Feeling responsible for Hope's incarceration, Jessica has taken it upon herself to prove Hope's innocence by finding Kilgrave and finally putting him away. She reopens the investigation of the bus crash that supposedly killed Kilgrave, leading her to an ambulance driver with no kidneys, and a doctor who had removed them in order to make Kilgrave whole again from his crush syndrome. Finally, she discovers Kilgrave's weakness is surgical anesthesia. Game on, indeed.
There are multiple instances in this episode where Jessica reiterates that it is better to be alone. She pushes Trish away time and time again. She threatens the weird upstairs neighbors with it ("You know why I live alone? People distract me."). Even random strangers notice it ("Rude girl is lonely girl." "Counting on it."). But there is good reason for Jessica's paranoia. Like she says, Kilgrave could be controlling anyone -- at any moment, he could be sending one of his puppets after her. It's one of the reasons why, even though I still find most supporting characters pointless or annoying, there is something slightly sinister to each one of them. It could be Malcolm. It could be one of the weird twins. Anyone Jessica allows into her life, even just a little, has the potential to hurt her.
But by the end of the episode, Jessica finally relents and begins to repair her friendship with Trish. I'm still intrigued by their relationship -- we know that Jessica pushed Trish away for her own protection, but last episode hinted at the idea that Jessica felt she could never live up to Trish's idea of a hero. I'm led to believe that Jessica feels a deeper resentment of inferiority to Trish that is yet to unfold. Trish as a character is starting to grow on me. I love the fact that she is making the effort to learn how to protect herself. It shows she has agency over her own life, and she's not willing to let fear affect her relationships. Although, learning how to fight presents its own set of dangers, too. I mean, was I the only one who thought that her nose bleed was a result of mind control at first and not her training? If she does come under the influence of Kilgrave, he could definitely use her new fighting skills against Jessica somehow. "Do you have to control everything?" Jessica asks Trish at one point. That is some creepy allusion right there.
Jessica has also inadvertently allowed Luke to become entangled in her life. We find out that the real reason she has been watching him all this time was due to some apparent guilt she has over Reva Connors' death in the bus crash. But, like Trish, Luke doesn't need Jessica's protection, as we see he's got some powers of his own. I'm not sold on Luke quite yet. He and Jessica have some great chemistry together (Their tandem fight scene in the bar? Hot). But stoicism and gruffness can only carry viewers' interests so far -- I need to see some kind of personality or motivation eventually if I'm going to invest in this character at all.
"My greatness weakness? Occasionally I give a damn." Jessica knows that caring about people is a liability in her line of work. She lets the cockroach live in the beginning of the episode. Cockroaches are known symbols of resilience -- something that's hard to kill, something that cheats death. Like Kilgrave. Jessica let the cockroach live. Perhaps we're meant to infer that Jessica wasn't just careless when she walked away from the bus crash. Perhaps it was an unconscious act of mercy, a weakness for life. We see her "mercy" again when she refuses the ambulance driver's plea to kill him. Jessica can't. Like she couldn't kill the cockroach. Like she couldn't kill Kilgrave.
That's Kilgrave's specialty: leaving behind victims who would rather die than be under his control again. When Jessica asks Dr. Kurata what he has to lose, his answer isn't his life, but his mind. Jessica believes that caring about people, believing in the inherent goodness of their lives, is a weakness. Wouldn't it be safer for Trish, and for Jessica, if she stayed away? Wouldn't it be better to just let the ambulance driver die, rather than suffer? Should Jessica listen to Hope, and kill herself in order to prevent Kilgrave from using her again? Jessica eventually decides -- no. She's going to fight. Fight for her mind, fight for her life, and that includes being able to be close to people if she so chooses. She's not going to let Kilgrave run her life again, directly or indirectly. She's getting her agency back. And that's a powerful message for victims of abuse and trauma.
Squash him like a bug, Jessica!
Other Thoughts:
- Jessica is adamant that she once she finds Kilgrave, she won't let him control her again. But how can she promise that? For that matter, how did she get away from him in the first place? We see in the flashback that she's able to disobey a direct command from Kilgrave. How?
- Hope: "You should kill yourself." Creeeeeepy. As was Jack the ambulance the driver scrawling out the words, "Kill me." Dark dark dark.
- A classic noir trope is having a private eye and a cop scratch each other's backs, so to speak. In this case, it's Jessica and the lawyer Hogarth owing each other favors.
- I saw a lot of tilt-shift photography used in this episode (camera technique used to make scenes look miniature and toy-like). I'm not sure how it adds to the visual storytelling -- I actually found it a bit distracting.
- There was a brief Malcolm appearance. Not sure of his purpose yet on this show. If it's comic relief, it's not working. Maybe he's just a potential pawn for Kilgrave...
- Same goes with the weird neighbor twins. Kind of annoying? Kind of pointless? But also kind of potentially horrible if Kilgrave gets a hold of them.
- Bleh at Jessica's disdain for wearing a shirt with pink hearts. Way to reinforce negative female stereotypes, there.
- "Seattle Grace." "Like on TV?" Ha!
- Oh man, I feel so bad for the door repair guy. What a shitty day for him.
- The scene on the subway was a really good illustration of PTSD. As Krysten Ritter explains, "The thing about PTSD is that it’s not just a memory, it’s feeling like you’re back in that situation."
- "Lady, you're a very...perceptive asshole!" "Um...it's not...dialysizing." Hehe. The dialogue has definitely improved.
- Hogarth seems surprised when Hope reveals Jessica was a victim too. Just how much does Hogarth know about Jessica? And will she prove to be a friend, or foe? Also, let me take this moment to applaud the showrunners for genderbending Hogarth, who was originally a man in the comics. Just because the source material lacks representation doesn't mean the adaptation has to as well.
- We finally see Kilgrave, and he is one sadistic bastard. David Tennant is knocking it out of the park, using his velvety voice to devilish effect.
- "I have a very particular palate." Anyone else immediately get a Hannibal flashback as Kilgrave cleaned his knife? RIP Bryan Fuller's magnificent masterpiece.
- "You can't fix me. I'm unbreakable." Cheeeesy line.
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