Not Binging Jessica Jones: Episode 3
Episode 3, “AKA It’s Called Whiskey” continues my episode-by-episode review of Jessica Jones for people like me who aren’t binging the series. Although I must say, the cliffhangers and reveals of each episode are making it difficult to keep to my not-binging routine. With each episode the audience learns a little more about what happened while Jessica was bent to Kilgrave’s will. The flashbacks are used sparingly, but each flashback gives us more and more hints of what that time looked like for Jessica.
This hour’s reveal is a bomb, which is kind of a metaphor for the whole episode. As the show starts, Jessica and Luke are having sex. Loud, raucous, bed-breaking sex. (I mean that last literally; one of the jokes that breaks the tension of the otherwise serious episode is that Luke has to buy a new bed). Luke and Jessica spend their time outside of the bedroom talking about their powers and how they fit in with the rest of the world. There are several allusions to the MCU in this episode: Luke refers to the Avengers as “the big green dude and his crew.” Later on, when Hope appears on Trish’s radio talk show, Trish references the Battle of New York as a reason Hope might be telling the truth about being mind controlled.
It’s important to note at this point who knows what. Jessica and Trish are the only ones who know about Kilgrave’s existence. Jeri is skeptical, but doesn’t know the entire truth about Jessica’s enslavement, while Luke doesn’t know about either. This becomes relevant later, regarding the big episode reveal.
While the audience doesn’t yet know the extent of Jessica’s time with Kilgrave, Trish knows and she has taken steps to defend herself in the future. Her apartment is a fortress and she’s been taking martial arts classes. Trish is determined not to be a victim. This makes the episode’s fight scene quite poignant. After Trish insults Kilgrave on her talk show, Kilgrave sends in a policeman for revenge. While Trish initially fights the policeman off, she eventually is overpowered, although Jessica arrives just in the nick of time. The exchange between Trish and the policeman was phenomenal, pointing to very real-world fears many people have about how to be/feel safe. For all of Trish’s preparation, it wasn’t enough. She has the reinforced door, the panic room, and the Krav Maga training, yet she lets her guard down one time and all her training becomes for nothing. What makes the scene more tense is that the writers telegraph Trish’s downfall. We know she’s going to let the policeman int her apartment and we can only watch, helpless ourselves, as Trish lets her guard down.
The Big Reveal
So Luke had a wife, who died. “Bus accident,” Luke tells Jessica. Only the flashbacks tell the real story. Kilgrave ordered Jessica to kill Luke’s wife, which she did. We don’t yet know exactly why, but we do know that death was Jessica’s catalyst for breaking free of Kilgrave. We also know Jessica feels extremely guilty over what she did; at the end of the episode she breaks off her nascent relationship with Luke. Luke doesn’t yet know the real truth about his wife’s death, but you can bet he’ll find out. Events this big? People always find out.
On to episode 4…
