“What If…?” Season 2 – An Improvement on Season 1

 ”What if…?” Season 2 is an improvement over season 1. This season they took a lot more chances in their creativity while still carrying forward some of the character stories from last season. How I’m going to rate is each episode individually with a final score below for the season as a whole, as this is an anthology series. Curious to hear your thoughts on the show as well. I can’t wait to see what new stories are created. 

  The series was created by A.C. Bradley.

  The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) recounts different stories in the Marvel multiverse.

SPOILERS ahead

Episode 1 – What if…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?

 ”What if…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?” is a fun noir on Xandar. In this story Ronan uses the infinity stone to kill Thanos and Nova Prime takes in Nebula. We are left with a murder mystery as Ronan waits outside Xandar’s impenetrable shield that has thrown the world into chaos. In the end there is a betrayal and Nebula solves the case and stops Ronan in the process. It is really well done and I liked the side characters of Howard the Duck and Korg. The one thing keeping it from being great is Nova Prime and Nebula’s relationship should have been fleshed out more.

Score: 8.6 / 10

Episode 2 – What if…Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

  “What if…Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?” has Peter empowered by his father Ego and reeking destruction throughout the galaxy. This leads to the 90’s Avengers assembling under Peggy Carter with Ant-Man, Goliath, Winter Soldier, Mar-Vell, King T’Chaka, Howard Stark and eventually Thor who is attempting the avenge Asgard which Peter Quill destroyed. It is a good episode with some great action that ends with Peter Quill turning against Ego and defeating his avatar as we are left with the knowledge Ego the Planet is still out there to face.

Score: 9 / 10

Episode 3 – What if…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?

 ”What if…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” is a fun “Die Hard” riff as Hammer attempts to steal Stark’s technology as J.A.R.V.I.S. is being rebooted. Happy ends up taking a Hulk blood concoction and facing off against Hammer in Hulk Buster armor. The episode is good but doesn’t reach the level of great largely because Hammer only has 2 goons so it never feels like he has any chance of winning. Still it was fun to see the character again after “Iron Man 2.”

Score: 7.8 / 10

Episode 4 – What if…Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?

 ”What if…Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?” is where we learn the story of the Gamora who was part of the Guardians of the Multiverse as in this she’s pursuing Tony after he stopped the invasion of New York but fell into Sakaar. The problem with the episode is even though it is Gamora’s story we don’t really get to know her as this is largely Tony helping her find an identity outside of serving Thanos. This hurts the story overall though the race and action were fun, though this was probably the weakest episode this season.

Score: 7.5 / 10

Episode 5 – What if…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?

 ”What if…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?” has Black Widow and Captain Carter trying to save Steve Rogers who is trapped in the Hydra Stomper armor and being used as the Winter Soldier was used as an assassin for the Red Room. There is some fun action in this and seeing Steve and Peggy interact is always great but the Red Room didn’t feel like as great of threat as it could and I was surprised Black Widow and Captain Carter didn’t get more help from other Avengers. Still a solidly good episode.

Score: 8 / 10

Episode 6 – What if…Kahhori Reshaped the World?

  “What if…Kahhori Reshaped the World?” is a great episode. The episode follows the Mohawk Kahhori who discovers a secret realm created by the Tesseract. Here there are other Mohawks who the dimension has given power to. She becomes the greatest of them and desires to return home to fight the Spanish who have attacked and enslaved her village. The episode ends with her stopping Spanish Imperialism as she gains control of the portal to the dimension they are in and inspiring the ancestors in the dimension to fight for those in the present. It is really well done and I’m glad she returns in a later episode.

Score: 9 / 10

Episode 7 – What if…Hela Found the Ten Rings?

  “What if…Hela Found the Ten Rings?” is a great episode that has Hela exiled the Earth to learn mercy in order to regain her power. In the process of her learning mercy she befriends Wenwu and ends up defending the Ten Rings once she realizes her desire to conquer was based in her feeling no control over her life. Things come to a head when Odin sees the Ten Rings as a threat an invades Earth leading to Hela defeating him and becoming the ruler of Asgard as her and Wenwu decide to rid of the universe of all tyrants. It is a great arc and this was easily the best version of Hela as she wasn’t as explored as deeply in “Thor: Ragnorak” as she could have been.

Score: 9 / 10

Episode 8 – What if…the Avengers Assembled in 1602?

  ”What if…the Avengers Assembled in 1602″ is not nearly as great as the Neil Gaiman comic Marvel 1602 but is still good even though it never reaches the levels of greatness as the material it is taking inspiration from. In this Captain Carter is trying to save this universe that is falling apart as rifts keep getting torn in world leading to the death of Queen Hela leading to Thor attempting to capture Captain Carter as he blames her. She eventually finds the source of the chaos is Steve Rogers who was transported to this time by one of the Infinity Stones when he was fighting Thanos. They say good-bye and this reality is saved as Strange Supreme approaches Captain Carter for a mission.

Final Score: 8.4 / 10

Episode 9 – What if…Strange Supreme Intervened?

 ”What if…Strange Supreme Intervened?” is the best of the episodes of this season as Strange Supreme is attempting to resurrect his dead universe using the energy of powerful people captured throughout the multiverse. This leads to Kahhori teaming up with Captain Carter to stop him as they free trapped villains causing chaos in his realm. Eventually Strange Supreme is stopped and sacrifices himself to bring back his universe, though it is one in which he never existed in. It was a sad end for his character but fitting too given all he’d done last season. I can’t wait to see what plot threads carry forward from this episode.

Score: 9.6 / 10

  In the end this was a better season than last as it got a lot more creative with the “What if…?” premise and I can’t wait to see what future seasons bring. There is so much potential here for amazing and fascinating stories as the multiverse is infinite and within that you can do really anything with these interesting characters from the MCU.

Final Score: 8.8 / 10

“Agent Carter” Season 2 – Tonally Inconsistent With a Muddled Message

“Agent Carter” season 2 is a show that is unsure the kind of show it wants to be. At times it has heavy action and political intrigue as well as tackling the racism of the era while other times it embraces slapstick comedy and musicals. This tonal whiplash keeps the show from being good though it does still manage to be extremely flawed but enjoyable in the end. At the end of the review I’ll link to my Season 1 review of the show as well my final score for the series as a whole.

Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas, and Chris Dingess were the showrunners.

Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) is sent to Hollywood to investigate a mysterious murder.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Mystery – The core mystery is intriguing as the murder has the victim in a wall of ice and half a lake frozen in summer. This works as well as Detective Sousa working Agent Carter again since it is his jurisdiction.

The Main Cast – The main cast works and even the villain who plays Madam Masque does a good job. Most of the character issues are in the script and arc of the story that I’ll get into below.

Doctor Jason Wilkes – Reggie Austin is great as the scientist working for the corrupt company who after surviving the Zero Matter is incorporeal and spends much of the season trying to become physical again. This happens just after he and Peggy start dating. In the end he helps defeat his evil boss and his wife Madam Masque but not before betraying the heroes at one point in a way that felt really contrived. His going bad made no sense. He is an African-American and calls out the racism of the era (his unit being separate in World War 2 and no one hiring him even with his strong science background) and we see him experience it but sadly that gets sidelined for other plots. His character feels wasted in a lot of ways because he needs to be saved when incorporeal and is moved on from by Peggy the moment he is brought back as he gets a job for Howard Stark. For such a core character he deserved a better story.

Detective Daniel Sousa – Detective Sousa is back and is Peggy’s second love interest who has tried to move on from liking her. He has a fiance who barely shows up and is sweet and is most interesting when being Peggy’s supportive ally. He is handled well this season unlike Jason sadly. In the end we learn more about his military past and we see him and Peggy become best friends over time before the final scene of them getting together. I guess somewhere in the MCU multiverse this did happen.

Howard Stark – Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark is so much fun. He is clearly arrogant and not a good person (works with gangsters who hurt his friends for example) but is great in his mad scientist role. He is a huge help from helping Peggy infiltrate the Council of Nine to his technology helping stop Zero Matter in the end. He steals most scenes he is in.

Edwin Jarvis – James D’Arcy’s friendship with Peggy is one of the strongest parts of the show so their contrived falling out near the end of the show hurts the narrative. They help each other grow and Edwin continues to be charming and loyal. We also meet his wife too who he helped escape Nazi Germany. They have a fun dynamic as well just not as compelling as his friendship with Peggy.

Agent Peggy Carter – Hayley Atwell deserved a better season than this. She is in a love triangle and has a contrived falling out with Edwin but when she is on missions or having one on one scenes with characters the great character comes through of last season. Atwell is fantastic and I appreciate how we see her going rogue most of the time while slowly building up her circle of trust. We also learn how her brother’s death in the war is what motivated her to become an agent as she leaves her fiance behind. The flashbacks do a lot to show her motivation and I wish this show had given her a better story.

The Cons:

The Love Story / Love Triangle – Jason, Daniel and Peggy are a bad love triangle. They give her reasons to like both men but it just comes off as contrived especially with the world at stake. The writing for it when characters are jealous doesn’t help the plot either.

Tonal Whiplash – You have espionage murders and body horror meets classic Broadway songs and bad slap stick and puns. This tonal whiplash hurts the show overall because of it as it is a constant through every episode.

The Villain Plan and Organizations – We got a secret cabal known as the Council of Nine whose agenda I guess is to keep the status quo and racist structures in place (What they want is never fully explored, they come off as corrupt capitalists)? We have Dottie’s organization of Leviathan who never shows up again. We saw HYDRA last season with the end credits and Zola…none of the plans or organizations go anywhere. The only one is Madam Masque who is consumed by Zero Matter and wants it to come into our world (which will destroy it). Any of these could have been explored in a compelling way.

How it Tackles Racism and History – We get the racism called out but later have Jason being experimented on in a way mirroring what happened to African-Americans from the era from those in power and it is never commented on or faced. “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” directly calls this out in Isiah Bradley who was experimented on for the super-soldier serum. Same thing happens to Jason and nothing is called on or noticed how evil this is and that it was pulling from the evil of the actual past of the United States.

The Cliffhanger Ending and Final – Peggy’s boss is killed by an unknown killer at the end of the show. There is no hint on why Thompson was killed and no hint of who did it. This was a bad cliffhanger and the contrived romance of Peggy and Daniel didn’t help. It was more tonal whiplash. Also the ending fight has Madam Masque have no strategy and a bad looking flying car flying into Zero Matter to kill it as Madam Masque is put in an asylum. So much sucked about this ending and cliffhanger.

If the show had taken itself seriously and focused I think it wouldn’t have been canceled. There are good ideas and characters here they are just drowned in bad humor and tonal whiplash. Given the sheer number of showrunners no wonder the tones clashed as with that many competing visions you end up with too many cooks in the kitchen. This is show is a mess but worked enough if you are curious to see what happened to Agent Carter’s story after season 1.

Final Score: 6.5 / 10

Here is my review of Season 1, which I gave an 8.3 / 10

“Agent Carter” Season 1 – A Solid Espionage Thriller That Just Needed to Flesh out the Ideology of the Villains

Season 2 brought down my overall score for the show in a big way though as the problems of Season 1 were worse and also created more problems making the show feel so inconsistent. The show as a whole is still enjoyable though, so for “Agent Carter” as a whole here is my final score for the series.

Final Score: 7 / 10

“Agent Carter” Season 1 – A Solid Espionage Thriller That Just Needed to Flesh out the Ideology of the Villains

“Agent Carter” season 1 is a solid espionage show with the potential to be great. This MCU has some standout performances with Haley Atwell’s continuing to be memorable as Agent Carter, D’Arcy as Edwin Jarvis and Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark. They carry the show when the action isn’t and I do recommend this show to any MCU fan.

The series was created by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

The story follows Agent Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell) as she must face the sexism in the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) and dealing with the actions of the mysterious Leviathan when Howard Stark’s (Dominic Cooper) inventions are stolen, leaving him a fugitive seeking Agent Carter’s aid.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Premise – The espionage thriller is great and Agent Carter having to face Leviathan and her co-workers gives high stakes and an arc for the show as she proves herself to those around her. It works.

Action with Consequences – This show kills a lot of SSR agents and civilians. You feel the threat of Leviathan from the get-go and most characters you meet are dead b the end of the season. I did not expect this much murder in an abc show.

The SSR Agents – The SSR agents are given depth over time but most start out as pretty bland and annoying. Jack and Daniel get the most development and survive the season. Their boss and quite a few co-workers don’t. They aren’t incompetent though, so that helps.

Howard Stark – Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark is super memorable and fun. He’s a playboy inventor who like his future son Tony creates most of the problems by his recklessness. We also see he blames himself for Steve’s disappearance and it takes Peggy helping him through that guilt to find himself again and for good reason as he has Steve Roger’s blood which he gives to Peggy at the end of the episode.

Edwin Jarvis – James D’Arcy’s Edwin Jarvis was my favorite character on the show. He is the reluctant partner in adventure but is risking it all for Peggy by the end. He is a good friend to both Peggy and Howard and I loved seeing how the show developed that friendship. His dry humor is also a joy and the chemistry he has with Peggy Carter.

Agent Peggy Carter – Haley Atwell is amazing once against as Agent Peggy Carter. Her arc is facing her grief over the loss of Steve Rogers and learning to trust and make friends again outside of showing the SSR how much they need her and facing their awful sexism. We get to see her meet up with the Howling Commandos in Europe as well as we learn more about Leviathan and see the proto-Black Widows.

The Zola Reveal – Zola is in the same prison with the Leviathan Doctor and we see how comfortable he is, most likely having already put forward his plan to infiltrate the SSR and later SHIELD. Toby Jones is simply fantastic as this mad scientist.

The Cons:

Forgettable Supporting Cast – Most of the SSR agents have memorable moments but are forgettable. It is sad given how often they die. There was just something missing beyond the text of the episodes. They needed more dimension.

Leviathan’s Lack of Philosophy and Ideology – Leviathan wants to destroy the United States and that is all we know. Is that really all their ideology is? Right now they are a far less interesting HYDRA.

Leviathan’s Agents – Like Leviathan the agents are surface. We have a Doctor who hypnotizes people and lost people from Stark Tech and Dottie, a proto-Black Widow abused to become a weapon. Both have interesting backstories but are only one-dimension presentationwise. It is a shame as these are the villains of the season.

If Leviathan’s ideology had been better explored and Dottie and the Doctor feel like more than a one-dimensional threat the show could have been great. Even the more forgettable SSR agents got explored and the leads are all fantastic. I’m excited to watch season 2 and this is a good first season worth checking out for any MCU fan.

Final Score: 8.3 / 10

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” Season 1 – A Powerful Exploration of Identity, History, Equity and Symbols

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” is one of my favorite stories to come out of the MCU. This is a film that takes so much of what I liked in regards to politics and power and intrigue that made “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” so amazing and this show with the characters and themes goes deeper. This is a show that explores oppression in both the United States and globally and delves into what motivates the amazing characters who make up this mini-series. Without going into SPOILERS, if you like anything I’ve said above and want a fast moving political thriller with a greater purpose and point than this is a show I highly recommend.

The series was created by Malcolm Spellman and directed by Kari Skogland.

The show follows Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) as he gives up Captain America’s shield as he and Bucky (Sebastian Stan) process their lives post-blip as a new organization known as the Flag Smashers rises whose goal is to create a world without borders in answer to the Global Reparations Committee (GRC) who is resettling the people who came back post-blip.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

Karli and the Flag Smashers – Karli is a character who starts out as a bit of a Robin Hoodesque anti-hero as she steals from banks and governments to help refugees and the poor but the implication is the super soldier serum and the escalation of the conflict leads to her becoming a full villain. She starts bombing soldiers who are sitting on supplies that should be going to the people and later goes into taking the GRC hostage and attempting to kill their members. At one point it looked like this could have been averted too as Sam is able to talk her down after the bombing of the soldiers but John Walker’s Captain America attacks her and after that she is done with any negotiation. In the end the Power Broker who made her the super soldier with the serum kills her as the rest of her inner circle is killed off in a bomb placed by Zemo’s Butler. She was a compelling and complex villain and the voices of the displaced the powerless and displaced who defended the Flag Smashers become part of Sam’s message as Captain America at the end.

Sharon Carter’s Return – Sharon Carter is back and we learn she went underground and became rich in the underworld. We learn she has become the mysterious Power Broker who gave the Flag Smashers the super soldier serum in the first place and her arc is tying up loose ends and working with Sam and Bucky, which leads to her pardon and rise to power. It is fascinating seeing how gone her idealism is and it makes sense too as she had no one after Civil War and after the blip no one checked in either. She was forgotten so in turn built herself into the Power Broker who rules the criminal city-state island nation of Madripoor.

Ayo and the Dora Milaje – After Bucky breaks Zemo out of prison so they can find out who got the Flag Smashers the super soldier serum Wakanda sends Ayo and the Dora Milaje to bring Zemo back in. It was wonderful seeing them again and they beat Sam, Bucky, Walker and Lemar before Zemo makes his escape. When they arrive we see that Ayo was one of Bucky’s few friends and the one who was with him when he was finally ready to leave Wakanda. The scenes with them are awesome and they do succeed in capturing Zemo.

Baron Zemo – In this we learn Zemo is a Baron and it is his resources that help Sam and Bucky get around as they try to stop the Flag Smashers and find where the super soldier serum is being made. He is the one who leads them to Madripoor which leads to them meeting Sharon Carter again and in the end we learn that his motivation is the end all super soldiers and attempts to make them as he sees them as the ultimate form of corruption and the philosophy behind HYDRA. He is a compelling villain and I loved how well he played off of Sam and Bucky as he was more laid back to their seriousness and easily the smartest in the 3 always planning ahead. I also liked that Bucky confronts him and turns him over to Ayo and the Dora Milaje and shows that Zemo’s mind control over him and view of him as a weapon is not a part of his story anymore. He is also taken to the Raft by the Dora Milaje so I suspect Zemo will be back in the Dark Avengers or Thunderbolts at some point in the future. Daniel Brühl is amazing in the role and I can’t wait to see where his story goes next.

John Walker / Captain America / US Agent – Wyatt Russell is amazing as John Walker. This is a character who the US government makes Captain America after Sam Wilson gives up the Shield. From the beginning we see how that pressure is eating away at him as he wants to be as great as Steve Rogers. His friend Lemar Hoskins / Battlestar is the one thing helping him keep it together as both Bucky and Sam refuse to help him when he wants to team up. This isolation and pressure causes his already dangerous anger issues to escalate eventually leading to him killing a surrendering Flag Smasher after Karli kills Lemar. Prior to this he also took the last vial of super soldier serum. He refuses to give up the Shield and Sam and Bucky fight him to get it, breaking his arm in the process. This breaks him mentally and we see after he has the mantel of Captain America removed by the government and being discharged from the military that he makes his own suit and shield and fights in the final battle. He finds some of himself again when he rescues members of the GRC but in a way he’s already gone and is now fully the weapon of other forces as the mysterious Val makes him the US Agent in one of the final scenes is warned he not Captain America will be needed in the new world that is coming.

Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier – Much of this series involves Bucky confronting his actions that he did as the Winter Soldier, the assassin for HYDRA. He has a book of names of people he is harmed and we see him try to either take out HYDRA operatives or help the families of the victims of those he murdered. It is a powerful arc and it is only after Sam tells him that he needs to talk to the ones who he hurt not just stick around that he finally does. In this Bucky finds some semblance of balance and it is beautiful how he and Sam grow to be close friends by the end of the series. In the end Sam inspires him which is contrasted with initially how Sam disappointed him as when Sam turned down the Shield originally Bucky thought that meant that Steve was wrong about Sam and therefor wrong about him being okay and able to heal. Bucky is insecure and sensitive and it is lovely seeing him find himself over the course of the show. Sebastian Stan really gives this role so much depth, especially in the later episodes and the conversations with Sam.

Isiah Bradley – Isiah Bradley was the Captain America erased from time as he was a super soldier who fought in the Korean War and even defeated the Winter Soldier in battle and rescued his captured men. For all of this the racist US government rewarded him by putting him in prison and experimenting with his blood to make more super soldiers. This isn’t even taking into account how the serum broke the other African-American men he served with. In prison he died and none of the letters reached his wife. Isiah is a man broken by the white supremacist systems of power in the United States and it is only when he sees Sam stand against it both globally and nationally that he finds a level of hope again as Sam makes sure that his and his fellow soldiers will never be forgotten.

Sam Wilson / Falcon / Captain America – Anthony Mackie is an amazing actor and Sam Wilson is easily one of the greatest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This series illustrates why as we see him recognize and reject Captain America’s Shield initially and we get more of that context as we see Sam wrestle with the historic and current oppression of African-Americans. Whether it is learning Isiah Bradley’s story and the experiments the government did on him and his unit of soldiers or being stopped by cops while he was arguing with Bucky. To compound it all too they give the Shield to John Walker a man who only sees things in the context of U.S. power abroad and has no empathy globally where Steve and Sam always did as Avengers. In the end after stopping John Walker he decides to take it up though and to change the meaning of the role of Captain America and the Shield through actions. It is powerful and like the family ship he rebuilds with his sister and community he rebuilds himself and faces the problems of the world as Captain America. In it he makes a call for equity and calls out the systems of oppressive power in the United States and world. It is beautifully executed and I can’t wait to see more of Sam Wilson as Captain America. My favorite of the Avengers.

The Corruption of Power – One of the themes of the mini-series is how corrupting power is, especially in regards to the super soldier serum. We witness this in both Karli’s escalation of violence and how quickly John Walker is ready to kill after he’s injected the serum. It is a warning and we are given examples of the end as in the end John Walker becomes a tool of Val and her agency as a weapon and Sharon Carter as the Power Broker shows that she is no longer the hero she once was.

Power, Oppression and Politics Globally – Another theme of the series is power and oppression on the global scale as we see the Global Reparations Committee (GRC) who are government representatives taking care of those who came back from the snap and in the process are relocating all those who had built communities during the 5 year gap. This clash and imbalance of power is what leads to the Flag Smasher cause in the first place as they are the only ones we see getting medicine, food and resources to the displaced communities around the globe. This oppression is explored and we see how much distrust there is among the populations that are powerless and have no advocates with their futures and lives in flux. Sam Wilson recognizes this and calls out the oppression in the United States and world and the need for all voices to be at the table, equity. It is a powerful speech and shows why Sam is such an amazing Captain America.

An Exploration of Historic Oppression in the United States – This series explores the oppression of African-Americans in the white supremacist systems of government and power in the United States extremely well. From Isiah’s story as he and his fellow soldiers being super soldier serum experiments and being put in prison after so they could take his blood to try again to make the super soldier serum. We see it in subtler ways too like Sam Wilson being stopped by cops and asked for his ID and Bucky having to step in and stand up for Sam. The series calls out this reality in multiple ways and when Sam becomes Captain America he calls out that history and the need for equity and representation in the places of power. These are the stories that need to be told as it is only with injustice and oppression called out and equity created that things will ever change for the better.

The Bittersweet Ending / Power Broker, Zemo and Val Victorious – In the end Sam adopts the mantel of Captain America and brings Isiah Bradley from the Smithsonian so he and his fellow soldiers stories can be told and the government abuses called out for all to see as well as all the events of his life. We also see Sam and Bucky with Sam’s sister and the town celebrating to show the happy part of the ending. The bittersweet comes in Val making John Walker US Agent, Zemo’s Butler blowing up the surviving Flag Smashers and Sharon Carter as Power Broker having all the government weapons that can she can now sell to the criminal underground she rules. It is a bittersweet end that captures what our characters have experienced as well as hints of things to come.

The Cons:

Greater Exploration of the World – I wish we could have seen the world that Karli and the Flag Smashers were fighting for as we never see the positives they had found in the blip as more resources were available to those who had little or none. Showing this would have strengthened the story as we only see the negatives of the present the Flag Smashers are fighting against.

I loved this series. This was a show that told the stories that needed to be told, didn’t waste the 6 episodes as each episode advanced character and plot and in the end we got a rewarding and bittersweet ending that sets up future ideas while still remaining a complete story. Anthony Mackie is the Captain America I’ve wanted since “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” so it was awesome seeing his arc of becoming that character. He’s one of my favorite characters in the MCU and this show captured so many of the reasons why. This is a beautiful and complex series that is well worth your time.

Final Score: 9.8 / 10

“Jessica Jones” Season 1 – A Decent Character Show With a Villain Who Never Reaches Great

    “Jessica Jones” is a solidly good show, hell I’d even call it one of my favorites…but it is no way in the Top 5 and it has quite a few issues that become glaringly obvious when the final roles around. Now these issues didn’t make me disown or hate the show, but it felt worse than some of the Marvel Cinematic Films that have suffered from similar problems because there was so much more set up in the beginning and so much more potential in the premise, and it had a great cast to boot to make that possible, sadly it didn’t succeed.

     The show was created by Melissa Rosenberg and created from the Marvel Comics and hosted on Netflix who produced the show.

This review does contain SPOILERS, so be warned.

      The story is about Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) who is a private eye who is trying to find Kilgrave (David Tennant) the inhuman who mind controlled her to murder and do other horrendous things and made her client kill her parents.

The Pros: The Soundtrack – The opening is very noir with a light piano piece leading into rising tension before end. Sean Callery did it and did a fantastic job at that. This music is present through the series and sets the tone for the world.

The Cinematography – The cinematography is stunning and great use of color contrasts are used, especially the use of purple as Kilgrave is called “The Purple Man” in the comics and anytime you see purple tension rises. Manuel Billeter did a great job.

The Tone – The tone is one of isolation, fear and paranoia, which fits as Kilgrave is a character that can make people do anything he wants them to. This tension is used really well…up until the finale…

The Characters – The characters, like with “Marvel’s Daredevil,” are easily the strongest part of the series. Part of this is due to writing but a lot of it is just the performance by the actors, as they really get a chance to shine.

Claire – Rosario Dawson is back and even though she’s nothing more than a glorified cameo tying the world together for “The Defenders” she stands as her own unique character who has to make difficult choices to help characters and people bigger than the world she knows. In this instance it’s her trying to save Luke Cage.

Malcolm – Malcolm is the best minor character in the show and I cared about what happened to him. He’s in the Karen role as he shows himself to be a true friend to Jessica on multiple occasions and in the end is helping her with her agency. Eka Darville does a great job in the role.

Hogarth – Carrie-Anne Moss is fantastic as the shark lawyer who is in a divorce with her wife to be with her secretary. At one point she makes a deal with Kilgrave for helps and it ruins her life. It takes Jessica refocusing her for her to begin putting her life back together and doing her job. She’s a great ruthless character, she’s also a lesbian and the show is great at letting her be sexual without it being exploitative, it respects her for the relationships she has, which cinema needs to do more of.

Luke Cage – Luke Cage is a good character and I am looking forward to his show. He’s the man with unbreakable skin who has an odd relationship with Jessica as Jessica killed his wife under Kilgrave’s influence and his wife may have played a part in his creation into an inhuman. As the lab she worked with was the lab that turned Jessica and gave her super strength. Will Traval is awesome in the role and it is sad when Kilgrave uses him as his Dragon in his penultimate fight with Jessica leading to Cage’s near death by Jessica’s hands.

Trish – Rachael Taylor is great in the “Foggy” role as she is the supportive friend who is there through the thick and thin. Like Jessica she is a survivor of abuse, though from Trish it is from her mother who abused her emotionally and physically and made her a brand starlet to be sold. She sets boundaries with her and those never change. She is willing to do anything for Jessica including being used by Kilgrave to lure Kilgrave into a false sense of security. She really is a good minor character and I look forward to her story unfolding down the line.

Kilgrave – David Tennant make a great villain, sadly he doesn’t get great writing at the end. He’s a character obsessed with having Jessica as she is the only one to break free of his control and she’s an inhuman like him. It’s an obsession and he’s creepy in his stalking of her and his taking control of Luke Cage when he learns of her relationship to him. He has so much going to be being one of Marvel’s best villains…and it fails in the end. He only takes control of a small group, he does nothing with Hell’s Kitchen and he gets his neck snapped…in the end he’s underwhelming like every other marvel villain in the MCU. Acted great, but writing brought down only to good.

Jessica Jones – Krysten Ritter is a good actress and she was perfect for this role. She’s bitter, lonely and paranoid and dealing with healing from abuse. This is her arc and it is handled decently…sadly it isn’t through Kilgrave’s murder or through her relationship with Luke Cage or even Trish. Malcolm is how we know she’s gotten to the point that she can do more than lash out and use people and it’s a great scene as he answers her phone. This was the one great moment in the finale. Overall, I like her character but thought her writing was uneven, though it isn’t from Ritter’s lack of talent. Ritter like Tennant does a great job with what she’s given, it’s just the script and pacing fail to give her great.

Healing From Abuse – Not all our characters get that, but Jessica and Trish are both given the chance to heal and face their abusers and find victory and strength. It’s empowering and I’m glad the show did this. The Kilgrave Survivors Support Group was another great use of this too.

The Cons: Simpson – Captain America Knockoff (seriously he looks like Chris Evans and is a super soldier) who serves little purpose as I never believed his relationship with Trish fully and he was way to unstable to like…and his arc never went anywhere. He’s just there to set up Season 2 of “Jessica Jones” or “The Defenders” as he’s kidnapped by the agency and we never hear from him again.

Kilgrave’s Power – Kilgrave is given a power boost at the end and he does nothing with it. He doesn’t hold the city hostage, he doesn’t make everyone try to kill one another or try to kill Jessica…he just takes a small group…when he’d taken hold of a hospital before. Seriously he had this huge power buildup and we don’t see him do anything interesting with it. What was the point of getting a power boost if it doesn’t go anywhere? This turned him into every other MCU Villain who falls flat in the Finale.

Uneven Pacing – The pacing was uneven at the beginning and the end, it was almost like they got sidetracked with side plots while losing focus on the main story of Jessica Jones and Kilgrave…and it hurt the show.

Anti-climatic – Kilgrave takes a small group hostage, does nothing to put safegaurds against Jessica, even though she’s been immune to his ability every single time post him making her kill…and she just snaps his neck. What a waste of a finale. He didn’t feel like a threat at the end and they didn’t make him do anything worthy of having such awesome powers. He should have been a child making everyone kill themselves and one another to force Jessica to make a deal and have to sacrifice…since in the end all he wanted was her, at the end I had trouble believing that.

     Once again, this is a show that doesn’t compare to “Marvel’s Daredevil,” but it is a good show within it’s own right, mostly from the strength of the actors and actresses and the fact that many of the characters are fascinating enough to hold a scene, even if they have so much unrealized potential. If you like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is worth checking out even though I will warn you now, it is pretty anti-climatic and I hate that Kilgrave didn’t use his power to it’s full potential.

Final Score: 8.2 / 10