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Last April the inevitable happened. The two most unrelenting movements in pop culture at present, The Golden Age of Television and The Golden Age of Superhero Adaptations, joined forces to bring us Daredevil. Daredevil was the first of four individual superhero series to be commissioned by the Marvel-Netflix axis; this with the intention of bringing them all together in one Avengers-style mega-series called “The Defenders”. The Marvel universe is vast, expanding and, at present, all consuming. Its “character library” boasted over 7,000 members at last count. So why is Jessica Jones, a one-time superhero pursuing a career as a private detective, worthy of headlining the next Marvel cashcow?
Daredevil’s first season was a revelation. This was predominantly down to its exhilarating fight scenes, the likes of which have never been seen before on television. However, the show’s own brand of cocaine-ballet often served compensation for some of the show’s weaker aspects. Daredevil is, for all intents and purposes, a tonal disaster. The gouts of blood and head-stomping always sat uneasily with the office shenanigans that went on in the B-Plot. By comparison, Jessica Jones is utterly assured in its intentions. The show riffs off a lot of different noir tropes, from its bleak, tinny score, to Jessica’s hard alcoholism to her weary, laconic voice-over (which is thankfully used rarely enough that it doesn’t get annoying). Krysten Ritter, best known as Jane from Breaking Bad, is supremely competent in this role. Jessica has been consciously written as quite a reserved character but there is the sense that, like all great noir detectives, there is an ocean of rage and melancholy thrashing about beneath the surface, and this gives the show its dramatic tension. Her combined workaholism and alcoholism act as a stopgap, enabling her to (barely) keep herself together. But what is eating Jessica Jones?
From the pilot episode we know that it involves a very creepy English guy named Purple Man (David Tenant). Purple Man is without a doubt the greatest villain that Marvel have brought to our screens, small or big, thus far (sorry, Wilson Fisk). Much like Voldemort, part of what makes Purple Man so frightening is how sporadically he appears in the opening proceedings. In the first couple of episodes, he is somewhat ethereal; you rarely see his face and in the majority of cases, he is merely alluded to by the other characters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw7lAFlCSlY
What makes Purple Man truly terrifying however is the nature of his superpower: mind control- the ability to make anyone and everyone do his bidding. This concept has some really horrifying implications, particularly with regard to sexual consent. Purple Man predominantly uses his “gift” for petty abuses of power, in one case making a room full of people shut up because he needs to read a text message. However, these abuses happen early and often, and they serve as a constant reminder of his capabilities.
Really, the show’s handling of superpowers in general is what sets Jessica Jones apart from its numerous contemporaries in the Marvel universe, particularly when it comes to Jessica’s own powers. Jessica spends most nights documenting the sordid affairs of Hell’s Kitchen-based businessmen at the behest of their wives, and drinking herself into a stupor. She’s not, strictly speaking, a superhero. She does possess a “gift” though; superhuman strength. In flashbacks, we see Jessica trying out “this whole superhero lark” for the first time, but something about it isn’t very convincing. What Jessica Jones poses is a third option to the typical superhero/villain divide: what if you got superpowers and used them only sparingly, and spent most of your time trying to put bread on the table and swigging Jim Bean?
By comparison, Matt Murdock’s (The Daredevil) character arc has an element of infuriating inevitability about it. He gets some radioactive gunk in his eyes as a kid, he gets a mentor who teaches him to fight until he is a certified badass and then what else will Matt Murdock do but go out and fight some goddamn crime? As the predominantly Trinity Arts Block based audience that this publication yields will surely attest, one does not necessarily leave education and go straight to becoming a useful member to society. Jessica is not a superhero, or even a regular hero. She is a good-for-nothing, binge-drinking, millennial washout who can’t even remember to buy toilet paper let alone save the day. Jessica Jones may not be the superhero-turned-private investigator that we deserve, but she is most certainly the one we need right now.
Jessica Jones is currently streaming on Netflix.
