Originally written April 17, 2018

When the first season of Jessica Jones hit in 2015, I was blown away. It was the second of Marvel’s Netflix shows, and following up their first show, Daredevil, was no easy feat. Daredevil was amazing, and yet somehow I still managed to love Jessica Jones even more. This was particularly impressive given that I had no knowledge of the character beforehand. Season 1 dealt with characters and themes extremely well, and had what I consider to be one of the greatest villains of all time, not just in Marvel. Since then, while some have come close, none of Marvel’s shows have managed to be on the same level as Jessica Jones for me. So, needless to say, while it had some big shoes to fill, I was really excited about season 2.

The thing that definitely needs to be understood about season 2 up front is that it’s a very different beast than season 1 was. As I said, part of the reason that season 1 was as amazing as it was is that it had such a fantastic villain. So, I think it was smart that the showrunners decided to not try to outdo themselves in terms of a villain. The end result is that season 2 really has no central villain. There are certainly a few antagonists that function in different ways for the show, but there isn’t one clear villain for the season. This might be disappointing to some, and admittedly not having Kilgrave on the show does leave a huge hole, but in the end I think it was a smart decision for the show.

So, if there isn’t really a main villain, what is season 2 all about? In protagonist vs. antagonist stories, there’s three common types that are commonly seen: man vs. man, man vs. nature, or man vs. self. While season 1 was more man vs. man (or in this case, woman vs. man), season 2 is more of man vs. self (or, again…woman vs. self in our example). Yes, indeed, while there are antagonists in season 2, this season is more about Jessica Jones facing her own demons. This is done by having her confront her past, namely the car accident that killed her parents and also led to her being experimented on and given her powers. Season 2 finds Jessica and Trish investigating the company that performed experiments on her, and hunting them down to find answers. It winds up being a pretty great story.

I’ll just briefly talk about what drags season 2 down, because otherwise I think the season is a very worthy follow up to season 1 and an awesome season in its own right. I think the main problem lies in the first few episodes. The story drags quite a bit for the first few episodes, and so it is a really slow start. Once it gets going, it reaches fantastic heights, with the second half of the season especially being really spectacular. But you have to make it past the exposition. Also, my other big complaint is that Trish’s character is very disappointing this season. I thought she was such an awesome character in the first season, but she’s so easy to hate in this season and so many poor choices are made regarding her storyline. There are so many points where I just had to ask “WHY are you doing this, Trish?” The only other complaint I have isn’t so much one that affects the experience of the show, but rather just that I think season 2 has been a bit too politicized. Season 2 boasts that it’s directed entirely by only female directors. I’m of the belief that if it’s bad for something to be directed only by men, the opposite should be true as well. The show luckily doesn’t feel to be affected by this, but it’s just the principle that this is the wrong way of going about diversity in media, and so it was a bit disappointing that Jessica Jones fell into SJW culture by trying to make a bad political statement with how it’s made.

However, everything else about the season really is exceptional. Aside from Trish, I felt like the characters were handled really well. The most obvious example of this is Jessica herself. I really loved the way that the season delved into her character more. It exposes her vulnerabilities in really interesting ways, and it’s great to see so many different sides of her in this season. Jessica is also given a romantic interest in this season, and I really liked the way his character was handled as well. The surprising character for me was Hogarth, who was one of my least favorite parts of season 1. While her presence initially feels unnecessary in this season, once her storyline kicks in, it’s really good. I was surprised how her character arc is one of my favorite parts of the season, and it has some amazing payoffs by the end. I also need to make sure to mention that halfway through the season, there’s one episode that’s entirely a flashback episode. It shows Jessica in her college days, and shows a major event in her life that explains why she becomes so jaded over time. It’s easily the best episode of the season, and I really like what it does for Jessica’s character. As I mentioned earlier, from this episode on the second half of the season is really amazing. A big part of this is because of a plot twist that I don’t want to spoil, but once it happens it’s a big game changer for the season. There’s a relationship between two characters that makes the second half of the season as fantastic as it is. I can’t say anymore without spoiling things, but it’s this relationship that allows the season to reach the great heights that season 1 achieved.

All in all, I will say that in the end I still do prefer season 1, but that season 2 is definitely a worthy follow-up to it. The thing that needs to be understood is that this season is a different beast than season 1, but both seasons have handled the kind of storylines they’re respectively going for with a lot of finesse. While I still prefer season 1, there’s not any kind of big gap between the quality of the two seasons. I think that if you enjoyed season 1 of the show, you’ll still enjoy season 2 as well. I think that season 2 smartly distanced itself from trying to imitate what season 1 did, and the result is that we have another new amazing season here.

4.5/5