Jessica Jones so far in it's first episode is the perfect example of what a excellently promoted and beautifully crafted series look like. Going on the marketing side alone, every piece of promotional footage and posters perfectly embodied what the series feels like from its dark, gritty, and "no holds barred" atmosphere. It's one of the rare cases when a show actually fully lives up to the trailers leading up to it's release. With season 2 of Daredevil in the horizon, I can already tell that Jessica Jones will keep me company until Netflix releases my next regretful decision to consider binge watching an entire series in one day.
Marketing and hype aside, let's talk about how this highly anticipated series kicks off. What I loved about this first episode from the start is its tone and atmosphere. I felt like I was stepping back into the world of Hell's Kitchen only without a blind vigilante sporting an red outfit and a mask with horns. If there were any Daredevil easter eggs or mentions inserted in the episode, I must've completely missed them, but that's actually a great thing. One thing I liked about that series was that it never took the time to hammer down the fact that it existed in the same universe as the MCU giving it a more "freedom of expression" in its story and world development. The same goes here with Jessica's world and character introduction despite it literally taking place in the same city. As I mentioned before, there's this strong sense of grittiness that bleeds out of the screen through the show's beautiful visual style and amazing soundtrack as well as its characters. There's something about the color pallet and artistic direction that pulls me into the world of Hell's Kitchen in a sort of alluring fashion making me ever so open minded about the possibilities of story lines and characters to come.
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| "Get that camera out of my face!"- Jessica Jones |
On the subject of characters, Jessica Jones herself feels completely different than any other live action comic book character that I've seen in quite some time which is another thing that's worth praising. I honestly would've been highly disappointed if we had gotten yet another female superhero role where the story drags on the challenges of her being a woman and her making a name for herself. I love the fact that Jessica comes across as someone who has been through a traumatic experience and all she's trying to do is continue on living day by day with revenge and coping on her mind. Her personality already won me over as the badass private investigator who subtly uses her powers whenever the moment calls for it instead of constantly showing off. From what I'm seeing so far from the premiere, this is someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants when she wants it no matter what lines she may need to cross (although we haven't seen her really kill anyone yet for intel). However, I will add the importance of the comedic elements that flows brilliantly through the show as a couple of scenes where she threatened someone made me laugh out a little. Just because the world is dark doesn't mean there still can't be a few moments of humor, so I'm more than happy that the writers and/or producers understood the significance of comedy.
As far as side characters go, there isn't much to talk about yet as the rest of the series will obviously dive into that corner, but I will say that I really enjoyed seeing Luke Cage (played exceptionally well by Mike Colter) as their quick scenes together were perfect as far as character debuts go. Although we only get a snippet of Luke's characteristics, I already likes his personality and their chemistry together. Does Luke Cage have his powers already? I have no clue, but that's what makes it even more exciting as I have yet another thing to look forward to in the show. Her boss Jeryn Hogarth (played by Carrie-Anne Moss) also had a nice introduction, but we weren't given enough of her to talk about at the moment (though I'm pretty sure we'll get some significant moments with her and Jessica in the future).
Now, for the make or break element of any comic book series; the villain. One of the problems that I've had with this genre in the live action media is villains never living up to the overall quality of the film or show that they're a part of. Sticking to the Marvel Cinematic Universe exclusively being that this is considered canon, I'll mention Loki, Hydra (including Red Skull), The Winter Soldier, Kingpin, and to some small degree Ultron as being the only well executed villains so far that we've seen. Now what makes these characters specifically stand out from the others in Marvel's rogues gallery are the interesting and fascinating character traits, backgrounds, and significant story arcs that accompanies them. Their connection to the hero is what makes them significant especially if they make a huge impact on their story which is where Kilgrave steps in strongly for the Jessica Jones character.
We've only gotten quick little "blink and you'll miss him" snippets of his character, but through beautiful visual direction and Krysten Ritter's amazing performance, you can already feel the powerful and terrifying threat of his presence lurking in the shadows. I immediately referenced Sauron from The Lord of the Rings franchise after this episode as the threatening presence that you never see completely, but you always feel through different characters. This is something that the MCU has never done villain-wise which already makes him unique in that sense, but it also makes him fascinating to pay attention to as he obviously has a major connection with Jessica and her backstory. I can't wait to see how the series portrays him in hopes that I can add another name to the list of villains that the live action Marvel brand actually did justice to.
Overall, as far as series premieres go, Jessica Jones succeed with flying colors considering my "I'll give it 5 episodes to win me over" rule when it comes to stepping into new shows. Not only am I won over with this first episode, but I'm already almost guaranteed that I'll be praising this show in the long run when I finish binge watching through Netflix. We now live in a world where comic book properties are constantly knocking on our door whether through blockbuster films or television properties, so the bar is constantly getting higher and higher with titles like Daredevil, The Flash, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers amongst others doing things right. What I'm hoping for Jessica Jones to accomplish with it's first season is to not only give us a worthy female led comic book TV series, but to also remind us that not every successful superhero property needs to be an action heavy visual FX bonanza to be entertaining. Keep in mind that we hardly got any sense of her superpowers in the show and I'm already highly anticipating the next episode. It's all about telling an amazing story with fascinating characters and I'm already having a good feeling that amongst names like Tony Stark, Captain America, Thor, etc. will be the name Jessica Jones in the spotlight where it will be rightfully earned. Netflix's new series is a magnificent step into the world of Hell's Kitchen, but with a new set of eyes this time.
Rating: 10/10
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