Language is just one of the things that would make Captain America pause in the new Marvel / Netflix series.
By Eric Goldman
Note: This is a spoiler-free review of the first episode of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, which screened at New York Comic Con earlier this month. The review and score are for the first episode only – we’ll have reviews of all 13 episodes and a full season review going up after the series debuts on November 20th.
The debut of the great Daredevil series on Netflix earlier this year opened a new door for Marvel into darker, more violent territory than their films, or ABC/network series, have gone and Jessica Jones proves that the company (and their owners at Disney) are willing to go even further. Based on the character from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos’ excellent comic book Alias, Jessica Jones stands out as a decidedly mature project, which immediately lets you know this is really not a show meant for kids.
We want to hear it.
Jessica (Krysten Ritter) is a private eye in a classic, noir environment — it’s not only amusing how dangerous the modern version of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen appears to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but how large it appears to be — which is vividly announced via the stylish opening credit sequence. Many of her cases deal with spouses wanting proof they’re being cheated on, and it’s notable, given the company behind this show, how blunt Jessica Jones is when dealing with sexuality from the get go. From the people she’s watching get it on in a car as part of her job, to Jessica’s own private life, there’s nothing discreet or coy about what’s happening here – just several sex scenes that will startle someone who thinks “Oh, Marvel… so this is going to feel like the Avengers?” It seems as though the only mandate was “You can’t say the F word” and there couldn’t be any actual blatant nudity. But the show gets plenty across, regardless.
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There was some skepticism when Ritter was cast in the title role, because while she certainly had proven in other projects she could bring the right edgy, sardonic vibe Jessica conveys in the comics, this character is supposed to have briefly attempted to be a superhero, and the lanky Ritter doesn’t exactly feel like she’s a fighter. But in the first episode, Ritter quickly does away with any worries, conveying just the right attitude to show Jessica as someone who is damaged, yet tough, and whose flippant behavior is her own form of a mask to the world.
We want to hear it.
She’s assisted by a strong supporting cast, including Mike Colter as Luke Cage, setting up his character before he gets his own Netflix/Marvel series next year. Colter and Ritter have a fun chemistry together and there’s a lot to enjoy seeing them banter across a bar. Carrie-Anne Moss brings a steely, not to be messed with energy as Jeri Hogarth, a powerful lawyer who sometimes employs Jessica and we get a brief encounter in the premiere with Rachael Taylor, as Jessica’s friend, Trish Walker — the live-action version of Marvel’s Patsy Walker/Hellcat — that adds hints to the dark past Jessica has most certainly not moved past.
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That past is tied into Kilgrave, the show’s main villain, played by the Doctor himself, David Tennant. While Kilgrave doesn’t exactly show up in the premiere, Tennant’s still able to make a couple of atmospheric appearances, and it’s notable how quickly we get an incredibly creepy, unsettling vibe from this man and his ability to make anyone do whatever he tells them to do. Erin Moriarty also has a small but notable role in the premiere as a missing college girl Jessica is hired to find.
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I should note for fellow fans of the Alias comic that this is not a straight-up adaptation of the events of that book (which itself was part of Marvel’s adults-only “Max” line). While there are some fun direct nods to moments from the comic, the first episode make it clear the producers are also introducing their own characters and story points, while keeping faithful to the tone and core elements of Alias. Which is to say, no, the first case we see Jessica take doesn’t involve Captain America, if you were hoping to see Chris Evans pop up!
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Executive producer/showrunner Melissa Rosenberg (whose credits include everything from the first four seasons of Dexter to the Twilight films), who wrote the first episode, and director job S. J. Clarkson, do a wonderful establishing Jessica’s world, the kind of people she encounters, and the attitude she uses to deal with it all. We get glimpses of her superpowers, but they are treated in the same matter of fact manner as everything else – Jessica can do these things, yeah, but she’s certainly not trying to show off about it. It’s just something she can utilize as part of solving a case, when she needs to.
On the powers front, I also have to commend what we see of Kilgrave’s abilities here, as Rosenberg – as Bendis did in the comics – takes the idea of a supervillain who can make you do his bidding and runs with it in a compelling, disturbing manner, looking at the actual consequences of such an ability.
We want to hear it.
There are some clunky moments here and there in the first episode of Jessica Jones. An encounter she has with a pretentious film student feels stilted and the character himself manufactured and too mannered, and a couple of lines stick out as a bit on the nose during the episode. But by and large, this is a well-written, well made look at a woman who’s living a far less than glamorous, hard drinking life, but who has both an inner and outer strength that sometimes make her stand out, even if she doesn’t particularly want to.
Jessica Jones gets off to a strong start with a first episode that does a great job establishing the main character, the world she lives in and her perspective on it. Even more than Daredevil, this feels like the most distinctly grown up and mature Marvel project yet – both because it has actual “adult content”, in terms of sex and what not, and because there’s a world weariness and overall vibe here that is just different and distinct from the Marvel movies. (And I should note, I love those movies!)
And having seen the first seven episodes, I’ll add this… It only gets better and more involving as it continues.
