TV series review: Jessica Jones S1

I am slow at watching TV. That’s not likely to change. I struggle to sit still long enough, I guess. I can usually only manage one or two episodes of something, maybe three at a push, and then I just have to get up and do something else. So this is why I’m reviewing Jessica Jones so late, so long after everyone else.

I do like Marvel. I’ve been really enjoying the Marvel Movies from Iron Man to Ant-Man (although I admit that they have problems). I like superheroes. I like the escapism. So I’m definitely a fan. I (slowly) devoured Daredevil last year so I was excited about Jessica Jones, especially when I found out that Krysten Ritter would be staring in it.

It’s dark. I know I’m saying nothing new here, but it really is dark. Darker than Daredevil by a fair margin. Marvel is so good at bad guys too and Killgrave is terrifying, even when compared to Daredevil’s Wilson Fisk. Naturally, David Tennant is fantastic and does a great job of making you feel genuinely uncomfortable. Nothing is quite so creepy as a guy who can get in your head and never questions whether or not he should.

So I loved it and I found it seriously compelling. I’m looking forward to S2 already. The only thing that bothered me was the gore. I guess it didn’t start out so bad but by the latter half of the series, there were several scenes where I had to look away. This might be based on a comic book but what we’re shown is far from “cartoon violence.” Maybe it was necessary to help you hate Killgrave but honestly, I think I would have hated him without it, so for me, it definitely crept into the gratuitous end of the spectrum at times.

Nevertheless, I think it’s worth a watch (sometimes from behind a cushion). Without spoilers, I can tell you that the finale is satisfying but I do wonder where it has to go from there. I’ll be curious to find out.