When we first meet private investigator Jessica Jones(Ritter, snark personified), she's a recovering rape survivor. She has PTSD, as we see from the coping mechanism of naming her childhood home's streets, and her symptoms. These include trouble falling asleep, and even when she does, such as on the subway(which gives you an Idea of how badly she needs to rest. The smell and noise of it alone seems like it should be enough that you could never catch Zs, not to mention how many people around you don't trust being vulnerable near) she almost immediately comes to. The reason for this is simple. Whenever she starts to lose consciousness, immediately it feels like her abuser is right behind her, whispering in her ear, licking her(!). Her trauma is taken seriously, and it's put front and center.
That man is Kilgrave(Tennant, making a meal of it). He literally does not have empathy, and it is explained why. His power? Others have to do anything he says, which basically means that he can either get everything he wants, or he can carefully think about every word that comes out of his mouth. You can probably guess which he chooses. An emotionally stunted narcissist, he literally can compel others to fulfill his lightest whim. And he claims to actually love our PI, and want her to be happy. He carries out what he believes are grand romantic gestures. Not seeming to understand that while he apparently did think of her as someone that he wants to spend the rest of his life with, she wants nothing more to do with him. She was his prisoner. And if he legitimately wanted to know if she felt the same, all he had to do is tell her she had to be truthful, and ask. And yet he didn't. Maybe he knew the answer. Perhaps it was just too big of a risk to take. Either way, it ended up with him forcing her. In reality, there are no people who can force *anyone* they talk to, to do what they want, Make them think they want it, make them go along against their better judgement. But there are lots who can do that with a select few. It's called gaslighting, and it's something we need to put a stop to.
She's not alone in fighting him. Her adoptive sister, former child star and current radio personality Trish Walker(Taylor, spot-on). She used to be known as the titular star of kid's show "It's Patsy", which is also how a lot of people greet her when they recognise her. Every so often, we'll get another titbit of it, like hearing the theme song, sitting in on the tail end of a table read, hearing someone describe one of the plots. They really got it exactly right. I know that I watched stuff just like it when I was growing up. She's a lot more stable and dependable, at least these days. She definitely wasn't always, and we will see her struggle. She feels a strong drive to make the world a better place, and may not always feel like she is doing enough for that.
Add to that, next door neighbor Malcolm Ducasse(Darville, exactly right) starts out addicted to drugs. Occasionally, he needs minor assistance, he gets it, and that's basically it. At first, people don't really think much of him. And neither does the audience. Which makes for a very effective turn when he quits cold turkey And becomes sober. He becomes a full person in our mind - as he in reality of course always was. We just didn't look past the veneer. It forces us to confront that maybe we Accidentally did this in real life as well. This also greatly encourages empathy for sex workers, the unhoused and ethnic minorities. It has a lot of emotional intelligence in discussing these immensely relevant issues. And it manages to make everyone complex.
Someone she sometimes works with, without either of them particularly liking the other(It is very much a case of mutual respect for the other's abilities and intense distaste for personal choices), is Jeri Hogarth(Moss, impeccable). She's a lawyer who worked hard to get to the top, And we watch as her life starts to come apart around her. On a show full of trainwrecks who make lousy decisions that end up hurting themselves, she may well be the one who has made the most mistakes and stands to lose the most. It would be easy for this to devolve into finger pointing, so it's very impressive that it never does. After she grew up poor and bullied, she put immense effort into gaining and maintaining complete control of the circumstances of her life, and most of the problems she faces are specifically because of selfish choices rather than things that she simply couldn't do anything about. Hers is a tragedy of fighting to escape one extreme only to end up at another.
This is a noir story. That means that it has shadows, silhouettes(well, a lot of the time, the cinematography is not that adventurous), sax music, investigative work, conspiracy and corruption. When it features sex, it isn't shot in male gaze(in fact, occasionally, it will be distinctly female, with a focus on fingers and lips, rather than legs and curves), it isn't there just for titillation, it establishes and grows characters and their interpersonal relationships. There is a distinct effort made to avoid anyone on this coming across as disposable, and it rarely fails. This was shot on ___location in New York and it adds a lot of texture. Essentially, the only criticism I have is the pacing. Like the other Netflix shows, each season is mandated to be 13 episodes and they just don't have the right amount of story for that.
This features bloody, gory, graphic violence, disturbing content, and strong language. I recommend it to any fan of complex narratives. 9/10.
