Marvel's Jessica Jones Season 2 Review: 6 Ups And 4 Downs

Downs...

4. It Misses Kilgrave, And Really Needs A Clear Antagonist

Kilgrave's return is brilliant, but it's also too brief. There's a big hole in this season where his presence used to be and, even though it attempts to fill that with the twist of Janet McTeer's character being Jessica's mother (which wasn't really that much of a surprise) and developing their relationship, it can't quite match the energy and intensity that the pairing of Jessica and Kilgrave achieved.

It doesn't even need to be Kilgrave himself, necessarily, but just a central villain would've certainly helped. The season doesn't try to outdo Season 1 in that regard and it's easy to see why, given it's a very high bar, but all of these Netflix Marvel shows work best when there's one great, clear antagonist for the hero to battle.

Daredevil vs Fisk, Jessica vs Kilgrave, Daredevil vs Punisher, Luke Cage vs Cottonmouth, Punisher vs Russo and Rawlins - those runs mark the high-points of the various series. When it's an ill-defined group like the Hand, a hodge-podge of potential baddies (the Meachums, Gao, Davos and so on), or a lacklustre villain (Diamondback) the shows suffer, and that's certainly the case here too. It looks at one stage Alisa will be the villain, and another even suggests it might be Trish, or it could've been Dr Karl Malus, but they never commit to any one villain, which saps the pacing and adds to another of the show's bigger problems.