Marvel's Jessica Jones AKA Ladies Night (2015–2019) Online

After having enjoyed the first season of Daredevil very much, I was looking forward to this a lot. On the whole this episode - the premise - didn't disappoint, although it certainly wasn't perfect. It didn't give a very deep look into any of the characters except Jessica, so I can't make any judgements on them yet. Kilgrave, played by David Tennant, looks like a very intriguing villain, and it was only the plot around him that I really cared about in this episode (although that was great). Luke Cage (who will also be getting his own series in September 2016) was also in it for around ten minutes, and was generally fine - although, again, at this very early stage I don't feel I can make any judgements. That being said, after what I saw of him here I'm not exactly hyped for his show. The other major character was Jessica - a very plainly spoken, psychologically disturbed character played by Kristen Ritter. It was very hard to resonate with her or find her at all a charismatic lead, mostly due to her attitudes and one- toneness. Hopefully she'll improve though.

The best part of this episode was the very intriguing ideas and unique story. I will definitely be continuing this show because, after all, this seems to be one of a kind. However one of the only ways the writers were able to advance any plot was to have Kristen Ritter narrating several times throughout the episode - which ultimately just seemed like lazy writing, and was slightly cringe-worthy at times. It was a fairly slow episode, and I hope the pace picks up as the show goes on, but on the whole I would recommend trying this to anyone, and I look forward to see where the plot goes from here.

I have been looking forward to this series for many months and I am not disappointed. While the episode felt slow at times, as the entire series did, it successfully created a dark, noir atmosphere and tone, feeling very similar to the Alias comic series. This pilot was the best piece of psychological thriller I have seen in a long time, picking up more as the episode went on with a good representation of PTSD.

The love triangle sub plot fails to hold me and I failed to care about any characters but Jessica in the pilot, but the series needs breathing room so that can be forgiven. Krysten Ritter gives us an excellent portrayal of Jessica Jones with her delivery of the dry wit and sarcasm. One scene I did like was Jessica viewing the apartments across the street through binoculars, which was a clear homage to 'Rear Window', my favourite Hitchcock film.

I highly recommend you give the series a try; I'd be surprised if the pilot doesn't hook you. Especially the last couple of minutes.

Here's the thing, people. It's noir. It's got the booze, the darkness, everything happens at night. Our main character is disconnected from society, aloof, and she falls into the clutches of a treacherous member of the opposite sex and she has to decide what's right and what's wrong. But the genders are swapped here. Jessica Jones is our Bogey; Kilgrave is our femme fatale.

Film noir has always been a bit hit or miss with me. The only "film noir" I love unreservedly is Casablanca, which… well, it's impossible to dislike that movie.

The gender-swapping of the roles helps Jessica Jones a lot. Not only does it feel less sexist. (I really hate that "oh woman is the downfall of man" bullshit.) But it helps me feel that the dark atmosphere is earned. Traditional femme fatales are sly and conniving, usually using sex to get what they want. A more serious version of this. Unfortunately, this tends to make your male protagonists feel stupid and can really undermine our attempts to identify with their struggle. ("Maybe if you thought with your upstairs brain, this wouldn't have happened doofus!")

In Jessica Jones though? Kilgrave is impossible to resist because he has superpowers, which makes him legitimately terrifying. It's easy to identify with Jessica's fears and her struggle, because Kilgrave is very abusive and controlling man we've ever encountered, all rolled into one and cranked up to eleven. Guys, I had nightmares about him just from watching the trailer. He is easily the scariest Marvel villain in the MCU, and we haven't even seen his face yet.

So, yeah, it's very dark and Jessica is very angsty, but it is all 100% earned. Which is refreshing, especially for superheroes. (What does Clark Kent have to angst about? Lighten up, dude. Just 'cause it worked for Batman doesn't mean it's working for you.) I wouldn't recommend marathoning this show. It's like dark chocolate. If you eat too much, you'll choke on the bitterness. But, I do like it so far.

This was an excellent pilot, I look forward to a binge of the rest. First of all, Krysten Ritter is excellent in the lead. She takes a role that could have come off as self-obsessed and alienating and added enough humour and damage to make her sympathetic.

While we haven't seen much of David Tennant yet, he seems very menacing so far. I'm looking forward to seeing him in this role. We still learn quite a bit about him. We hear about his "routine", which reminded me of the Trinity killer from Dexter. If he were basically a mind-controlling version of Trinity, that would be super cool.

It's mostly shot in a standard non-comic like style. This was clearly an intentional decision, as it suddenly becomes highly impressionistic when Tennant's presence is felt. This contrast really made the episode pop. There is a gut punch for the audience at the end of the pilot.

Marvel and Netflix deliver another dark and intense TV show that fits well with the noir detective theme that this show thrives on while also focusing on mature and relevant societal issues that happen in our reality. The main character is fantastic and the supporting cast are also well done. This episode still has its problems but overall this is a strong start for Marvel/Netflix's next show.

The titular lead, Jessica Jones, played by Krysten Ritter, is superb as she is expertly portrayed by Ritter and the writers on this show. Huge kudos to Melissa Rosenberg, who also was in charge of the first four (and only good) seasons of Dexter, to bring this character to the screen so well.

The supporting cast also do well with what they have. Rachael Taylor's Trish Walker is incredible as the beautiful successful radio host and emotional anchor for Jessica. I also love how she knows all about her powers and past as it will really help her help Jessica. Carrie-Anne Moss' Jery Hogarth is also great as the powerful lawyer who "works with" Jessica. I'm actually really like how they had her character be a lesbian as it is positive to see a member of the LGBT in a high-level position of power. I have seen people online complaining about how this is catering to the snowflakes on the left but that is just insane. The LGBT community is real and it is completely fine to have a character that is part of that community.

Mike Colter's Luke Cage has magnificent chemistry with Ritter's Jessica which is really important as they have, let's say, a close relationship in comics.

I am also ecstatic that David Tennant is playing the villain in this show. I am a huge fan of his work especially Doctor Who and Broadchurch. While I do like the lingering presence that he has on Jessica with her being traumatized by the sheer memory of him, I would have really liked to actually see him in person and doing what he does. It's a very minor thing but as a massive fan of Tennant, I cannot wait to see how he plays a villain in this show.

There's also people online criticizing how the show is starting really slow. This is a show about a PI, the plot, case, information, twists and turns need to come at a natural pace and having it fleshed out over 13 episodes is much better than rushing into the action and drama.

The cliffhanger for this episode is brilliant though. It might have started off slow but the ending really brought the jolt that starts the excitement into this show. I won't really give anything away but the actions and aftermath for a certain girl is definitely going to be a spectacular avenue to go through.

The issues that this show deals with is important to put to a TV show who has a female lead (and is faithful to the source material). The PTSD and sexual assault that this show shines a spotlight on is show very well especially with Jessica as it still has left a terrible impression her, despite all of her strength.

I must also give huge love to the opening credits of this show. It starts of slow and non-threatening and then slowly builds into a strong, energized riff that perfectly embodies what Jessica Jones is like. A small, unassuming woman with amazing gifts and a sharp tongue.

+ Ritter + Writing and Tone + Supporting Cast + Relevant Issues Addressed + Cliffhanger + Opening Credits +/- Tennant

Final Score: 9.4/10

God damn, Netflix' "Jessica Jones" (2015) looks like a great show. I finally got around to watching the complete pilot episode, due to my interest in the upcoming "The Defenders," which features the character. And "Jessica Jones" was frikkin' terrific. I'd rate the first episode a 9 out of 10.

At first, there were aspects of the pilot that annoyed me. We're told virtually nothing about the origin of the title character's superpowers, and not much about the powers themselves. They're also a fairly generic power set, as far as I can tell. She has enhanced strength and agility and … that's it? So she's a low-grade Superman or Spider-Man, more or less? We also learn somewhat little about what looks to be the series, antagonist, Kilgrave, played by David Tennant. We see Kilgrave only briefly, in flashbacks that seem reminiscent of post-traumatic stress disorder. (These are sometimes weirdly delivered, for a show that is otherwise well directed.) He has mind-control abilities that resemble the "push" ability seen in Stephen King's "Firestarter," as well as my favorite short story of all time, "Everything's Eventual."

But … hell, this was just an extremely good show. For starters, Krysten Ritter is perfect as the wisecracking anti-heroine. She's funny; she's got great, dry line delivery; and she's a decent actress. (I know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe's more powerful heroes rarely visit Hell's Kitchen, but I'd love to see her trade quips one day with Tony Stark. She couldn't beat him, but she'd come closer than anyone else.)

The script is good enough to make her a likable character, and the story itself is scary and compelling. Considering the plot-driving capability of the show's villain this … looks like it could become a King-style horror thriller. Between this show and "Daredevil's" bloody second season (2016), I'm starting to understand that Hell's Kitchen might be the MCU's stage for more horror-type stories. And I'm fine with that.

I've never read the comics. Only heard of Jessica Jones through DareDevil and I gotta say, JJ doesn't even compare to Daredevil. The production quality just isn't there and the heroine (is that the right spelling?) seems a bit miscast or maybe she isn't a very good actress. I'll watch episode 2 but after that I'm done. This episode opens like I'm supposed to care about the girl but I have no idea who she is and her personality didn't help. Alright so she's being tormented by some psychic lunatic and? Hoping this show turns out interesting since it has ties to DD. I can't get into specifics about how the show compares to the comics because I never read them. It's just a really slow start and so far there is no hook. Well she has super human strength so at least there is that.

I decided to write this on the 1st episode in order to warn you of what is to come, so you can actually enjoy it. I won't spoil the entire season, but I'm probably saying a bit much about the next few episodes.

When I decided to watch this show, it was recommended to me because of Daredevil. I was excited to watch it because they're supposed to get intertwined later, and because I read here that it was going to feature the B* from Apartment 23, Dr Who, and Trinity. I had VERY HIGH hopes for it. However, after watching the whole season, I had mixed feelings about it, and largely negative. Why? Let's break it down into plot and characters.

PLOT: The general idea was pretty good. However, it was pretty boring, aimless and confusing for the first 5 episodes (out of 13!). It felt more like a dumb drama than a Marvel Superhero show in those episodes. It picks up afterward though.

Episode 1 was intriguing and caught my attention, then it got worse and worse until episode 5, which I found to be disastrous (largely due to bad dialogs), despite having an interesting story to work with. Episode 6 got me interested again, and episode 7 is what the entire show should have been like. The remaining episodes remained interesting, but rarely as good as ep7, and the conclusion was unsatisfying. I often felt, especially in those first 5 episodes, that they kept forcing modern feminist ideology into the show (I'll let you decide how to feel about that, but I dislike the fact that it felt forced).

They could have made the villain to be a Joker-like mastermind and a manipulator, but they really didn't. They could have made the confrontations indirect (like Daredevil), or a subtle detective/strategy game like the anime Death Note; but again they didn't. Instead, they made a weird romance on some parts, a simple detective show on others and a psychological thriller on the better parts; and the changes in style weren't very appealing.

In terms of the big moral/ethical/philosophical questions that most superhero stories try to raise and analyze, this show has practically none. Think of the comparison that Daredevil presents between the hero and the villain, the competition between Thor and Loki, the contrast between Ultron and Jarvis, the debate over human nature between Batman and the Joker, etc. In this show, the most you get is one episode where Jessica gets the villain to do one good deed, or one in which other characters show some villainous traits. Other than that, it's a simple good vs evil.

CHARACTERS: -Jessica: Pretty good. It's kind of hard to empathize with her, but I guess the whole point is that she's a tough, hard-to-like person. Pretty great performance by Ritter throughout the show. There were some low points, but I'd rate her 9.5/10. Whatever is wrong with her character came from anyone but the actress, i.e.: her powers are never properly explained. In episode 1, you almost get the impression that she can see the past by touching objects or something. They removed the part from the comics where she had actually tried to be a hero before meeting Kilgrave.

-Trish: Awful character and awful performance. Everything about her felt fake. Same goes to Will Simpson and worse. I actually forgave them the first few episodes assuming that they would be minor characters, but NOPE! They're actually pretty important, and both of them had awful dialogs, and amateur acting. In comparison, Robyn had much more convincing and compelling work.

-Luke: Waaaaaay too much time wasted on him. Should have spent that time developing Kilgrave instead.

-Kilgrave: Pretty good character, but not great. He's probably the best part of the show. Tennant's performance was brilliant. The writing, not so much. From what I found online (haven't read the comic books), Kilgrave was supposed to be a former spy who decided to take over the world by being a powerful mobster, and by spawning an army of his own children. In the show... he's more like a pathetic man-child in need of love and sex, so he turns into a rapist with no purpose in life and no ultimate goal. I won't spoil any more about it, but I'll tell you to not expect much.

-Hogarth: Good character, good development, interesting back-story, great acting. However, she seemed rather unnecessary to the main story. She's part of one problem on the show: they developed too many minor characters and lost sight of the main overarching plot.

TL;DR: Don't get your hopes up. Compared to Daredevil, this show looks more like Charmed. It has good stuff and it is entertaining, but there is a LOT of ground for improvement.