Streaming on Netflix
Metadata: 2018 | TV-MA | 2 Seasons of 13 episodes, ~50 mins each
Genre: Action, Drama, Superhero
Why did I watch it: I *loved* the first season when it came out in 2015. I couldn't wait to watch Season 2!
You might also like: Wonder Woman is streaming on HBO GO. It doesn't matter if you've seen it already. Go watch it again! And if you can't get enough of Jones, check out The Defenders, which chronologically takes place between seasons 1 and 2 of Jessica Jones, on Netflix.
Where do I start? Maybe with my love of superhero movies. I didn't read comics as a kid or anything, but I've really been digging all of the superhero flicks (mostly in the Marvel franchise) coming out since Iron Man in 2008. But Jessica Jones (along with Daredevil earlier that year) brought something new and exciting to the table in 2015: a grittier, more grown up version of a post-"incident" New York. The titular character, played by the spell-binding Krysten Ritter (maybe you remember her from Breaking Bad? Or Veronica Mars?), is a hard hitting (literally), heaving drinking, and totally no-nonsense private eye, who can also lift really heavy stuff. She says and does what she wants to or has to, and nothing else—but that doesn't mean she's selfish. Quite the opposite. She dearly loves her adoptive sister, Trish, and she has a soft spot for bullet-proof Luke Cage and sweet, drug-addicted Malcolm.
I recommend that you watch both seasons, but it might take you longer than a weekend. The show is totally binge-able, but it's also pretty dark. Jones has been through, um, A LOT, and the hits just keep coming. She survives a deadly car accident that kills her parents and her brother, some weird experiments that leave her unnaturally strong, kidnapping and mind control by a sadistic powered man (the perfect villain, played by David Tennant), and repeated rape. And that's all before the series begins. Jones navigates unthinkable dilemmas and devastating blows (physically and emotionally) with determination and intelligence, and she does it all in the exact same outfit. That's right, day after day, in scene after scene, Jones wears literal combat boots, a t-shirt, a leather jacket, and those jeans.
Okay, so maybe my recommendations have been a little one-note lately. What can I say? I really do love to see a strong female character kicking butt—and especially one who does it in flat shoes, for heaven's sake.
Happy streaming!
Grace
