NetflixMarvel's Jessica Jones is the superhero show you should be watching. Scratch that, it's the show (in general) you should be watching.
It's unlike any other superhero show out there because it doesn't feel like a superhero show. Actually, it's unlike any other TV show out there, really, because it's a show that doesn't shy away from messy, complicated situations and feelings…all the while the protagonist is a super-strong woman who can jump very high.
Set in the same universe as Daredevil (yet he doesn't appear in the first seven episodes), Jessica Jones lacks the stylish and polished fight scenes of its predecessor in the Marvel/Netflix partnership, but it makes up for that with an emotionally-charged performance from Krysten Ritter. But take heart, she does throw more than a few punches (and people) around. Just don't expect anything like the hallway fight scene that everybody was talking about on Daredevil. Where Jessica Jones lacks in eye-popping action sequences, it makes up for in engrossing performances that will suck you in.
Based on Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos' Marvel comic series Alias, Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg developed a rich world with relatable characters (who just so happen to be able to put power saws to their skin and remain uninjured). Ritter plays a super-powered individual who set out to help the public, only to come into the crosshairs of David Tennant's Kilgrave, a villain with the power to get people to do whatever he wants simply by saying it aloud. She gives up the heroic life and becomes a private eye. The plot is very similar to the original comic, with the added infusion of Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker (known to comic fans as Patsy Walker a.k.a Hellcat) a trusted confidant of Jessica's and Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, an attorney and Jessica's sometime employer. The Good Wife's Mike Colter plays Luke Cage, a romantic interest for Ritter's Jessica Jones and another Marvel hero set for the Netflix series treatment. For fans of Colter's calm and cool The Good Wife character, he brings the same gravitas to the superhero role here, and you actually get to root for him.
The first seven episodes of Jessica Jones are instantly addictive. Ritter's Jessica is brash, wounded, and funny. She pops off the screen. You want her to succeed, be it in finding the missing girl, taking down her super villain or just getting her door fixed. You want her effortless attitude and take no prisoners take on life. The character has been put through the wringer and then some (you'll see). She's not an anti-hero, but she's not your typical hero. Marvel's Jessica Jones rests solely on the shoulders of Ritter's time in the comedy world on Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 and drama experience on shows like Breaking Bad make her perfectly suited for the layered role with just the right amount of vulnerability mixed with determination, wit and emotion.
In a world that hasn't had a female-fronted comic book superhero series in decades, to now have not one, but three (including Agent Carter and Supergirl) is thrilling. Adding to that, each of the three shows is incredibly different. There's something for everybody, and in a landscape full of costumes, super powers and tragic characters, Jessica Jones stands above the rest.
Marvel's Jessica Jones drops all episodes on Netflix on Friday, Nov. 20.