T.V. REVIEW: JESSICA JONES Season 1

4/5

Netflix & Thrill.

13 Episodes. Starring: Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, Wil Traval, Erin Moriarty, Eka Darville, Carrie-Anne Moss & David Tennant. Created By: Melissa Rosenberg.

Keeping up with Miss Jones' 'Alias' is hard. You'd have to be a private investigator yourself to get close to this one. Not to be confused with the old hit Jennifer Garner T.V. show, this 'Alias' AKA 'Jessica Jones' (the name it uses due to copyright) is one of Marvel's newest, deepest and best comic-book heroes, leaping off the cell pages in 2001 to her own show just a decade and change later. A show that brings new life to this character, just like the fellow Netflix, 'Defender' series 'Daredevil' that has changed the game and a bust of a movie to a new booming hero of New York's Hells Kitchen. Giving the rest of what's on T.V a nightmare (even D.C.'s 'Gotham', 'Flash'. 'Arrow' and even new pop hit 'Supergirl') to be Marvel's darkest and best show even among the 'S.H.I.E.L.D' and 'Carter' agent hits. A traditional, television, blindsiding, binge-age watching series that's set to have a second season, complete with an even more credible version of Jennifer Garner's electric Electra character (with no disrespect to the great Garner, but you can see the character correlation), serving as even more of a Punisher to that old delightful but dated Ben Affleck movie. Now following last years 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' breakout year and 'The Winter Soldier' which may just lead to the best Avenger movie in next years 'Civil War' (with the trailer being all anyone is talking about right now outside of 'Star Wars'), Marvel may even be having their best calendar yet in 2015 (bar the 'Fantastic Four' flawed flop...that wasn't even really theirs), in their 'Age Of Ultron' that also saw one of the biggest hits in the smallest superhero 'Ant-Man' and the even smaller screen, from your tablet to your phone with 'Agent Carter' and 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D' season 3 joining Netflix's 'Daredevil' and now this.

If it wasn't for the blind lawyer with the lethal stick, 'Jessica Jones' would be the best thing on T.V. this year. Part cinematic love story letter to every beautiful backstreet and classic corner of New York City. Part magnum strong P.I. show, this is N.Y.C. and private investigating to the notes of the jazz soundtrack that plays subtly but beautifully behind the notes. Brutal but brilliant and even darker than the man without sight or fear, 'Jessica Jones' is dripping in neo-noir, AKA the greatest, traditional detective series with a dame to kill for since 'Sin City'. And boy is our Jessica, Krysten Ritter a real femme fatale, breaking good from her previous television roles alongside the one who knocks. This Jessica is off the chain. 'Don't Trust The B### In Apartment 23'...no that's not a crass statement but Ritter's previous T.V work alongside 'Breaking Bad' and 'Veronica Mars', but here the raven haired, porcelain skinned beauty shows she'e beyond fragile, with strength, special abilities and an office in an apartment block where she's not afraid to literally show you the door...yet still you'll be left wanting to be the one that knocks. If you think that's one hell of a psychological trip than wait until you see the rest of the show and make an appointment with the Time-Lord, as 'Doctor Who' legend David Tennant becomes a witch doctor of the mind. Making the Kilgrave villain legendary and as abhorrent as his Tardis changing character is charismatic. Tennant is as terrific as his vile villain is terrible and a new classic bad guy, complete in Joker clown, cheap purple suit. The purple man really is something to worry about, controlling everyone's mind like Godfather puppets. Telling everyone exactly what to do, making for the worst game of Simon Says you've ever played. But this man says he's incredible and I am of sound mind and no manipulation...well I sure hope so anyway! How high should I jump? There's more rising actors of influence in control here, from Racheal Taylor and Wil Traval, to Erin Moriarty and Eka Darville. Even Trinity of 'The Matrix' and 'Memento' star Carrie-Anne Moss is here to give more futuristic star power to Marvel's new flying vehicle. Dodge that!

One man who doesn't need to avoid anything is Mike Colter as the unbreakable Luke Cage under this shows skin. When many thought the muscle of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine's' Terry Crews was a perfect fit for the 'sneeze and you're going home naked' t-shirt of this Power Man, it turns out that the 'Brooklyn Lobster' who previously won our hearts and throat lumps in 'Men In Black 3' has the real mettle to be the right Hero For Hire. And with his crossover and complicated relationship with our leading lady here that has more depth and drama than not just this, but what you would expect from most superhero stories, we now can't wait for when he gets his own show, let alone the ultimate 'Defenders' spin-off show. We can't wait to see the origins of his backstory, the future of this team and the Marvel franchise and how it all intertwines. Yet right now standing above it all on a ledge in the middle of midtown Manhattan is the one heroine who stands the strongest. Jessica Jones AKA Krysten Ritter is intensity inspired and passion personified in this ass kicking all-action thriller with a supernatural twist of drama dynamics, tense horror and real-life themes. Ones as hard hitting as the passive aggression of relationship manipulation, and the all too real, evil predatory obsession of a modern day rape culture. It really has something important to say in its hidden meanings about something that in the real world is covered over with ignorance all too often. It might seem like all too much, but it's all the real world problems that this superhero franchise that has always mirrored real-life in its metaphors needs to address, showing solidarity to those who need help as well as an escape. Just like Peter Parker's Spider-Man did for bullies, Krysten Ritter and Jessica Jones do for young woman looking for a hero to follow and be inspired by in this cinematic universe. It's not just Marvel's Avenger Black Widow or the Scarlet Witch and the buzz of the 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' sequel. Jones now alongside D.C and Melissa Benoist's 'Supergirl' joins a range of wonder woman that are just as heroic as their male counterparts and no longer a stocking and spandex stereotype. From the huge, rising popularity of the new 'Spider-Gwen' alternative to the forthcoming phase and age of 'Captain Marvel'. Sure, nothing is more role model worthy than what's real, but these are some positive, heroic, characters for young fans to now grow up with from adolescence to adulthood. Yet, nothing is realer than our Alias here who stares bleakness in its ugly face and lights up the darkness, no alternative. Great power...even greater responsibility. Jessica Jones, AKA the hero we all deserve...about damn time! TIM DAVID HARVEY.