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TV Review: Jessica Jones (Episodes 4 - 6)

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Here’s the next set of reviews of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, the new Netflix series. I’m quite enjoying it, as it goes.

Episode Four - AKA 99 Friends

Something that I’ve really liked about this show, but not commented on yet, is the use of voiceovers. It’s really effective; Jessica Jones has a great, noir-style atmosphere, and a lot of it comes from those voiceovers. Typically the show does really well in terms of tone and atmosphere, though; once again, without appearing, we get some frightening Kilgrave moments as we start to meet some of his other victims. Personally, the young child who had been taken over stood out to me particularly, as did the story of Kilgrave’s chauffeur.

Also an interesting thing, that I’ve not yet commented on: this is the first Marvel property with any LGBT characters in it - that’d be Hogarth the lawyer, her wife, and her girlfriend. Obviously, it’s great that they’re part of the story, and that Marvel is beginning to make some strides towards a more diverse cinematic universe, but I do wonder about their relevance towards the whole plot. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the characters exist, and I do find the plotline interesting (Hogarth is remarkably callous) but it does feel a little disconnected from the rest of proceedings. I wonder how it’s going to proceed from here.

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Episode Five - AKA The Sandwich Saved Me

This could well have been the best episode of the series so far, in fact. The flashback sequences were particularly well handled, with their gradual revelation of Jessica’s past. It was quite poignant, actually, seeing her “before Kilgrave” state, where she was much happier, and working with Patsy to create the Jewel persona - actually genuinely going out and trying to save people, like Malcolm, because she likes helping people. All of that cut down, stopped in its tracks, because of Kilgrave. I’m really hoping we follow this thread with the flashbacks, and explore more of the past there.

Kilgrave himself finally got some substantial scenes, and he is terrifying. David Tennant is doing a really phenomenal job with this; in many ways, and I think intentionally, he’s channeling certain aspects of his portrayal of the Doctor here, to make Kilgrave all the more loathsome and slimy. In a way, you’d almost be inclined to describe him as charismatic - but that’s not right, because there’s always something much more insidious and disgusting lying beneath the surface. As a character, he’s never failed to be compelling yet; the final scene of this episode, where Jessica sends him the picture of herself, is genuinely unsettling.

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Episode Six - AKA You’re a Winner!

With this episode, we start to delve into the past between Jessica and Luke a lot more deeply. It was a really interesting angle that they’ve included here; I don’t know if Jessica killing Luke’s wife was ever part of the comics, and if it was, it’s certainly not something I was already aware of. That’s nice, actually, not knowing the direction in which this is going, because it’s added a really interesting layer to the relationship between Luke and Jessica, which should prove to be pretty compelling as they move through the series.

Two other, rather wonderful, moments stood out to me. For one thing, it was really great to see Jessica in her element here as a PI, really being able to show off her skills as a detective. Of them all, this episode has probably done the best job of demonstrating just how good at her job Jessica is - which makes sense, really, given the focus of the episode.
The other standout moment I was referring to was the ending, with the slow revelation that Kilgrave was buying Jessica’s childhood home. It was chillingly effective, particularly in terms of the camera pan to reveal the street sign, with the names Jessica has been reciting as a coping mechanism all throughout the series. Really enforces just how loathsome a villain Kilgrave is.

Related:

Jessica Jones Series Reviews

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By Alex Moreland (TV Blogger)