Jessica Jones Review: AKA 1,000 Cuts (Season 1 Episode 10)

Well, that happened.

Coherency is optional after that episode of Jessica Jones . In fact, coherency might be optional for a while, because this is the final stretch, and if “AKA 1,000 cuts” proved anything, is that Jessica Jones is not about to pull any punches.

So much happened in this hour that I’m not even sure where to start. What’s more important? The fact that Kilgrave’s powers are a virus and his father somehow made a vaccine? The fact that Hogarth is an idiot? The fact that Simpson is out of control? The fact that Clemons, Wendy AND Hope are dead?

Or, as we’ve suspected all along, is this all about Jessica and her journey? Jessica and her demons?

You’ve got three guesses, and the first two are wrong.

For ten episodes, Jessica Jones has been a show about a victim. And let’s pull no punches about it, Jessica was a victim. Kilgrave raped her, repeatedly. Kilgrave forced her to do things she didn’t want to do.  He forced her to kill people. He took the best parts of her and twisted them up so, when he was gone, she couldn’t see any possibility to do good, she could only see the leftover pain and hurt he left behind.

But Jessica has grown. It hasn’t been easy. PTSD never is. The other thing PTSD almost never is, especially on TV? So real. Being a hero, despite what comic books might have to say about it, is not about waking up one day and deciding you’re going to go out there and do good, no. Being a hero is about making the hard choice to put others above yourself, and doing it again, and again, and again. Being a hero is doing what you have to, not what you want to.

And, in that sense, Hope is as much a hero as Jessica. The women of Jessica Jones have never conformed to stereotypes – instead, they’re living, breathing proof that woman, heroines, like men, come in many different shapes and forms. If anything, Jessica is more what you’d expect. She’s small, but she’s fierce. She has powers. She has the attitude. Hope has neither of those things. But what Hope has is determination, and strength, and in the end, even those she doesn’t get her happy ending, those are things no one can take away from her.

If Jessica is in a position to catch Kilgrave, it’s because of Hope. If Malcolm, Robyn and the rest of the idiots survived, it’s because of Hope. And if we watched this episode transfixed, staring at the screen like we couldn’t even blink lest we miss something, well …that’s not only because of Hope, but because of basically every character in this show – the good ones, the evil ones and the ones in between. It’s rare to find a show that features superb character building, superb acting and a superb plot, but here we are. Jessica Jones is that rare trifecta. And though our eyes are now firmly on the finish line, in a way, we don’t want it to end.

That’s what happens with good shows. No, with great shows. You tend to get a little attached.

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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