arc from the first two Daredevil seasons was carried forward, how well Elektra and Stick were developed as characters, etc. In the face of all that, I'm prepared to overlook a lackluster season of Iron Fist. Esp when it seems like I'm the only guy in the room who never had a problem with Finn Jones as Danny.

Bottom line, Defenders would've had to make a world class train wreck out of Murdock before I washed my hands of it.

It's not hard to draw parallels between the Netflixverse heroes and those in Moore's book.

A fact that eluded me until after I finished watching Defenders that first time.

I'm familiar with the arguments that Squadron Supreme is basically about as close as Marvel can ever or will ever get to Watchmen. But I maintain that Defenders could've been some type of rival to Watchmen. We may never know. But as you say, I'm convinced that the potential was always there.

The one thing that's happened since Defenders was released that changed my opinion was the revelation that Sigourney Weaver's character was essentially invented out of whole cloth specifically to bump Gao out of what everyone had assumed was the leadership position of The Hand essentially due to racist elements behind the scenes at Marvel. Even now, I hope it isn't true. But any way you care to slice it, Gao had been implicitly set up as The Hand's leader and to suddenly find her playing second fiddle to Weaver in Defenders was jarring.

Of course, the other way of looking at it is that the move was wokeness by the back door. Essentially, the leader of The Hand was always going to die at Elektra's hands. Whether it's being uncomfortable with killing off a POC character or if the showrunners wanted to perhaps bring Gao back for something in the future, they knocked her off her perch so that a different (i.e., white) character could be Elektra's sacrificial lamb. And yes, there is a racist consideration behind all that, it just goes in the opposite direction.

Or it could be something else entirely.

Either way, Gao's trajectory change in Defenders remains very strange and very odd.

[thecolorsblend]

So, Mike Colter and Krysten Ritter are teasing the return of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.





If there can ONLY be one returning Netflix actor, obviously I need it to be Charlie Cox. Everything else is negotiable.

But if we can get more, yeah, I'll take Ritter back as Jessica in a heartbeat. Her performance is PITCH PERFECT for me. And Colter, eh, that's fine. I don't think he's irreplaceable. But if he's open to coming back, whatever, the more, the merrier.