It seemed that the Defenders themselves desperately needed a hero. After Iron Fist was released as a sub-par introduction to be the fourth and final member of the street-level supergroup, the team-up itself proved to be something of a disappointment after a strong first half. Rather than being the equivalent of The Avengers on the small screen, the somewhat underwhelming gathering revealed that the Netflix/Marvel venture seemed to be losing steam when it should have been at an all time high.
Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle helped to restore some of that balance after The Punisher was finally granted his own series – but what the Defenders series really needed was some of that old magic – that daring, anything-goes, noir-tinted anarchy that can only come from Marvel’s most acerbic character. After her participation with the Defenders, it was time for Jessica Jones to properly return, but without the haunting villainy of Kilgrave to back her up, can Marvel’s constantly p’ed off P.I. manage to save the Defenders Saga?
It seems that even saving New York from the threat of the Hand wasn’t enough to pull Jessica Jones out of her personality defining bouts of gargantuan self loathing. While the threat of the mind controlling Kilgrave has long since past, Jessica is still haunted by the fact that snapping his neck like a bread stick made her officially a killer no matter which way you care to slice it. Former junkie neighbour Malcolm, is now Jones’ loyal, P.I. protege (sort of), but even his support isn’t enough to stop his boss having to wade through all the whackos who are desperate to enlist the services of a super powered vigilante.
However, ever the cheerleader, Jessica’s adopted sister, Trish Walker, is still obsessed with investigating IGH, the company that she’s convinced gave Jessica her powers after the childhood car crash that killed her family. But more than being incredibly disinterested (despite Trish bringing her family’s ashes out of storage), Jones’ attention has been well and truly grabbed by the efforts of rival P.I., Pryce Cheng, to first absorb, then crush her business. However, after Jessica has the kind of stern words with him that ultimately require medical care and the actions of a lawyer (textbook Jessica), she finally realises that there might actually be something to this IGH stuff when she meets the Whizzer – an overweight man with speedster powers that claims someone is trying to kill him.
Hoping that looking into the Whizzer’s claims will help with the returning anxiety about her family’s death, she soon discovers that there may actually be a conspiracy at foot. But with the Whizzer halted permanently by a freak accident and sightings of Trish’s super-powered, disturbed ex, Will Simpson, it looks like Jessica’s next big case will ultimately be her own.
After the ninja hogpile of the Defenders, it’s kind of nice to slow right back down to a noir-based pace to welcome back Jessica into our lives. After all, one of the best aspects of that first season was all the grimy, neo-noir aspects it managed to draw from the original comics by Brian Michael Bendis, and while some might find things starting a little too slow, that’s probably because “AKA Start At The Beginning” seems way more interested in directly carrying on themes from season 1 rather than concentrating on the fallout from the Defenders. In fact, interestingly, the events from the somewhat disappointing miniseries are hardly mentioned here other than an extremely vague allusion to the apparent death of Daredevil (spoiler warning folks – he’s breathing) and season 2 wisely chooses to plow deeper into her own personal turmoil and look into her past. It’s not just the murder of Kilgrave and the pressure of being a known super power that’s pushing our reliably fucked-up heroine to the brink either, as we’re now also serving up a big dollop of survivors guilt too.
It’s no real surprise that Jessica Jones’ second season was going to dive down the secret origin story rabbit hole, as both the previous offering, and parts of Luke Cage, made a pretty big deal of leaving some fairly noticable bread crumbs about some shadowy firm engaging in a race to create super beings. This means that the ever irrepressible Trish has amusingly resorted to playing a humiliating birthday gig as her child-star alter-ego, “Patsy”, in order to score some necessary info. It’s just one of the organic ways that the season reacquaints us with Jessica’s inner circle. The kindly, almost puppy doggish Malcolm is digging even more into that younger brother vibe as he acts as Jones’ assistant/pupil as he attempts to learn her trade, and Jeri Hogarth is still actively being a horrible person as we discover that her ex-girlfriend is attempting to sue the shit out of her due to the harrowing experiences she suffered after she was placed in the vicinity of Kilgrave. It’s genuinely nice to spend time with these guys again (even Hogarth, I guess), especially as we don’t have to share them with the supporting characters of at least three other shows.
It’s a good thing too, as the main plot has some way to go before it picks up speed. Obviously, a good noir – even ones including superpowers – tends to start off pretty small before gradually picking up momentum, and it’s pretty obvious that Jessica is going to come into contact with other, powered-up souls who will presumably be just as messed up as she, but I have to say, I hope we get something a little better than the Whizzer. Obviously, the plus sized speedster is only the tip of the iceberg (his quick and violent exit is proof of that), but while the character is played more as a joke, the way his powers are awkwardly visualised proves that the Netflix budget still has a fair way to go when handling more advanced power sets.
But these are minor grumbles, because the driving force of the show has always been aiming a microscope at all the shitty feelings an immensely damaged Jessica is feeling at any given moment. Twisting Kilgrave’s spine like a bottle cap seemingly has given Jessica little, if any rest from her demons as her booze consumption and rage tantrums seem to be actually getting worse. Her assault on the smug Pryce Cheng may be initially satisfying in the moment, but it only opens her up to more varied forms of attack as the word “sue” is bandied about in front of Jeri Hogarth like blood in the water. While the enotional jump from the Defenders to Season 2 may not feel as smooth as it should, the showrunners realise that the show is at its best when giving its frustrated heroine more reasons to look over her shoulder.
A slow, but solid start for Jessica Jones’ second (technically third?) outing wisely sticks to the basics of making it’s lead character as miserable as it can right from the word go. While the show will be hard pressed to find an antagonist that compliments Krysten Ritter’s self-hating drunk quite as well as the vanquished Kilgrave, she’s a least got the benefit of an established supporting cast helping her out.
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