Previously: Jessica drugged Kilgrave and Kilgrave blew Simpson up.
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Samantha: We start with Kilgrave opening his eyes and calling out for Jessica. He’s lying on a cot and quickly sits up. He puts his feet on the floor where there is standing water and he starts loudly yelling for Jessica. Her voice enters the scene, telling Kevin to smile as footage of his childhood experimentation is projected onto the wall. The lights come on and we see Jessica sitting at a table. Kilgrave starts yelling at her for lying to him but as we pan back, we see he’s in a soundproof room thing. She can’t hear him unless she flicks a switch. She does, and hears him whining some more. He wants to know why she bothered making him be a hero (M: Calm down, you did one good thing…) and she calmly tells him that he’s a murderer. He tells her to shut up. “Go ahead, command me again. That’s a hermetically sealed room, Kevin.” He tells her Kevin died in the lab and she mocks his choice of “Kilgrave” for being obvious.
Jessica: He definitely seems to have convinced himself that the things he commands others to do makes them culpable, not him. And yeah, even having him in this seemingly escape-proof room still makes me nervous. THAT’S HOW SCARY HE IS.
Marines: I thought this was a 10 episode season, so when I saw all the remaining episodes I just like… deflated like a balloon. Just FINISH HIM!
Samantha: Jessica angrily puts her hand over a mysterious big red button but draws it back. She’s filming everything and tells him to tell the truth about what he did to her, and Hope, and everyone. He starts talking some bullshit about their first meeting and this time, when he gets to “and then later we made sweet, sweet love” she slams her hand down on the button. He gets electrocuted. Can’t say I mind. Kilgrave says he never realized Jessica was such a bitch and I snort. This dude truly is living in a fantasy realm if he never saw Jess’s edge cause it’s always been there.
Jessica: Just not when she was under his control, I guess. And that makes me sad. And explains the fact that, no, he never really did know her.
Mari: He’s “in love” with some watered down, mind controlled version of Jessica FOR SURE.
Samantha: Zooming car. Trish is driving and has a hurt Simpson in the backseat. She tells him that murdering Kilgrave was NOT the plan and demands to know where Jessica is. Stupid Simpson mutters a name and Trish expositions that Simpson will only see this one doctor but he’s not on staff at the hospital. Simpson insists that he’ll be there. He rambles about all the people that are dead and Trish lays on her horn.
Hospital. Simpson is being wheeled in on a gurney and a doctor comes up to treat him. Trish asks after Doctor Kozlov but the doctor says she’s never heard of him.
Kilgrave is pacing his cell, obviously in duress listening to his child self. Jessica flips through footage of other children being tortured in the name of shitty science. She asks if Riva knew about this and that’s why he wanted her dead. She wonders what happened to the other kids and why he never looked for them. He tells her he was too busy looking for his parents to care about random kids and Jess wonders if he killed them all. Suddenly, Kilgrave starts banging on the wall and yelling for help. Jess turns around and it’s Hogarth. Oh fuck. She’s going to screw EVERYTHING up, isn’t she? I cannot even.
Mari: Maybe, but also Jessica is not playing this in the best way…
Samantha: Jessica shocks him and Hogarth tells her to stop. Kilgrave starts whimpering “oh god bless you” and he’s the worst. Hogarth tells her this is a shitty plan because any confession told under duress will be inadmissible. Which, true. But then she tells Jess to let him go and hope he doesn’t press charges… so… nah. Jessica’s plan is still the only plan that at least doesn’t allow him to torture them. She says that Jessica only has hearsay, not proof. Hogarth tells Jessica she doesn’t have time because the DA is offering Hope a plea bargain and that the deal is for 20 years, which is better than life if she goes to trial. She hasn’t told Hope yet, she wanted to see what Jess had first. Jessica says they only need one juror for reasonable doubt, but Hogarth tells her that any video she presented would be dismissed as staged. She mutters unhappily while looking at her phone and starts yelling at Jessica about having her own problems. Kilgrave watches intently and even though he can’t hear them, it wouldn’t surprise me if this fucker could read lips. Hogarth says that Jess needs a witness with legal authority, a cop or a judge. The DA is giving them 48 hours. Jessica says that she can have a cop here in 3 hours and asks Hogarth to stay and watch Kilgrave. She’s all “fuck no” but Jessica points out that Kilgrave has seen her, she’s implicated, so now she needs to see it through for her own safety. Hogarth realizes she’s been setup and it must really be a testament to how distracted she is that she didn’t realize it on her own. Jessica tells her not to look at him or talk to him or go in the room and leaves. I am HELLA nervous about Hogarth being alone with Kilgrave, the hubris is strong here.
Jessica: Especially after her earlier comments about wanting to harness Kilgrave’s “gift.” No, bad idea. Couldn’t Jessica have chosen, literally, anyone else she knows to do this?
Mari: Better yet, shouldn’t the private investigator know a little something about admissible evidence?
Samantha: Jessica finds Detective Clemons at a food cart and he throws his food away when he sees her. Dude, NO. (M: EAT your feelings.) She tells him she needs him to witness something, but he wants nothing to do with her. She tells him that he can’t ignore what he saw in that station but he’s 2 years away from a full pension. Jessica calls out an address and tells the detective that if he doesn’t think Kilgrave is a big deal, she’ll just give him Clemons’ home address. He tells her what she’s been hearing a lot so far this episode: she needs evidence.
Hogarth is texting someone named Desmond about countering, presumably having to do with her divorce. I am immediately panicked about this situation, in case I haven’t mentioned that. Desmond tells her that now Wendy wants 90%, so Hogarth whips out her phone and calls her. Wendy says that Hogarth is getting off easy since she started spending their money on her secretary. Kilgrave continues to watch all of this intently. *gulp* Wendy comments on everything she gave up for Hogarth, who tells her that she also got her money’s worth. Hogarth tells her that taking her money won’t change how she feels and Wendy says that at least she’ll hurt too. This is rough. Wendy hangs up on her.
Sinisterly, in the background and blurred out, Kilgrave taps on the glass and it is soooooooo freaky. Hogarth, because arrogance is her damn thing and she wants to fly too close to the sun, turns on the microphone to talk. He starts talking to her about “bitches” and trouble with her ex because OF COURSE HE READS LIPS I CALLED IT. He starts telling a story about how him and Jessica were living together until she snapped. He whines about how no one has ever heard his side of the story and truth usually lies somewhere in the middle of two versions of events. I mean, sometimes, but also NOT THIS TIME FUCKER. He gives her SOULFUL eyes and tells her that powers like his could make any problem go away. Hogarth wanders over to the video camera and turns it on. “Please repeat that for the camera,” she says and oh thank god. (J: Relief!!! If only Hogarth can keep her eye on the prize.)
Hospital. Simpson is in a bed and Trish tells him that the doctor he was asking for is on his way. Simpson tells her that Jessica won’t kill Kilgrave, so Trish has to do it. He tells her that it’s the only way. She tells him to stop and Dr. Kozlov enters the scene. Kozlov says that he didn’t expect to hear from Simpson again, and Simpson insists that he “wants back in.” The doctor and Simpson order Trish out of the room.
Kilgrave Cage. Hogarth is pacing the room with Kilgrave mimicking her movements when Jessica returns. She reports that her witness needs proof of Kilgrave’s power so she’s going in to the electric cage to tango with the monster. She tells Hogarth to only hit the electricity if he makes her hurt herself. God. GOD. She’s willingly going in to probably be mind controlled again by her abuser and my heart HURTS. Also, I am again terrified.
Wait. I know it hasn’t become a problem yet but where would Kilgrave use the bathroom in this tank? Yuck. Okay, less terrified.
Jessica: Oh man this made me laugh. Maybe that’s why Jessica wanted to go in early in the process…
Mari: Poo jokes take the edge off my TERROR.
Samantha: She enters and throws some fast food.
Jessica: Make me stop.
Kilgrave: I won’t hit a woman.
Jessica: No, but you’d rape her. Destroy her mind, make her a murderer.
Hogarth tells her to stop and Kilgrave insists that he loved her. She keeps punching him and Hogarth says that she’s going to hit the switch, but Trish arrives in time to stop her. Kilgrave starts shouting at Trish and Hogarth for letting this happen.
Later, Trish and Jessica watch the play back and Jess realizes that he was in control the whole time without ordering her to do anything. (J: So frustrating! I feel for her.) She takes a swig from a bottle and turns on the child Kilgrave torture video. Trish offers to get them far away from here. Hope could take the plea deal and Kilgrave could rot in his tank. Jessica says that she won’t let Hope lose 20 years and Trish wonders why she’s her responsibility. Jessica scoffs that that’s Simpson talking, not Trish. Trish fills Jess in on the explosion and how there will now be an investigation. Trish mentions how she thought her own mother was bad, but Kilgrave’s parents were horrific. Jessica wonders if that’s his breaking point, his parents. Especially since he thinks they are still alive.
Hogarth’s Office. She’s getting her Batman brood on when Pam enters because Wendy emailed in her evidence and Pam caught it before anyone saw. Hogarth insists it was a bluff but Pam is pissed ’cause she’s also an accessory to Hogarth’s crimes. She tells Hogarth to handle it like she would any other case and then sits down on her desk with her dress hiked up. She puts Hogarth’s hand on her thigh and starts talking about how powerful and great she is, and things start to get a little hot and heavy. She tells her that when the Jeri she fell in love with comes back, she’s in, until then… I have a bad feeling this is going to lead Jeri into Kilgrave territory, especially because there was a line “No one controls you.”
Jess and Trish scour the footage of young Kilgrave for a location of his parents, while Kilgrave makes eating fast food look creepy. Jessica spots a sign on a wall that mentions only faculty can use the room, so she wonders if they are professors. Kilgrave writes the words Help Me on the glass with ketchup and Jessica says the words Sin Bin but I know the title gold stars are iffy around here. (M: THEY ALL START WITH AKA OKAY?) Plus she’s quoting his father in the video so it’s probably already been said this episode. “You don’t see Eric crying when he goes in the Sin Bin,” is the line. She googles Sin Bin and discovers that it’s a rugby term. She figures out that child Kilgrave was a fan of Eric Branford, a rugby player who went to the University of Manchester.
She calls the University and speaks with the head of neuroscience. He gets shifty when she asks for the names of professors who experimented on kids in the ’80s. He gives her their names (Albert and Louise Thompson) and the info that they skipped town in ’88.
Prison. Hogarth is presenting the plea deal to Hope and trying to sell her on it, because happy endings are fake and you just have to fight to keep what you have. Hope just wants to talk to Jessica. (J: Poor Hope. There is no clear way out for her here.)
Jessica and Trish print out a picture of Kilgrave’s mother and Jessica thinks she looks familiar.
Jessica: I’m so conflicted about this!! Obviously I want Kilgrave to be caught and punished but, even in the current situation – and seeing how the current situation is going – I truly doubt this is possible. So maybe she should take the deal….?
Mari: And if new evidence comes out, appeal! It’s a risk but so is relying on JESSICA’S TORTURE.
Samantha: YES.
Jess hangs up and Trish gives her a look. She distractedly drops the photos and steps on Mama Horrifying’s face, causing lines from her boots to appear on it. She goes still, as pieces of the mystery come together in a way that only ever happens in fiction. (J: LOL.)
Diner. Jessica shows up and talks to Malcolm, who she asked to call an emergency support group meeting. He’s mad at her for not letting him know that she wasn’t in jail. Poor Malcolm. He tells her that she doesn’t get to play the “I didn’t ask you to” card with him anymore. He leads her over to the group and tells her that all these people showed up for her because she said that she needed to talk. Aww. Jessica insists that she just wants to listen for awhile. A man starts talking about accountability when a heavily scarred woman walks in. Ohhhhhhhhhh shit. Wait. How. Shit.
Jessica is rude to accountability man and asks the scarred woman to share. Malcolm says that “Betty” just listens. She starts questioning Betty and Malcolm tells her to knock it off because it’s a victim’s support group. “Not everyone here is a victim,” Jess says. Betty hurries out and Jess hurries after her, telling Malcolm who she is when he tries to stop her.
Jessica follows Mama Horrifying and Malcolm follows her because he needs to help. He can’t sleep at night because he only sees Ruben’s face. I love and have so many feels for Malcolm. Treat him well, Jessica. She tells him that he lets this stuff get to him, and he reminds her that he scrubbed blood off her floorboards. She tells him that his superpower is going back and helping those people.
Mari: After all of Kilgrave’s awfulness, I accepted his story about his parent’s at face value? The videos helped because it seemed like pretty solid proof. Kilgrave himself said in this episode that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Samantha: I did too. This show is so good at continually making Kilgrave worse even when you think you have him figured out.
Jess is not impressed and wants to bludgeon her with a mother of the year award. Like, yeah, torturing your child to heal him is… not good, but it’s interesting that the story added another layer here.
Also, what about the other children? It was established that they were experimenting on other children, but that never gets brought up again this episode. Did these children have the illness too? Were they hurting them to help their son? Was that just a lie told by Kilgrave? IDK.
They found a cure and didn’t realize the side effects until it was too late, but they stayed and lived with it. They cared for Kevin and fulfilled his every demand. Louise got her facial scars when she yelled at him while ironing. So. Hmmm. Was Kilgrave always sadistic and sociopathic or did he become that way after the torture tests/new ability? It doesn’t really matter, I’m just curious. The parents ran after that, and have been ever since. Jessica thinks that they could have told someone because he’s destroyed a lot of lives. They know, they came to town after they heard about Hope, and Louise joined the support group hoping she could help. Jessica says that their parenting or lack of it created Kilgrave so they are coming with her. They agree.
Clemons gets a text from an unknown number saying he should investigate a crime, with footage of Jessica beating up Kilgrave.
Trish and Kilgrave are staring at each other. She pulls out a gun and fiddles with it before Hogarth shows up and she hurriedly puts it away. Hogarth says that Jessica called her and that Trish should go outside and get some air while they wait for her. Trish agrees. Fuck. True to expectation Hogarth tells Kilgrave that she’s listening. (J: Nooooo, damn it!)
Outside, Trish calls the hospital to check on Simpson and is surprised that he’s conscious and soundsokay. He tells her that he knows she can’t do the deed so she should just get out of town. (J: Um, has he not met Trish?) She tells him she’s glad he’s okay and hangs up. In Simpson’s room, Kozlov comes in and tells him he’s responding well to the drugs, and Simpson remarks that it feels like old times. He asks for a “red” but Kozlov says that he had a red this morning and after what happened in Damascus, you have to take two white pills to keep you even and a blue pill to bring you down after the red. The doctor gives him the pills and leaves, so obviously Simpson takes two more red. Bleh, Simpson. Assuming these are some pills to make you stronger or whatever? More testosterone filled?
Hogarth is opening the door to Kilgrave’s cell because she’s an idiot when she hears Jessica arriving back. She hurriedly closes everything back up, so great, now Jessica doesn’t even know. She brings in his parents and tells Hogarth that everything Kilgrave said was a lie, they were trying to save his life and he tortured them. Kilgrave looks shook at seeing his parents and his mom puts her hand on the glass and he does the same. It would be touching if it wasn’t Kilgrave. Jessica informs them about the electricity fail safe button. Louise says they are going in because he’s their responsibility. Of course, Clemons arrives with his gun drawn because ugh. Jessica scoffs at him because she sent the text and calls for Trish, who arrives with her own gun drawn on Clemons. They cuff him to a pipe and Hogarth says she’s gonna call 9-1-1 and omg there are way too many people here now, no way this doesn’t go to hell. Jessica tells her that she’ll be an accomplice to kidnapping so she stops. She order Clemons to watch what happens in the cell.
She lets his parents in and everyone is tense. They greet each other and Louise asks if he’s been getting enough to eat, which is really normal mom question and feels perfectly bizarre in this context, I love it. Kevin laugh cries and says that they didn’t care if he was eating at age 10 or 15 or 25, when they left him. I know he was a child but also… the way this man deflects responsibility in any way is MADNESS. He whines about how he was alone and scared and had to force people to care for him and feed him. Tenant is doing an amazing job of channeling that little kid in the videos. His dad is like “yeah except that you always liked controlling people” because he would tell them when to eat or pee or sleep. Kevin tells his dad that he has changed, because Jessica taught him how to help people. Lol, sure Jan. Louise tells him that they love him and are proud of him for saving children. His dad reminds him that Louise almost died after what he did to her. Kilgrave insists that he was only 10 and having a tantrum like any 10 year old, they should have explained, not bailed. Uh. IDK, dude. Mom tells him that they made a mistake and she won’t leave him again. She caresses his face and he touches her scars and tearfully apologizes for hurting her. Do we believe this????????? Like obviously he’s garbage scum, the worst forever, but is this sincere? They hug and Jessica looks frustrated.
Clemons tells her that if she releases him now, he’ll overlook the assault. Jessica thinks it’s not over yet and she’s right because Louise apologizes, pulls out a pair of scissors, and stabs Kilgrave in the shoulder. (J: Oh shit!) He screams and she tells him that he’s their responsibility and they have to stop him. Kilgrave gets very calm and tells her that he understands and to pick up the scissors. His dad realizes what’s going on so Kilgrave orders him to stay right there. She picks up the scissors and Jessica comments on it, but Clemons didn’t see it so it’s not enough. Kilgrave orders Louise to stab herself for every year she left him alone. Louise turns the scissors on herself and Clemons finally looks properly horrified. Jessica think they’ve got him and slams the electrocute button. But nothing happens, it’s not working. Somehow the cables got fucked up. *eyes Hogarth suspiciously*
Jessica screams for everyone to run and get out. Trish needs the keys to unlock Clemons. Louise collapses on the ground covered in blood. I think Hogarth grabs a gun on her way out? Jessica frantically opens the doors as Kilgrave tells his dad to pick up the scissors now. Trish is horrified and starts firing on the glass????? LIKE AN IDIOT?!?!?! TRISH IS NOT THIS STUPID?! Predictably, the glass shatters, completely freeing Kilgrave to control fucking everyone. She shoots him in the arm because this was a stupid plan. He tells his dad to cut his heart out and flees the tank cage. Trish shakily holds her gun on him, I hate how mad at her I am, and he tells her to shoot herself. She does, but is out of bullets.
She chases after Kilgrave and gets a hold of him. He orders her to let go of him and she looks terrified, but when his power doesn’t work on her, she looks triumphant. It’s a nice subtle acting moment from Ritter.
She gets outside and he’s nowhere to be seen so she dramatically slow motion remembers the moment when his powers didn’t work on her. This segues to the moment that she killed Riva, looked at the blood on her hands, and left Kilgrave despite his telling her not to. Something about that moment must have broken his ability to control her. She smiles. End episode.
Poor Hope.
I truly, deeply love this show. The subject matter is horrifying but handled with care and the plot keeps twisty and changing and adding layers. This show also super stresses me out and I had to watch it in pieces, to minimize the stress. It was interesting to get a glimpse at Kilgrave’s true past and meet his parents. Fuck Hogarth. Disappointed in Trish’s problem solving skills, though I’d probably react stupidly in that situation too.
Jessica: This was such an important episode, giving us not only some great backstory but also the ever-so-important piece of information that KILGRAVE CAN’T CONTROL JESSICA. Having seen this show several times, it’s so interesting going back and watching it knowing, and seeing how clever Kilgrave is in concealing it. The end of this episode was such a cluster, with everything going so rapidly to hell and just insanely chaotic and while this plan was indeed better than Jessica’s previous “get arrested and sent to supermax prison” plan, it still wasn’t great. And poor Hope on the outskirts of it all. Ah, this show is so good!
Next time on Jessica Jones: Kilgrave makes Jessica an offer in S01 E10 – AKA 1,000 Cuts.
I'm a 28 year old graduated English major and almost librarian. I can often be found singing too loudly (poorly) in the car or spending some time (hours) on Tumblr. I am a lover of Harry Potter, the Spice Girls, and too many other things.
I'm a chronic book nerd and love storytelling in all forms. I'm particularly excited by the rise of the television show as an art form with long, cinematically beautiful plots and complex character arcs (I also watch cartoons). My travels in the past handful of years have led me through three continents and most recently landed me among the majestic mountains of Colorado. Some day I will compile all my travel journals/blogs into one place. Some day. Until then, you can find me with craft beer in hand, ready at any moment to deeply and passionately discuss survival tactics for the zombie apocalypse.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
