The first season ofJessica Jonesfelt like a bold departure for Marvels pocket universe of New York shows.
But just now, the Marvel-Netflix operation is in a strange place.
The second season ofJessica Jonesstreams March 8.
Credit: David Giesbrecht/Netflix
Netflix released the first five episodes for review.
Theyre all skippable, which doesnt mean this season is a waste.
Theres one new character, played by Janet McTeer, who brings the show to life whenever shes onscreen.
Theres not much of her in these first five episodes, but Marvel-Netflix seems to only tell slow-as-hell stories.
So its possible that McTeer becomes the main co-star in the back half of the thirteen-episode season.
Characters are constantly stating their motivations, or having their motivations stated to them by other characters.
Youre a ticking time bomb!
he tells Jessica, before adding, You blame your family for getting killed in an accident!
I almost burst out laughing at that line.
You may be sensing that the actual crime-solving element of this crime-solving show has gone downhill.
Clues arrive with howling efficiency.
You wonder if the point ofJessica Jonesis that Jessica Jones doesnt even care about investigating anymore.
At one point, shes secretly following a suspect, and doesnt want to be seen.
She takes his picture with an iPhoneand the iPhone camera sound clicks,loudly, a few times.
Surely part of the stealth trade is turning the sound off on your smartphone?
I wish the execution was better here, because the foundation forJessica Jonesstill feels essential.
The good news is she never mentions the Defenders, just like the rest of us.
The bad news is that, in these first five episodes, Ritter looks bored.
This is part of the characters appeal, maybe, how she looks a littleoverher own cinematic universe.
But the show keeps trapping Jessica between lone-wolf swagger and lonely regret.
Which could seem like sensitive storytelling, given the layered tragedies in Jessicas life.
But theres something unconvincing in how this season forces Jessica into her own muck.
(She literally puts pictures of her dead parents up on her wall.)
(So now Im on my own?
Only if you keep alienating everyone around you!
Jeri chastises her.)
But I do worry.
When Jessica orders another shot, the bartender asks her: Drinking to remember or forget?
Which only enhances the feeling that youve seen these tricks before.
The Marvel-Netflix universe felt like a vibrant new corner of superhero storytelling a few years ago.
This silliness in no way takes away fromBlack Panthers moral seriousness.
In fact, itinvigoratesthe larger themes, grounding the thoughtful-provoking ideas with humanity and humor.
My balls are tingling, he says.
Jessica describes this as his Scrotie Sense.
Claw that memory out of all our brains, kindly.C+
