*Spoilers for past episodes.*
Prime Kilgrave content in this episode. David Tennant is just out here doing the most in another fine episode that features Jessica’s friends coming through for her when she won’t come through for herself.
When Kilgrave escalates matters between them, Jessica hatches a desperate plan to end this once and for all. As she starts to put it into motion, Malcolm and Trish, who think she’s not in her right mind, band together to try and stop her.
I won’t get into the specifics of Jessica’s plan here, other than the fact that it’s high-risk and is guaranteed to put her through the serious wringer. It’s immediately clear why Malcolm, later joined by Trish, isn’t down with her idea, even as it’s also clear why Jessica is so hellbent on carrying it out. Kilgrave is so good at fraying her around the edges with everything he does, and Jessica simply can’t take it anymore—in her mind, she has nothing to lose, and she just needs all of it to stop. It’s about more than that, though. It’s also about Jessica’s determinations to protect others, those she cares about who Kilgrave would target to get to her as well as innocent strangers unfortunate enough to become his collateral damage (despite Jessica’s frequent protestations, she is a hero, and she often puts others before herself.) And she also views this dangerous plan as a kind of punishment for her. Her guilt, whether over things Kilgrave made her do in the past or people he’s hurt due to his obsession with her, leads her to feel this is what she deserves.
Which, obviously, is desperately sad, and I really enjoy seeing Malcolm and Trish working together to try and stop this from happening. Trish and Malcolm are such different characters and their only real link is their mutual connections with Jessica, so just having them in a scene together brings an interesting energy to the proceedings. They’re entertaining together, and both have strong scenes with Jessica trying to reason with her.
Like I said, there’s some good Kilgrave stuff in this episode, including a major scene between him and Jessica. There’s a lot going on here—we get more of Kilgrave’s powers in action, again demonstrating that odd mix of how terrifying he is with how petty he can be (which, given how powerful he is, can just make him more terrifying.) What’s more, we get a slight window into Kilgrave’s view of both himself and his interactions with Jessica, and unsurprisingly, it’s warped.
To borrow from a DC female-led superhero property, Kilgrave seems to think he’s like Mr. Mxyxptlk wooing Supergirl, and even though Mxy putting the moves on Kara is creepy and causes a lot of damage, Kilgrave is in such a different, twisted realm. It’s interesting to see his perception of it, because Tennant plays it like Kilgrave very genuinely does believe that of himself. Using another pop culture example, I think his actual “feelings” for Jessica are more like Hannibal Lector’s for Will Graham on Hannibal. Hannibal “likes” Will in a way and wants him around, but it comes from a very possessive place and what Will wants isn’t really a factor. In trying to explain himself to Jessica, Kilgrave says, “You’re the first thing—excuse me, person—I ever wanted that walked away from me,” and that slip of the tongue is so telling. He has to remind himself that she would want to be thought of as a person rather than a thing because, left to his own devices, that’s how he sees people: as things. It’s all about his own gratification, about what people can do for him. It’s a great glimpse into just how cracked his worldview is.
No comments:
Post a Comment