Review: Jessica Jones is the darkest, most awesome show Marvel has ever madeNov 23(AZINS) We should be grateful that CBFC Chief Pahlaj Nihalani has no control over the content of original Netflix shows because if James Bond’s kissing could bother him, then Jessica Jones will send him scampering for his scissors.

The show broaches topics like rape, domestic violence, PTSD, abusive relationships, alcoholism and other more real-world issues that seem unthinkable in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. The second show in the Defenders series after Daredevil, Jessica Jones takes the noir genre to the next level, playing out a deliciously dark plot that seems to be lifted from the deepest crevices of Quentin Tarantino’s mind. The characters are all extremely well fleshed out, share varying degrees of moral ambiguity and none of them would be called a hero in the real sense.

Cast:

    Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
    Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth
    David Tennant as Kilgrave
    Mike Colter as Luke Cage
    Rachael Taylor as Trish "Patsy" Walker
    Wil Traval as Will Simpson
    Erin Moriarty as Hope Shlottman
    Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse

Characters and superpowers

Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is a hard-on-her-luck ex-superhero who has a marked disdain for heroics and is trying to make a living as a private investigator, who is more in the Sam Spade mould than Sherlock Holmes. Her best friend is popular radio host Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), while Jeri Hogarth (gender reversed from the comic book’s male character, played by a magnificent Carrie-Anne Moss) is a lawyer with few moral scruples. Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is the extremely beefed-up love interest.

Jessica just wants to get on with her life but she’s visited by an enemy from the past, Kilgrave (David Tennant) who is by far the darkest villain to emerge from Marvel. The only super-powered (they call it gifted) characters are Jessica (super-strength, quasi-flight and durability), Luke Cage (unbreakable skin and super-strength) and Kilgrave (mind control), but every character has a notable presence.

Plot

Just before the series starts, Jessica has been controlled for some time by Kilgrave, where she was made to commit crimes against her will and was also sexually assaulted. Now he's back in her life and is hell-bent on having her back in her life, by any means necessary, which would include killing anyone who gets in his path.

Performances

Krysten Ritter is simply mind-blowing as Jessica, a hard-drinking private investigator who has no qualms in showing off her powers when it’s needed. And she has considerable power, and it looks like her super-strength would allow her to easily destroy characters which co-exist in the universe like Daredevil or even Luke Cage. Speaking about Cage, his role is limited, but that’s probably because he is going to get his show next. Carrie-Ann Moss finally gets over the Trinity hangover from The Matrix Trilogy with this marvellous performance as the lawyer shark, who will do anything to get her way.

But the show belongs to David Tennant’s Kilgrave (AKA Mr Purple), a villain with mind control powers who’s the most terrifying comic book villain I’ve seen onscreen, and that includes Health Ledger’s and Jack Nicholson’s Joker. If Jessica Jones is the strongest female superhero – literally and figuratively – then Kilgrave is the most depraved of super-villain of them all. Unlike other Marvel villains who want to change/enslave the world like Ultron, Loki or Wilson Fisk, Kilgrave uses his powers only for his own benefits.

The reason he is more terrifying is because he epitomises the patriarchal mentality that refuses to believe in the concept of consent. He is the everyman stalker, come to life like the boy who follows a girl home, the guy who keeps blank-calling a girl who doesn’t want to talk to him, the dude who keeps on checking out the profile of the girl he thinks he’s in love with o the abusive husband who can’t understand why his wife wants to leave him. 

Tennant plays the stalker with his British suave and Scottish accent, and this clash with the hard-headed Jessica Jones is the most enigmatic comic-book match-up we’ve seen since Heath Ledger’s Joker clashed with the Batman.

Verdict: Four of four stars

This is isn't just the best TV series about superheroes, this is one of the best TV shows you will ever see. It's far better than Heroes, Agents of Shield and Gotham and is in the league of Breaking Bad or Mad Men, in terms of character build-up and complex plotlines.

When I saw Daredevil, I found it unlikely that anyone would top that, but Jessica Jones has shown that even though the Marvel Cinematic Universe might have lost its novelty, as each star fights for limited screen-time while setting up the next movie in the franchise, the TV shows are sure going to gain Marvel a whole new generation of fans.