”Something I never say…”
By Eric Goldman
Note: We’re writing up separate reviews for all 13 Jessica Jones episodes, though for the purposes of binging brevity, some may be notably shorter than our usual reviews. Click here to see all of our Jessica Jones episode reviews.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
The Jessica Jones finale had a couple of odd notes to it, but overall, ended the show’s first season in an appropriately intense and emotionally satisfying manner.
Having Rosario Dawson appear as Claire Temple was one of those things that was cool, to be sure, but then felt strange as she got so much screen time. If it had been a bit earlier in the season, it would have worked better I think, but here it ended up being somewhat distracting how much time we spent with Claire (who, if you haven’t watched Daredevil, would mean nothing to you) and got teases of her calling her “friend” that were fun, but still extraneous. This is the season finale and it just didn’t seem the right time to delve this deep into more than a cameo crossover when Jessica and this particular show had so much to deal with.
I will say on the Claire front though that they certainly pushed her much more into serving the MCU version of the Night Nurse role, now that she’s taken to helping more than one superhero with medical attention they can’t get elsewhere. And wow on that scene where she needed to push the needle into Luke’s eye, given no other option!
We got more macabrely inventive Kilgrave horror as the season ended – the writers sure went to some commendably (?!) dark places to come up with this stuff! The way he got rid of his father, having that man “Remove him from the face of the earth” via dismemberment (and then trying to completely destroy the body) was utterly depraved. And Kilgrave’s later actions, sending large groups of people (in the hospital and then at the docks) after Jessica was chilling, in a notable Body Snatchers manner. [Also notable was Kilgrave ranting about what he would do to Jessica, which included the idea to “Make her want me, then reject her over and over” – which was essentially what he did do to her in the comics.]
The entire final confrontation was terrific. The way “Jessica” entered the building with her head down and headphones blasting music to stop Kilgrave’s influence was awesome – and a great reveal that it was actually Trish, complete with a comic payoff on her past when Kilgrave yelled, “It’s Patsy!” The confrontation that followed, with cops shooting at Jessica, Kilgrave ordering those innocent people to kill each other and Patsy getting her headphones knocked off trying to help was all thrilling – and ended with a suitably dramatic standoff.
Given how hard-edged Jessica is, it was very impactful to see the end all center on she and Trish’s love for each other. It was disgusting to imagine Kilgrave taking Trish with him, as he intended, and everything in this sequence, as he controlled both Trish and then Jessica (including the “Smile” of the title) was darkly captivating. The payoff of Jessica telling Trish, not Kilgrave, “I love you” was an emotionally triumphant moment. It outdid Jessica snapping Kilgrave’s neck (which wasn’t done in a particularly “big” manner) as the true moment Jessica won, so to speak.
Because Jessica killing Kilgrave was certainly justified – and as amazing as David Tennant was in this role, it did feel like this story should end with his death and true closure — but it wasn’t meant to be a big moment of heroism. At the least, it certainly didn’t make Jessica feel heroic. We got one more touching Trish/Jessica moment, as they hugged after Jessica was freed from jail, but the final scene made it clear Jessica still thinks the worst of herself, even while those around her see her in a much better light.
But maybe that can eventually change, with a little help from her friends…
After some teases for the future, including Trish getting more info on IGH, Jessica Jones ended on a melancholy note, with another Noir-influenced voice over from Jessica about trying to fool herself into thinking she’s a hero, even as she was ignoring calls from those in need. But Malcolm answering the phone for her, and the indication that yes, she will be doing more good out there – even if she doesn’t think she’s worthy of praise – was a nice bit of hope to end on, after so much darkness.
