MisterGlass

That was a good moment. I hope Trish gets a chance to put her skills to use again in the future. It may suggest that she is a very genuine person, or just practicality in the life of a busy professional who does not have to stand in front of cameras.

I like your responses Kel Varnsen, Danny Franks, and questionfear. It's true that he is a scary, scary person in part because of his indifference. The more I read and the more I think about it the more my initial concerns after finishing the season fade. I thought he was a good villain, but I'm starting to appreciate the depiction more. ETA: The ways in which he deluded himself - that his parents were only experimenting on him, that he's never killed anyone, that he gave Jessica a chance to leave and she didn't take it - are an interesting parallel to being able to tell other people what to think.

I think Tony is mean when he wants to be. "Everything special about you came out of a bottle." Traumatized is a good description. She was damaged before by the loss of her family and survivor's guilt, and was all but crushed by what Kilgrave did to her. It's when she gets desperate or feels like a victim again that she lashes out, and while unpleasant it's a legitimate reaction to what's been done to her. She explicitly has PTSD. Jessica was a bit of a jerk in the flashback scenes, but she was still ready to save people who needed it. I think 'nice' just isn't where it's at for her. She's sarcastic and brash, but she does what she can. I think she's as decent a human being as she can manage, and that's not bad. I love Firefox and I was delighted to see it used. I hope it continues to grow as a browser and I don't know what I'd go with if it went away. I snickered at the fact that Jessica was drinking "Wild Fowl Whiskey" instead of "Wild Turkey."

I was really impressed by her claim that Kilgrave wanted to commit suicide and used Jessica as a means to an end. That was incredibly bold. And then early in the season she set Trish up to be the one defending the mind control concept while she had deniability. Cool and calculating. She also has great presence. I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford her rates.

I've seen some really varied responses to the Kilgrave character, and I'm still mulling my own feeling over, so perhaps it's worth it to have a thread about him. The concept and actions of the character disturb me more than any other Marvel villain. Really, I can't think of a villain I find more horrific right now. He lived in a world where he is the only person with free will. He was never denied anything by anyone in the last thirty years. When the series started he was such a malevolent idea, strengthened by the suffering Jessica still clearly felt and the destruction of Hope's life and family. This was a man who held captive men and women with a word. He raped bodies and minds. He used everyone he came into contact with, without remorse, whether he wanted a cushy place to stay or a pair of kidneys. Seeing the survivors' group meeting further reinforced the monstrosity. And then we met him. And got to know him. And that sense of menace started to fade. Up close he was a bored, amoral stalker who denied the idea that he was a rapist. He was petty, petulant, and self-important. He loved to hear himself talk, and claimed to be in love with Jessica. He behaved oddly at times, even over the top. Jessica captured him, then tortured him, and made him look more pathetic. And he got himself killed by being gullible. This dissonance between who the character started as and who he ended up being bothers me. I don't think he was made sympathetic, and I'm glad. His childhood suffering explains how he came to be without justifying what he does as an adult. I was expecting to be afraid of this character throughout, and while I remain disgusted by him, getting to know him diminished him as a villain. I hope this was deliberate - to show that as horrible as his actions were he wasn't some supernatural and all powerful beast. He was an insecure, childish man interested in his own well-being and pleasure. He just happened to have the power required to enforce his will. And everybody suffered for it. In the end I think I liked what the smaller moments had to say about him. The 'pick up that cup of coffee, throw it in your face' command. The black look he gave Ruben when the latter announced that he was in love with Jessica. His easy disillusionment with her behavior while playing house. The disdainful glance he gave Jessica when she was using her hand to serve herself at breakfast. His disgust for the taste of the burger Jessica gave him while he was a prisoner. His efforts to influence Jeri into letting him go. Even his moderate interest in having Jessica show him how to be a good guy.

Xena, I agree with your interpretation. Trish was pushy and persistent in the early episodes, but I felt like it was to keep Jessica from cutting her out permanently. Trish is herself a victim of abuse and Jessica did a lot to protect her, so Trish has to do what she can to help, even if that is just reminding Jessica forcefully that she's not alone in the world. And the drug use and overcompensation as a result of his manipulation was well worth exploring. But much like Luke's appearances and disappearances, Simpson's story veered around and interrupted the flow of the series. After his relative absence from the show there was so much abrupt emphasis on his plot, which is more for next season, that it distracted from the other things going on. I think it would have worked better if he had freaked out next season instead, or if his freak out hadn't involved quite so many bodies.

I am still thinking about the series. I think it was too long for the story it was telling, and would have been a tighter narrative if told over fewer episodes. I liked several parts of it, though I thought the tone and pace were inconsistent. I knew next to nothing about Jessica Jones, and was not sure what to expect. I did not realize going in that this was going to be a show about rape and its aftereffects. Every major character was a victim. The pain, self-doubt, confusion, and desperation of the characters sold the horror of what they had been through. Abuse of various kinds tied the whole season together - drugs, domestic violence, child abuse. It was nightmare after nightmare. I don't think they can sustain that through multiple seasons, but it'll be an odd shift if it moves into more traditional PI territory. It think the noir feel that the series started with and ended with is the best option long-term. I liked the pinpoint focus on these characters and on a villain that did not have global ambitions. Marvel needs everyday heroes, not just world savers. They came up with a genuinely loathsome villain - a self-important, manipulative, bored, whining rapist and stalker. I'm glad he's dead and hope he stays that way. Though knowing comics and with the excuse of "hey, stem cells" in his experimental treatments I won't trust in the permanent demise just yet. I liked the focus on the female characters and that each of them was a distinct individual. Asking what would Trish do vs. what would Jessica do only works if they have different philosophies, and it worked well. While Jessica was a good antihero, I liked Trish and Malcolm more in the end. And of course Claire. I'm neutral on Luke; I'm not sure if I'll watch his solo series. Simpson did just disappear, and while I understand this feeds the future I feel like it was more distraction than world building.

I'm glad Kilgrave died, but have to agree that the plan was a mess and a bad risk. I also agree with the posters who said this season should have been shorter. It really stalled in the middle to me, with the repeated attempts and failures to bring Kilgrave to justice. I also found the tone inconsistent. It started dark noir, then got lost in superheroing, and then in the final scenes nudged back toward noir. I think Daredevil had a better overall structure. I'm still mulling the first season of JJ over. I've only seen season 1 of Broadchurch but thought it was a good dark detective story. I agree whole-heartedly with both comments. Claire and Malcolm's scene was perhaps my favorite of the series. Supporting characters really made this series more engaging, and having Malcolm around long term is a very good idea.

Another Alphas watcher here, and yes, this did remind me a bit of Nina. I think this episode really expanded on Kilgrave's big Freudian slip in the police station, to the effect the Jessica is the first "thing, no, sorry, person" who ever walked away from him. He is used to people as tools, not human beings with rights and free will. He does have the emotional development of a child - all ego, no empathy. I like that they have completely committed to his belief that he's not the villain. He can't be reasoned with because he doesn't understand the accusations leveled against him. He is terrifying without being in any way physically intimidating. As fascinating as the interaction between the two of them was, I did cheer a bit when Jessica stabbed him with the hypodermic needle.

Am I wrong or was Kilgrave siding with Wendy? I thought he'd decided she was the wronged party (as he is in his own mind) and deserved vengeance, and that's why he ordered the death from a thousand cuts. Kilgrave's parents stayed for about four years after his powers manifested. And then apparently walked off one day? It could be that only powered people can develop an immunity, or that the immunity is less a function of biochemistry than psychology. I thought Jessica might have become immune because he pushed her to do something so much in opposition to her own identity. Like the circuit in her mind that he tapped into for control was burnt out, never to be repaired. I didn't expect Simpson to go off the deep end like this. I'm only an intermittent comic reader and do not know the character. I was scared for Trish and respected Jessica for coming up with a quick solution with the bullet. Jessica has been cut multiple times, shot, and now knocked out. She also tolerates a remarkable amount of alcohol while remaining...well, at least conscious. She is not unlike Captain America - strong, fast and resilient, but vulnerable to injury. Of course alcohol has no effect on Cap, and as far as I know he can't leap tall buildings in a single bound. Every time I think this series is approaching its resolution it turns out to be a red herring. I really have no idea how this plays out. ETA: I can't tell if Kilgrave doesn't realize the experiments were originally designed to keep him alive, if he's convinced himself they were monstrous, or if his parents went well beyond the life-saving phase of the treatment with their continued testing. The other children certainly didn't look like they were part of some type of virus trial.

Well, it is always the spouse(s). Sherlock making a poultice for her was sweet.

"Father doesn't distinguish..." "...with the moral neutrality of the plague..." "...not evil, neutral, like a shark, or tsunami."

That last scene between the Holmeses had some real emotion to it, and was played well. I always enjoy seeing Clyde.

I thought perhaps Hydra minions were watching the minilith(s) at the time that Simmons was rescued, and noted the abnormally long time that it was held in liquid portal form, then deduced that they were rescuing someone. Fitz had been dealing with every backalley antiquities thief around in his quest to find some way of opening the monolith. I thought that Hydra found out that someone had been lost because of his searching. I think this is inline with what she said herself, that this is her first foray into the paranormal. She is a professional and competent leader, and has been properly suspicious of SHIELD up to this point. It wouldn't surprise me if she has a few surprises left for them; in fact, I hope she does. She was fooled by Gideon, but then Fury was fooled by Pierce. I doubt Coulson would have suspected Malik if they had met as scheduled. All of the proposals for Ward's death sound great. Part of me thinks the surviving Agent Koenigs should appear and take revenge. And Rosalind needs to meet at least two of them for the reaction alone. And yes to Agent Carter!

Good caper! Hunter as hipster hacker taking dialogue from Daisy was great. I’m both glad Coulson remained suspicious enough to mount the outing, and that Mack was prepared to call him out otherwise. I thought at the time the Tahiti comment was odd but didn’t realize the implications. I’m glad Roz got to keep her gray status and stay a member of the team for a bit. So Malik is the same character from The Avengers. I wondered last episode if Hydra might have been behind Will’s mission, but what a twist that they want to bring that entity back. And it’s an inhuman, hmm. If Andrew rips out Ward’s heart I will applaud. *nods*

I thought Joan said that the home was sold to a major donor of a superpac supporting the DA. There is some insulation there. I'm sure Morland can produce documents showing he had to sell at a significant loss to free up capital for another obligation or investment.

I believe you are correct on the unpaid part. Sherlock pays Joan out of his own stipend. When Mycroft told Sherlock, as ploy to get him to leave New York, that there father wanted him back in London and would cut him off if he didn't go, Sherlock and Joan discussed what they would have to do in order to keep going, and that included taking more paid cases and finding another residence. I think Joan's patience with Morland is worn thin after all the slights-by-proxy he has given them. Hence the "what's the hardest you've ever been hit?" from last episode. Seeing Sherlock utterly deceived and manipulated by Moriarty is bad enough; seeing the same from his father is worse. For that matter Mycroft tried to manipulate Sherlock too. No wonder Sherlock's so doubting. I really prefer these two as business partners and friends, not romantic partners. I don't see it, and I'd rather preserve this.

It's challenging to gauge the sincerity of Morland (great name choice for the parent of Mycroft and Sherlock) because Sherlock paints most of the pictures of him. If we take him at his word, he set Sherlock up in New York to keep him out of the way of his own efforts. That seems like he wanted Sherlock sober to avoid possible embarrassment rather than out of disinterested affection. While Sherlock was in New York, Morland gave 221B, explicitly Sherlock's residence and the repository of his things in London, to Mycroft. That makes it seem like he intended Sherlock's exile to be permanent. When he expresses his satisfaction that Sherlock's sobriety was reinforced by the relationship with Joan and the NYPD, I can't tell if he is happy for his son or pleased that his own arrangements instigated this. Family dealings aside, Morland makes appointments with people and fails to keep them without providing any notice. This is at best rude and at worst a power play. If Sherlock is correct, Morland started a war for someone's ends. Joan can't tell whether or not his motives with Sherlock or benevolent, so I think she was warning him not to treat his son like a pawn because if he does she has the information and Sherlock has the willingness to suffer to put an end to any manipulation. The posters who have commented that Sherlock's tactics are as underhanded as Morland's are right, but I think Sherlock sees his actions as furthering justice, while Morland's efforts may have more nefarious consequences. No doubt they've clashed on this subject many times; perhaps Sherlock even tried to expose his father's actions at some point in the past and was made to see the futility of his efforts. That could explain some of his hatred. I think he feels a certain amount of guilt about living off the proceeds of Morland's enterprise, and that solving crimes with that financing alleviates some of the guilt. This Sherlock is much more human than many interpretations, and I think JLM is showing the inner turmoil brought about by Morland's visit very well.

You know they will. It's like the Romance Trope 101 of television. Please no. I don't know. In the end I thought they did a decent job of showing Gonzalez trying to reach out in spite of personal prejudice to better everyone's situation. And I thought Crazy Cal was a great gray character. I do hope Rosalind remains gray and not knowingly Hydra.

I did not see a Hydra connection coming with Rosalind. Poor Phil. I feel bad for May. I do have sympathy for Andrew; he really seems to have been rewired by the transformation. This is why Lincoln should not be on the team. Glad the metal melter survived. He could be a good team member. The scenes of Fitz listening to Jemma’s recordings were touching. It went from wonder to jealousy and back to love in quick succession. The follow on scene with the sunrise was also good. While I’m still not sold on the need for a love triangle this has been handled with a lot more maturity than I expected. Edited for grammar.

Thanks for that, I've been trying to remember where it was used.

Thought this was a good season opener. It took the time to reaffirm the friendships and establish the current situation, and even brought back Tim Guinee for a moment. The final scene was a good one. Sharp, biting, and oddly reserved - just what I was hoping for. The adjustment to John Noble's accent stands out to me more than I expected. I hope Bell and the captain do continue to be a part of things.

Thinking back, Andrew was angry that he hadn't been notified that SHIELD was reaching out to the group in the apartment. He may be focused on the inhumans transformed by the diviners rather than the new crop on the grounds that they are not likely to be found and contained by other forces. It's a matter of context. He may consider himself non-sciency compared to the people he was around at NASA. If he is more practical than theoretical, or does not have a post-grad degree, he might seem like the least knowledgeable person on the mission, even if he knows more about space and space travel than ninety percent of the people on Earth. I didn't seem Simmons' behavior as a sudden recovery but rather a relief that her secret, and probably some rescuee's guilt, are out in the open.

I thought stasis was non-optional for the ATCU detainees. If it is by choice, then that's a different story. I agree mac123x, the cure talk is X3-like. Hunter is entertaining when he doesn't know what to do with himself. He wasn't wrong to choose the many over the few, though. I see Andrew did have guards at the store. It'll be interesting to hear his rationale. They are keeping the characters on a fine balance - any of them could go good or go bad.

Good job those who called Andrew. This episode managed to advance several strands a few inches. I would have liked more continuity to the stranded astronaut plot now that it's been introduced. I don't think Fitz is the sort to leave him stranded for love triangle reasons, and I would have preferred that it wasn't brought up. I am glad that the situation is openly known to everyone now. Interesting call back between Andrew and Jemma and their previous conversation. The inhuman prison is hard to rationalize, prospective 'cure' or not.