Jessica Jones Season Two Is Better Than Season One In Just About Every Way
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:06 pm
Reprinted from a cinephile website to which I belong. Only Legacy theater changes were made to keep it PG. Minor Spoilers.
I never cared for Jessica Jones as a series, mostly because I thought season one was disjointed, poorly paced, dragged out, and I've never been a fan of Krysten Ritter. Season Two, for my money, pretty much redeems the character and the series.
For the most part, I felt that season one retreads too much. She captures Kilgrave, he escapes, rinse repeat. She hooks up with Luke Cage, s**t goes sour, we see the whole thing reignite, more of the same. Adding to the problem is the fact that even when things are linked thematically, it's almost entirely because Kilgrave victimized the person. To me that's a pretty soft link and not too engaging of a reason. And Luke Cage was pretty much shoehorned in similar to the way Elektra was in Daredevil season two.
I decided to give season two a chance anyway because somehow, JJ managed to be the best part of the Defenders series (I recommend giving that a hard pass BTW). By the end of episode one, I could tell the writing had improved. And the link with IGH is so much more solid than the link through Kilgrave because each motivation fits each character better. JJ is exploring her origin, Trish is investigating because they f**ked Simpson up and her show is threatening to expose them, Carrie Anne Moss is suffering from ALS and thinks they may be able to cure her, etc. Not every single solitary thing links conveniently to them, of course, but the elements that don't are minor and make sense as side stories because the world isn't limited to a single plot, so it adds just the right amount of realism for me.
I can't say it's 100% flawless but I really do think it's far more engaging than the plodding story line of season one. And Krysten Ritter has grown on me over time as JJ. The only gripe I have is my dislike for voice over narration, but that's not a flaw in any critical way, just a personal distaste for its use. And it's pretty minimalist in its application anyway.
I haven't finished it completely. I'm on episode 10 so it may go haywire in the final act, but I don't think so. I give it a recommend. I've found it to be pretty solid.
If it keeps up the quality, it may surpass season two of Daredevil at the number two spot, but it will need an absurdly spectacular finale to surpass Punisher, which so far, for me, is the best of the Netflix Marvel shows.
I never cared for Jessica Jones as a series, mostly because I thought season one was disjointed, poorly paced, dragged out, and I've never been a fan of Krysten Ritter. Season Two, for my money, pretty much redeems the character and the series.
For the most part, I felt that season one retreads too much. She captures Kilgrave, he escapes, rinse repeat. She hooks up with Luke Cage, s**t goes sour, we see the whole thing reignite, more of the same. Adding to the problem is the fact that even when things are linked thematically, it's almost entirely because Kilgrave victimized the person. To me that's a pretty soft link and not too engaging of a reason. And Luke Cage was pretty much shoehorned in similar to the way Elektra was in Daredevil season two.
I decided to give season two a chance anyway because somehow, JJ managed to be the best part of the Defenders series (I recommend giving that a hard pass BTW). By the end of episode one, I could tell the writing had improved. And the link with IGH is so much more solid than the link through Kilgrave because each motivation fits each character better. JJ is exploring her origin, Trish is investigating because they f**ked Simpson up and her show is threatening to expose them, Carrie Anne Moss is suffering from ALS and thinks they may be able to cure her, etc. Not every single solitary thing links conveniently to them, of course, but the elements that don't are minor and make sense as side stories because the world isn't limited to a single plot, so it adds just the right amount of realism for me.
I can't say it's 100% flawless but I really do think it's far more engaging than the plodding story line of season one. And Krysten Ritter has grown on me over time as JJ. The only gripe I have is my dislike for voice over narration, but that's not a flaw in any critical way, just a personal distaste for its use. And it's pretty minimalist in its application anyway.
I haven't finished it completely. I'm on episode 10 so it may go haywire in the final act, but I don't think so. I give it a recommend. I've found it to be pretty solid.
If it keeps up the quality, it may surpass season two of Daredevil at the number two spot, but it will need an absurdly spectacular finale to surpass Punisher, which so far, for me, is the best of the Netflix Marvel shows.