Written By Kevin Aquino
The final goodbye to the Netflix Marvel Universe has arrived with the third season of Jessica Jones. Daredevil, Iron Fist and Luke Cage had their sendoff seasons after the streaming service cancelled their respective shows, leaving Jessica Jones as the last-standing Defender.
I have an interesting relationship with Jessica Jones: though I initially held off on the show’s premiere season due to my unfamiliarity with the character, I ultimately loved season one. It was a raw, gripping investigation story filled with struggle and subtext about trauma and strayed from the typical superhero storyline. As someone who isn’t too interested in detective-type shows, I was enthralled for the entirety of the season.
I admittedly skipped season two (which Netflix was nice enough to provide a refresher on) and wasn’t sure if I should tune in to the final season or not. I was already hurt enough by Daredevil’s cancellation after its third season, making me think: do I want to put myself in that position again?
Safe to say, Jessica Jones’ third season premiere contains everything I loved about Season 1, and this farewell may hurt just as much as I anticipated.
Krysten Ritter is, without a doubt, the perfect actress to play Jessica Jones. The snarky, pissed-off PI is as captivating as ever, and Ritter’s performance shows how comfortable she is in the titular role. Jones hates being a hero, but beneath all the hard exterior is the will to do the right thing. Ritter’s ability to command the screen is apparent, shining every chance she gets.
In this season, Jones inadvertently becomes a viral internet sensation and has to track down her best friend and adoptive sister, Trish Walker, with whom she had a falling out with last season. With Trish coming into her own as a vigilante, Jessica plays the perfect foil. Both have different views on what it means to be a hero, which could dictate where the two end up at the conclusion of the show. While there is the tiniest inkling that Jessica is genuinely concerned about Trish, she ultimately agrees to look into Trish’s disappearances to get Trish’s mom off her back, as well as a “big, fat check”.
Supporting characters, Jeri Hogarth and Malcolm Ducasse are back with their own issues to deal with. The former is still working as an attorney despite her ALS symptoms growing stronger, and employs the latter at her firm, Hogarth Chao & Benowitz. Malcolm has come a long way from being a Kilgrave-controlled drug addict, and continues to be one of the best parts of the show. He’s more than Jessica’s neighbor and has to take matters into his own hands right out of the gate.
Even though I know what happened in season two, I do think skipping it altogether hurt my season three viewing experience a little bit. It’s hard to buy into such a changed relationship between two core characters in Jessica and Trish without taking the journey alongside them.
With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how their story plays out, and with a cliffhanger to end the first episode, it’s hard to imagine myself not watching the second episode at the very least. Season three’s premiere episode reminded me why I enjoyed the first season so much. From Jessica’s internal monologue while investigating a scene to Jessica throwing a guy across the beach, the episode showcases a character doing what she does best, and kicks off the final season strongly.
Marvel’s Netflix universe has been a great ride with a few speed bumps, but just going off of the season three premiere of Jessica Jones, the era should be wrapped up satisfyingly.
I LOVED Season Three! I thought the way they showed that good vs evil isn’t defined by a person’s abilities, but more of ones true psychological makeup. I’m looking forward to Season Four.