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“Jessica Jones” recap (1.03): I always feel like somebody’s watching me

Previously on Jessica Jones: Jessica squishes a cockroach with her thumb that is really a metaphor for Kilgrave. Jeri accepts a favor to be cashed later from Jessica. Trish Krav Magas her issues away. Luke is unbreakable, and alive, dammit.

By episode three of any new series, the inevitable question of whether to watch or fast forward through the credits arises. It becomes a line in the sand. Like, are you a sit through the Orange is the New Black theme person or a skip-it person? (Me, I watch every.single.time). So far, same goes for the illustrated noir of the Jessica Jones. There’s something about that mad crescendo that then dips back immediately into those simple, almost hopeful notes that get me pumped for the show.

Also pumped are Jessica and Luke. Well, I’m going to assume that parts of Luke are particularly pumped. Who knew showing a gal your unbreakable skin was such a turn on? Our super-powered couple tests out their new, boundary-less relationship. Cracked windows, bent pipes, busted plaster—you know, the usual.

Their athletic boinking is interrupted when Jessica spots Creepy Twin Guy looking in from behind an open Carl (the door, Carl is the door—keep up). Afterward, they go out for some food truck grub and discuss their super powers. His came from an experiment; hers an accident. She’s not exactly faster than a speeding bullet, but she can stop a slow-moving car and jump-fall.

Luke wonders if there are more of their ilk out there besides “the big green dude and his crew.” We see what you did there, Marvel. Luke doesn’t reveal his powers because he thinks being a hero makes you a target. Jessica says she’s “been there, done that” and it didn’t work out so hot. Luke, of course, wants to know if a costume was involved and if she’ll wear it for him. Same, Luke, same.

After their existential query is over, they go back to his place for more enthusiastic boinking. This time, they break the bed- quite literally. Yeah, people with super strength really shouldn’t buy their bedframes at IKEA.

Jessica excuses herself to the bathroom to feed her guilt some more by looking at the photo of that smiling woman in Luke’s medicine cabinet. He comes in and informs her she died, in a bus crash. You know that moment when, in hindsight, would have been perfect to tell someone something important. Yep, that was it. But instead Jessica bolts.

She stops at a bodega on the way home for some beef jerky and cheap bourbon. On the talk radio, people are complaining about “those guys” who “saved the city” and rumors of more “super folk” and some “Kilgrave” character. OK, Marvel, we get it. All of your universes are connected. In which case, can Black Widow, Maria Hill and Agent Carter all show up at Jessica’s place and play Cards Against Humanity together? I would pay cash money to see that, seriously.

Jessica researches surgical anesthesia into the night while contemplating how to prove the devil’s existence. The next morning, she barges into Jeri’s office to demand she defend Hope in the press. But Jeri uses the old turnaround thanks to her newfound knowledge that Jessica was one of Kilgrave’s victims, too. She says if Jessica were truly brave she would testify against him.

Jessica says she can’t, because then she’d be in the same position as Hope—incarcerated. She also hurls some more insults at Jeri, but Jeri tells her to be careful because she is the only other person besides her trying to save Hope’s life. I don’t want to say a lawyer trying to take the moral high ground is ironic, but then I’ve also watched the rest of the series. So there are a couple other adjectives that also spring to mind.

Jessica’s never-ending quest to clear Hope/her conscience continues with Trish. She is trying to convince her to defend Hope on her show. They also discuss how to get drugs—the really, really good kind. But actually it’s all an excuse for Trish to disrobe in front of Jessica.

But instead of exploring each other’s sexual fluidity, Jessica explores the copious bruises across Trish’s body.

Trish explains they are from her new training routine-which, in turn, is all a part of her Trish 2.0 security upgrade. Video surveillance. Steel door. Bulletproof windows. Panic room. Plus she turned Jessica’s old room into a gym. And then there are her personal upgrades. Needless to say thanks to Krav Maga she is not afraid of anything anymore—except clowns.

She hip tosses Jessica, for good measure, and assures her that “no one touches me anymore unless I want them to.” The look on Jessica’s face afterward made me snort laugh.

But all joking aside, this stuff is all fine and good. I applaud women taking control of their personal safety and learning to defend themselves. But, hello, mind control. Kilgrave could just say, “Beat yourself to death with your new Linda Hamilton T2 arms, Trish,” and she would be powerless to stop.

Jessica continues to search for the one thing that could stop him: Sufentanil. She goes to see Jeri’s doctor wife, Wendy, in hopes that she will be one of those, “Sure, take all the surgical-grade drugs you want”-kind of doctor. Jessica also suggests she might be able to help Wendy with her being divorced by one of New York’s sharkiest lawyers situation.

But Wendy denies her both the drugs and that she is getting divorced. Oh, poor lady. She clearly hasn’t gotten a good look at Pam yet. So she sends Jessica on her way with a prescription for an anti-psychotic.

After an aborted hospital robbery and smackdown of a self-righteous bicyclist, Jessica gets a call from Trish telling her the interview with Hope is on. Jessica balks, because he will be listening. Please, what could go wrong?

Next Jess goes to Luke for the drugs, but instead there is more boinking in his new much sturdier bed. Marvel drops yet another Easter egg with Luke’s exclamation of signature catchphrase “Sweet Christmas” from the comics. He then tells Jessica to “Just say it, woman.” He knows there is something she hasn’t been telling him since they met. He then jokingly (sorta) asks if it’s a racial thing.

Jessica missed her moment—sorta. Instead she brings up Kilgrave, though not by name, and his ability to control minds. Luke isn’t buying it. Just because a man has unbreakable skin doesn’t mean he has an open mind.

The next day very helpful Jeri facilitates Hope’s interview with Trish. She recounts what it was like to be controlled by Kilgrave. Jessica listens-obviously all-too-familiar with the feeling-but then Jeri takes over talking about Hope’s “fully-formed” delusions. Trish reminds her about the alien attack and all those dudes (and one lady) in costumes who saved them.

Trish then goes on to call Kilgrave “sick and perverted” and possibly “impotent” on air, which sends Jessica into a panic. She goes into the booth and rips the mic in half. But Trish is excited about pissing him off. Oh, sweetie, no. Of course, Kilgrave calls in next and calls her posturing “wildly dangerous” and “stupid in the extreme.” Ugh, we know. No need to rub it in.

On the way out the door, Trish assaults a “Patsy Walker” fan who approaches her in the lobby because you can never be too careful. In her defense, he was a little creepy. Jessica helpfully tells her she deals with her fears thanks to her friend whiskey.

Back at her apartment, Jessica finds Carl finally fixed. But then she has to promptly break him again because the locksmiths withheld her key until payment. Though, considering how often she leaves the door open anyway, I’m not sure why she bothered getting Carl fixed in the first place.

Through the open door, she sees Creepy Guy Twin bringing her strung-out neighbor back. So, maybe he is a nice Creepy Guy Twin. Wait, he just mentioned his beetle collection. So, still creepy. But now is talking about overcoming racism. So, back to nice. OK, if this interaction proved anything it is that you can be creepy and nice at the same time.

The interaction also gives Jessica an idea: She is going to use her strung-out neighbor, Malcolm, as a distraction to get the drugs she needs-so she shoves him into a nurse. This proves another thing: You can be nice and not nice at the same time, too.

Meanwhile at Trish’s place a cop has come up to the door. Don’t open the door, Trish. He wants to talk with her about an alleged assault (i.e. the creepy fan). Don’t open the door, Trish. She asks to see his identification. Don’t open the door, Trish. She wants to call her lawyer. Don’t answer the door, Trish. He says if he has to come back it’ll be on the news. Don’t open the door, Trish. Nobody listens to me when I scream things at them on television.

Well, at least she was smart enough to grab a baton. But then a pretty brutal hand-to-hand fight ensues which ends with Sgt. Simpson strangling Trish with his bare hands. Luckily Jessica arrives to throw him around. She’s also smart enough to know he won’t stop until he thinks Trish is dead. Good thing she just got those knock-out drugs.

She is also smart enough to put Trish’s activated phone into his pocket. Don’t you just love it when the heroine is smart? She tracks Simpson, who reports on Trish’s death to the man himself. There he is, within her needle poking range. But then Kilgrave thanks him by having him leave via the balcony. Being a hero is damn inconvenient.

Jessica stops Simpson from taking a long step down, and then Kilgrave sees her. As they have a stare off, we flashback to the last time Jessica stood in front of Kilgrave. It was when he told her to “take care of ” Reva, Luke’s wife. So Jessica hit her, as hard as she could, in the chest. So there you have it. Jessica killed a woman. Kilgrave made Jessica kill someone.

It’s also that moment when Jessica broke free from Kilgrave’s control. All he could do is scream her name in that horrible, whine of a command we’ll hear way, way too much of in this series.

Of course, annoying Simpson gets back up and tries to off himself once more and Jessica has to deal with him. But in the few seconds it took her to knock him out, Kilgrave is already gone.

Unfortunately, he has also left the apartment boobie trapped with a whole family full of would-be assassins. First a son with a bat. Then a father with a knife. Next a mom with a linebacker attitude. She dispatches them easily and non-lethally, but then finds something truly terrifying.

It’s Kilgrave’s Jessica Jones room. Remember that scene in A Beautiful Mind where the math genius is revealed to be crazy with his nutty wall of numbers? Yeah, it’s like that but instead of equations it’s photos of Jessica. Jessica on the street. Jessica on the subway. Jessica anywhere, everywhere in her one pair of skinny jeans.

Kilgrave has left her a note on one of the photos, “See you later.” So, as if a guy with seemingly unlimited powers of mind control wasn’t horrifying enough, he is also an obsessive stalker. Wow, when it rains it pours in the villain department.

Jessica fakes a fall off the roof for Simpson and when he comes to he’s confused and horrified. Also, I’m a little confused — though not necessarily horrified—about how much time has passed here. Shouldn’t he still be under Kilgrave’s thrall at this point? Jessica tells him to forget anything happened and leave. If only he would.

Jessica shows up on Luke’s door, a little worse for wear. She tells him she did something and can’t come in. He thinks she can’t handle his dead wife. OK, well, he’s not entirely wrong.

As Jessica leaves, she realizes one of the photos Kilgrave had of her was from her lookout over Luke’s place. So, who then could be watching her for him? Who indeed.

Find more from Dorothy Snarker visit dorothysurrenders.com or @dorothysnarker.

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