Jessica Jones season 3, episode 5 review: A.K.A I Wish

Jessica and Trish finally set aside their differences to take down the mysterious Salinger, while Jeri faces some long overdue comeuppance.

Previously on Jessica Jones, Jessica (Krysten Ritter) and Erik (Benjamin Walker) worked together to both help pay off his loan shark and find out which of his blackmail marks was her attacker. As it turns out, the last guy on Erik’s list was one Gregory Salinger, an emotionless, highly intelligent serial killer. Moreover, Salinger has been keeping tabs on Jess ever since stabbing her. When he sends her a box filled with blood soaked money, with the words “hero?” and “fraud?” written on one of them, Jess realizes she needs help and finally calls Trish (Rachael Taylor).

Trish has also been busy playing superhero herself, even managing to track down Erik’s loan shark and saving him in the process. It also resulted in the loan shark nearly getting killed, further underscoring just how unprepared and reckless Trish really is. As for Malcolm (Eka Darville), he’s done his own investigating for Jeri Hogarth (Carrie Ann-Moss) and finally found something she can use against Peter Lyonne (John Benjamin Hickey). It seems he’s been stealing from the memorial fund he and Kith (Sarita Choudhury) set up in their dead daughter’s name. The question is, will Jeri tell Kith or keep it to herself?

It’s a question, along with others, which are soon answered, because the fifth episode, “A.K.A I Wish,” doesn’t waste time moving plots forward. In some cases, it may have moved forward a bit too much and at the cost of the series’ own characters.

“Work it out.”

Since this episode marks the first time Jessica and Trish are working together since the season two finale, it only makes sense that this episode primarily deals with the lingering tension between them. Certainly Jess trying to come to terms with Trish killing Alisa had to be dealt with at some point, and it’s commendable the season didn’t resolve this so quickly, nor drag it out for even more episodes.

What’s odd is how “A.K.A Wish” also makes it seem as if Jess is the one who’s behaving unreasonable.  Again, we’re talking about Trish murdering Jessica’s mother in cold blood. Oh sure, Trish justifies it again by saying Alisa was a mass murderer who would’ve gone on to kill others, including Jess. The problem is the season two finale clearly showed that this wasn’t Trish’s call to make. Nor were her reasons for killing Alisa entirely altruistic. Even when she later tells Jess that she wishes she didn’t kill her mom, it doesn’t exactly sound like an apology.

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But no, Jess is the one made to look as if she’s in the wrong because of her lack of forgiveness. Moreover, the episode none to subtly reminds us that Trish is the closest thing to family Jess has left. And, as Gillian (Aneesh Sheth) makes clear, life’s too short not to shut out friends and family. Maybe so, but it’s amazing how this one episode twists itself into knots into making it seem like Trish’s actions were entirely justified just to move the plot of the season forward.

“A.K.A. I Wish,” however, does a better job when comparing Jessica and Trish’s approaches to detective work and superheroing. As cynical as she is, Jess is clearly more experienced and as a result, knows crime fighting is more than just beating up bad guys. Trish, despite claiming she knows how to do stakeouts, is someone who’s far too eager to punch bad guys, if only to prove to Jess she’s just as good a superhero as she is. That said, her choosing to ultimately save Jess from Salinger’s trap instead of going after him is definitely meant to be seen as a turning point.

“I beg you, somebody stop her.”

Meanwhile, Jeri has decided to tell Kith about her husband stealing from their daughter’s memorial fund after all. Naturally, Kith is so disgusted by what Peter did, she wants nothing to do with him and falls into Jeri’s arms–exactly as Jeri hoped.  What Jeri didn’t count on was a furious and distraught Peter showing up at her apartment to try to get his wife back. Kith may not realize what an evil, manipulative snake Jeri is, but Peter certainly does. Sure, he stole millions to pay for his mistresses, but at least he didn’t steal another man’s wife.

Things get even worse for Jeri when Peter posts his own suicide on the internet, where he not only reveals how Jeri manipulated Kith, but how Jeri’s law firm specializes in getting superhumans off the hook for their crimes. By episode’s end, Jeri is under investigation, her clients are dropping her services, and Kith wants nothing to do with her. Certainly, it was only a matter of time until Jeri would be facing the consequences of her actions. It’s just rather startling that she would be facing them now when the season isn’t even halfway over.

It also seems to come as much of a shock to Jeri, too. Carrie Ann-Moss does such an excellent job in showing just how much Jeri clearly didn’t expect the ramifications from breaking up Kith’s marriage. Also, after playing on the audience’s sympathizes towards Jeri last season, there’s some definite Schadenfreude in seeing Jeri finally starting to get her just deserts.

Malcolm also feels the brunt of what Jeri did, too. Despite reassurances from his girlfriend, he definitely feels guilty over his role in helping Jeri gather dirt on Peter. Unfortunately, it seems he may already be morally corrupt, as he registers a “three” on Erik’s headache scale. That seems as shocking as it does to Jess. Hopefully, this isn’t also foreshadowing worse things to come for the series’ most likable character.

The Fool and the Foolkiller

As for Salinger, Jeremy Bobb does a terrific job in his portrayal of an emotionless killer enamored with his own sense of intellectual superiority. Even so, it still feels too early to see what kind of threat he poses, even though the episode treats him as if he’s the next Killgrave. Certainly Jess seems to think he’s more dangerous than he lets on, though perhaps because he did stab her and because of Erik’s headaches.

Speaking of Erik, it seems as if he didn’t tell Jess everything about his dealings with Salinger. It turns out Salinger also threatened Erik’s sister (Jamie Neumann), a prostitute named Brianna (“It’s Berry!”). Moreover, Brianna really doesn’t like her brother, which of course, is intended to remind us of Jess and Trish’s current animosity and family doesn’t always get along. Jess decides the best course of action is for Brianna to hide out at Malcolm’s place, which doesn’t last long once Brianna’s pimp comes knocking. Finding out that Erik has family, along with him offering a sympathetic ear during her argument with Trish, Jess finally sleeps with him.

Even so, as hard as this episode tries to paint him as a lovable rogue, there’s no getting around the fact that Erik still comes off as more than a little skeevy. At the very least, he’s a clear step downwards after her relationship with Oscar last season. Hence why the episode ends with Salinger kidnapping him. Granted, he could’ve just killed him but then there would be nothing for the next episode. At least this time, Jessie now has a more personal reason for stopping Salinger than she did before.