Jessica Jones S01 E04 – Kilgrave made me do it.

Previously: Jessica sees Kilgrave, for a brief moment.
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AKA 99 Friends

Jessica: First off, let me say that I just love this theme song. It’s got the noir style but then gets all fast-paced near the end and it’s just perfect. Also, this is I believe my fourth re-watch of Jessica Jones and I couldn’t be happier. Ok, gushing over (for now).

The episode starts with a montage of people walking around the city. Jessica VO’s about how any one of them could be controlled by Kilgrave, and there’d be no way to know until it was too late. This really sets up the scope of his powers and shows us how nearly impossible a villain like him can be to anticipate or stay ahead of. This is not going to be easy.

Jessica is walking around the city, using the photographs she found last episode to figure out where they might have been taken from. She’s relieved that she didn’t find any photos of Luke. “He should be safe,” her VO ends and I just cringe because why, why would you jinx it like that??

Marines: Even if he was were safe like one second ago, he’s not anymore! Those are the rules!! 

J: Jess gets a phone call and returns to her apartment, where a woman in a red jacket is standing impatiently at the door. The woman, Audrey, is there for an appointment. Jessica pointedly asks who referred her. No such dramatic Kilgrave reveal as last time – Audrey mentions a divorce lawyer who works with Hogarth. Jessica remains guarded but lets her in, while Audrey comments on Malcolm trying unsuccessfully to unlock his apartment door down the hallway. Jessica goes over to ask if he’s ok but he brushes her off, still sore about how she used him as a distraction at the hospital last episode, understandably.

Back with Audrey, she tells Jessica that she suspects her husband and his “wandering penis” is cheating on her. She says her divorce lawyer told her to get pictures of his infidelity to help her divorce case along. “Nothing pays like pictures in court.” She wants Jess to catch him “en flagrante.” She gives Jessica a time and place where she can find him.

Jessica continues to question Audrey about the lawyer who referred her and if she’s had any conversations with a British man. Audrey responds irritated and confused, just seemingly un-Kilgraved enough to warrant accepting her money, but still suspicious. So Jessica agrees to take the case.

Mari: We know why Jessica is hesitant to accept this case, but it’s a credit to the story that I’m also like WHO ARE YOU, LADY? CHEATING HUSBAND, A LIKELY STORY.

J: I know! TRUST NO ONE!

Jessica’s phone rings and it’s Trish. “He’s back.” She means the cop who Kilgrave sent to kill her last episode. She thinks he’s been sent back to finish the job, and we see her watching the camera feed from her security door as he and another cop batter at her door with a battering ram. Jessica tells her to go to her safe room and that she’ll be there soon.

Jessica climbs up the balcony and Trish lets her in. She strides through the apartment and watches the security footage. Poor Trish cringes at each smash of the battering ram. The previously mind-controlled cop’s face comes up close to the camera and he looks all sweaty and jittery. Jess’s expression relaxes, and turns into pity. The second cop clears curious onlookers out of the hallway and asks his partner if he really thinks there’s a body in there. Jess says that Kilgrave didn’t send him, he just thinks he actually killed her. “I recognize that look,” she says, and we know she knows exactly how he feels, except in her case, the death was real. Krysten Ritter acts the hell out of this, by the way.

As he readies for the next swing, Jessica opens the door and smiles, saying they had their headphones in and didn’t hear anything. “It’s you,” the cop says and looks confused. The other policeman knows she isn’t Trish, so Trish, who’s been hiding behind the door, takes a breath and steps around, revealing herself. The previously Kilgrave-d cop gets super confused, and asks what’s going on. His partner – who’s just really, really bad a reading facial cues – fan-boys over Trish and then leaves.

“How can you be all right?” Previously mind-controlled cop asks, still confused, but the other guy is gone so Trish pulls down the scarf covering up her bruised neck and fiercely whispers, “I am NOT alright!” and poor Trish, I feel so bad for her.

Mari: I do, too. Again, you know that she knows about Kilgrave and how that works, but how can she feel anything but anger for this man who effectively choked her?

J: Jessica steps out in the hall and takes him downstairs, while Trish stays behind her super-reinforced door. She tries to tell him to forget everything and that Trish is all right, but he can’t let it go. “You’re still you,” she tells him. He wants answers, but she’s trying to tell him as little as possible. He’s worried Kilgrave will come after Trish again, and Jessica says she’ll handle it. He offers his experience in special forces and his police connections but Jessica insists no police. She says she has a way to keep Kilgrave from coming after Trish and walks away, leaving him behind looking no more satisfied or less confused than before.

Mari: I don’t know what it is about this character, but I was immediately endeared to him. 

J: The actor, Wil Traval, does a really good job of veering between terrifying (when he was a Kilgrave robot) and sympathetic (now that he’s trying to figure out what the hell happened and somehow make it right).

Cut to Trish back in the recording studio. She is much more subdued than we saw her in her previous broadcast, and it sucks. She offers an apology for what she said before about Kilgrave (without mentioning him specifically, just as “a certain individual”), calling herself ignorant and him fascinating and powerful, while Jessica stands in the background, exuding both pity for the painful words Trish has to say and slight relief that she might be solving this particular problem.

Afterward, they walk down the street and Trish claims, “I need a shower.” “Saying the words don’t make it true,” Jessica consoles her but you can tell both of them hated the necessity of it. There is just so much to unpack here and I don’t want to get into a long rant, but this show does such a good job of showing the dynamics of power in abusive relationships, and this is a prime example of that. Trish apologizes to save her life, even though Kilgrave is not deserving of an apology and she does not believe a single word of her apology. But she had to make the gesture, publicly, and hope it works. Ugh.

Jessica interrupts their conversation to walk aggressively toward a guy on the sidewalk taking pictures, but he’s just taking pictures of his wife. She relaxes and Trish asks what’s wrong, not buying the first brush-off. Jessica tells her about the photographic stalker. Trish tries to calm her down, saying that Kilgrave isn’t here right now, but Jessica points to her head and says, “But he’s always here.” Another brilliant example of the show dealing with PTSD and survivor issues. Kilgrave isn’t physically present, though there’s always the physical threat of a controlled spy/attacker nearby, and even when there isn’t, she’s mentally under stress about it.

Mari: It also does a good job of putting it all into perspective. Jessica was standing by, encouraging Trish to make the fake apology, looking strong and resolute. And yet, she’s just one moment from coming undone, always. This is something she always carries with her. 

J: Yes this show does a great balance with Jessica that way, going between her strength and vulnerability in a way that’s understandable and real.

Back at her apartment, Jessica goes through pictures of Luke on her computer and deletes them. Looks like she’s working to cut him out of her life to keep him safe and because she feels guilty for stalking him in the first place.

Next day, Hogarth is talking to a client on the phone. His dog food company killed puppies or something, reminding us that Hogarth is a shark lawyer, but she’s interrupted when Jessica barges in, followed by a flustered and ineffectual Pam. Oh Pam, don’t feel bad, not even a platoon of people could keep Jessica out of Hogarth’s office.

Jessica demands to know if Audrey, the client from earlier, was actually referred to her from Hogarth’s office, since the last people who were referred to her wound up dead. Hogarth confirms that Audrey is indeed a client, after being reminded that dead clients can’t pay legal bills. Jessica leaves as Hogarth calls her paranoid. “Everyone keeps saying that, it’s like a conspiracy,” Jess quips on the way out. These little bits of dry humor are thrown about. They help cut the tension, keeping us together much like Jessica uses it to keep herself together.

While Jessica cases Audrey’s workplaces from an alley across the road, she talks with Trish on the phone, who is worried the apology didn’t work. They discuss the case and whether or not Audrey’s “been Kilgraved.” Jessica says that time and distance affect Kilgrave’s effects, so if she doesn’t see him near her throughout the day, she’ll believe Audrey is for real.

The conversation gives Jess an idea and she calls Previously Kilgrave’d Cop, asking if he wants to help take down Kilgrave. The answer is an emphatic yes. She asks him to use his police force connections to get camera footage of all the areas she was photographed, to help her ID her stalker. (M: Why do I love this cop?)

Meanwhile, Pam and Hogarth are out to lunch. Pam chides Hogarth for ignoring her and focusing on work. As they enter the restaurant, Hogarth’s wife Wendy is coming out and it’s super awkward. She asks why Hogarth is bringing Pam here, specifically, and Pam icily responds that they have a reservation. Hogarth tells Wendy that she doesn’t get exclusive rights to all the restaurants they used to eat at, but Wendy replies “No, just the one where you proposed to me.” Pam is taken aback while Hogarth holds her ground. Wendy says Pam is being given “leftover romance” and leaves crying. Hogarth is ready to stride into the restaurant anyway but Pam walks away, saying that Wendy is right, and she does get to have this place. This makes me like Pam so much, she really is a great non-one-dimensional side character.

Jessica follows Audrey to an abandoned building, wondering if she’s going to re-establish contact with Kilgrave. Instead, Audrey goes inside, turns on some rock music, pulls a gun out of her purse and goes Annie Oakley on some mannequins. Oh man, can I figure out a way to do that on certain days? (M: Same for me but with less gun and maybe more eating ice cream alone.) It’s been 13 hours and no Kilgrave contact, though Jess wonders who she’s planning to use that gun on. Hey Chekhov, how’s it going?

Jessica returns to Hogarth’s office, where Hogarth has people lined up claiming that, essentially, Kilgrave made them do it, be that crime or other irregular behaviors. Trish’s interview “turned him into the most popular alibi in the city,” Hogarth says. She wants Jessica to interview them. She also calls in her favor from earlier and asks Jessica to get some dirt on Wendy, who is apparently sore over the lunch meeting and has decided to make the divorce “difficult.” Jessica reluctantly agrees to dig up the dirt, but first, the interviews.

We’re treated to a montage of people saying they were mind-controlled into doing things. The description of the mind controller varies from an old Chinese man with glowing red eyes to a sexy gardener. But then, dispersed throughout, are a few people saying things that we start to recognize, like asking a cellist (appearing now with bandaged fingers) to keep playing nonstop, or asking a woman to keep smiling. Jessica takes note and puts their names on a list, and later gathers them all in the conference center together. She tells them to stay in touch and walks out. Hogarth snarkily asks if Jessica’s going to participate in group therapy and Jess says it’s a waste of time and that she’s just using them. Still, the fact that she sets them up with each other, she’s trying to help them, with the help that maybe she deep down wants, but can’t (or won’t) allow herself to have. Hogarth says that Kilgrave using his powers to get cello music and a smiling woman is “a waste” when he could use his “gift” for so much more. Jessica starts yelling as Hogarth tries to backtrack, saying he could be on their side, but Jessica isn’t having any of it and slams her fist into the glass conference door, cracking it, and walks out angrily. Hogarth here does what so many people would do, think philosophically or abstractly about what could “be done” with such powers, but Jessica is the example of the consequence of that kind of power, and in actual practice, it isn’t pretty.

Jessica returns to her apartment, acting paranoid on the street, and startles when Previously Kilgrave-d Cop appears, to give her the 30 hours of camera footage she asked for. He follows her into the lobby and yells at Malcolm who’s leaning against the wall, “What are you looking at?” Jessica pulls him off and sends Malcolm away. Previously is still acting all frustrated about the entire situation, it’s clearly eating at him. He apologizes for yelling but looks like he’s barely holding it together. Jess tells him about the support group, but he gives her a disgusted look and she quickly adds, “I’m not into it either.” He clenches his fist and jaw more and walks away angrily. He and she are so similar with the reaction to Kilgrave’s abuse, by holding in the rage and trying to suppress it or fix it by taking action to take Kilgrave out. But it’s clear that Previously isn’t as good at it as she is. Maybe because he hasn’t had as much time to process what happened to him as she has, but he’s definitely struggling.

Mari: Maybe I love this cop for the way he reflects Jessica?

J: He presents an interesting almost-mirror image, and is different from the other Kilgrave victims we’ve seen, in that he is more like Jessica in a lot of ways. But their differences are striking and significant.

Jessica goes back to her apartment and looks through the footage without success. She pulls up a picture of Luke and sighs, saying she knows what it’s like to be watched in your private moments. She drains the last of her booze and gets up to go out, stuffing the syringe and bottle of sufentanyl in her pocket as she does, just in case.

Walking down the street, a little girl standing by herself yells out, “Jessica!” Jessica stops and the girl delivers a message from Kilgrave. “Patsy Walker is safe” and, for now, she doesn’t need to worry about her because he liked her apology. Horror grows across Jessica’s expression as she asks the kid how old she is. Eight and a half. The kid goes on a swear-filled rant, saying that Jessica is a “bitch” who could have saved Kilgrave from the bus but left him in the street “like a god-damned dog.” Jessica looks disconcerted and tells her to stop. The kid says, “It’s Friday, don’t you have a job to do?” Jessica asks if Kilgrave sent Audrey but the influence has worn off and the kid starts screaming when Jessica grabs her arm to ask emphatically about Audrey. The mother runs up and takes care of the kid, while Jessica stands there looking freaked out.

Mari: Every time we see Kilgrave use his powers, it some how ups his creepy factor. It’s impressive, in a hide in a pillow fort kind of way.

J: Trish’s apartment. The buzzer rings and she turns on the door camera to see Previously Kilgrave’d Cop standing there. He says he wants to make it right and has a gift for her. She makes him leave it at the door and retreat to the end of the hallway. Then she opens the door a fraction and pulls the box inside. It’s so sad to see Trish, who we were introduced to as a dynamic personality learning krav maga and being basically fearless, acting so wounded and fearful. She opens the box inside and it’s a gun. Previously returns to the door, saying he wanted her to feel safe, and it’s not a legally registered weapon. We get a side shot of his face, looking at the door, and he asks, “You still there?” The shot then pans sideways through the door where we see Trish pointing the gun straight ahead, as though she might shoot him through the door.

Evening, back with Jessica. She watches Audrey’s husband get flowers and walk into a hotel. She sneaks into the hallway and through the frosted glass on some French doors, sees the husband, Carlo, in bed with a woman. As she tries to see more, her phone rings, and it’s Audrey. Audrey asks if Jessica has found Carlo, but is being really weird about it. Jessica puts down the phone and realizes Audrey’s voice is coming from inside the apartment. She throws open the door and both Audrey and Carlo jump up. Audrey pulls out her gun and points it at Jessica, ordering Carlo to get her to stand on a sheet of plastic stretched out on the ground. Jessica implies that a gun won’t hurt her, but Audrey shoots her in the shoulder, proving she isn’t bulletproof. Audrey says she bets Jess doesn’t have laser eyes either. Turns out the douchebag with the fancy car that Jess lifted in the first episode talked about it. Jessica decides this is too stupid for Kilgrave and Audrey asks if Kilgrave is another one of “you people.”

Audrey starts villain monologuing about how the “gifted” people are actually freaks and they destroyed the city. She says a building crushed her mother and it’s all the super heroes’ fault. Jessica tells her to take it up with “the big green guy or the flag waver” because she wasn’t part of it but Audrey DGAF. She walks forward to monologue more but Jessica pulls the plastic out from under her feet, tripping her. Audrey and Carlo cower in a corner while Jessica yells and destroys the apartment. She yells that she has lost people too, but she’s not trying to kill other people over it. “I don’t work my shit out on other people!” she yells while lifting a radiator over her head and throwing it through the doors. While basically that statement is true most of the time, this time it isn’t, but we can give her this one, I think. Jessica stops her rampage and tells Audrey coldly that she has 99 “gifted” friends who will destroy them both if they don’t leave the city. Jessica leaves the ruined apartment and Carlo asks for a divorce.

Stepping outside of the episode narrative for a moment, I have to say I’m not a big fan of this plot line. I like that we didn’t know Audrey’s intentions and the paranoia over whether or not she was Kilgraved but this reveal felt kind of weak to me. I think we’ve already established the vague references to the Avengers and the other Marvel names that we’re vague-ing up for probably legal reasons. I think they’ve already done a good job of establishing people’s skepticism of Kilgrave’s powers and the general acknowledgement of “gifted” people with the fancy car laser eye incident earlier. This felt extra and gratuitous, and kinda fell flat for me. I’m glad Jessica got to tear up a room, that was probably cathartic for her, but it just felt like a bunch of extra that’s taking away from our time with the main plot and the very big problem of the Kilgrave villain. Plus, Audrey’s plan was beyond terrible. A gun. And she gave it up pretty fast, it just felt too quickly resolved and kind extra.

Mari: I, on the other hand, found this scene compelling and heartbreaking at the same time. First, I wasn’t expecting this turn from Audrey. I thought she was going to try and murder her husband or something. Secondly, because Previously Kilgraved Cop is acting as a foil to Jessica, we just noted how good she is about keeping it all in. But this episode has been about all the ways Jessica is getting by and all the ways she’s hanging by a thread. Hogarth and Audrey both sent her over the edge. Thirdly, this is so much more than anger. There is so much heartbreak here. It reminds me of episode two when she tells the cops that she’s just trying to make a living in this god damn city. SHE IS JUST TRYING TO LIVE. 

J: Very good points! We haven’t seen Jessica “lose it” much before this point, so it is pretty meaningful in that way.

Back at her apartment, Jessica showers. We see a shot of her shoulder, which the bullet just grazed. She watches her blood flow down the drain with the water, and holds her face in her hands for a bit. At her desk, she’s going through papers of the supposed Kilgrave victims, trying to pinpoint where he’s been, and watching video testimony of the people in Hogarth’s office.

At Trish’s apartment, she’s sitting on the ground, her back to her door, talking about crazy things her fans have sent her. On the other side of the door is Previously Kilgrave’d Cop, also sitting, so they’re back to back with the door in between them, listening and responding. They are both more relaxed, and he even chuckles. They’ve been swapping childhood stories. He tells a story about sending his GI Joes into battle to rescue his sister’s Barbie dolls. “You torched a Dreamhouse!” Trish exclaims and they both laugh. Previously gets more serious and says he just wants her to know that he’s the guy who tries to save people, not kill them. “I don’t blame you,” she says. Trish tries to make him feel better, says it also happened to Jessica, so it doesn’t matter how strong you are, Kilgrave still gets you.

Trish opens the door and he scrambles to his feet. “I might shoot you by accident,” she offers. He says it’s worth the risk and comes in. The door closes.

We cut to Jessica walking down the street, looking at the people all around her. It’s similar to the opening of the episode as she scrutinizes face after face, all of them potential enemies, potential victims. She throws out her ams and turns in a wide circle. Then she drops them, looks defeated, and walks away.

Trish’s apartment. They’re still talking, facing each other at the table. Their conversation is normal, with smiles, but Trish has the gun on the table, pointed towards Previously, her hand on it.

Back to Jessica. She has a brief call with Hogarth, then stands in the back of a cafe shop while the survivor’s group talk about their experiences with each other. One man tells a really sad story about driving around with his young son, who was crying. Kilgrave got in the car and ordered the man to drive him around. Before they got very far, Kilgrave got annoyed by the crying child and told the man to take his son out of the car and leave him by the side of the road. The man did, the pain visible in his voice as he remembers. Now his wife has left him and he’s not allowed to see his son. The cellist lady and a woman with a scarred face look at him pityingly. The driver says he chauffeured Kilgrave for a week and Jessica perks up. She interrupts, wanting to know where he went, or if he met someone who delivered pictures. The driver says Kilgrave met someone who delivered something every day at 10 a.m. All he remembers is the guy wore a blue and white scarf. Jessica runs out. At her apartment, she pours over the footage Previously Kilgrave’d Cop gave her, to dramatic music. Nighttime behind her changes into daylight as she continues looking, pouring herself more booze. Finally, she sees something and zooms in closer. The man with the blue and white scarf.

This is intercut with her walking down the hall and pushing open a door. She looks around Malcolm’s apartment, which is bare bones, a junkie’s apartment… except for a printer and photos of Jessica printed out. The video footage shows Malcolm walking around with the signature blue and white scarf.

Jessica looks shocked and saddened by the realization. In his apartment, she sees a small photo of him with an older woman, next to a candle. A tear runs down her face.

Mari: Same, Jessica. It was A GOOD REVEAL because Malcolm has been hanging out in the periphery of the show so far, with not much explanation, but I was okay with it. I thought that was all there was to Malcolm and then BOOM.

J: So the episode ends with a realization, and a clear place to go next. Though I felt the ‘superheroes suck’ sideplot slowed things down a bit, we quickly get back into the swing of things with this new information. It’s sad because we have Jessica’s parallel with Trish. Trish slowly got to know her remorseful cop attacker, and they are moving back toward a normal human interaction. Meanwhile, Jessica’s intense paranoid fears are confirmed when one of the guys she’s closest to turns out to be the spy.

Man, this show is so good.

 

Next time on Jessica Jones:  on S01 E05 – AKA The Sandwich Saved Me.