Jessica Jones Season 3 – Spoiler Free Review

Jessica arriving on the scene. Photo courtesy of Inverse.

This review is spoiler free and encompasses the entirety of season three.

So end the era of Marvel Netflix Television. Who gets the honor of being the closing chapter? None other than Jessica Jones.  

After having her mother shot by her best friend, you’d think we’d start of with Jessica in a really low spot. surprisingly, that’s not the case.  Instead, on top of drowning her sorrows with a bottle of whiskey, she’s actually trying out the whole hero gig. It’s a refreshing change of pace, given the last two seasons all we saw was Jessica actively fighting the idea of helping people for free.  She’s a whole new person! Krysten Ritter is on her A-Game once again, and somehow the show manages to get just as deep and personal with her as it did the first two times around. While Jessica herself seems like she’s not in the worst of places, she’s still very much estranged from the closet people in her life.

For starters, the core example of that would be Trish Walker. The two don’t really talk much—for obvious reasons.  That hasn’t stopped Trish from using her new found super abilities to try and stop crime. Rachael Taylor once again does a great job portraying Trish, and all of the complex emotions that she is struggling to deal with. While the last half of season 2 struggled in maintaining quality when it came to the ever changing Trish Walker, this season excels through and through. Her journey is unpredictable, clever, and heartbreaking.  I know there are some who were not a fan of Trish last season. While I can’t promise that this season will change your tune about her, I can say that the storytelling at play is of a much higher caliber.

Trish training for her nights out on the town. Photo courtesy of Inverse.

Then there is Malcolm, once again portrayed fantastically by Eka Darville. He starts the season in a powerful position—a great contrast to where started back in season one.  He is now employed under the watchful eyes of Hogarth, and is using his strengths and skill set in new found ways. A good chunk of his arc deals with him figuring out this new dynamic that he is in—and how it relates to his morals and those closest to him. As for his employer Hogarth, well her time is still running out. Carrie-Anne Moss gives a nuanced and honest performance as Hogarth deals with her reality. Its intriguing seeing Hogarth grappling with her own morality—even if some of those things are questionable—as she desperately reaches in every direction.   

I think the weakest part of Jessica Jones’ third season easily goes to the villain—which is ironic given how the show began.  While we don’t have Kilgrave, we get Gregory Sallinger instead. The easiest way to describe him is a discount Dexter.  So if you wanted to see Jessica Jones go up against Dexter, then this is the season for you. The idea of pitting our lead hero against a regular unpowered serial killer isn’t a bad one.  Furthermore, nothing about his portrayal or storyline is bad. It’s just nothing extremely noteworthy. The biggest problem for me was how his entire mantra didn’t fully connect and make much sense. Jeremy Bobb gives an adequate performance, but again, it’s nothing to write home about. There is another storyline however (that I can’t touch upon without giving away spoilers) that veers into antagonistic waters for Jessica, and does far more for the story and characters of the show. 

Jessica Jones having a drink with Erik. Photo courtesy of Inverse.

When it comes to newcomers, this season is actually pretty light on them. Erik Gelden is one of the core new additions, and is played by Benjamin Walker.  Erik is great, and Benjamin brings charisma to the role, and the dynamic brought to the table is a fantastic addition. It’s not just his charm that he brings either, and he becomes a key player in the proceedings going forward.  Another new face this season is Sarita Choudhury as Kith Lyonne, who is an old flame of Hogarth’s. She provides a very interesting element to Hogarth’s storyline, as she tries to handle the fact that her time is running up.

It’s sad that we won’t have any more Netflix Marvel shows going forward, but honestly, it’s great that they went out on a note like this.  With fantastic pacing, excellent character arcs, and plenty of twists & turns, this season is certainly one you have to watch. Jessica Jones’ third season is not only a strong finish for the show itself, but a strong ending for the Netflix era as a whole.  I’ll miss Jessica’s snark, and all of the potential future storylines that we won’t be getting. But hey, it’s a miracle that we got anything at all. I mean if I told you a decade ago that you’d have a high quality TV series about the niche hero of Jessica Jones, you’d have thought I was crazy.

Jessica Jones Season 3 is available to stream exclusively on Netflix.