Marvel Netflix: Ranking all seasons of Marvel’s Netflix dramas
By Josh Baggins
Photo Credit: Marvel’s Jessica Jones/ Marvel Netflix Image Acquired from Netflix Media Center
5. Jessica Jones Season 2
With the loss of the controlling sadist, the Purple Man, in the first season’s finale, Jessica Jones needed to fill in the villainous crater left behind. This maneuvering forced the show to adapt from one founded on a power struggle of a psycho-sexual dominant over his obedient submissive to one with deeper emotive and domestic roots. With a heroine like Jessica, trouble almost seems to be attracted to her and now the back and forth was between her and her unveiled mother.
The introduction to the extremely unstable Alisa Jones fueled the fire for most of the season. What Alisa lacked in Kilgrave’s slithering manipulation, she made up for with emotional imbalance and brought with her an extra dose of crazy. Janet McTeer was bonkers as Alisa Jones in a performance that not many actors could have pulled off as effectively.
Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg also upped the ante on a couple of previously established authoritative female figures, providing Rachael Taylor and Carrie-Anne Moss with some juicy scenes to chew on. Trish Walker’s relapse caused her to spiral out of control, creating friction between her and Jessica. Taylor was even more captivating as Trish went down a path of self-destruction, first getting a taste of power and then crossing a line to permanently secure some of what Jessica has.
Simultaneously, Hogarth was also going through some serious personal issues due to a life-threatening illness that left the influential lawyer vulnerable and open for exploitation from her partners and a pair of con artists. This was some of Carrie-Anne Moss’ best work of her career.
A female director headed every episode of the season – with Jennifer Lynch, Liz Friedlander, and Uta Briesewitz finishing off the final three episodes in thought provoking and stimulating style. At the end of the day, the success of the show is all thanks to Krysten Ritter as the sarcastic, dry humored, reluctant superhero. In Season 2 Ritter continued to deconstruct and reconstruct the ins and outs of Jessica and she always manages to leave audiences wanting more.