The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Masterstroke

A few months ago I found out from a Facebook group that Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend and the Tenth Doctor were to star in a Marvel TV show together, and ever since then I had been hyped to watch Jessica Jones; despite never having been too interested in movies and series based on superheroes. Last week I realized that the only way I could avoid getting spoilers from the million Tumblr posts about Jessica Jones was to finally watch it, and I was not at all disappointed. 

Jones is a "retired" superhero working as a private investigator, and the first episode starts off with her getting a case that forces her to confront the demons in her past. This episode was excellent, and I was hooked from the start. As a devoted Whovian, the main attraction for me before I started watching this show was David Tennant, and he exceeded all my expectations. Tennant was brilliant in the role even though I thought it would break my heart to see my beloved Tenth Doctor as the villainous Killgrave. 

This was certainly a role that pop culture nerds will gush about for a long time.

I hadn't thought that Krysten Ritter would be equally good at playing the protagonist, and I am glad she proved that wrong. The supporting cast matched Tennant and Ritter's performances and basically, brilliant acting all around. The show is fairly well paced, although I thought the storyline was a bit stretched for 13 episodes. The plot explores each character's background substantially and has excellent character development.

The most interesting thing about Jessica Jones is that from the very first episode, it holds quite a lot of trigger warnings; the most evocative of those is the one about rape. The essence of this show, after all, is that Jessica Jones tries to overcome the trauma of getting raped and tries to defeat her rapist. I haven't watched other Marvel shows, but from what I've heard, Jessica Jones is darker and has more adult content than any other Marvel TV series. It contains violence and a considerable amount of blood and gore. The fight sequences are well choreographed but I felt there were a few scenes where the fights were unnecessarily long and those are what dragged the season. What I really appreciated is the way this series highlighted issues such as PTSD, child abuse and eating disorders. 

Jessica Jones is a show dominated by strong female characters, and that is very impressive and refreshing for the viewers. Rachael Taylor (as Trish Walker) specifically was excellent among the supporting actors. The one problem I have with the story is that the character of Luke Cage (Jessica's love interest, played by Mike Colter) wasn't explored in more detail. But then I found out that he's getting a separate series next year, so that settles this issue.

Jessica Jones is definitely a masterstroke from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Especially for all the Whovians out there; you're missing out on Tennant's extraordinary role if you don't watch this. Nail-biting suspense and excellent casting—this is a show you must binge-watch as soon as you get the time.

Aanila Kishwar Tarannum started hating on everything the moment she realized why her parents put so many As in her name: because they knew her transcript would be devoid of any vowels. Find out about her relentless rants on facebook.com/Aanial.