Keeping up with the Jones.
Has it really been a year?
So with Arrow having an atrocious S3 by all accounts (I gave up watching entirely after the last episode I reviewed, S3E5) I was floundering around for things to watch and then Marvel decided to start making some bloody good TV. First Daredevil, then Agent Carter (or is it vice versa?), both top-notch shows worth of repeat viewing.
The question was would they do it a third time with Jessica Jones?
For me at least, the answer is yes, and no.
Yes in that the show is top-notch. Ritter (who I'd only seen before in the utterly hilarious and gone-too-soon Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23) excelled as a broken hero, Tennant was creepy as all fuck. Eka Darville was awesome as Malcolm (loved his team-up with Jessica right at the end), and Carrie-Ann Moss as the lawyer without a soul (is that qualification really needed?). The standout though for me was Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker. A role that could so easily have been relegated to the damsel in distress who constantly needed saving by Jessica, but who kicked ass and did her own share of saving. Didn't get much from Mike Colter's Luke Cage other than "hey, pretty man", so I'm going to need to see something worth watching for his own show.
No in that I don't think I'll be in a hurry to re-watch. Most of the show was too brutal - and the pull factor too reliant on shock and drawn-out tension - to make me want to see it all again any time soon.
I am looking forward to a S2 - hopefully with a couple more episodic stories rather than one single over-arching one, and a little more humour/lightness. One of the things I liked so much about Daredevil was the interplay of humour and heartbreak and I missed that here (with the exception of the "The sandwich saved me!" and "Maybe I should put on some pants" I found little to smile about). Ironically it was a Daredevil character - Rosario Dawson's awesome Claire - who brought a little of this to the finale of Jessica Jones. I loved the interplay between Claire and Jessica, and was a little disappointed that Nelson & Murdock didn't show up to defend her at the end (although that may have been taking things too far). I assume in S2 Jess and Trish will be taking down roid-rage Simpson and his super-soldier buddies. The doctor will have to be the brains as Simpson seems as dumb as a sack of bricks.
We may get a team-up with Jessica and Matt before this though (not sure of the release schedule), this would be great if only because they have to include a scene where the two of them try and argue about who is more fucked-up and broken. I can't wait!
So with Arrow having an atrocious S3 by all accounts (I gave up watching entirely after the last episode I reviewed, S3E5) I was floundering around for things to watch and then Marvel decided to start making some bloody good TV. First Daredevil, then Agent Carter (or is it vice versa?), both top-notch shows worth of repeat viewing.
The question was would they do it a third time with Jessica Jones?
For me at least, the answer is yes, and no.
Yes in that the show is top-notch. Ritter (who I'd only seen before in the utterly hilarious and gone-too-soon Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23) excelled as a broken hero, Tennant was creepy as all fuck. Eka Darville was awesome as Malcolm (loved his team-up with Jessica right at the end), and Carrie-Ann Moss as the lawyer without a soul (is that qualification really needed?). The standout though for me was Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker. A role that could so easily have been relegated to the damsel in distress who constantly needed saving by Jessica, but who kicked ass and did her own share of saving. Didn't get much from Mike Colter's Luke Cage other than "hey, pretty man", so I'm going to need to see something worth watching for his own show.
No in that I don't think I'll be in a hurry to re-watch. Most of the show was too brutal - and the pull factor too reliant on shock and drawn-out tension - to make me want to see it all again any time soon.
I am looking forward to a S2 - hopefully with a couple more episodic stories rather than one single over-arching one, and a little more humour/lightness. One of the things I liked so much about Daredevil was the interplay of humour and heartbreak and I missed that here (with the exception of the "The sandwich saved me!" and "Maybe I should put on some pants" I found little to smile about). Ironically it was a Daredevil character - Rosario Dawson's awesome Claire - who brought a little of this to the finale of Jessica Jones. I loved the interplay between Claire and Jessica, and was a little disappointed that Nelson & Murdock didn't show up to defend her at the end (although that may have been taking things too far). I assume in S2 Jess and Trish will be taking down roid-rage Simpson and his super-soldier buddies. The doctor will have to be the brains as Simpson seems as dumb as a sack of bricks.
We may get a team-up with Jessica and Matt before this though (not sure of the release schedule), this would be great if only because they have to include a scene where the two of them try and argue about who is more fucked-up and broken. I can't wait!