I’ll admit it – I’m not a huge fan of superhero movies. They tend to prioritize spectacle and fanboy service over a compelling story…with some notable exceptions, including Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies and a few of the X-Mens (Logan especially…where was Hugh Jackman’s Oscar nomination, dammit?? He was robbed!). Just the thought of hubby dragging me to Avengers: Infinity War gives me cold sweats of dread.
Of course, I like horror movies – the psychological kind, not the torture porn stuff – but can’t get hubby to watch those with me, so what good is he, really? I’m still trying to figure it out.
Anyway, even though I’m not a fan of superhero movies because of the lame stories and tedious fight scenes that go on forever (seriously: Hulk vs Thor, two un-killable beings punching each other for eighty billion minutes…WOW, how excitzzzzzz), I love the concept of people existing amongst us with special abilities. It opens up so many “What if?” scenarios – be good or evil? Live large or stay grounded? Keep your powers secret or tell the world? But for me anyway, the key to an interesting superhero story if focusing on how people with special powers interact with everybody else in the normal world, and how their alienation affects their humanity.
And this is why I LOVED the first season of Jessica Jones! Krysten Ritter was awesome as Jessica, a PI with serious inner demons and special abilities she didn’t want (super-strength) who’s just trying to get through the day in modern New York City. In fact, the title character of my Valentine Shepherd series is basically Jessica Jones if her superpower was seeing the future during sex (it’s a weird series I’ll admit, but worth reading if you like that kind of thing! Check it out, in fact). The show had a cast of awesome characters, including an ice-cold lesbian lawyer played by Carrie-Anne Moss, aka Trinity from The Matrix, a cute sorta-sidekick heroine addict, Jessica’s hot boy-toy Luke Cage (Mike Colter, who went on to his own show), a bunch of weirdo regulars in Jessica’s apartment building, and an epic villain played by David Tennant. It also had Trish, Jessica’s best friend, but she’s annoying as shit. Sorry, but Rachel Taylor, who plays Trish, just cannot convincingly deliver a line of dialogue.
So most of this awesome cast – and Trish – is back for season 2, which just dropped a few days ago. I’m halfway through the season, and…it hurts to say this, but it’s not very good. I knew it probably wouldn’t be as good as season 1, but this season seems particularly bad, almost like the writers couldn’t decide where they wanted to take the show, so they Mad Libbed it all together to form a barely coherent narrative.
First I noticed there were some blatant continuity errors. For instance, Jeri – the lawyer – hires someone to get in touch with Jessica for her (they had a falling out at the end of season 1) for reasons she won’t say, then finds out she has a serious illness. She later contacts Jessica herself because she wants Jessica to dig up dirt on her law firm partner so they won’t force her out due to a medical termination clause…So why did Jeri want to get in touch with Jessica to begin with if she hired the other guy to contact Jessica BEFORE she found out she was sick? It’s never explained, so I’m assuming it was a continuity error. Then there’s a scene where Jessica mentions it’s hot as hell cuz it’s the peak of summer, but then we see external shots that clearly show it’s springtime (people in light jackets, trees beginning to bloom, etc.). Then we meet a nurse who’s supposedly been on the run from something nasty she saw (sadly not in the woodshed) while on duty in a secret hospital ten years ago, but the actress is obviously in her mid or late 20s, so……..
(I looked it up – the actress is 33, so I guess it’s technically possible if she JUST got out of nursing school when the stuff in the hospital happened, but she’s also supposedly been been living on the streets for 10 years so there’s no way she looks that good even if you buy her age)
THEN Jessica gets a ridiculous tip that a shady doctor she’s looking for just might be hanging out in an aquarium next to an octopus because that’s where he used to go sometimes TEN YEARS AGO, and lo and behold he just happens to be there on the day Jessica cases the joint, and then the aquarium glass breaks but everyone runs out of the aquarium dry, including Jessica, but her phone is somehow soaking wet which conveniently prevents her from taking pics of the fleeing perps and WTF IS HAPPENING HERE?
This is just sloppy storytelling. I can suspend my disbelief for one or two editing errors or obvious contrivances but COME ON. Season 1 didn’t pull this shit. Also, this season’s villain isn’t nearly as compelling as David Tennant’s smooth-talking nightmare Kilgrave…in fact, at this point in the show (I’m up to episode six) it’s not even clear WHO the actual villain is, only that bad stuff is happening for some reason. And stupid Trish is still around, and we’re expected to care about her stupid problems.
On the plus side, Krystin Ritter and everybody else who’s not Trish continue to kill it, and Jessica’s slow-burning romance with her new superintendent is sweet and understated, a nice change from the insta-lust sex-fest (which eventually developed into sorta-feelings) she had with Luke Cage.
So. I’m still looking forward to watching the rest of season 2, hoping it’ll have a second-wind comeback! I’ll report on my final feelings when I’m done watching the season. Fingers crossed Trish decides to get help for her various addictions someplace far, far away!
