Jessica Jones Episode 10 Recap And Review: AKA 1,000 Cuts

Things are really heating up on Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Episode 10, “AKA 1,000 Cuts,” follows the whirling dervish that was “AKA Sin Bin.” The events pick up right after all hell breaks loose in the safe house, and Kilgrave is in the wind.

What we have at this point is Kilgrave on the run with Jones’ lawyer friend Hogarth under his control. She and Kilgrave made a deal that in exchange for Hogarth helping him escape, he would force her wife to sign the divorce papers.

This was, of course, a terrible decision, as Kilgrave has her take him to her wife Wendy’s house to fix his shoulder, and when Jones calls and blows their cover, Kilgrave orders Wendy to kill Hogarth with “death by 1,000 cuts.”

Oh, and Sergeant Simpson is back, and just as I predicted, has become Nuke. He shows up in the aftermath of the madness at the safe house, and only Detective Clemons is left. He’s trying to clean things up, but of course Simpson just wants to find Trish. Once Clemons tells him, Simpson quickly puts a bullet between his eyes. There’s Nuke!

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The last episode also introduced Kilgrave’s oddball parents. In this episode, Kilgrave has made mom kill herself, but dad survives. He tells the group that Kilgrave’s power is from a virus, and with Jones being immune to his powers (did I mention that already?), believes with a sample of her blood can create a vaccine. So off goes daddy Kilgrave and Trish to work on that.

The action then returns to Jones’ apartment as Kilgrave is there waiting for her with an offer. If she gives him his dad, he will get Hope released. Kilgrave also tells Jones that she’s lucky she didn’t kill him, because it would have set off some final command that would have caused a rash of suicides. I call bull on this, as if it were true, it would have happened when Jones drugged him. Is this intentional or just another inconsistency in a show ripe with them?

Then the scene turns to the jail where Pam in locked up for bashing Wendy’s head in, and of course her attorney is Hogarth. But things take a turn, and you can see Hogarth turn on her for the sake of self-preservation. There is literally no one on this show that anyone can trust at this point. Just one giant lie after another.

The next scene goes back to Jones and Kilgrave in her apartment waxing poetic about their past and the 18 seconds that Jones was free of his control. He tries to use this as justification for his fantasy that she has feelings for him. She swears it was just a case of not having enough time to get away. She then points out that he made her cut her ear afterward just to prove her point.

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This is another scene that points out just how sloppy this show can be. Should that knife have really hurt Jessica? Or even been able to cut her? And when she comes out of their flashback moment and she casually swings on him and sends him flying across the room. Where was that against the stun sticks?

The intensity really amps up as we return to the help group. Malcolm confides in the group that he helped dispose of Reuben’s body after Kilgrave made him kill himself, but his sister overhears and rallies the rest of the group to track her down to answer for what is going on. A fight ensues, and for some reason a 125-pound girl is able to knock her out with a board. Really? This whole thing is just so sloppy.

And of course Reuben’s sister then goes and pulls the tape off Kilgrave’s mouth. Nice move.

We then go back to Kilgrave’s dad and Trish working on the vaccine. But since nothing can go right for any of these folks, Simpson shows up as a ‘roid-raged maniac, and when he finds out the man is Kilgrave’s father, Simpson tries to kill him, hurting Trish in the process. She forces him to leave, but it’s clear Simpson is going to end up a serious player in this going forward.

With Kilgrave on the loose and Hope in his clutches, Jones’ only option is to bring him his dad. They arrive at the restaurant (Kilgrave’s favorite) to find the help group standing in nooses on a table while he eats with Hope next to him. Let me say again how brilliant Tennant is as Kilgrave, and how he just oozes creepy charisma.

Kilgrave’s dad is dosed with vaccine so when he orders him to come, you don’t know if he is faking or not. Hope kills herself to free Jones of the burden of keeping Kilgrave alive, and before rushing off, Kilgrave orders the help group to step off the bar. And once again we see Jones struggle to do something related to physical strength. She jumps onto the bar, but battles to pull the pipe loose from the ceiling to free them. Really?

Next: Jessica Jones Episode 9 Recap: AKA Sin Bin

The episode comes to an end with Jones promising Hope to kill Kilgrave. I suppose she will if she can muster up the strength.