Review: Jessica Jones - 1.03 "AKA It's Called Whiskey"

This is a story of watching and being watched. From Jessica's "I see you, asshole," to Kilgrave's "See you later," an elaborate cat and mouse game is unfolding, where anyone could be a player.

In this episode, Jessica and Luke have sex. A lot. In between all the boning, Jessica convinces Hogarth and Trish to stand by Hope's testimony in order to influence public perception, which they do by holding a live radio interview. After Trish calls Kilgrave impotent with possible Oedipal issues, Kilgrave is pissed and sends a police officer to kill her. Jessica saves the day, then follows the officer to Kilgrave's latest lair, armed with some newly-acquired sufentanil. Kilgrave manages to escape, but not before showing off his carefully curated "crazy-ass murderer wall," complete with pictures of Jessica and a cryptic, "See you later." We also find out that Jessica actually killed Reva Connors, Luke's wife, which just might throw a wrench into their new-found relationship. It might. I don't know.

So Jessica learns that Luke has unbreakable skin. Well, of course they're going to bone now. Look, there's nothing wrong with sex, and there's nothing wrong with a sex scene -- just as long as it's somehow moving the story along in some way. Two superheros going at it with each other for the first time is good character stuff -- they're finally able to completely be who they are, physically, with another person. It must be liberating for both of them. But somehow the way the show did it made the sex scenes seem overdrawn and almost annoying. Perhaps it was all the unnecessary, juvenile innuendo that made my eyes roll out of their sockets. "You are very gifted." "I wasn't talking about the food." Oooh, so saucy. We get it, they're hot for each other, and they can have super strength sex. At a certain point, it becomes a little tedious and boring. Let's move on with the story, shall we?

I still have a lot of questions about Kilgrave's powers, and Jessica's backstory for that matter. From Hope's interview, we learn a little bit more about how the mind control feels to the victim. At first, she was unaware that she was being controlled. But as time went on, she was able to catch glimpses of herself. She says that she tried to hold on to that part of herself, but she wasn't strong enough. So what made Jessica strong enough to walk away from Kilgrave? It was just after she had killed Reva, but I'm sure she had to a lot of horrible things under his control. Was it just because Reva was the final straw? In the first episode, Jessica said that time and distance helped. How much time? How much distance? Does Kilgrave's power just naturally lose strength over time? Or did Jessica need time to gather her strength to fight back? Why doesn't Kilgrave try the mind control on her now? Does he know it won't work? How far does his power reach? How many people can he control at a time?

Jessica and Trish are both living with a heightened sense of paranoia and fear these days. Every time someone new is introduced on the show, I'm immediately suspicious of them (I'm talking to you, door repairmen). Actually, even the established characters still wig me out. Is it really just a coincidence that Trish was wearing a purple shirt, and had a purple backpack (Kilgrave is known as "The Purple Man" in the comics)? Is there perhaps more to the creepy neighbors than their weird beetle collection and foil-covered windows? Jessica and Trish spend the episode constantly looking over their shoulders, but they cope with the sense of danger in very different ways. Jessica turns to whiskey and sex, and Trish builds a fortress and learns to beat the crap out of people. Which is the healthier way, I wonder?  The paranoia will only get worse from now on as Jessica realizes that Kilgrave has been watching her this whole time, even when she thought she was the one doing the watching. Who took those pictures? It could be anyone. It could be everyone.

We also explore some interesting character flaws in Jessica. For one, sleeping with a guy whose wife you killed is kind of messed up. But we're also seeing her use and hurt innocent people in order to get to Kilgrave. The look of betrayal and disappointment on Malcolm's face after she used him to steal the drugs was just sad. "You're a good person, Jessica Jones," he says earlier in the episode. Time will tell. Luke says something interesting at the beginning about how people have the capability of doing both good and bad -- it just depends on which part wins that day. But what if you have to do bad things in order to achieve a greater good? How far is too far? How many people will she use and hurt in order to take Kilgrave down? As she's pummeling the mind-controlled family at the end of the episode, she tells them she doesn't want to hurt them. Even now, Kilgrave is making Jessica hurt people against her will.

Other Thoughts:

• "It's nice to grub out with a girl who likes to eat." Bleh. Look, I know we're all tired of the stereotype of ladies who only eat salad and drink diet-free coke. But I think we are equally getting tired of the constant worship of women who stuff themselves with burgers and fries. Women should be able to eat whatever they want to eat, be it kale chip or cheesy nacho, without comment. It's just not interesting, okay?
• I'm a big fan of Luke and Jessica's short and simple superpower origin stories. Experiment. Accident. That's all we really need to know. 
• Also, did Luke just tell Jessica not to bite his dick off? Okay.
• There's a lot of intelligence going around in this show, which is great. Hogarth was smart, forcing Trish to defend Hope on air and making a call out for victims to come forward, while simultaneously maintaining her own credibility. Jessica was smart, faking Trish's death and planting her phone on the cop to follow him.
• Jessica alludes to the fact that Trish's mom might be abusive. Hm.
• "You became a ninja?" Heh.
• I wonder if this divorce storyline between Hogarth and the doctor is going to go anywhere. 
• "Sweet Christmas!" Cheesy, but cute nod to Luke Cage's catchphrase from the comic books.
• Luke not believing in mind control doesn't bode well for his and Jessica's relationship. You know, besides the fact that Jessica killed his wife. It's frustrating that she doesn't just come clean, but it's understandable -- that's probably not the easiest conversation to have. I just hope it comes out sooner rather than later. There's nothing I hate more than miscommunication being the main driving force behind a story. 
• Kilgrave's phone call to Trish was super creepy. Tennant's voice has such silky charm. 
• I've decided that I really like Trish as a character. She's smart, takes action, and cares about her friends. This ain't no damsel in distress, people.
• So Trish has inspired Patsy Walker comic books? Interesting. "I miss your red hair." Heehee. 
• Malcolm was funnier this episode. "She hit me with a little man." "It was a trophy." "It was a little man."
• Kilgrave ordered Jessica to kill Reva. Why? Was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or did pose as some sort of threat to Kilgrave? 
• I really enjoyed the scene of Jessica hunting down Kilgrave in that house. Random family members jumping out from every corner, hands darting through stairs, walls made of glass and mirrors. A veritable house of horrors.
• I also really liked cutting right to the shot of Jessica and the police officer in the garbage dump, seeing the result of him jumping rather than the jump itself. It's effective in showing the inevitability of Kilgrave's orders. Officer Simpson has just joined the trail of broken people Kilgrave leaves behind.