AKA Ladies Night
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The first season of the American
streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...
series '' Jessica Jones'', which is based on the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
character of the same name, follows a former superhero who opens her own detective agency after her superhero career comes to an end at the hands of Kilgrave. It is set in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
(MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by
Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...
in association with
ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
and Tall Girls Productions, with
Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of A ...
serving as showrunner.
Krysten Ritter Krysten Alyce Ritter (born December 16, 1981) is an American actress and model. She came to prominence when she appeared as Jane Margolis in the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2010) and its spinoff film '' El Camino'' (2019). She th ...
stars as Jones, while
David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
plays Kilgrave. The two are joined by principal cast members
Mike Colter Mike Randal Colter (born August 26, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the streaming television series ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), '' The Defenders'' (2017), and ''Jess ...
,
Rachael Taylor Rachael May Taylor (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Her first lead role was in the Australian series ''headLand'' (2005–2006). She then made the transition to Hollywood, appearing in films including ''Man-Thing'' (2005 ...
,
Wil Traval William Traval is an Australian actor, known for his work as Dr. Jack Quade on the Australian hospital drama '' All Saints'' (2004–2008), and as Will Simpson on the Netflix superhero drama series ''Jessica Jones'' (2015–2018). Early life ...
, Erin Moriarty,
Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in ''Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in '' Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...
, and
Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...
. ''Jessica Jones'' entered development in late 2013, with Rosenberg reworking a series she had previously developed for ABC. Ritter was cast as Jones in December 2014, and production took place in New York City from February to August 2015. The season addresses issues of rape and assault, and was always intended to be far more "adult" than other Marvel projects, particularly in terms of sex. The show's cinematography took inspiration from noir, while visual effects house Shade VFX focused on creating "invisible" effects that would support its realistic approach. The first two episodes of the season premiered in New York City on November 17, 2015, with the full season of 13 episodes released on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
on November 20 to an estimated high viewership and critical acclaim. Critics praised the performances of Ritter and Tennant, as well as the season's noir tone, approach to sexuality, and coverage of darker topics such as rape, assault and
posttraumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats ...
. The season was awarded a Peabody Award in the category of "Entertainment and Children's programs", and a Hugo Award for short form dramas. A second season of ''Jessica Jones'' was ordered on January 17, 2016.


Episodes


Cast and characters


Main

*
Krysten Ritter Krysten Alyce Ritter (born December 16, 1981) is an American actress and model. She came to prominence when she appeared as Jane Margolis in the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2010) and its spinoff film '' El Camino'' (2019). She th ...
as Jessica Jones *
Mike Colter Mike Randal Colter (born August 26, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the streaming television series ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), '' The Defenders'' (2017), and ''Jess ...
as
Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...
*
Rachael Taylor Rachael May Taylor (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Her first lead role was in the Australian series ''headLand'' (2005–2006). She then made the transition to Hollywood, appearing in films including ''Man-Thing'' (2005 ...
as Patricia "Trish" Walker *
Wil Traval William Traval is an Australian actor, known for his work as Dr. Jack Quade on the Australian hospital drama '' All Saints'' (2004–2008), and as Will Simpson on the Netflix superhero drama series ''Jessica Jones'' (2015–2018). Early life ...
as Will Simpson * Erin Moriarty as Hope Shlottman *
Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in ''Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in '' Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...
as
Malcolm Ducasse Karen Page Paibok Doctor Paine Doctor Paine are two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Thaddeus Paine Dr. Thaddeus Paine, created by Len Kaminski, first appeared in ''Morbius the Living Vamp ...
*
Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...
as
Jeri Hogarth Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a friend of Iron Fist's father Wendell and an attorney for the Heroes for Hire, a team of heroes of which Iron Fist is a member. ...
*
David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
as Kilgrave


Recurring

* Susie Abromeit as Pam * Robin Weigert as Wendy Ross-Hogarth * Nichole Yannetty as Nicole * Kieran Mulcare as Ruben *
Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...
as Oscar Clemons *
Colby Minifie Colby Minifie (born January 31, 1992) is an American actress. She began acting at the age of eleven and was a YoungArts scholar; she graduated from the City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public univ ...
as Robyn * Danielle Ferland as Clair * Gillian Glasco as Emma * Ryan Farrell as Jackson * Paul Pryce as Donald *
Lisa Emery Lisa Emery is an American stage, film, and television actress. Emery is best known for playing Darlene Snell on Netflix series ''Ozark''. Early life Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesv ...
as Louise Thompson *
Michael Siberry Michael Siberry (born 1956) is an Australian stage and screen actor. Life and career Siberry was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia and began his career in Adel ...
as Albert Thompson


Notable guests

* Royce Johnson as Brett Mahoney *
Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
as Claire Temple


Production


Development

In October 2013, Marvel and
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
announced that
Marvel Television Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated (through Marvel Animation) television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. The division was based at affi ...
and
ABC Studios ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and
Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...
, leading up to a miniseries based on the
Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...
.
Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of A ...
was brought on to showrun the Jessica Jones series, to be reconfigured as a "page one do-over" from an original project she had developed in December 2010 for ABC. In December 2014, the official title was revealed to be ''Marvel's A.K.A. Jessica Jones'', but that was shortened to ''Marvel's Jessica Jones'' in June 2015. The season consists of 13 hour-long episodes.


Writing

The writers for the season worked in Los Angeles, with one member of the writing team on set in New York for filming. Actress
Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...
talked about how the scripts developed through the production of the season, explaining that the dialogue usually did not change much while filming, but scenes were altered to accommodate the filming locations when necessary. Rosenberg stated that, since Jones is a private investigator, there would be some procedural elements to the show, "but that's not our focus. There are cases. In particular, there is a large case that carries over the season." Elaborating on this, Marvel Television head
Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...
said that the "fun about being a private detective is that the line between what's legal and what's not legal gets very blurred....her drive is not always necessarily to solve the case, as much as it is to go, 'Okay, can I pay the rent? How am I going to get through this day?'" He also added that inspiration for the season came from "the noir films from the '40s" and "film like '' Chinatown''." Describing the tone of the season, Loeb said, "When we first started talking about '' Daredevil'', we promised that we were telling a story that was first a crime drama and then a superhero show. This is more of a psychological thriller. This speaks to when you think about what happened to Jessica and what sort of destroyed her life and how she tried to put it together, and then to have to confront the person who deconstructed her world, that's a very powerful, emotional place to start from." On approaching rape and trauma in the season, Rosenberg wanted to avoid actually showing rape, which she called "lazy storytelling" and often a way to "spice up" male characters, and preferred to just make the trauma a part of the characters' everyday lives rather than an "issue" for the season to tackle. When asked about the adult nature of the season, including the use of sex, Rosenberg explained that Marvel would only not allow showing nudity and the use of the word 'fuck' in the season. Regarding all of the social issues the season covered, such as "issues of choice, interracial relationships, domestic violence, ndissues of consent" while also exploring "feminism and being a woman in this world", Rosenberg said, "It was never our intention going in o hit a social issue and I think the minute you intend to do that, you're stepping up on a soap box. If you're digging into the dark side of the human psyche and all the different experiences we go through, and as women we go through, you're going to find those things. If you treat them honestly and with respect, you're also going to hit social issues."


Casting

The main cast for the season includes
Krysten Ritter Krysten Alyce Ritter (born December 16, 1981) is an American actress and model. She came to prominence when she appeared as Jane Margolis in the AMC drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2009–2010) and its spinoff film '' El Camino'' (2019). She th ...
as Jessica Jones,
Mike Colter Mike Randal Colter (born August 26, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as Luke Cage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in the streaming television series ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), '' The Defenders'' (2017), and ''Jess ...
as
Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...
,
Rachael Taylor Rachael May Taylor (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Her first lead role was in the Australian series ''headLand'' (2005–2006). She then made the transition to Hollywood, appearing in films including ''Man-Thing'' (2005 ...
as Patricia "Trish" Walker,
Wil Traval William Traval is an Australian actor, known for his work as Dr. Jack Quade on the Australian hospital drama '' All Saints'' (2004–2008), and as Will Simpson on the Netflix superhero drama series ''Jessica Jones'' (2015–2018). Early life ...
as Will Simpson, Erin Moriarty as Hope Shlottman,
Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in ''Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in '' Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...
as
Malcolm Ducasse Karen Page Paibok Doctor Paine Doctor Paine are two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Thaddeus Paine Dr. Thaddeus Paine, created by Len Kaminski, first appeared in ''Morbius the Living Vamp ...
,
Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...
as
Jeri Hogarth Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a friend of Iron Fist's father Wendell and an attorney for the Heroes for Hire, a team of heroes of which Iron Fist is a member. ...
, and
David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
as Kilgrave. Appearing in recurring roles for the season are Susie Abromeit as Pam, Colby Minifie and Kieran Mulcare as Robyn and Ruben, Nichole Yannetty as Nicole,
Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...
as Oscar Clemons,
Michael Siberry Michael Siberry (born 1956) is an Australian stage and screen actor. Life and career Siberry was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia and began his career in Adel ...
and
Lisa Emery Lisa Emery is an American stage, film, and television actress. Emery is best known for playing Darlene Snell on Netflix series ''Ozark''. Early life Emery was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of an aspiring actress from Charlottesv ...
as Albert and Louise Thompson, and Robin Weigert as Wendy Ross-Hogarth. Danielle Ferland, Gillian Glasco, Ryan Farrell, and Paul Pryce also recur as victims of Kilgrave who join a support group established by Jones, while
Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
and Royce Johnson reprise their roles of Claire Temple and Brett Mahoney, respectively, from ''Daredevil''.


Design

Stephanie Maslansky returned as the costume designer for ''Jessica Jones'' from ''Daredevil'', and was assisted on the first episode by Jenn Rogien, who crafted Jessica Jones' leather jacket, faded jeans, and boots costume. On Jones's costume, Maslansky said she "considers her clothing to be an armor and a shield and something that helps her maintain a distance from other people and privacy. It keeps her from having to deal with the rest of humanity in a certain sort of way." At least 10 versions of Jones's jacket were made, which started as an Acne Studios leather motorcycle jacket that had any "bells and whistles and any additional superfluous design details" removed. 20 pairs of jeans were used, with both sets of clothing being aged and distressed. Because Jones's costume does not evolve much throughout the season, Maslansky used flashbacks to show how her costume had evolved to the present day: for 'pre-Kilgrave' Jessica Jones, Maslansky gave the character "more pulled together" clothes, albeit "still kind of edgy" clothes that did not change who she was as a character, but were just "different". For instance, in a flashback to Jones working in a corporate environment, she does not wear a suit, instead "wear her jeans and find a really cool jacket, maybe a vintage thing, maybe something that she borrowed from Trish". For a flashback where Jones wears a large sandwich costume, a "variety" of costumes were ordered online, with the chosen suit then distressed to "look dirty and old"; "a mere shadow of its former sandwich self," becoming "more of a hoagie than a sandwich." In another flashback, Jones imagines escaping Kilgrave's control. The bright yellow dress the character wears in the dream sequence was chosen for its juxtaposition to the character's real situation, with Maslansky calling it "so beautiful and so free and so light". For Kilgrave, Maslansky used many suits created by designer Paul Smith, rather than custom-making them as she originally planned, as Smith "was about purple" in the previous fashion season. On the suits, Maslansky added that the designers "wanted to find a place where we could utilize clothing in shades of purple, but not go so over the top that it would look silly and that he would stop feeling ominous or menacing." Expanding on this, Maslansky called purple a traditionally "fairly friendly color, and he's anything but friendly. So I had to find ways to make him be ominous and frightening and terrifying. I found that I needed the right proportion of shades of purple to other shades that were similar: navy, black, maroon." Maslansky felt Luke Cage was also someone "who wears his clothing like an armor," with his wardrobe consisting of T-shirts, jeans, leather jackets or an army jacket. For a character like Trish Walker, who does not have the same kind of "statement costume" as Jones, Maslansky tried to create a certain character style. Maslansky said that Walker's uniform is fashion, so "even when she was hanging around the house, she was wearing a pair of
rag & bone Rag & Bone is an American fashion label helmed by Marcus Wainwright, originally from Britain. The brand is sold in more than 700 shops around the world, as well as in Rag & Bone retail stores. History Rag & Bone was founded in 2002 by Nathan B ...
jeans with a
Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative ...
top, and this was her version of a T-shirt and jeans." Maslansky added that Robin was "a blast to dress" because of her "quirky" personality, yet she was still able to "put herself together aesthetically." For Malcolm, as his story progressively became brighter throughout the season, so did his wardrobe, becoming "a little brighter and a little more hopeful."


Filming

In February 2014, Marvel announced that ''Jessica Jones'' would be filmed in New York City. In April, Marvel Comics'
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books ...
stated that the show would be filming in areas of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and Long Island City that still look like the old
Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...
, in addition to sound stage work. The season went into production in February 2015 in
The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
at Lehman College with the
working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
''Violet'', and aimed to film each episode over nine days, on average. Filming concluded in mid-late August. Other filming locations in New York City used included the East Village's Horseshoe Bar for Luke's Bar; the 33rd Street PATH station and a
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
train; the 101st Street area for the exterior of Jessica's apartment (with the interior apartment settings created on a sound stage); Douglaston, Queens for Jessica's childhood home; the
Angel Orensanz Center The Angel Orensanz Center is an art and performance space on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was originally built as a synagogue, running through a succession of congregations and continues to be used as one occasionally. The ...
for Jessica and Luke's fight in " AKA Take a Bloody Number"; Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and Pier 88 for locations in " AKA Smile"; the
Meatpacking District The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street. The Meatpacking Business Improvement District along ...
;
Nolita Nolita, sometimes written as NoLIta and deriving from "North of Little Italy",Roberts, Sam"New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year"''New York Times'' (February 21, 2011) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. No ...
; near the 39th Street entrance to the
Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned Ne ...
;
Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stree ...
;
Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
;
Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
; Gramercy; Greenpoint, Brooklyn near the
Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant The Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant is the largest sewage treatment facility operated by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Since 2010, its eight metallic "digester eggs", which are tall and dramatically ill ...
; Long Island City, including the Allied Extruder Factory for the weed growing facility, with exteriors shots taken from near Calvary Cemetery; the Queensboro Bridge on the Queens side; the Manhattan Bridge; the
Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...
;
Bethesda Terrace and Fountain Bethesda Terrace and Fountain are two architectural features overlooking the southern shore of the Lake in New York City's Central Park. The fountain, with its ''Angel of the Waters'' statue, is located in the center of the terrace. Bethesda T ...
in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
; and
Industry City Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly cal ...
. Concerning inspirations on the season, Loeb revealed that "''Chinatown''... is one of the things that influenced Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos when they created the character. So those kind of beautiful, long, wide expansive shots, where people sort of come into frame and go back out of frame and someone's in the foreground and then someone is way in the background and they're having a conversation, that's the stuff that makes it interesting." Director of Photography Manuel Billeter and episodic director S. J. Clarkson took inspiration from the comics in terms of their color palette, while looking to the works of
Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...
as reference to create "unconventional" compositions, with Billeter explaining, "There were a lot of foreground elements ndheadroom as well, and we never wanted to show an open frame. We wanted to create a sense of claustrophobia." Billeter shot the season with a Red Epic Dragon camera in 4K resolution, with 5K used for some visual effects shots, and with
Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...
PVintage lenses; he focused mostly on static frames and "good composition", but did occasionally employ a
camera dolly A camera dolly is a wheeled cart or similar device used in filmmaking and television production to create smooth horizontal camera movements. The camera is mounted to the dolly and the camera operator and focus puller or camera assistant usu ...
or
steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
. For lighting, Billeter noted that many New York street lamps had been changed from
sodium-vapor lamp A sodium-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light at a characteristic wavelength near 589  nm. Two varieties of such lamps exist: low pressure and high pressure. Low-pressure sodium lamps ar ...
s to LEDs, so he tried to recreate the "warm, dirty color of sodium vapor" for night exterior scenes. Production designer Loren Weeks described Marvel's Hell's Kitchen as having "a little more astVillage quality." To achieve the explosion at Luke's Bar, Weeks said, "We could not take out the windows t Horseshoe Bar which are ade up ofmultiple small colored glass and metal frames. We didn't know frankly when we picked that location that we would have that explosion... What we did was build a fireproof box in the entrance and we had a cannon in there which blew out debris and smoke and some fire. And then we did a lighting effect on the inside and then the rest of the explosion was handled by visual effects." For the scenes on the PATH train and station, location manager Jason Farrar noted that production had exclusive use of the tracks and platform during the day when ridership was low to get their shots.


Visual effects

Shade VFX created over 600 effects shots for the season, with "invisible" effects "the showpiece, helping to push forward the darker elements the series." Therefore, effects supervisor Karl Coyner and producer Julie Long worked closely with the crew on set to "execute stunts, set extensions, explosions, wetwork and fire sequences" while filming, rather than have Shade create those effects digitally. An effect that Shade was required to create was tinting Kilgrave's skin purple "in a few key scenes" where he is using his powers, a nod to the comic iteration's purple-skinned appearance.


Music

At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International,
Sean Callery Sean Callery (born 1964) is an American musician and composer, best known for composing the music for the action/drama '' 24'' and the Marvel adaptation ''Jessica Jones''. Other projects include the 2004 James Bond video game, '' James Bond 007: ...
revealed he was composing music for ''Jessica Jones'', eventually stating that the music required for each episode ranged from 9 to 20 minutes, totaling approximately 415 minutes of music for the season. A soundtrack album for the season was released by Marvel Music digitally on June 3, 2016. All music composed by Sean Callery, unless otherwise noted.


Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

On existing in the MCU, specifically in the same world as the other Netflix series, Rosenberg said, "''Jessica Jones'' is a very, very different show than ''Daredevil''. We exist in a cinematic universe, ndthe mythology of the universe is connected, but they look very different, tonally they're very different… That was my one concern coming in: Am I going to have to fit into ''Daredevil'' or what's come before? And the answer is no." On references or "
easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...
" in the season, Rosenberg explained that "A little is always there and in the writer's room we have some fanboys that know all this stuff and they're all geeking out with different stuff....a lot of references are to the 'Alias'' comic" She also said that nods to the larger MCU are in the season, with each episode having a "little something in it." Jeryn Hogarth is closely associated with Iron Fist in the comics, and also worked with Luke Cage as part of those characters' ''
Heroes for Hire Heroes for Hire are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in '' Power Man and Iron Fist'' #54 (December 1978), and was created by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias. The team continued to ap ...
'' team. Like ''Daredevil'', the season makes references to the events of '' The Avengers'' and the Avengers (specifically Hulk and Captain America, though not by name). Jessica also mentions Angela del Toro as another private investigator, who in the comics is the hero White Tiger and has connections with K'un-Lun and Iron Fist. Paul Tassi, writing for ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'', was disappointed with how the season fit into the larger MCU, feeling the season seemed "removed from the world of ''The Avengers''" and did not acknowledge ''Daredevil'' enough given that "it's supposed to be sharing at least this little of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with it." Eric Francisco of Inverse countered that ''Jessica Jones''s lack of overt connections to the MCU was "the show's chief advantage. Besides demonstrating how physically wide open the MCU's scope really is, ''Jessica Jones'' also proves the MCU's thematic durability."


Marketing

In May 2015, Marvel announced plans to reprint ''Alias'', the comic that the series is based on, with new covers from David Mack, the original cover artist on the comic who is also providing artwork for the series' opening credits. The reprints, which were all released digitally in June 2015, and up to issue 15 in two trade paperbacks in September, were intended to both celebrate the history of Jessica Jones, and introduce new audiences to the character ahead of the release of the season. In late September through early October, Marvel and Netflix released short teasers for the season, which chronicled a day of Jones' life. Also in early October, Marvel digitally released a 12-page one-shot comic by the original ''Alias'' creative team—Bendis, Gaydos, and Mack—set in the universe of the television series. The one-shot was created as an exclusive for
New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...
, where a print version was distributed.
The comic ''The Comic'' is a 1969 American Pathécolor comedy-drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Carl Reiner. It stars Dick Van Dyke as Billy Bright (which was the original title of the film), Michele Lee as Bright's love interest, and R ...
sees Jessica Jones coming into contact with ''Daredevil'' character
Turk Barrett Turk Barrett is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted in stories featuring Daredevil, in which his inept schemes are played as comic relief. Barrett was a recurring c ...
, and includes a short sequence featuring Daredevil, to celebrate "the connective tissue that will build between the series." Also during New York Comic Con, Marvel set up a
street marketing Street marketing is a form of guerrilla marketing that uses nontraditional or unconventional methods to promote a product or service.Saucet, Marcel; Cova, Bernard (2015). "The secret lives of unconventional campaigns: Street marketing on the fringe" ...
campaign, and screened " AKA Ladies Night" on October 10, while at the Marvel Booth fans could take their picture with the Alias Investigations desk, with Kilgrave's eyes appearing in the background of the final animation. Marvel additionally partnered with
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...
during the event to provide select riders with complimentary trips to or from the convention in custom designed SUVs. A full trailer was released at the end of October, with Meagan Damore of
Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
feeling that it helped establish the same tone as ''Daredevil'' and introduced "Marvel's creepiest villain yet" with Kilgrave. She also compared Jessica to some of the other female characters of the MCU— Black Widow,
Melinda May Melinda Qiaolian May, also known as The Cavalry, is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeare ...
, and
Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirb ...
—feeling that Jessica stood out from the others because she does not have "a sense of togetherness" and was the most relatable because of her struggle with trauma, and that the season would have the amount of creative space required to explore the character that the other female characters were lacking. A second trailer was released on November 10, 2015. Sarene Leeds of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' felt that this trailer highlighted empowerment, compared to the first that "was about illustrating the fear behind Jones's past". The season held its premiere in New York City on November 17.


Release


Streaming

The first season of ''Jessica Jones'' was released on November 20, 2015, on the streaming service Netflix, in all territories where it is available, in
Ultra HD Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed b ...
4K. In January 2015, a month after Marvel announced a 2015 release for the season, Sarandos had said that it was "too hard to say now" if the season would actually release in 2015, with Netflix's plan to release a Marvel series approximately a year apart from each other after ''Daredevil''s April 2015 release. However, Netflix soon confirmed that the season would indeed release in 2015, announcing the November 20 release date in September. The season was enhanced to be available in
high dynamic range High dynamic range (HDR) is a dynamic range higher than usual, synonyms are wide dynamic range, extended dynamic range, expanded dynamic range. The term is often used in discussing the dynamic range of various signals such as images, videos, au ...
(HDR) after its initial release by post-production vendor Deluxe. The season, along with the additional ''Jessica Jones'' seasons and the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. The season became available on
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.


Home media

The season was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in Region 1 and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in Region A on August 22, 2017, in Region 2 and Region B on December 5, 2016, and in Region 4 on December 7, 2016.


Reception


Audience viewership

As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series,
Symphony Technology Group Symphony Technology Group (STG) is an American private equity firm based in Menlo Park, California. Its Chairman and CEO is Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, who founded the firm in 2002. Investments The company has investments in the following companies: ...
compiled data for the season based on a sample size of 15,000 people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, from September to December 2015, episodes of ''Jessica Jones'' averaged 4.8million viewers during a 35-day viewing cycle. The data was presented by Alan Wurtzel,
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...
president of research and media development, in a presentation aimed to provide "perspective" when stating "digital platforms are hurting the traditional TV business". Netflix CCO
Ted Sarandos Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. is an American businessman who serves as the co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix. Early life Sarandos was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was Ted Sarandos Sr, an electrician, and ...
responded to the data by saying that "the whole methodology and the measurement and the data itself doesn't reflect any sense of reality of anything that we keep track of." A further study from Symphony, for the same time period, found ''Jessica Jones'' to be one of the four most watched series in the 18 to 24 demographic, ahead of any broadcast network series. The marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the fifth-most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered, garnering 26% of the viewers that the second season of ''Daredevil'' received, which was the most viewed season according to Jumpshot. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click-stream data from an online panel of more than 100million consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season.


Critical response

The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.20/10 based on 80 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Jessica Jones'' builds a multifaceted drama around its engaging antihero, delivering what might be Marvel's strongest TV franchise to date."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 81 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating what the website considers to be "universal acclaim". The early screening of the first episode at New York Comic Con was met by a very positive reaction from the crowd. George Marston of ''
Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History ...
'' gave the first episode a 10 out of 10, saying the season "strikes a balance between self-aware noir and Marvel's first flirtations with psychological horror....not just another hit for Marvel and Netflix, but a landmark moment for female superheroes on TV." Eric Goldman of IGN felt that "''Jessica Jones'' starts out with a strong premiere episode that...easily goes further than anything in the MCU in terms of sexuality." He called Ritter "a commendably tough, sardonic" Jessica Jones and praised the supporting cast for the strong impressions they made, later scoring the episode an 8.5 out of 10. Evan Valentine of
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...
gave the episode 5 stars out of 5, feeling that Tennant would "ascend to the same level as
Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021 ...
's Loki and
Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...
's Wilson Fisk as one of the cornerstones of villainy in the MCU". Katharine Trendacosta of
io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...
also had positive thoughts on "AKA Ladies Night", highlighting the episode's use of light and color, especially with purple, and the way it portrays New York as how it "actually looks—not overly bright and shiny and clean, but not suffering a never-ending power-outage either". Abraham Riesman noted the episode's presentation of sexuality, which "was shockingly and refreshingly honest", compared to Marvel's other films and television series. He concluded by applauding the season's bringing up of the topics of
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
and PTSD. Reviewing the first seven episodes of the season, Maureen Ryan of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' gave positive thoughts on ''Jessica Jones'', stating, "The show, which features an exceptional performance from Krysten Ritter and sure-handed guidance from executive producer Melissa Rosenberg, is not just a contender for the title Best Marvel-related TV property; in a supremely crowded TV scene, it is one of the year's most distinctive new dramas." Jack Shepard of ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', also on the first seven episodes, felt the season "not only matches 'Daredevil''but exceeds expectations." Shepard gave exceptional praise to Tennant's Kilgrave, feeling he was one of the best villains produced by Marvel, and possibly "the best on-screen comic book villain since
Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
's Joker." ''Forbes'' Merrill Barr stated that after seeing the first seven episodes, "the answer is a resounding yes" if lightning could strike twice for Marvel Television, claiming, "In no uncertain terms, ''Jessica Jones'' is the best thing Marvel Television has ever produced. It contains all the hopeful anticipation of 'Agents of'' ''S.H.I.E.L.D.'', all the feminist-overtones of '' Agent Carter'' and all the grittiness of ''Daredevil''." ''
Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' Dominic Patten also had praise for the season, particularly Rosenberg's influence on it, the coverage of topics such as "PTSD, abuse, assault, shame, and death" and the cast, highlighting Tennant's Kilgrave as the actor's best role as well as the MCU's best villain. Mary McNamara from the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' felt ''Jessica Jones'' "rewrote the definition of superhuman" and was "a marvel", lauding the season's "breathtaking" examination of recovery from a sexually, emotionally and physically abusive relationship. Daniel Fienberg for ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' was also positive, saying the season "looks and feels a bit like a cable anti-hero series—but it's really more of a post-hero story, making it fascinating and unique in a marketplace that doesn't lack for costumed do-gooders of all types." His one criticism was that "the show shares Jessica's monomaniacal fixation on ilgraveand the result is a sort of narrative claustrophobia...Everything in these opening episodes ties back to Kilgrave and Kilgrave is such a twisted figure that it's hard for any light to get in." Melissa Maerz of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' was slightly more critical of the season, awarding it a "B". Though Maerz felt Ritter was a good choice for Jessica and enjoyed the cinematography, she felt the season "could've made for a gritty character drama if it weren't for the noir clichés (saxophone music, shadows through glass) and a procedural structure that's very ''CSI: Marvel''. The show's biggest weakness is the same as Jessica's: It starts out with extraordinary potential, but somewhere along the way, it loses what make it special." Goldman, later reviewing the whole season, gave it a 9.3 out of 10. He commended all the actors, the relationship between Jessica and Trish, and the episode "Sin Bin", though was critical of the character Robyn. Additionally, Goldman also felt the season spent "too many scenes devoted to Jeri's marital strife" and that it hit its peak "a bit before the actual end of the season" similar to ''Daredevil'', with most of the thrilling moments earlier in the season.


Analysis

Libby Hill of the ''Los Angeles Times'' commented on how ''Jessica Jones'' exposed modern day sexism and
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...
through Kilgrave's use of the phrase "Smile", calling the season "the most innocuous and incisive cultural critique" from Marvel to date. Hill likened an early scene that shows Kilgrave asking Jones to smile, and her obliging, to "similar well-meaning scenarios
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
play out in the real world time and again each day" many in the form of gendered street harassment, that resonates with many women. Hill also added that "Kilgrave serves as an exaggerated representation of perceived consent," due to the response he gives later in the season to Jessica about never knowing if someone is doing what they want or what he tells them to do. She concludes that "''Jessica Jones'' is revolutionary because in acknowledging casual misogyny and exaggerating its most destructive tendencies, it exposes the pervasive toxicity therein. It does all of this without making a show of its politics, instead resting easy on the knowledge that all too many women will relate to the subtleties of its premise." Amy C. Chambers, writing for The Science and Entertainment Laboratory, noted how the season moved away from sexism even more so than the comics, by changing Kilgrave's abilities from phermone based, with a particular effect on women, to viral, with equal effect no matter gender, indicating that "powerlessness is not gendered." Kwame Opam at ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...
'' chose to examine rape and the nature of consent in the season. Comparing ''Jessica Jones'' to other television series that have depicted rape ('' Game of Thrones'', '' Orange Is the New Black'', and '' Outlander''), Opam felt that "since rape is one of the show's core themes, we never need to see it... rape is a foundational part of the text, and its presence is constant. Even if it's invisible, it's always there." He also felt the season took the time to examine how rape happens and what it means, especially in terms of power and consent, concluding, "''Jessica Jones'' moves the conversation about rape forward by treating it as a complex subject worth investigating, rather than as spice for a story...Maybe we don't need to see it anymore to grasp how violent it is. Maybe our energies are better spent thinking deeply about why it happens at all." ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s Lili Loofbourow also discussed the season's depiction of rape and consent, noting the complications that come with Kilgrave telling his victims how to feel rather than just how to act, and saying, "however exceptional Kilgrave's power seems, the moral quagmire it produces is all too common. It's the condition of the rape victim who had an orgasm during her assault. It's the condition of the soldier trained to kill when he suspects his targets are innocent. It's the condition of the battered woman who goes back to her abuser and stays "of her own free will". It's the condition of...any person, really, who agrees, whatever the context, to consent to forgo consent in the future." Loofbourow also discussed the character of Simpson, comparing his power-inducing red pill to the anti-feminist "red pillers", and noting that his taking of the pills "renders him not just dangerously delusional, but so utterly at odds with nature and reality of any kind that he will forget to breathe unless he counteracts the pill's effects."


Accolades

''Jessica Jones'' was included on multiple Best/Top TV Shows of 2015 lists, ranking on ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
''s (1st, along with ''Daredevil''),
Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
and ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...
''s (2nd),
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's (3rd), ScreenCrush's (4th), Digital Spy's (5th), ''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
''s (6th),
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
's (7th), ''
Slate Magazine ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 2 ...
''s (9th), and ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...
''s (11th). It was also included on un-ranked lists from Maureen Ryan of ''Variety'', Mary McNamara of the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''
The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's ed ...
'', and ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
''. In December 2015, IGN named ''Jessica Jones'' the Netflix's best original series released to date, and it was named one of the Best New Shows of 2015 by Ryan, as well as the tenth best new show of 2015 by ''Entertainment Weekly''s Jeff Jensen. ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' named " AKA WWJD?" one of the best television episodes of 2015. Additionally, ''Jessica Jones'' was the second most trending television series search on
Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
for 2015.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2015 American television seasons 01 Fiction about mind control Matricide in fiction Patricide in fiction