All caught up? Good, then let’s keep going on this marathon. “A.K.A. The Sandwich Saved Me” brings us a first serious confrontation between Jessica and Kilgrave. That staredown last episode was nothing compared to this.
1. A Flashback We Actually Need
By this point we’ve seen Jessica memories of her time with Kilgrave but we don’t really know the person she was before all that. Before she met Kilgrave, Jessica was working a bad office job and of course gets fired from it. But before she goes she makes one last impression on her skeevy boss and then heads for drinks with Trish. Trish knows all about Jessica’s “abilities” and wants Jessica to do something important with them. She goes so far to make her a costume and give her a name, Jewel, and Jessica begins to warm to the idea of being a hero. She ends up saving a little girl while dressed as a sandwich passing out fliers (hence the name of the episode) and she even saves Malcolm before they officially meet in her apartment building. I like that time is being taken to flesh out her past and I especially like the inclusion of her costume. Marvel hasn’t really shied away from costumes but this is probably the most comic book-y looking one so far. What really works about this is the way that Ritter plays the character differently. You see her sarcasm and wit but there’s something far more happy about her. We’re also able to see the heroic tendencies she has despite not really wanting to be a full fledged superhero. This is a pretty big change from “Alias” because in that she wanted to be a hero. She went out of her way to do it but this version is more effective. She’s right there, about to become a superhero and it’s taken away from her by this monster.
2. Love Is In The Air
Jessica and Luke are no longer an item but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any romance left on this show. Trish and Will are now an item. Admittedly it’s mostly just sex at the moment but they’ve bonded enough to where he’s now involved in the plan to take down Kilgrave. We also get some background on him and his area of expertise. Like many other police officers, Will is a veteran. He was part of a special ops force and he helps supply a room to keep Kilgrave in thanks to a friend he has in the CDC. I wondered if we would be seeing him turn into a version of Nuke and I’m starting to think we will. There is a bigger reason he was brought into the show so soon so watch him carefully. Those skills he has will come into play later on.
3. Supporting Characters In Peril!
Malcolm is in danger, probably more than he ever was. Jessica knows everything about him now and much an influence Kilgrave has on him but more importantly, Kilgrave knows that she knows. At any point Malcolm could be forced to overdose or cut off, forcing him to do even worse things to get drugs. Back in jail, Hope is trying to get money from Jessica and it looks like it’s because she’s getting harassed by other inmates. This is the first time in a while that Jessica has interacted with Hope so as she keeps going on her mission to get Kilgrave, she’s putting other people close to her in bad positions or outright neglecting them. Trish, even though she wants to help, is caught up in this, Hope hasn’t been as protected in prison as she could be and now Malcolm and Will are wrapped up in this in a dangerous way. Jessica has already used Malcolm once before but I don’t believe she does anything to be malicious. She’s also hurt and very committed now to finishing this guy off to save potential victims any pain and to help find victims get some closure. I just hope this almost recklessness doesn’t hurt anyone else, especially Malcolm cause I’m so attached to him now and feel so bad for him.
4. A Plan Too Good To Work
So the big highlight of this episode is the almost successful capture of Kilgrave. Will, Jessica and Trish put their minds together to shoot Kilgrave with the anesthesia Jessica stole and hold him in a sound proof room supplied by one of Will’s friends who works for the CDC. Jessica follows Malcolm because she knows that he’ll lead her right to him and that’s when the plan goes into action. Jessica starts to approach Kilgrave and Will approaches from another side with a horribly disguised dart gun in a brown paper bag. Kilgrave realizes what’s happening but is distracted by Jessica and is shot anyway. Once they get him into the van with Trish they are attacked by what is first thought to be people under his mind control powers. They are actually bodyguards that Kilgrave hired to protect him in case something like this happens. Brilliant move on Kilgrave’s part to be that prepared because they are able to get him out of this situation but not even at the halfway point of the season it was pretty obvious this would backfire on them. This whole scene was really thrilling despite knowing it wouldn’t succeed. I really liked watching Jessica take out the bodyguards that she did because again there’s this way to hitting people so not to do horrible damage to them. Even the stun batons weren’t used for killing since they were used on Trish at one point. Jessica does struggle a little with whether or not she should just kill Kilgrave where he lies but instead lets out some of her frustration with a punch. This story is escalating quickly and I can’t imagine what sets off the next confrontation between the two.
5. Smile
One of the most annoying and unnecessary things men tell women to do is smile. It’s a way to make women be more pleasant at all times instead of just existing in whatever they’re feeling at the time. Neutral or disinterested in a valid expression to have. It’s absolutely a thing that is done to women way more often to men so of course this is something Kilgrave does since he’s kind of the perfect snapshot of the worst sexist and abusive man you can imagine. In order to keep Malcolm safe and keep Kilgrave away, Jessica agrees to send him a photo of her at 10 am every morning with her smiling. Of al the things Kilgrave has done, this is easily up there as one of his creepiest moments. I don’t want to know what he’s going to do with these pictures but I do want to know what his end game is. He’s already been close to her, why hasn’t he just pulled her back in with his powers? There’s something more going on here and I am eager to find that out.
