Jessica Jones: AKA Start at the Beginning
March 8, 2018 6:41 PM - Season 2, Episode 1 - Subscribe
While Jessica deals with a rival PI and a paranoid would-be client, Trish digs up a medical file that could unlock the mystery of Jessica's powers.
"Something happened behind these doors. We were made here. Me, Whizzer and something else. Whatever it is, the only way to find it is to open the door wider.
Vulture recap - Shake off the dregs of your hangover, twist off the top of a fresh bottle of whiskey, and glug-glug-glug until you can barely string three words together, let alone coherently revisit a harrowing trauma from your childhood: Jessica Jones is back.
Den of Geek review - The Jessica Jones season 2 premiere gets off to a slow start.
AV Club - Jessica Jones begins its second season with an unsettling trip down memory lane
New characters introduced this episode:
*Pryce Cheng of Cheng Consulting - rival PI who tells Jessica he doesn't want her competition, that either she joins his agency or he destroys her business. Later it is revealed that Hogarth was behind it all, as a ploy to get Jessica to work for her again (since Jessica doesn't want anything to do with her anymore). When Jessica instead beats Cheng up after poaching one of his clients, Cheng hires Hogarth to sue her.
*Oscar, the new super of Jessica's building, and his little boy, Vido. Vido thinks having a superhero in the building is cool, Oscar seems less enthused.
*Griffin Sinclair, tv reporter of the show "Embedded", and Trish's new boyfriend.
*The Whizzer - a fear-motivated speedster who tries to hire Jessica to protect him from someone/something trying to kill him, but Jessica doesn't believe in his powers until it is too late, and is only able to witness his death-by-scaffolding-collapse.
New developments:
*Someone who uses an inhaler and wears a hoodie is watching Jessica. Later, at the literacy fundraiser, Trish sees someone in a hoodie briefly outside the revolving doors (it was Simpson, right?).
*Trish spends the whole episode trying to convince Jessica to solve the mystery of how she got her powers, going so far as to dress up in her old Patsy costume & sing the "It's Patsy" theme song at a children's birthday party in return for illicit medical files, and bringing Jessica her dead family's ashes.
*Hogarth is being sued by her former lover/assistant, Pam, and her partners advise her to settle. Later, at a doctor's appointment, she seems to be given some bad news.
*Jessica finds an abandoned IGH (International Garments and Handling per the sign) facility, and experiences some flashbacks of experiments done on her, and someone struggling with a deformed/scarred person.
"Something happened behind these doors. We were made here. Me, Whizzer and something else. Whatever it is, the only way to find it is to open the door wider.
Vulture recap - Shake off the dregs of your hangover, twist off the top of a fresh bottle of whiskey, and glug-glug-glug until you can barely string three words together, let alone coherently revisit a harrowing trauma from your childhood: Jessica Jones is back.
Den of Geek review - The Jessica Jones season 2 premiere gets off to a slow start.
AV Club - Jessica Jones begins its second season with an unsettling trip down memory lane
New characters introduced this episode:
*Pryce Cheng of Cheng Consulting - rival PI who tells Jessica he doesn't want her competition, that either she joins his agency or he destroys her business. Later it is revealed that Hogarth was behind it all, as a ploy to get Jessica to work for her again (since Jessica doesn't want anything to do with her anymore). When Jessica instead beats Cheng up after poaching one of his clients, Cheng hires Hogarth to sue her.
*Oscar, the new super of Jessica's building, and his little boy, Vido. Vido thinks having a superhero in the building is cool, Oscar seems less enthused.
*Griffin Sinclair, tv reporter of the show "Embedded", and Trish's new boyfriend.
*The Whizzer - a fear-motivated speedster who tries to hire Jessica to protect him from someone/something trying to kill him, but Jessica doesn't believe in his powers until it is too late, and is only able to witness his death-by-scaffolding-collapse.
New developments:
*Someone who uses an inhaler and wears a hoodie is watching Jessica. Later, at the literacy fundraiser, Trish sees someone in a hoodie briefly outside the revolving doors (it was Simpson, right?).
*Trish spends the whole episode trying to convince Jessica to solve the mystery of how she got her powers, going so far as to dress up in her old Patsy costume & sing the "It's Patsy" theme song at a children's birthday party in return for illicit medical files, and bringing Jessica her dead family's ashes.
*Hogarth is being sued by her former lover/assistant, Pam, and her partners advise her to settle. Later, at a doctor's appointment, she seems to be given some bad news.
*Jessica finds an abandoned IGH (International Garments and Handling per the sign) facility, and experiences some flashbacks of experiments done on her, and someone struggling with a deformed/scarred person.
I agree that we don't need to see a variation on Wolverine's origin yet again; even the young-girl division of that was handled recently by Laura in Logan. And the business with Whizzer seemed telegraphed, although what ultimately happened to him wasn't; I thought that it was a clever revision of a legacy character.
As for whether or not it will be as good as S1, I've decided that I'm not going to worry about that, since S1 was so good that that might not be a realistic bar to clear. I do still have hopes of Hellcat. (Someone trying to reverse-engineer Black Panther's suit?)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:53 PM on March 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
As for whether or not it will be as good as S1, I've decided that I'm not going to worry about that, since S1 was so good that that might not be a realistic bar to clear. I do still have hopes of Hellcat. (Someone trying to reverse-engineer Black Panther's suit?)
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:53 PM on March 8, 2018 [1 favorite]
Every time I hear "IGH" I involuntarily decode it as Inver Grove Heights, a suburb of St. Paul.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:28 AM on March 9, 2018
posted by paper chromatographologist at 6:28 AM on March 9, 2018
Loved the first season, and thought that Jessica was the best part (of the few good parts) of the Defenders mini-season. Great to see everyone back again.
Not sure what Hogarth is up to, but she should know that if she wants to manipulate Jessica, she should just tell her not to do something. Reverse psychology is her greatest weakness. Don't know why she's got to bring a third party into it.
posted by Jugwine at 6:38 AM on March 9, 2018
Not sure what Hogarth is up to, but she should know that if she wants to manipulate Jessica, she should just tell her not to do something. Reverse psychology is her greatest weakness. Don't know why she's got to bring a third party into it.
posted by Jugwine at 6:38 AM on March 9, 2018
I watched this last night and have had some time to sleep on it ...
I think this was kind of bad?
Now, I haven't watched S1 of JJ since it first aired so I may be misremembering but I don't remember so many lines that made me roll my eyes. None of the dialog feels natural or like the way that people actually talk to each other. It feels stilted and boring in a way that just didn't hit me in S1.
Also the story beats introduced here just feel so contrived and bad. Why in the world would a high roller PI firm give two shits about Jessica? He says he feels threatened by her but like, we have not seen her actually take any of his business. She breaks up one of his meetings, sure, but there's no way in hell dog guy is going to be her client. The only other case she takes is a pizza shop manager - you're telling me that big-money Pryce Cheng was really coveting that business? You can't just tell me she's a threat, you have to show me. I was relieved when Hogarth hired Chen but then he continues with the competition angle so I don't even know.
Speaking of Hogarth! I don't know the nature of her medical visit but I'm guessing it's Very Bad News. If it turns out to be that just like, IDK, that feels so trite for a powerful woman to be taken down a peg by a tragic illness.
And then we have Trish. For someone who supposedly knows Jessica she doesn't know how to work her at all. We also don't get a sense for why this is important to her. "It's important, we can help people" she says but she doesn't really know enough about IGH or anything there to say that for certain. Again, I may not remember, but is there anything that indicates from S1 that they're still operational? That lives may be in imminent danger? It feels really wild for a character with an established career to take a huge chance on something for which she has so little information. Also the bit with the ashes was super shitty, from the melodramatic way it was delivered to her actual goals. "I know you said 'no' but maybe your dead relatives who we don't yet know are involved in this at all will change your mind?'
Anyway it got to the end of the episode and I didn't really want to watch any more. I'll wait and ask friends whose opinions I trust about how the rest of the season goes but based on E1 I don't think I'll be back.
posted by Tevin at 10:42 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think this was kind of bad?
Now, I haven't watched S1 of JJ since it first aired so I may be misremembering but I don't remember so many lines that made me roll my eyes. None of the dialog feels natural or like the way that people actually talk to each other. It feels stilted and boring in a way that just didn't hit me in S1.
Also the story beats introduced here just feel so contrived and bad. Why in the world would a high roller PI firm give two shits about Jessica? He says he feels threatened by her but like, we have not seen her actually take any of his business. She breaks up one of his meetings, sure, but there's no way in hell dog guy is going to be her client. The only other case she takes is a pizza shop manager - you're telling me that big-money Pryce Cheng was really coveting that business? You can't just tell me she's a threat, you have to show me. I was relieved when Hogarth hired Chen but then he continues with the competition angle so I don't even know.
Speaking of Hogarth! I don't know the nature of her medical visit but I'm guessing it's Very Bad News. If it turns out to be that just like, IDK, that feels so trite for a powerful woman to be taken down a peg by a tragic illness.
And then we have Trish. For someone who supposedly knows Jessica she doesn't know how to work her at all. We also don't get a sense for why this is important to her. "It's important, we can help people" she says but she doesn't really know enough about IGH or anything there to say that for certain. Again, I may not remember, but is there anything that indicates from S1 that they're still operational? That lives may be in imminent danger? It feels really wild for a character with an established career to take a huge chance on something for which she has so little information. Also the bit with the ashes was super shitty, from the melodramatic way it was delivered to her actual goals. "I know you said 'no' but maybe your dead relatives who we don't yet know are involved in this at all will change your mind?'
Anyway it got to the end of the episode and I didn't really want to watch any more. I'll wait and ask friends whose opinions I trust about how the rest of the season goes but based on E1 I don't think I'll be back.
posted by Tevin at 10:42 AM on March 9, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tevin, I have now watched half the season. Without spoiling anything, there are answers to those questions. I’m still on the fence about the season though.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:57 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:57 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
In the first season, the scaffolding was purple (to match a lot of other purple things that season). This time they are blue. I wonder if that is supposed to mean something?
posted by Quonab at 5:46 PM on March 9, 2018
posted by Quonab at 5:46 PM on March 9, 2018
Certainly the award that Hogarth received must be Chekhov's "award made out of glass with a pointy tip that is perfect for killing someone", right?
posted by ShooBoo at 9:10 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by ShooBoo at 9:10 PM on March 9, 2018 [2 favorites]
I like the lack of impact of The Defenders on this show.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:27 PM on March 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Pronoiac at 9:27 PM on March 9, 2018 [8 favorites]
I'm glad they didn't set up Hogarth to be somehow transformed into a good-guy character after the way S1 closed out.
Malcolm is a goddamned gem, we should all be so lucky to have a friend (work husband?) like him.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:15 AM on March 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Malcolm is a goddamned gem, we should all be so lucky to have a friend (work husband?) like him.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:15 AM on March 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
I like the lack of impact of The Defenders on this show.
I haven't seen this series yet,but in my headcanon, Jessica did the entire Defenders series between benders, so it's all just a vague blur.
posted by happyroach at 2:28 PM on March 10, 2018 [10 favorites]
I haven't seen this series yet,but in my headcanon, Jessica did the entire Defenders series between benders, so it's all just a vague blur.
posted by happyroach at 2:28 PM on March 10, 2018 [10 favorites]
When the pizza lady called Jessica a "vigilante superhero" I was rolling my eyes pretty hard. But by the time the little kid was saying it, I was 100% on board with people annoying Jessica with that phrase. It rolls off the tongue so well, of course people would keep repeating it once they'd heard anyone else say it.
posted by straight at 11:48 PM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 11:48 PM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Tevin: I have also found the first two episodes of this season rather underwhelming. Stilted dialogue, bad plotting, and what's with the terrible special effects for The Whizzer? That was some late 70s Doctor Who quality shit.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:17 PM on March 19, 2018
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:17 PM on March 19, 2018
I am happy to see Jessica Jones back for another season. My main takeaways from this episode are:
1. Jessica's reactions and feeling still resonate for me
2. I love Malcolm
3. Hogarth is plotting something above the head of that PI guy.
4. That PI guy was annoying and I wish Jessica had smacked him around more
5. The new super is suspicious
6. Trish is worrying me, she is really barreling through Jessica's boundaries like a bull in a china shop.
7. When Hogarth's partner came back at her with that burn about her wife's death I collapsed from the backflash of that inferno. I would never have expected to see Hogarth shut down so hard.
posted by Julnyes at 9:39 AM on March 20, 2018
1. Jessica's reactions and feeling still resonate for me
2. I love Malcolm
3. Hogarth is plotting something above the head of that PI guy.
4. That PI guy was annoying and I wish Jessica had smacked him around more
5. The new super is suspicious
6. Trish is worrying me, she is really barreling through Jessica's boundaries like a bull in a china shop.
7. When Hogarth's partner came back at her with that burn about her wife's death I collapsed from the backflash of that inferno. I would never have expected to see Hogarth shut down so hard.
posted by Julnyes at 9:39 AM on March 20, 2018
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I think I agree with the AV Club recapper that the 'how Jessica got her powers' story isn't one I was desperate to hear, especially if it means lots of young-Jessica-being-tortured flashbacks. But, whatever, I'm happy to have new episodes.
That was Simpson in the hoodie, right? I didn't rewind to double-check, and then none of the recaps mentioned it.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:03 PM on March 8, 2018