Goddamn, what a fantastic episode of Jessica Jones. “AKA Sin Bin” built upon the momentum established with “AKA WWJD?” and capitalized on it, delivering a truly haunting episode that ratcheted up the tension until it was close to unbearable. A lot of credit is due to director John Dahl, whose experience directing Hannibal and The Bridge makes him expertly suited to this material.
It’s not exactly new to have the villain behind a glass wall, but Jessica Jones flips the trope on its head by having Kilgrave there unwillingly, as opposed to the Joker, Kahn, or Loki. Once again I’m amazed at what an amazing job Jessica Jones has done humanizing Kilgrave. He’s not quite likable, but David Tennant’s performance is so goddamn good that he allows you to see the deeply sad, lonely person underneath the manipulative villain.
And manipulative he is. He knows what Jessica is trying to prove with her video camera, and he refuses to use his powers where he can be recorded. When left alone with Jeri, he offers his services: she frees him and he tells Wendy to give her whatever she wants. It’s great to see how Kilgrave acts when backed into a corner. The more I see him, the more I’m convinced that he’s Marvel’s best onscreen villain. He’s the one we can see most of ourselves in: the hurt, the loneliness, the lack of control. Kilgrave is an utterly human villain, and I think that’s what makes him so compelling.
It’s also nice to see Jessica in full-on gloves-are-off mode. Not only does Kilgrave’s cell have a layer of water meant to electrocute him with, she projects footage of him being subjected to experiments on the wall. There’s also the implication that Kilgrave wasn’t the only child participating in these experiments, which gives some insight into how Luke Cage got his abilities. In a genuinely hard-to-watch scene, Jessica tries to provoke Kilgrave into using his powers on tape, and ends up beating him to the point that Trish has to hit the shock button to knock her out.
Jessica even goes the extra mile, tracking down Kilgrave’s parents, Albert and Louis Thompson, to push Kilgrave over the edge. I could be wrong, but this might be the first time we’ve seen a Marvel hero engage in full-on psychological warfare. Watching Kilgrave’s face crumple as he confronts his parents is truly heartbreaking, which is not an easy feat to pull off with a villain so despicable. What’s even more admirable is that Jessica Jones doesn’t take the easy route and try to pull a one-eighty with Kilgrave. He makes his mother stab herself to death, in a grisly scene that reminds us exactly who we’re dealing with. So this is what Kilgrave looks like when backed into a corner: even more dangerous. He’s not afraid to beg, or cry, because it’s all an act. And that ties back into the sadness at Kilgrave’s center: he’s just utterly detached from humanity, and by the end of “AKA Sin Bin” he seems resigned to that, telling Trish to kill herself (thankfully she’s out of bullets) and making Detective Clemens force his hand through handcuffs to follow him.
This episode really feels like a sequel to “AKA WWJD?” insofar as it brought Jessica and Kilgrave’s time together to a close. The rest of the season, I feel, will really pick up the pace, now that Kilgrave is on the warpath. I’m looking forward to an all-out war, but I will definitely miss intimate, gut-wrenching, disturbing, wonderful episodes like this.
A Few Thoughts
- “Was Murdercorpse already taken?”
- Nice to meet Dr. Kozlov, who canonically gives Simpson drugs to make him strong
- Pam wears beautiful dresses
- “Are they the mad scientists?”
- Great reveal that Kilgrave’s powers don’t work on Jessica
- “Cut your heart out, dad!”
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