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Marvel's Jessica Jones |OT| A.K.A. Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones *spoilers for S1*

Zzoram

Member
Daredevil has better action but I liked Jessica Jones better. The psychological thriller feel was more interesting than the usual beat'em up.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
I really want the soundtrack, I don't know why it's taking so long. Daredevil's was released 17 days after the show dropped.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
Finished this up last night. It was OK? Was interesting/decent enough to make me keep watching it over the weekend, but the show was kind of lackluster when I put any thought into it. Jessica and Kilgrave were great, especially Kilgrave which is kind of troubling now since he's gone. Malcolm was pretty decent, though his arc was rather troubling to say the least.

Did not care for Jeri or Trish at all. Simpson was pretty ehh and setting him up as next season's adversary felt bad. Robyn was completely horrendous and Ruben might as well not exist in the first place.

Luke Cage was very underwhelming and I'm curious to see how they make his show work at all given how boring he was in this. Their whole relationship and how that transpired over the series felt terrible and contrived, which is a good word to describe most of the show. The fights were terrible and sloppy. The consistency and extent of Jessica's powers was horrible. And worst was the plot moving moments almost always felt unearned and cheap. One minute Jessica can lift the rear end of a luxury car off the ground with ease the next she's barely able to fight off a couple of normal goons.

Single worst moment in the series was watching her get totally knocked out by some 100lbs loony tune awkwardly wielding a 2x6. In just two hits! Then not too long after that she has a massive fight with a roided out Simpson where he's throwing her through walls and tossing her all over the apartment and she's like no problem and not long after that she fights Luke Cage where he's beating the shit out of her even more with lots more tossing through walls and shit.

The amount of time I actually said "this is dumb" in response to something happening on screen was way too high. I really hated how the show handled things E10 onwards. Kilgrave was easily the most interesting part of the show so escalating things like they did when it felt like we would finally start to get to see the inner workings of his mind was a big let down. I would have vastly preferred they spend another episode of Jessica trying to get him to be good and watching that build up to then unravel spectacularly, but nope the shut that down fast and the carnival of stupid followed almost immediately.

Any scene that didn't have Jessica working to find Kilgrave or with Kilgrave himself felt like such a waste of time because everyone else was so boring. I'm really not sure how S2 will shape up since they've lost the really only great part of the show with Kilgrave. Will some shadowy organization that gave Jessica her powers and creates crazy pill popper super soldiers really be able to match the drama, intrigue and charisma that was Kilgrave? I'm not sure.

I need to watch DD though only caught the first episode and got sidetracked with other stuff.
 

The Kree

Banned
I think the reason Jessica was able to break free from Kilgrave's control was because the moment she killed Luke's wife was the moment her strength was fully realized. I suspect if Luke had done something similar and used his full strength, he would have been able to break free on his own. I wish they could have written a little something extra to clarify it that way because as it stands it mostly seems like she broke free because the story needed her to be able.
 

Syntsui

Member
I think the reason Jessica was able to break free from Kilgrave's control was because the moment she killed Luke's wife was the moment her strength was fully realized. I suspect if Luke had done something similar and used his full strength, he would have been able to break free on his own. I wish they could have written a little something extra to clarify it that way because as it stands it mostly seems like she broke free because the story needed her to be able.

It needed a better explanation indeed. Also, there is the fact that Killgrave became much more powerful but it was still useless on her. There was no point at all in him getting more powerful, it barely lasted half an episode.
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Watch Daredevil again, there is NO WAY JJ is better in action. This is beyond absurd. I agree with the rest though, I enjoyed it much more than Daredevil. The ending was kind of a bummer, it felt a little bit rushed.
Recently re-watched Daredevil. The fight scene with the ninja and the one in the apartment complex are better than anything in Jessica Jones but overall I sitll prefer Jessica Jones; not for the choreographed sequences necessarily but the action in general. The entire series is way more kinetic.
 

Ashhong

Member
Just finished JJ and have to say that third act really dragged. Kilgrave just kept getting away through stupid circumstancesRobyn was annoying as shit as well. Really sucks that they would have such a stupid plot device of a character in a Netflix show. Usually you see that kind of stuff in a 24 episode CW show. Don't even get me started on Malcom. Wish he stayed a drug addict, was much more interesting.

Overall was really good though, loved the intensity of the show (at some points). Been a while since I've seen Daredevil but I would say they are pretty equal. Would need to rewatch that. I will say I'm not looking forward to an entire season of Luke or even Iron Fist. Kind of wish that this show was JJ and Luke. Maybe that's just me. I just want the Defenders show already..
 
I'm 3 episodes in and I'm finding it extremely difficult to stay interested in JJ.

Does it start picking up eventually or it the same type of atmosphere each episode?
 

Syntsui

Member
I'm 3 episodes in and I'm finding it extremely difficult to stay interested in JJ.

Does it start picking up eventually or it the same type of atmosphere each episode?

It really picks up on episode 6 forward. But if you are not hooked up yet, maybe it's not for you.
 

Struct09

Member
Finished the show recently and overall thought it was great. I agree that it dragged its feet a bit in the last 3rd of the season - it felt they were trying to stretch the story to fit 13 episodes. Anyway, Netflix continues to deliver - looking forward to Daredevil season 2 and Luke Cage.
 

AniHawk

Member
I'm 3 episodes in and I'm finding it extremely difficult to stay interested in JJ.

Does it start picking up eventually or it the same type of atmosphere each episode?

it kind of stays the same through episode 6, changes direction a bit, and then gets way worse.

the show basically becomes look at how well david tennant can try and hold together this thing.
 

DeathyBoy

Banned
It needed a better explanation indeed. Also, there is the fact that Killgrave became much more powerful but it was still useless on her. There was no point at all in him getting more powerful, it barely lasted half an episode.

Eh, I like the show assuming viewers can figure this shit out. It's a nice change.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I'm about six episodes in.

I actually really liked the show starting off, the first Marvel product since maybe Spider-Man 1 that I can say that for. It seemed like a story about a woman who was a survivor of abuse and trauma and who dealt with it by pushing others away. Thinking of her as uncommonly strong seemed fine.

Then by the end of the second episode the superhero bullshit crept in, it turns out Like Cage isn't tough, he's made of metal. Jessica isn't strong, she's able to jump off/on buildings and lift cars. Kilgrave isn't a manipulative sexual sadist like a Paul Bernardo type, he's just got psychic mind control powers.

Then they start talking about the broader MCU superhero bullshit. Alien attacks. The Hulk. Plot contrivances to make things work despite superpowers. And what it adds is not depth or nuance or original situations, it's mostly just a more gratuitous and obvious demonstration of the same thing. Kilgrave is evil not because he subtly manipulates people into working for his interests or against their own but because Holy Shit He Got A Guy To Throw Coffee In His Face For No Reason. The same way romantic comedies play for unearned sentimentality by playing tear jerking music over montages so to do superhero movies show strength and power only in the most obvious ways. It's the same line of thought that lead George Lucas to think Yoda is more powerful when he's flipping everywhere than when he's standing still. We rightly recognize that while this new approach can be spectacular, it is also an unfortunate loss of subtlety.

One note about the MCU. My feeling is that whatever benefits they get from integrating their works are more than made up for by losses in weakening each standalone work. The nagging feeling that you're being asked to buy into something broader rather than merely enjoy what you are watching is unfortunate. It's not as bad here as in a toilet-water level bad series like Agents of Shield, which might be the single worst up sell since the Geico Cavemen got a TV series.

It's too bad. I know there are people who like that stuff. Lootcrate has subscribers and they aren't all 13 year olds. There's no doubt that the product I'm asking for wouldn't move as much merchandise. I think it's a severe missed opportunity to depart from stylized heightened realism into full on comic book world.

I guess the logical followup to "if you don't like Marvel, why are you watching Marvel stuff". On the one hand, good question. On the other hand, though, the unbelievable popularity of Marvel stuff and their encroaching spread everywhere--there is nothing else on earth that could get FOUR direct-to-screen season orders on a TV network, streaming or otherwise, at the same time with no proof of concept--I think it's fair for me, despite my dislike for this stuff, to check in once in a while and react.

I've seen Marvel steadily improve at making shows that don't suck. Agent Carter was a better show than SHIELD. Daredevil seemed, from the brief amount I watched, as good or better than Agent Carter. And this I'm enjoying more than Daredevil. I certainly appreciate a show driven by a female lead, a bond between two women, and an interracial relationship, that at least attempts to prove at social and psychological themes. That's a good setup for a project that's going to be able to actually say something. It's a pity that some of that potential is squandered by the constraints of the comic book product development Goliath.

Imagine a version of Jessica Jones that is able to compete on insight into the human condition with the Sopranos, the Shield, In Treatment, or even Veronica Mars...
 

DroidDev

Neo Member
I gotta say, I liked Jessica Jones a lot more than I thought I would. I generally feel pretty lukewarm about Marvel stuff, but both Jessica Jones and Daredevil are up there in my favorite tv shows now.
 

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Wel... you could say she nailed the non-charismatic, bitchy, boring character. But, still, I wouldn't vote for her.

Wow, what?

Krysten Ritter was great, she was the standout of the season and she deserved the nom. Way better than the guy who played Kilgrave, he was just awful and nearly ruined the season for me with his hammy, one-note acting. Wish they had hired a better actor that could portray "menacing" properly.

Really hope season 2 has a better villain as that was the weakest part of Jessica Jones.
 

Red

Member
stump, I hear ya but I don't think Marvel has any interest in subtlety. They are making a lot of cash doing what they do. It sounds like you are looking for something more Midnight Special than Captain America. Marvel is bombast, and I don't think there is any indication they might change.
 
Wow, what?

Krysten Ritter was great, she was the standout of the season and she deserved the nom. Way better than the guy who played Kilgrave, he was just awful and nearly ruined the season for me with his hammy, one-note acting. Wish they had hired a better actor that could portray "menacing" properly.

Really hope season 2 has a better villain as that was the weakest part of Jessica Jones.

David Tennant nailed that part, and he's kind of a good actor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Tennant#Awards_and_nominations
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Imagine a version of Jessica Jones that is able to compete on insight into the human condition with the Sopranos, the Shield, In Treatment, or even Veronica Mars...

That will never exist for you, because you seem hung up on superpowers. Superpowers by definition are not going to be that subtle.
 
Episode 8 was the highlight of the show for me so far, but then 9 and 10... everything that's happening makes sense, I guess, but they way they're getting to the events feels kind of rushed and contrived. Hope it gets it together for the final few.
 

jph139

Member
Superhero media is by nature hyperreal - it acts through allegory and exaggeration to deliver on its themes (when it has themes beyond "good guy punch bad guy"). I think Jessica Jones is significantly more nuanced than most superhero media, but from its conception could never have been subtle without betraying its source material. Trauma manifests physically. Manipulation is tangible. That's the world in which the story is drawn.

It's something that I, personally, am a fan of. And I think there's a place for it. Art that makes visual and physical representations of emotions and other abstracts isn't any worse than, say, photography; both can succeed or fail on their own merits.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
And yet the real world is

Trump says hello :p

Superhero media is by nature hyperreal - it acts through allegory and exaggeration to deliver on its themes (when it has themes beyond "good guy punch bad guy"). I think Jessica Jones is significantly more nuanced than most superhero media, but from its conception could never have been subtle without betraying its source material. Trauma manifests physically. Manipulation is tangible. That's the world in which the story is drawn.

It's something that I, personally, am a fan of. And I think there's a place for it. Art that makes visual and physical representations of emotions and other abstracts isn't any worse than, say, photography; both can succeed or fail on their own merits.

Yep. I get it not being your cup of tea, but expecting a show about superhuman feats to be as down-to-earth as the real world is expecting rappers to start talking about how much they love their dog and their pickup trucks. To thy own genre be true.
 
Imagine a version of Jessica Jones that is able to compete on insight into the human condition with the Sopranos, the Shield, In Treatment, or even Veronica Mars...

It sounds like you immediately started checking out once superpowers became a part of it though. So even though that ideal hypothetical show could totally exist (with superpowers), it sounds like it would never really work for you to the extent that a show without superpowers would no matter how grounded it was.
 
I'm on episode 10 and I'm not really feeling like finishing the series. I liked how it started, like many of the characters, but it's too grimdark; I can't handle too much nihilism in escapist entertainment. The show is pretty relentless in piling it on. Obviously in a show that's ultimately about rape you can't really expect fun and cheerfulness. Just not for me.

I will say that Carrie Anne Moss is really excellent in this.
 
I'm on episode 10 and I'm not really feeling like finishing the series. I liked how it started, like many of the characters, but it's too grimdark; I can't handle too much nihilism in escapist entertainment. The show is pretty relentless in piling it on. Obviously in a show that's ultimately about rape you can't really expect fun and cheerfulness. Just not for me.

I will say that Carrie Anne Moss is really excellent in this.

There's a significant upturn in the last couple of episodes on that front.
 

tariniel

Member
I'm sure I'm not the first to say it but I really didn't like the season overall. There were several episodes where basically nothing happens or he gets away yet again. The first two and last two episodes were pretty good though.

Does anyone else think that Jessica teaming up with Kilgrave and training him to be a 'good guy', like when she lived in that house with him, could have been a fun watch? I mean, more than what they did already.
 
Really? I thought it was one of the darkest and more depressing ways they could have gone while still having Jessica "win".

Once the events of Episode 10 happen, I think that outcome is inevitable. And I found the final sequence satisfying, and affirming between Trish and Jessica.
 

Ashhong

Member
Wow, what?

Krysten Ritter was great, she was the standout of the season and she deserved the nom. Way better than the guy who played Kilgrave, he was just awful and nearly ruined the season for me with his hammy, one-note acting. Wish they had hired a better actor that could portray "menacing" properly.

Really hope season 2 has a better villain as that was the weakest part of Jessica Jones.

Wow..I mean, opinions and all...but wow
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I'm sure I'm not the first to say it but I really didn't like the season overall. There were several episodes where basically nothing happens or he gets away yet again. The first two and last two episodes were pretty good though.

Does anyone else think that Jessica teaming up with Kilgrave and training him to be a 'good guy', like when she lived in that house with him, could have been a fun watch? I mean, more than what they did already.

I thought so, but the more I thought about it, the more I'm glad they didn't go down that path.

By the end of that episode you knew there was no way she could really "reform" him. It would have been another status quo holding pattern, and the show had enough of that. Plus, after that dumb stunt she pulled at the police station, her being intelligent and taking Kilgrave unawares was sorely needed.
 

Syntsui

Member
Wow, what?

Krysten Ritter was great, she was the standout of the season and she deserved the nom. Way better than the guy who played Kilgrave, he was just awful and nearly ruined the season for me with his hammy, one-note acting. Wish they had hired a better actor that could portray "menacing" properly.

Really hope season 2 has a better villain as that was the weakest part of Jessica Jones.

Huh... you are the one with the unpopular opinion lol.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
I'm on episode 10 and I'm not really feeling like finishing the series. I liked how it started, like many of the characters, but it's too grimdark; I can't handle too much nihilism in escapist entertainment. The show is pretty relentless in piling it on. Obviously in a show that's ultimately about rape you can't really expect fun and cheerfulness. Just not for me.

I will say that Carrie Anne Moss is really excellent in this.

Episode 10 is the weakest episode, by far.

Yeah, I enjoyed all the performances. Ritter edges into being a little too cartoony for my tastes, but honestly that's kinda how pulpy noir heroes are. It's accurate to how the character should be and obviously what they were going for. Also, I'm a huge fan of Don't Trust the B from Apt 23, so there is some adjusting to seeing her play someone completely different.
 

wildfire

Banned
Huh... you are the one with the unpopular opinion lol.

He isn't the only one. Ritter definitely has the best performance in that show. While I don't think Kilgrave wasn't hammy he definitely fit the type of annoying self centered prat I've encountered IRL.
 

Syntsui

Member
He isn't the only one. Ritter definitely has the best performance in that show. While I don't think Kilgrave wasn't hammy he definitely fit the type of annoying self centered prat I've encountered IRL.

I understand this feeling. As I said, both of them acted amazingly well, it just happens that I found the Killgrave character much more interesting than Jessica Jones.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I've been somewhat letdown by the show until very recently, but episodes 8 and 9 really amped the fuck out of it. I hope it doesn't crumble appart after Ep 10 as some gaffers point.
 

Kyuur

Member
Finished the season last night with some friends. Overall I would recommend it to people due to its high points, but it wasn't very consistent. The beginning and ending arcs were weak, but the middle (everything from 5-10) was amazing. A lot of the ending beats were predictable, and I think part of the reason the middle was so great was that I kept expecting them but the show threw me in other, awesome directions. The return to predictability was made far worse due to that.
 
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