Jessica Jones
The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe focuses on Jessica Jones, one of the very few comic book characters created since the 70's to gain any traction. Jones first appeared in 2001's Alias by Marvel maestro Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos. Now she is following up the magnificent Daredevil series as part of the MCU's street level world of heroes on Netflix. Jessica Jones is a gritty neo-noir like Daredevil, but it immediately sets itself apart from all of its predecessors by captivating the audience without any of the standard action. Jones has super powers but there's no stylized martial arts or glitzy technology. The only fight scene in the first episode is little more than a tussle between two silhouettes ending with Jessica's opponent going through her window. Instead, all of the tension comes from the horror of an immoral monster who can control minds.
The episode starts slow. It's all about introducing Jones and her poor, sad, punk rock, gumshoe life. She drinks whiskey, gets in and out of her blue jeans, and goes on assignments as the one-woman Alias Investigations. Mostly she tries to work through her PTSD after escaping the grip of the malicious mastermind Zebidiah Kilgrave. A mother and father hire Jones to find their missing daughter who turns out to have been taken by Kilgrave. That's when things get much more interesting very fast.
Jones is played by Krysten Ritter, star of short-lived comedy Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23 and nine episodes of Breaking Bad. As Jessica Jones she finally gets a chance to take center stage of a drama and Ritter owns it. She's tough but vulnerable in a way that's not nearly as cliche as it sounds and she delivers witticisms with a dry iciness. She is joined by Rachael Taylor as Jones' friend and confidant Patsy Walker, a former model who hosts a radio show for some reason. Eka Darville plays her lovable junky neighbor Malcolm and Carrie Anne Moss plays corporate lawyer Jeri Hogarth who frequently hires Jessica. Mike Colter appears as Jessica's love interest, the iconic Luke Cage who will have his own Netflix series next year. David Tennant does not appear in the first episode but I have faith that his portrayal of Kilgrave will be terrifically horrifying.
Mad Men threat level: 7/10
Supergirl
I didn't give Supergirl a rating when it first premiered partly because I still wasn't quite sure what to think of it. I'm a big Superman fan and I'm still pretty upset by his most recent live-action adaptation. I never expected Supergirl to have Man of Steel's treacherous "dark and gritty" tone but there's still a lot of baggage there. Through the baggage I could see a lot of potential in the adventures of Superman's young cousin Kara (Melissa Benoist) and slowly but surely Supergirl is proving capable of living up to it.
Supergirl is created by the same team that have been doing incredible work with the super hero shows Arrow and The Flash. One of the many ways those two are so impressive is that they are related and take place in the same universe but are wildly different. Arrow is a grim epic similar to Chris Nolan's Batman films while Flash is charming and lighthearted; its closest cinematic parallel might be Marvel's The Avengers. Thankfully, Supergirl is much closer in tone to The Flash. Anything starring a Superperson should be fun and optimistic. Actually, the two might be a little too close. They have similar looks, tones, and dialogue. However, a major part of Kara's character arc is going to be stepping out from another hero's shadow. It's not fair to expect her to do that right away and likewise the show deserves a chance to differentiate itself from its peers.
Admittedly, the first episode looked a lot like The Devil Wears Prada, with Kara and her coworkers cowering before their demanding boss Cat Grant, but once you accept the superficial similarities as part of the show, its easy to see that the relationship between Kara and Cat is one of the most interesting on the show. The recent episode "Livewire" especially cracked Cat's tough exterior and revealed that Supergirl is more important to her than just a profitable news story.
"Livewire" was a strong step forward in a lot of ways. It showed that Kara's adopted father, as played by Dean Cain, died before the show began. That's disappointing but it makes sense to focus on Kara's relationship with her mother and other female characters like her sister and Cat Grant since the show is obviously intent on making a feminist message. At times, that message has come across a little ham-fisted. That's normal for the pilot of a show but it carried over to a couple too many of the following episodes. Finally, in "Livewire" the show did a little more showing than telling. It helps that Kara's female mentors are played by fantastic actresses, her mother is Helen Slater, who performed as well as anyone could as Supergirl in the much maligned 1984 film, and Cat is played by Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart. Also, Brit Morgan of cult-classic series The Middleman was great as the episode's titular villain Livewire.
Mad Men threat level: 7/10
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