Jessica Jones: AKA Top Shelf Perverts
November 22, 2015 5:36 PM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Malcom, Simpson and Trish go rouge to prevent Jessica from carrying out an extreme plan to outwit Kilgrave.
Jessica attempts to scare Jeri the creepy lawyer's ex Wendy into signing divorce papers, which because she's drunk, it almost goes wrong and gets Wendy killed. Jess and Malcolm discover that Kilgrave mindcontrolled Reuben into killing himself. Jessica quite rightly freaks out and tries to get herself put into a SuperMax prison so she could face Kilgrave alone. No one said it was a good plan that made sense.
Trish and Simpson have even more hot sex, where Trish is clealry in charge. Go Trish. Also, she has a lead on Kilgrave via his new security team. Simpson follows said team around.
In order to get sent to the SuperMax prison, Jessica decides to mutilate Reuben's body, which should place her there. Before that, she makes tries to get her affairs in order by visiting Luke (he's not there) and her adopted abusive mom (who raised her and Trish) .
Malcolm tells Trish of Jessica's crazy plan, Trish tries to talk Jessica out of it but doesn't succeed.
Kilgrave busys himself with remaking the house that Jessica drew up into exactly how it was when she was a kid.
She takes Reuben's head to the police station and drops it onLester's Clemons desk. Naturally since it's a badly thought out plan, her story doesn't hold up. It doesn't help that Kilgrave visits the police station and has every cop point a gun at another cop. Yeah, it's a pretty bad situation.
Kilgrave reveals his intentions: Sine Jessica was able to walk away from him (how did that happen), he experienced yearning for the thing, er person, he can't have. Yes, he loves her and wants them to be couple, but also wants Jessica to be in that relationship of her own free will. Yeah, he's nuts. He hasn't been torturing her at all, nope, he was trying to show her he's the only one who matches, her challenges her. "Luckily" he's willing to wait for her to come to her senses and leaves, saying he left a present for her in her office. Kilgrave encourages her to find said present and she she does, to "come home".
Back at the office, Jessica discovers her childhood notebook and realizes Kilgrave has been in her childhood home. She goes there, Kilgrave welcomes her into the house. Meanwhile, Simpson is parked outside and sees Jessica going in the house.
Reuben's sister is lost without him.
That's it for me for a while on posting JJ episodes, so if someone else wants to, have at it!
Jessica attempts to scare Jeri the creepy lawyer's ex Wendy into signing divorce papers, which because she's drunk, it almost goes wrong and gets Wendy killed. Jess and Malcolm discover that Kilgrave mindcontrolled Reuben into killing himself. Jessica quite rightly freaks out and tries to get herself put into a SuperMax prison so she could face Kilgrave alone. No one said it was a good plan that made sense.
Trish and Simpson have even more hot sex, where Trish is clealry in charge. Go Trish. Also, she has a lead on Kilgrave via his new security team. Simpson follows said team around.
In order to get sent to the SuperMax prison, Jessica decides to mutilate Reuben's body, which should place her there. Before that, she makes tries to get her affairs in order by visiting Luke (he's not there) and her adopted abusive mom (who raised her and Trish) .
Malcolm tells Trish of Jessica's crazy plan, Trish tries to talk Jessica out of it but doesn't succeed.
Kilgrave busys himself with remaking the house that Jessica drew up into exactly how it was when she was a kid.
She takes Reuben's head to the police station and drops it on
Kilgrave reveals his intentions: Sine Jessica was able to walk away from him (how did that happen), he experienced yearning for the thing, er person, he can't have. Yes, he loves her and wants them to be couple, but also wants Jessica to be in that relationship of her own free will. Yeah, he's nuts. He hasn't been torturing her at all, nope, he was trying to show her he's the only one who matches, her challenges her. "Luckily" he's willing to wait for her to come to her senses and leaves, saying he left a present for her in her office. Kilgrave encourages her to find said present and she she does, to "come home".
Back at the office, Jessica discovers her childhood notebook and realizes Kilgrave has been in her childhood home. She goes there, Kilgrave welcomes her into the house. Meanwhile, Simpson is parked outside and sees Jessica going in the house.
Reuben's sister is lost without him.
That's it for me for a while on posting JJ episodes, so if someone else wants to, have at it!
which because she's drunk...
Is anyone else unsatisfied about how she acts when she's drunk? I mean she is drinking a lot, all the time... But the booze doesn't seem to affect her that much - she doesn't act very drunk any of the time. Perhaps she has super-hero metabolism, but I expect worse judgement, some sloppy speech, an occasional stumble... I don't know, full time alcoholic symptoms of some sort.
As far as TV tropes goes, that site seems extensive enough where the most original show is going to be filled with 'tropes', regardless of what it does.
posted by el io at 8:57 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Is anyone else unsatisfied about how she acts when she's drunk? I mean she is drinking a lot, all the time... But the booze doesn't seem to affect her that much - she doesn't act very drunk any of the time. Perhaps she has super-hero metabolism, but I expect worse judgement, some sloppy speech, an occasional stumble... I don't know, full time alcoholic symptoms of some sort.
As far as TV tropes goes, that site seems extensive enough where the most original show is going to be filled with 'tropes', regardless of what it does.
posted by el io at 8:57 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Perhaps she has super-hero metabolism
I thought it was made pretty clear that she does, early on Luke said something about how she put away a shitload of alcohol without being affected. As far as I can recall, the few times we've seen her actually hungover or passed out or seriously impaired by alcohol, it's been after an entire solid night of heavy drinking, during which she probably put away enough alcohol to kill a non-super-powered alcoholic outright. Likewise, for her to drink enough to "take the edge off", as they say, probably requires the kind of drinking that would leave most people stumbling drunk.
Then again, being able to drink an unfathomable amount of booze and still function has been a standard-issue "superpower" for all film noir private eyes since (at least) The Maltese Falcon, so maybe they're just sticking with tradition, there.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:34 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought it was made pretty clear that she does, early on Luke said something about how she put away a shitload of alcohol without being affected. As far as I can recall, the few times we've seen her actually hungover or passed out or seriously impaired by alcohol, it's been after an entire solid night of heavy drinking, during which she probably put away enough alcohol to kill a non-super-powered alcoholic outright. Likewise, for her to drink enough to "take the edge off", as they say, probably requires the kind of drinking that would leave most people stumbling drunk.
Then again, being able to drink an unfathomable amount of booze and still function has been a standard-issue "superpower" for all film noir private eyes since (at least) The Maltese Falcon, so maybe they're just sticking with tradition, there.
posted by mstokes650 at 9:34 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Poor Reuben... :(
posted by brundlefly at 1:19 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by brundlefly at 1:19 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Poor Robyn.
Oddly, that's been the most affecting thing in the series. Jessica having to face up to the human reality of her plan using Ruben's body - the fact that she can't tell Robyn that he's dead, because she had to use his head as a token to get into prison - resonates with the sense I have that Kilgrave's problem is summed up in the throwaway line where he was buying the house, to the effect that he usually only has to ask for things: he has had no reason to consider the human cost of what he has done, because he's lived in a story he's telling himself. One of the things I admire about these series (because it was shot through Daredevil too) is that the thing all the characters have in common is that they're all tragically fucked up, even the worst of them. We can empathise with the heroes, find it difficult but necessary with the villains (probably easier in the case of the Kingpin than Kilgrave, but I've still got a few more episodes to watch, so we'll see). But both heroes and villains are separated from us. The schmucky collateral damage like Ruben and Robyn, though, really hit home, for me, because their tragedy is the kind of thing that plays out in front of us every day. Though perhaps not in such an extreme way.
posted by Grangousier at 2:09 AM on November 23, 2015
Oddly, that's been the most affecting thing in the series. Jessica having to face up to the human reality of her plan using Ruben's body - the fact that she can't tell Robyn that he's dead, because she had to use his head as a token to get into prison - resonates with the sense I have that Kilgrave's problem is summed up in the throwaway line where he was buying the house, to the effect that he usually only has to ask for things: he has had no reason to consider the human cost of what he has done, because he's lived in a story he's telling himself. One of the things I admire about these series (because it was shot through Daredevil too) is that the thing all the characters have in common is that they're all tragically fucked up, even the worst of them. We can empathise with the heroes, find it difficult but necessary with the villains (probably easier in the case of the Kingpin than Kilgrave, but I've still got a few more episodes to watch, so we'll see). But both heroes and villains are separated from us. The schmucky collateral damage like Ruben and Robyn, though, really hit home, for me, because their tragedy is the kind of thing that plays out in front of us every day. Though perhaps not in such an extreme way.
posted by Grangousier at 2:09 AM on November 23, 2015
I actually thought Robyn was one of the only things in the show that doesn't work for me. Every second she was on the screen was a second I was hoping something else was on the screen.
Jessica needs to stick to investigating stuff because her plans might as well come in a giant wooden box with ACME on the side.
posted by Justinian at 3:51 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Jessica needs to stick to investigating stuff because her plans might as well come in a giant wooden box with ACME on the side.
posted by Justinian at 3:51 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]
Is anyone else unsatisfied about how she acts when she's drunk?
Yes! I actually was planning to post something about how unconvincing she is as a drinker. It's one of the things that makes this show not quite reach Daredevil's level, in my opinion. The other is the sometimes ham-handed dialogue, exemplified in this episode by the conversation between Jess and Trish's mother.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 4:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes! I actually was planning to post something about how unconvincing she is as a drinker. It's one of the things that makes this show not quite reach Daredevil's level, in my opinion. The other is the sometimes ham-handed dialogue, exemplified in this episode by the conversation between Jess and Trish's mother.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 4:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I actually thought Robyn was one of the only things in the show that doesn't work for me. Every second she was on the screen was a second I was hoping something else was on the screen.
But that's the point - that's the only point that's of any use to me. Ruben and Robyn are certainly not characters I like, or who I've enjoyed seeing. But they are human beings as much as any of the other characters. Ruben with his creepy crush and his banana bread isn't someone I've been glad to see, but that doesn't mean that he deserves to be made to kill himself for someone's practical joke, or just discarded, or mutilated as a part of a half-assed plan. Robyn is equally deeply annoying, but that doesn't mean she deserves the devastation that's been dropped on her. If we can't feel compassion for the annoying people, to what extent can we say we feel anything of value for the beautiful and heroic characters?
I'd suggest that's not just my overactive imagination: The scene between Robyn and Jessica comes at a point where she's accepted that the jail plan is a fantasy and that she really needs to face Kilgrave and she needs to go to him willingly (and not necesarily as part of a plot to kill him or capture him). By trying to avoid him, other people who weren't in a position to defend themselves got hurt. She's not begun to untangle taking responsibility from merely blaming herself, but she won't do that by running away.
posted by Grangousier at 5:00 AM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
But that's the point - that's the only point that's of any use to me. Ruben and Robyn are certainly not characters I like, or who I've enjoyed seeing. But they are human beings as much as any of the other characters. Ruben with his creepy crush and his banana bread isn't someone I've been glad to see, but that doesn't mean that he deserves to be made to kill himself for someone's practical joke, or just discarded, or mutilated as a part of a half-assed plan. Robyn is equally deeply annoying, but that doesn't mean she deserves the devastation that's been dropped on her. If we can't feel compassion for the annoying people, to what extent can we say we feel anything of value for the beautiful and heroic characters?
I'd suggest that's not just my overactive imagination: The scene between Robyn and Jessica comes at a point where she's accepted that the jail plan is a fantasy and that she really needs to face Kilgrave and she needs to go to him willingly (and not necesarily as part of a plot to kill him or capture him). By trying to avoid him, other people who weren't in a position to defend themselves got hurt. She's not begun to untangle taking responsibility from merely blaming herself, but she won't do that by running away.
posted by Grangousier at 5:00 AM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
I actually do find Jessica believable as an alcoholic. The thing with alcoholics of the drink-a-lot-every-day variety is that often they can be quite intoxicated without exhibiting the signs of drunkenness that less experienced drinkers would (like slurring speech, stumbling, etc). A lot of "career" alcoholics drink to maintain a "normal." You can't always tell how drunk they are because they have a lot of practice hiding it. And yeah, getting to the point where they are slurring and stumbling requires an amount of alcohol that would put most people in the hospital.
But her lifestyle is definitely the lifestyle of an alcoholic, aside from the whole superhero thing. She clearly lives in squalor, sleeps in her office, can't pull herself together to do something obvious like fix the fucking door, always wakes up late, and makes a lot of kind of incomprehensible, indefensible choices as to how she interacts with people around her. She knew she was treating Luke horribly by not telling him the truth but instead of figuring out what to do, she just drinks some more. She feels terrible about the strain in her relationship with Trish but instead of addressing it, she just drinks some more. Etc.
posted by the turtle's teeth at 2:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [14 favorites]
But her lifestyle is definitely the lifestyle of an alcoholic, aside from the whole superhero thing. She clearly lives in squalor, sleeps in her office, can't pull herself together to do something obvious like fix the fucking door, always wakes up late, and makes a lot of kind of incomprehensible, indefensible choices as to how she interacts with people around her. She knew she was treating Luke horribly by not telling him the truth but instead of figuring out what to do, she just drinks some more. She feels terrible about the strain in her relationship with Trish but instead of addressing it, she just drinks some more. Etc.
posted by the turtle's teeth at 2:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [14 favorites]
Ruben and Robyn are certainly not characters I like, or who I've enjoyed seeing. But they are human beings as much as any of the other characters. Ruben with his creepy crush and his banana bread isn't someone I've been glad to see, but that doesn't mean that he deserves to be made to kill himself for someone's practical joke, or just discarded, or mutilated as a part of a half-assed plan. Robyn is equally deeply annoying, but that doesn't mean she deserves the devastation that's been dropped on her.
I thought Robyn's controlling relationship with Ruben was interesting in relation to Kilgrave's more literal controlling relationship with, uh, everybody.
I hope she sticks around and becomes more than a one note character, for better of worse.
posted by brundlefly at 8:08 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
I thought Robyn's controlling relationship with Ruben was interesting in relation to Kilgrave's more literal controlling relationship with, uh, everybody.
I hope she sticks around and becomes more than a one note character, for better of worse.
posted by brundlefly at 8:08 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
The idea that maybe Ruben has some kind of developmental disorder and his sister's been taking care of him his whole life makes me hate her less; find her less shrill and baffling.
yeah they're twins, but if he had a head injury or high fever as a small child, that would account for some of his more eccentric behavioral ticks (and hers). Otherwise, I get the squicky sibling feeling that makes me have uncharitable thoughts toward their upbringing and/or relationship.
Still, he didn't need to die, and Robyn's entire purpose seems to have been severed from her body. Much like her brother's head.
Tragic all round, none went untouched in this episode.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:38 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
yeah they're twins, but if he had a head injury or high fever as a small child, that would account for some of his more eccentric behavioral ticks (and hers). Otherwise, I get the squicky sibling feeling that makes me have uncharitable thoughts toward their upbringing and/or relationship.
Still, he didn't need to die, and Robyn's entire purpose seems to have been severed from her body. Much like her brother's head.
Tragic all round, none went untouched in this episode.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:38 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's so frustratingly obvious that the only way to confront Kilgrave without something like this happening is to get the drop on him somehow. That supermax plan never had the slightest chance of working, whereas Trish was on to something that could have worked, depending on what exactly is going on with Simpson. I initially assumed he'd been Kilgraved but by the end of the episode I think he's just looking for an opportunity to assassinate him; he's planning to apologize to Trish later rather than ask permission.
posted by straight at 1:26 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 1:26 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jessica Jones can pull off the aviator shades look, but she starts looking creepily similar to early 00s Michael Jackson sometimes.
posted by p3t3 at 12:14 AM on November 25, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by p3t3 at 12:14 AM on November 25, 2015 [8 favorites]
I love that all the relationships have differing degrees of control. Themes!
Robyn and Reuben - she justifies her control over him to protect him/he acquiesces. She needs him more than he needs her. Ah, lonely doms.
Trish v Simpson, and his refusal to let her decide what to do with information regarding Kilgrave (at her frigging house too).
Jeri and her mistress and wife - Jeryn needs her wife to sign the divorce papers and doesn't care how. How exactly does she think JJ will go about resolving this?
And looking back, the poor ambulance driver and his mother, Jessica and Malcolm (addiction v control v how much you can save someone else), and of course, Jessica trying to control how Luke feels about her via lying about his wife.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 10:08 AM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Robyn and Reuben - she justifies her control over him to protect him/he acquiesces. She needs him more than he needs her. Ah, lonely doms.
Trish v Simpson, and his refusal to let her decide what to do with information regarding Kilgrave (at her frigging house too).
Jeri and her mistress and wife - Jeryn needs her wife to sign the divorce papers and doesn't care how. How exactly does she think JJ will go about resolving this?
And looking back, the poor ambulance driver and his mother, Jessica and Malcolm (addiction v control v how much you can save someone else), and of course, Jessica trying to control how Luke feels about her via lying about his wife.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 10:08 AM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Twins. Robyn is an abuser and Reuben had the makings of a stalker. Two facets when combined look a lot like a superpower-less Kilgrave. I wish they'd cast a better actress in the role though. She's been one-note throughout.
The scene at the police station: was the cop to whom she confessed, mind controlled or not? He laughed at the end with all the others but he heard the argument and he was reacting to that at first, I didn't see Kilgrave really home in on him.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:49 AM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
The scene at the police station: was the cop to whom she confessed, mind controlled or not? He laughed at the end with all the others but he heard the argument and he was reacting to that at first, I didn't see Kilgrave really home in on him.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:49 AM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wondered that too, and my husband said he only gets caught up in the last instruction, about how they will all laugh it off. Up to that point he's at gunpoint.
posted by tracicle at 8:00 AM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tracicle at 8:00 AM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Why didn't Jessica just kill Kilgrave in the police station right away? She didn't know he was having the tapes deleted, so she would have thought this would finally prove what he was doing.
posted by signal at 1:39 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by signal at 1:39 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think she didn't kill him in the police station partly because she didn't know what spell the others were under. Was it a "if anything happens to me, kill each other" kind of spell?
And I think the cop she confessed to was only under the final 30 seconds spell as that was the only command that happened while he was in the room.
I liked that we got to meet Trish's mom. That's a whole new character to discover. It helps to know that it wasn't a happy home life, I guess, as there's less for Kilgrave to pervert.
Robyn's acting felt very hollow. Her talking in the bedroom while clutching that sandal felt and looked very much like high school grade acting with no real interaction with her surroundings. But I do agree that knowing that she took care of her brother who seemed not so able to take care of himself made her more likeable than she was before.
I had to keep telling myself this was only episode 7 of 13 so don't expect any story lines to get neatly tied up yet. Especially as she walks into that house!
posted by jillithd at 7:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I think the cop she confessed to was only under the final 30 seconds spell as that was the only command that happened while he was in the room.
I liked that we got to meet Trish's mom. That's a whole new character to discover. It helps to know that it wasn't a happy home life, I guess, as there's less for Kilgrave to pervert.
Robyn's acting felt very hollow. Her talking in the bedroom while clutching that sandal felt and looked very much like high school grade acting with no real interaction with her surroundings. But I do agree that knowing that she took care of her brother who seemed not so able to take care of himself made her more likeable than she was before.
I had to keep telling myself this was only episode 7 of 13 so don't expect any story lines to get neatly tied up yet. Especially as she walks into that house!
posted by jillithd at 7:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
> Jessica needs to stick to investigating stuff because her plans might as well come in a giant wooden box with ACME on the side.
I think that's genius writing on the script team's part.
The episode ends with Jessica having making a very tough call. In the previous episodes we've seen Kilgrave grooming her, asking her to do things and coercing her with regular intimidation, without mind control (the "send me a selfie daily and I won't kill Malcolm" routine). The jump to "come live with me in your childhood home" is huge, and the prospect was horrifying to us as viewers, imagine how bad it was for Jessica.
Having Kilgrave murder Reuben is a big push for Jessica's motivations. Her desperation after having confessed to Luke is another one. But the reason we take her decision in stride is that she's been holding an idiot ball for the rest of the episode. We weren't worried that she might go to jail for murder, we were worried that she was hellbent on going to supermax prison as a serial killer with super-powers. Her "plan" was to go to the Marvel version of Arkham, and she would have ended up there if it weren't for Kilgrave.
The writers made it so going to Kilgrave was almost an acceptable alternative.
It really is one of the best written things on TV.
posted by kandinski at 2:41 PM on December 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think that's genius writing on the script team's part.
The episode ends with Jessica having making a very tough call. In the previous episodes we've seen Kilgrave grooming her, asking her to do things and coercing her with regular intimidation, without mind control (the "send me a selfie daily and I won't kill Malcolm" routine). The jump to "come live with me in your childhood home" is huge, and the prospect was horrifying to us as viewers, imagine how bad it was for Jessica.
Having Kilgrave murder Reuben is a big push for Jessica's motivations. Her desperation after having confessed to Luke is another one. But the reason we take her decision in stride is that she's been holding an idiot ball for the rest of the episode. We weren't worried that she might go to jail for murder, we were worried that she was hellbent on going to supermax prison as a serial killer with super-powers. Her "plan" was to go to the Marvel version of Arkham, and she would have ended up there if it weren't for Kilgrave.
The writers made it so going to Kilgrave was almost an acceptable alternative.
It really is one of the best written things on TV.
posted by kandinski at 2:41 PM on December 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm the slowest binge watcher ever and just getting back to these after the holidays. I'm really loving what a deep hole the writers are putting Jones into, can't wait to see how well they do getting her out of it.
posted by octothorpe at 9:26 AM on January 3, 2016
posted by octothorpe at 9:26 AM on January 3, 2016
yeah they're twins, but if he had a head injury or high fever as a small child, that would account for some of his more eccentric behavioral ticks (and hers). Otherwise, I get the squicky sibling feeling that makes me have uncharitable thoughts toward their upbringing and/or relationship.
Being boy-girl they are unquestionably fraternal twins and not identical. It's not necessarily an injury or post-birth change, they can have developmental conditions that don't match up. I know fraternal twins where only one has Downs, for example.
posted by phearlez at 11:15 AM on January 10, 2016
Being boy-girl they are unquestionably fraternal twins and not identical. It's not necessarily an injury or post-birth change, they can have developmental conditions that don't match up. I know fraternal twins where only one has Downs, for example.
posted by phearlez at 11:15 AM on January 10, 2016
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Damn, this episode, damn.
(TV Tropes links! All over, TV Tropes links!)
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:56 PM on November 22, 2015