Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is a superhero-turned-private-investigator, blessed with incredible strength, who must use her powers and detective skills to catch the shadowy Kilgrave (David Tennant); a supervillain from her tragic past with the frightening ability to control people's minds.
What made it so good? Continuing the trend started with Netflix's other Marvel TV series, Daredevil, this comic-book drama exists in a world more identifiably ours. It seems counterintuitive to create a show like this, that exists in the same universe as The Avengers, because Jessica Jones' tone and approach is so different, but somehow it worked.
This was probably because Jessica Jones refused to sit in the shadow of its blockbuster parents, by trying to replicate their expensive thrills on a comparatively tiny budget. Instead, Jessica Jones did what those films can't because of marketing forces and the limitations of family-friendly movies: tell a longer, deeper, edgier, more complex crime story. Jessica Jones wasn't just a good superhero show (often by virtue of the fact it kept that side of its identity in check), it was a fantastic human drama that managed to tackle post-traumatic stress, feminism/masculinity, sexual abuse, and rehabilitation. (I'll have a fuller review of the season up at Frame Rated next week.)
The best moment? There are lots of good scenes to choose from... but, I'm going to pick the sequence when Kilgrave escaped from Jessica's interrogation chamber that neutralises his abilities, putting a number of people's lives in jeopardy.
Watch this if you like: Daredevil, Alias, the Marvel canon.
I'm counting down my 10 Best Television Shows of 2015 this year, so check back tomorrow to see what's at number 9...
