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LTTP: Marvel's Jessica Jones or when a show is longer than it should be

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Pachinko

Member
I've watched 8 episodes in 2 months ? 3 months (since it came out) and as much as I really do like the show I feel the episode count isn't the problem. It's not edited for TV so each individual episode isn't forced to be 45 minutes (or less) and it suffers for it. Some episodes have great emotional arcs for certain characters but then there's another 5 minutes to watch OR you get 20 minutes of good stuff followed by 20 minutes of filler before finally getting to the last chunk of an episode. I just feel like every episode needed to be 10 minutes shorter, that adds up to 2 hours of cut content or about 2 episodes worth of stuff.

I can help but feel like many of you complaining that 13 episodes is too long are actually really complaining about the same thing.
 

munchie64

Member
I see where complaints are coming from, but I liked it quite a bit more than Daredevil. Biggest problem is that they didn't do a few episodic cases near the start imo.
 

ElTopo

Banned
I couldn't finish it. I got up to episode six and couldn't take the cop character anymore. No regrets. Bring on the Punisher and Luke Cage spinoffs.
 
Yeah. Three episodes less and it would have been perfect. Support group taking out Jones was just a stretch in multiple ways.

Still liked it better than Daredevil because of the characters.

so, I had a couple drinks that night and yeah, wasn't sure that had ACTUALLY happened

...like, WTF, lol
 
Jessica being an unlikeable douchebag is ok. That's kind of what she is at first in the comics. The problem with TV JJ is that her character had no nuance to speak of and she barely evolved through the season.

They took the most complex and life-like character of the entire Marvel universe and turned her into a displeasing noir caricature
.

YAAASSS!
 

Dabanton

Member
The show was severely lackluster, and went on for way more episodes than needed. And it also somehow decreased my hype for Luke Cage.

Her power levels were never really explained, I guess so they can have stuff like her getting knocked out by people with planks of wood.

Tennant basically saved this show. Ritter had to actually raise her game whenever they would share a scene.
 
The action was really bad, like not too far from Drax and Ronan from GOTG and I felt it was a contradiction for Jessica to have super strength but normal vulnerability.

I rather liked that, there wasn't really any need for her to be emo Supergirl. What I didn't like is that she was so inconsistent with her strength, something a lot of super-strength heroes have in common. In one scene she is lifting up a car without so much effort as a bag of groceries and in another she is struggling to take a pair of scissors out of an old man's hands. She's shown tearing inch thick iron chains and steel padlocks in half like they were paper, yet struggles to throw a piece of furniture.

Overall I liked the show and for the most part enjoyed each episode. I don't feel like it needs a S2, but I don't think that about Daredevil either. I didn't binge watch it though, I managed about 1 ep per week so perhaps it helped me enjoy it more than others who went for a 10 hour sit-down.


Her power levels were never really explained, I guess so they can have stuff like her getting knocked out by people with planks of wood.

Agreed! That part made me pretty annoyed... she takes on multiple stun batons earlier in the series, and they take her down (which they should have) but only after a LOT of hits and her attackers (professional bodyguards/mercenaries) wondering what the hell she was and what it was going to take to stop her. Then later her crazy little skinny lady neighbour cranks her one time with a 2x4 and she's out for half a day. Just long enough for what could have been the end of the series to continue on for a few more episodes!
 
The show was severely lackluster, and went on for way more episodes than needed. And it also somehow decreased my hype for Luke Cage.

Her power levels were never really explained, I guess so they can have stuff like her getting knocked out by people with planks of wood.

Tennant basically saved this show. Ritter had to actually raise her game whenever they would share a scene.

Tennet, Moss and Rosario Dawson just sort of did laps around the rest of the cast whenever they showed up.
Dawson in particular was jarring in Ep.13 as she's clearly a better actress than Ritter.... which, is mean to say, but, well, yeah....
 
The comments on length is something I read in a few reviews. Mainly that, this is the side effect of trying to write a show to fit a binge watch format. Things begin to be too much filler.
 
The comments on length is something I read in a few reviews. Mainly that, this is the side effect of trying to write a show to fit a binge watch format. Things begin to be too much filler.

...I have no idea how anyone could binge watch this show though. Shit just starts to blend into each other and it's why I had to take a small break after Ep4 or so.... I eventually got through it by just watching an Ep every other night or so.
 
The core elements were REALLY good, but it was too long, suffered from boring sub-scenarios that came straight out of a soap opera and the way it was directed was pretty amateurish and flat most of the times. But the good outweighs the bad.

Hope they get all the kinks out for season 2!
 
...I have no idea how anyone could binge watch this show though. Shit just starts to blend into each other and it's why I had to take a small break after Ep4 or so.... I eventually got through it by just watching an Ep every other night or so.

I think that was the point being made a bit. Writing for binge doesn't allow for each episode to be written to stand on its own. Instead you can end up with these episodes that just kind of exist to exist.
 
I totally agree with the Netflix shows JJ and DD are both probably 2 or 3 eps too long. I wonder how you feel about the other shows like The Walking Dead, Flash, Arrow etc that go for 22-24 episodes a season. Those shows are what I'd call long shows and the quality definitely suffers for it. I'd prefer 2 or 3 episodes too long on DD or JJ over the 24 episode season shows.
 

BobLoblaw

Banned
Great show. Tennant owned it and I'm curious as to how the hell they top him. The show was like 2 episodes longer than it needed to be given the premise and the few characters involved. It wasn't as good as DD, but if they have a more focused second season with a great antagonist, then DD may have competition (probably nah since Punisher).
 

Saya

Member
They made a HUGE mistake
killing off David Tennant's Purple Man, the best villain in the MCU. What a loss. Him fighting the Avengers could be interesting.

I liked the series, but it definitely had some issues. I can't get over how terrible all the fight and superpower scenes were. So bad.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Both Daredevil and JJ should've been 10 episodes that were 45 minutes long at the most. That applies to most Netflix shows. Brevity is efficiency. Especially in comedy, I love Arrested Development S4 but they let some of the bits go on far too long.
 

BearPawB

Banned
The show needed a LOT of editing.
Any time the neighbors were on screen it was miserable.

And it took too long to get Killgrave on the screen.
But whenever he was on the screen he was magnetic.
By far one of the most intimidating/yet somehow endearing
 

liquidtmd

Banned
Show length was fine for me. Really appreciated some of the quieter episodes and the critique that nothing happened in the first few EPs I hear a lot, but they were my favourite ones.

Some questionable lapses in character as someone pointed out around he episode 7-10 mark but the length of time in that world wasnt a problem.

Overall loved the show, moreso than Daredevil. Whoever replaces
Tenant as villain has got a big job though
 

Azih

Member
so, I had a couple drinks that night and yeah, wasn't sure that had ACTUALLY happened

...like, WTF, lol

Yeah it was one twist too far, unnecessary, and exhausting after so many earlier (and better) ones.

Do Netflix shows have to be 13 episodes long? I would have figured one of the benefits of no broadcast schedule would be that they could play around with their series. I really think Jones would have been stronger as 9 or 10 episodes.
 
Yeah, the show seems kind of confused as to what it is and what it's trying to do. It hasn't really found it's groove but David Tennant was so fantastic that he carried the entire season.
They're going to have to work real hard to make future Tennant-less seasons something that people are going to want to watch.
 

this_guy

Member
On Fatman on Batman, either Kevin Smith or Mark Bernard said they thought this was better than DareDevil.....

:/

I thought it was better than DareDevil also. The actors for Kingpin and Foggy really turned me off.

Jessica Jones could have used a shorter season though.
 

Dai101

Banned
Completely agree on it being a tad too long (it would be perfect at ten or maybe eleven eps) but not too much in the other cons.

Now, i don't plan to rewatch this anytime soon, is really REALLY too bleak. Shit burned me.
 

Ivan 3414

Member
Jessica Jones was good, much better than Daredevil. The fight scenes were fine; they weren't elaborate and there weren't nearly as many ridiculous we-have-no-aim bullet dodging sequences. Also Daredevil has really, really poor acting, especially from the leads; Jessica Jones was a couple notches up.

I hated how in the finale they shoehorned
Claire
into the show.
Jones trusts some unknown nurse to bring Cage to her apartment, revealing their abilities? And it happens to be Claire? Ridiculous. They should have waited until the Defenders show.
 

black_13

Banned
Definitely agree. The beginning was too slow, the middle dragged on far too long. It could've been better as 8 episodes and maybe another villain thrown in if they wanted more episodes.
 

stuminus3

Member
My wife and I enjoyed the scene with the gratuitously shiny handsome half naked man. Episode 12 I think it was.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I agree with all the criticisms and I still think it's a superior work to Daredevil.
 

Hyun Sai

Member
Yeah, I agree. Should have been a 8-9 episodes max. The acting wasn't even great except for some Killgrave moments, and the action scenes were the epitome of blandness.

The best thing was the opening. Superb.

Daredevil was much better even if it also dragged too much at the end.
 

Dabanton

Member
Tallying up the show against Daredevil I think DD is a better watch. Don't think I could stomach another watch of JJ.

Theme wise JJ was better, but when your villain and other side characters are far more interesting than the main character you have a problem. I loved that Jessica was actually really unlikable sometimes, that was refreshing. But Ritter never really sold that as well as they could have.

I'm up for a second season, but they need to retool a lot of things.
 
Yeah coming from Daredevil the action wasn't nearly as good. Both series could've used a trim up though but agree, JJ needed it more.
 

Azih

Member
For me:

Jones had better:

Characters all the way through (minor characters, sidekicks, heroes, villians etc.) since they felt real whereas DD was really hammy. Froggy was the only person in DD that felt like a real person to me.

Hero: See Characters. Plus Jones actually did really clever investigator stuff throughout which was well written.

Villian. Also see above. Not that Kingpin is bad. It's actually pretty great that Kingpin has such a terrible life in DD, Kilgrave is just top tier though. One of the best villains ever for me.

Intro. Dat purple


DD had better

Action: No contest. At all.

Pacing: Multiple plot lines sustained the 13 episode way better than Jones' Kilgrave vs Jessica



Iconic scene from the two scenes for me is:

Daredevil: Hallway fight

Jessica Jones: Kilgrave walking out of police station

The first is way more fun. The second just freezes the soul it's so chilling.

Really I can't get away from giving the nod to Jones just for the characters. Will never watch it again though because it became a slog at the end, had the most annoying side character in the screwed up upstairs neighbour woman, and it was just so god damn bleak.
 

MAtgS

Member
It was more a 13-hour movie than a tv series. She's a PI, do more episodes of her doing detective stuff & how she uses her powers to aid in her cases.
 

Grinchy

Banned
I only made it 4 episodes before giving up, so I can't tell if it was too long or not. I just couldn't stand Ritter. I completely agree with OP that her acting skills are just not up to the task of being the main character in something. I also just thought the writing overall was awful. The dialog just seemed so stupid.
 

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
Loved the themes, enjoyed the characters, but yeah, Ritter is a bit of a weak link and 10 episodes would have been perfect.

Also, the Marvel tie-in stuff I could do without.
 

jmdajr

Member
Broadcoast TV is much worse.

I enjoyed Gotham enough being a Batman fan, but shit is just waaaay too long.

I think 13 episodes is good, but sure maybe 10 would be better.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
Ending (10-13) with Killgrave mutating his own powers, and all of the personal revenge on JJ at the end is where it loses me.

Loved Jessica and her interactions with Trish (and Killgrave and the animosity, even if the going with him to her old house was rather dumb, imo), but Trish's BF, the lawyer, and other supporting characters (minus maybe Malcolm) felt like they got too much time for too little development.

Would have preferred solving 'more' mysteries, but if/when we get another season, hopefully they can work that in with showing some additional growth of the character from Ritter.
 
Jessica
with the surprise syringe to killgrave's neck, and then dragging him to some elaborate cage
just screamed Dexter

Characters all the way through (minor characters, sidekicks, heroes, villians etc.) since they felt real whereas DD was really hammy. Froggy was the only person in DD that felt like a real person to me.

Jessica Jones' characters felt as real as the characters you would get from some Adult Swim cartoon comedy. You could have put her neighbors in King of the Hill.
 

Azih

Member
Jessica Jones' characters felt as real as the characters you would get from some Adult Swim cartoon comedy.
To me she seemed far more real than anyone other than Froggy in DareDevil *shrug*. As real as a character can be with an evil and obsessive mind controlling stalker.
 

Oddduck

Member
Honestly, I think Gotham Season 2 does the whole "crime noir detective show in a comic book, cartoony world" better than Jessica Jones Season 1.

On a side note:

Jessica Jones' lesbian divorce subplot between Jeri Hogarth/Wendy/Pam was about as stupid as the Barbara/Montoya lesbian subplot in Gotham S1.
 

Dice//

Banned
I actually liked that a lot of the"bad action" came from Jessica. She's strong, so she never really bothered learning to fight proper. Contrast against trish who doesn't have the strength but had the moves.

Agree with the rest, still loved the series overall, but like with most shows, they can do more with less Eps.
 
anything dealing with Simpson was absolutely terrible. I know, it's some shit that's tying into the second season or whatever but in the context of the first season it made me want to just fast forward past that crap
 
It was a fine show, but I felt it had a lot of issues, way too long running time, a lot of subplots that never amounted to anything, and tons of things that ended up being total wastes of time
The girl that Jessica is trying to find innocent dies at the end anyway, making things entirely pointless.
that really showed no character growth in Jessica. I'm hoping that things will change through her appearances in Luke Cage.
 

Phyranion

Member
The show should have dealt more with Jessica doing other cases while keeping the Kilgrave plot in the background until the final episodes. This would have avoided the ridiculous amount of Kilgrave escapes we saw which dragged the story down.
This! I really loved the mood of the show, and seeing Jessica handle some ordinary cases would be cool. It's not often I want more fillers, but in this case I do.
 

Solo

Member
I just finished it 2 nights ago. What a slog it was to get through. I got through Daredevil in about a week but was at JJ for about 2.5 before I got through it.
 
I just finished it 2 nights ago. What a slog it was to get through. I got through Daredevil in about a week but was at JJ for about 2.5 before I got through it.

I think I took a week-long break once Jessica was taken back to her childhood home. It already seemed like things were gonna get even slower from that point on.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Finished it just now, and I was really disappointed with the show. For me its only saving grace was David Tennant as Kilgrave, and even his character gets annoying near the end (in that he became more and more of a petulant child). People seem to like the early eps, but for me even those were a pain to get through. One of the biggest problems I see is the horrible miscasting of Ritter as Jessica. She just doesn't sell the 'troubled, dark and brooding anti-heroine' thing very well. The cringe started in ep 1, and then I already feared for the rest. Most of the supporting cast is far from memorable, it's really only
Rosario who saves this in the final ep.
. But damn... the creep twins, Simpson, Malcolm, even Luke Cage... It all did nothing for me.

I normally like it when a show takes its time, but you need interesting characters to make that work, an asset this show doesn't have. So I agree with the OP that the show feels too long.

I know DD is a bit different in tone, but that show is just miles ahead of JJ in everything, not even comparable. The fight scenes aren't really the focus in JJ, but that's no excuse for them looking as horrible as they did.
 

Sojgat

Member
Needed better fight choreography, some interesting case of the week stuff, and more Trish.

I really liked it overall though. Second season could be great if it's handled right.
 

Future

Member
Spoilers ahead...




The moment Jessica jones shitty neighbor knocks her out for literally hours, conveniently so purple man could disappear, when just before an entire elite squad with tazers couldn't bring her down was when it cemented for me that the writing just was not good in this series. You want to like it because some of the acting is good and it's fun to see an r rated comic story that is kinda taken seriously, but when you really think about it your brain has to shut off to understand some of the events. Including why no one thought of wearing earplugs when approaching helgrave before the headphone scene at the end (that worked like a charm)
 
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