Going into Jessica Jones last year, I had some very real fears. Yes, I was excited to get another Marvel/Netflix series. Daredevil had turned out exceptional, and I had no reason to expect anything different from Jessica Jones. My biggest fear, however, was that Jessica Jones would feel far too similar to Daredevil — that they would feel like they were cut from the same cloth. They were both shows that took place in the seedy underbelly of New York City, after all, and at the end of the day, how different could these shows be? And they were only two of four planned series. I wasn’t sure I could take four of the same type of shows set in the same world.

Luckily for me, what I got was a very different series. Rather than focus on punch-drunk hand-to-hand combat and general vigilante activities, Jessica Jones focused on what is essentially a rape survivor story. It’s a very female tale, and one that we don’t get a lot of in Hollywood, especially in the superhero genre.

Yes, Kilgrave’s mind control abilities was an amazingly powerful thing — one that many a superhero has faced in the past (hello Loki and Hawkeye), but in the context of Jessica Jones, the superpower was very much a metaphor for rape. In overcoming Kilgrave in the finale of that first season, Jessica overcame a very dark part of her past. But like any good character, this doesn’t mark the end of her development.

Speaking with Esquire, Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg gave us an idea of what we could expect from the character in Season 2.

“[Jessica] was kind of messed up even before Kilgrave came along,and so in Season Two we can explore what’s possible for her moving forward.”

The outlet continued, bringing stating that in Season 1, Jessica did what she could to move on, but was constantly prevented by Kilgrave. Now, with Kilgrave out of the way, she should technically be able to go on with her life — but a quick recovery from something like that isn’t so easy. Now, with the “excuse” of Kilgrave no longer there, Jessica’s coping difficulties become all the more apparent.

Rosenberg continued:

“I learned from working on Dexter that you can advance the character, but you never want to cure the character. With Dexter, the moment he felt guilt or accepted that he was ‘bad,’ the show’s over. He’s no longer a sociopath. The equivalent for us would be if Jessica somehow recovered from the damage that had been done to her. People don’t just heal, you don’t go through that just to say, ‘Oh, he got arrested, he’s in jail, I’m OK now.’ That trauma is a huge part of who she is now.”

It certainly sounds like we can expect another heavy season of the show following Jessica’s teamup with the rest of the Defenders in next year’s crossover series.

What do you think of Rosenberg’s comments? Is this the right approach to take with Jessica Jones for Season 2? Let us know in the comments down below!

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SOURCE: Esquire

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