By Phantom Troublemaker
Since I started the Needless Things Podcast the
frequency of my commentary and speculation pieces has been dwindling. I enjoy
talking a lot more than I enjoy writing and I enjoy conversation more than I
enjoy tossing lengthy essays out into an unresponsive void.
Plus, now that I have paying supporters on SupportPhantom.com
(few though they may be) I feel a little more obligated to post stuff there
when I am taken with the desire to write.
But every once in a while I still get the itch to post
something here that’s a little broader and more interesting than a toy review.
Which is why I’m here today.
I’ve already written about Marvel Comics,
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Agents of SHIELD
(which surprised me by getting its own post), and Daredevil.
Today I’m going to write about Jessica Jones.
We were introduced to the primary characters of Jessica
Jones, Luke Cage, Patricia Walker, and Kevin Thompson – known as Kilgrave.
Jessica very quickly became one of my favorite MCU
characters. Not because she had cool powers or snappy jokes, but because she
had weight. From the first shot of Krysten Ritter you can tell that Jones is a
damaged, troubled individual. I wanted to know what had happened, but more
importantly I wanted to know how she kept going. And I wanted to see her keep
going. From the start I was rooting for her. Some of this was great writing,
most of it was Ritter’s performance and natural vulnerability with a coat of
steel on top.
Kevin Thompson – whose chosen moniker of “Kilgrave” is
rightly mocked throughout – is a monster. He is a liar, a sociopath, and sees
himself as the victim of every scenario and absolutely entitled to commit all
of the atrocities the show reveals. Is he an allegory for the “privileged
male”? Maybe. I certainly see signs that much of society views males in general
to be as inherently vile as Kilgrave. But I don’t get into political hysteria
here, so I’ll just say that he is easily the most monstrous and disturbing
creation to come out of the MCU.
It’s clear that David Tennant revels in portraying
villainy. We saw it in Harry Potter and the
Goblet of Fire, though Barty Crouch, Jr. was nowhere near as sinister as
Kilgrave. In this role, all remnants of the beloved Doctor are gone. It’s
actually quite amazing to see that face and not feel that loving fandom that I
did for so many years. Intellectually I know that this is the same guy, but
while I’m watching Kilgrave I am not thinking about the Doctor at all. I know
that’s called ACTING!, but it’s
thoroughly impressive here. I’ve seen plenty of actors play villains and heroes
in my life, but Tennant’s turn here reminds me of the first time I saw
Christopher Reeve in a movie called Deathtrap
– not so much for villainy, but in that there was no sign of the Man of Steel.
I was quite young when I saw it and it made a huge impact on my understanding
of acting.
Side Note: If you haven’t seen Deathtrap, do yourself a favor and get
on that. And don’t read anything about it. It stars Reeve, Michael Caine, and
Dyan Cannon and is fantastic.
If you’re like me, you can’t wait to see what happens
with Trish Walker and are dying to see Rachael Taylor in the MCU approximation
of the Hellcat costume. I mean, she’s earned
it, right? While Taylor has her own issues, she is the yang to Jessica’s yin;
the bright light of the show. Without her performance, Jessica Jones could have gotten bogged down with all of these
tragic, damaged characters. Every time she was on screen she was a delight.
That’s not to say that Trish didn’t have her own baggage. As with the rest of
the characters, once they had you hooked, the show starts to show you their
insides. And Trish’s past is tough.
Finally, Mike Colter was instantly likeable as Luke Cage.
He was charming and charismatic, but had his own hint of personal tragedy that
played nicely off of Ritter’s wrecked character. I’ll stop there since he was
only in seven of the thirteen episodes and also because I need to save
something for my Luke Cage piece.
I feel like that quartet were the main cast, though the
show obviously needed many more supporting characters to tell the powerful
story that it did.
Carrie-Ann Moss gave a powerful performance as the
near-sociopathic Jeri Hogarth. I found this character fascinating because she
had so many opportunities to do the right thing, and always made the most
selfish decision possible, right up until Jessica had her by the balls at the
very end and she had no choice but to do some good.
I know Will Simpson as Nuke (Frank Simpson) from Wolverine: Origins rather than as a foe
of Daredevil, which is how he originally appeared in the comics. Jessica Jones’ take on the character is
very different, though the endgame is satisfyingly familiar to comic readers. I
thought that Wil Traval did a fantastic job. If I had realized his character
was supposed to be Nuke from the start I might have been disappointed, but the
narrative made him very sympathetic and relatable before he turned into Captain
Red Pill Crazypants. I look forward to seeing more of this character in future
Marvel Netflix shows.
The victim that sets Jones on Kilgrave’s trail is Hope
Shlottman, who is played with powerful desperation by Erin Moriarty. She’s the
one pure character on the whole show and almost every scene she is in is gut wrenching
thanks to the circumstances she has been put in.
Moriarty fairly radiates
innocence, so when she is forced to commit heinous acts and then later chooses
the final act of defiance against Kilgrave, it’s truly terrible to have to
watch.
Finally, Eka Darville plays Malcolm, who finds a sort of
beautiful redemption over the course of the season. He transforms from a junkie
who seems to be victim fodder into a courageous ally. Darville is immediately
likeable despite his characters’ addictions, so his arc was one of the most
rewarding on the show. He will be back in The
Defenders as Jessica’s assistant.
Like many of Marvel’s movies and TV shows this one starts
in the middle of a story, slowly unpacking the narrative in both directions as
the episodes progress. Before I wrote this piece I sat down to watch the first
episode again, just to get a feel for the tone and refresh myself on seeing the
characters in action. Two days later I had watched the entire season again. I
found it much more compelling the second time through. The first time I kept
waiting for the Kilgrave story to be tied up, not knowing that it was the arc
for the whole season and not quite getting why he was worthy of being the Big
Bad of all thirteen episodes.
The second time through I did have that knowledge and it
made the return all the more satisfying. This time I knew the overall series of
events and was able to enjoy the small things more because I didn’t have to
think about what was going to happen and why. I had a much greater appreciation
for Kilgrave’s evil and for the resilience of our heroes in the face of it.
I was able to appreciate and pick up on the twists and
turns of Kilgrave’s character arc. How, for a short while, the show seems to be
building sympathy for him. And then turns it around to reveal that he truly is
a monster. And also how easy he is to underestimate. We think “mind control”
and, as humans, we think small. But the writers for the show orchestrated some
ingenious mechanisms to demonstrate just how much of a menace such a talent in
the wrong hands could be.
I think that the Luke Cage swerve in episode 12 is one of
the best turns in recent television history. It got me again the second time because Kilgrave’s powers had been
established so well and the show was smart enough to have Jessica double down
on the “12 hours away from Kilgrave” idea to the point where we, as the
viewers, accepted it rather than thinking about the villain expanding his
powers. Plus, the story of Cage’s interaction with Kilgrave was told in such a
way that we believed the way that it was presented.
Then, when the duo encountered Tennant’s character, the
world fell apart.
Jessica had finally had something in Luke that she had never had before someone she could trust and not have to worry about. A powered individual that, yes, might
be turned by Kilgrave, but that couldn’t end up harmed himself. It allowed her
to focus on the problem at hand in a way she had never been able to before and
we got a glimpse of a slightly less dysfunctional heroine right before the rug
got pulled out from under her and Cage attacked.
The scene was made even more brutal by Luke’s dialogue
about not forgiving Jessica for killing his wife. In the moment, we really
didn’t know whether that was him or Kilgrave and it was much more devastating
than the violence that was being dished out.
Kilgrave’s death also had a lot more weight the second
time. On first viewing, my wife and I both sort of had a “That’s it?” feeling.
But this time, being able to take in all of the nuance and having a much better
understanding of the events, the death felt powerful and satisfying.
If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you give Jessica Jones a second viewing. Not only
did I appreciate it in a completely different (and more satisfying) way, I now
want to go back and watch the other shows again just to see if I get the same
out of them.
If you enjoy Jessica Jones, binging TV shows, or Needless
Things, you might enjoy SupportPhantom.com.
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