Jessica Jones Review: AKA The Sandwich Saved Me (Season 1 Episode 5)

We’ve had nothing but good things to say about Jessica Jones so far. The show is a marvelous study on female empowerment, a brilliant look at life after a traumatic event, and a realistic portrayal of PTSD. It also features cool superpowers. If nothing else, those things would be enough to get us hooked, to let Netflix play the next episode, and the next, and the next.

But Jessica Jones is more than that. Jessica Jones, as surprising as it might sound, is all heart.

And that’s what makes it binge-worthy.

Take Malcolm, for example. We didn’t expect to feel sorry for him. We didn’t expect to like him. We certainly didn’t expect to be rooting for him. And yet, how can we do anything else after this combination of Kilgrave and just plain old weakness? Just mind control doesn’t make him relatable. But mind control and his own selfish desires that, despite his best intentions, he just isn’t strong enough to rise past? Now, that’s something else. Something more.

Honestly, relate to the junkie was not high on my list of things I expected from this episode, but here we are.

Malcolm is a victim, plain and simple. Of course, that doesn’t make the things he did right, or even forgivable. But the truth of the matter is Kilgrave took away his control, just as he took Jessica’s.  Just as he took Will Simpson’s, Hope Shlottman and many, many others. And the fact that Jessica, Will and even Trish, whose experience with Killgrave is all second-hand, are willing to risk their well-being to see him put away speaks not only to their trauma, but to the kind of people they are.

Heroes, plain and simple. With or without the superpowers.

The other subplot of this episode, the one having to do with Hope, kind of brought out how much Hogarth adds to the show. One episode without her, and I already miss her underhand dealings. I know there’s little a lawyer can do to prevent the kind of abuse Hope is getting in jail, and yet, more than Jessica, I kind of wanted Hogarth to come save the day. But alas, there’s no saving the day, not in episode five. There’s no getting Kilgrave, either. The bad guys have to win first. And not just once, no. The bad guys have to win enough that you feel all hope is lost. The bad guys have to make you feel like nothing can ever be okay again.

Buckle up, people. We’re in for quite a ride. But don’t worry too much. Jessica might not know exactly how or what she’s doing, but she’s got this. We just have to trust her.

And we do.

Other things to note:

• The kid in the Captain America costume is a nice nod. It’s easier to be engaged when you know all these things are happening in the same universe.
• I miss you, Luke Cage. Come back, please.
• I admit I’m digging the Will/Trish relationship more than I expected. My absolute favorite thing? How his objections to her helping Jessica out had nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman and/or with the fact that they slept together. Instead, all his arguments are fact-based.
• So, one neighbor down, is Kilgrave going to come for the other one? Or, God forbid, for the sister?
• Jessica’s undercover clothes are the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.

What did you think of this episode of Jessica Jones? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Jessica Jones Season 1 is available on Netflix right now.

Lissete Lanuza Sáenz

Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat