SEASON PREMIERE: It’s been three years since Krysten Ritter first appeared as the star of
Marvel’s Jessica Jones, playing a particularly damaged super-powered protagonist from the Marvel Comics universe. Her character, in the TV series, doesn’t even have a costumed alter ego or even a costume. Just a drinking problem, an angry attitude, and a tiny private-eye outfit called Alias Investigations. Her closest friend and confidante is her sister, Trish, and her most severe trauma, from which she’s still trying to recover emotionally, was depicted in Season 1 of
Marvel’s Jessica Jones, when Jessica became the unwilling personal plaything of a powerful mutant named Kilgrave (played by David Tennant), who had the ability to control other people’s minds, and bodies. Jessica remains haunted by that experience, and also by the way she ultimately put an end to his evil rampage. And this season, she’s also haunted by visions of her parents’ death when she was young, visions that have her seeking out the mysterious origins of her own powers of super-strength.
Jessica Jones is an unusually dark superhero TV series – but also an especially good one. For my full review on NPR’s
Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. And for a full review from another member of the TVWW team,
see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.