I decided to write this on the 1st episode in order to warn you of what is to come, so you can actually enjoy it. I won't spoil the entire season, but I'm probably saying a bit much about the next few episodes.
When I decided to watch this show, it was recommended to me because of Daredevil. I was excited to watch it because they're supposed to get intertwined later, and because I read here that it was going to feature the B* from Apartment 23, Dr Who, and Trinity. I had VERY HIGH hopes for it. However, after watching the whole season, I had mixed feelings about it, and largely negative. Why? Let's break it down into plot and characters.
PLOT: The general idea was pretty good. However, it was pretty boring, aimless and confusing for the first 5 episodes (out of 13!). It felt more like a dumb drama than a Marvel Superhero show in those episodes. It picks up afterward though.
Episode 1 was intriguing and caught my attention, then it got worse and worse until episode 5, which I found to be disastrous (largely due to bad dialogs), despite having an interesting story to work with. Episode 6 got me interested again, and episode 7 is what the entire show should have been like. The remaining episodes remained interesting, but rarely as good as ep7, and the conclusion was unsatisfying. I often felt, especially in those first 5 episodes, that they kept forcing modern feminist ideology into the show (I'll let you decide how to feel about that, but I dislike the fact that it felt forced).
They could have made the villain to be a Joker-like mastermind and a manipulator, but they really didn't. They could have made the confrontations indirect (like Daredevil), or a subtle detective/strategy game like the anime Death Note; but again they didn't. Instead, they made a weird romance on some parts, a simple detective show on others and a psychological thriller on the better parts; and the changes in style weren't very appealing.
In terms of the big moral/ethical/philosophical questions that most superhero stories try to raise and analyze, this show has practically none. Think of the comparison that Daredevil presents between the hero and the villain, the competition between Thor and Loki, the contrast between Ultron and Jarvis, the debate over human nature between Batman and the Joker, etc. In this show, the most you get is one episode where Jessica gets the villain to do one good deed, or one in which other characters show some villainous traits. Other than that, it's a simple good vs evil.
CHARACTERS: -Jessica: Pretty good. It's kind of hard to empathize with her, but I guess the whole point is that she's a tough, hard-to-like person. Pretty great performance by Ritter throughout the show. There were some low points, but I'd rate her 9.5/10. Whatever is wrong with her character came from anyone but the actress, i.e.: her powers are never properly explained. In episode 1, you almost get the impression that she can see the past by touching objects or something. They removed the part from the comics where she had actually tried to be a hero before meeting Kilgrave.
-Trish: Awful character and awful performance. Everything about her felt fake. Same goes to Will Simpson and worse. I actually forgave them the first few episodes assuming that they would be minor characters, but NOPE! They're actually pretty important, and both of them had awful dialogs, and amateur acting. In comparison, Robyn had much more convincing and compelling work.
-Luke: Waaaaaay too much time wasted on him. Should have spent that time developing Kilgrave instead.
-Kilgrave: Pretty good character, but not great. He's probably the best part of the show. Tennant's performance was brilliant. The writing, not so much. From what I found online (haven't read the comic books), Kilgrave was supposed to be a former spy who decided to take over the world by being a powerful mobster, and by spawning an army of his own children. In the show... he's more like a pathetic man-child in need of love and sex, so he turns into a rapist with no purpose in life and no ultimate goal. I won't spoil any more about it, but I'll tell you to not expect much.
-Hogarth: Good character, good development, interesting back-story, great acting. However, she seemed rather unnecessary to the main story. She's part of one problem on the show: they developed too many minor characters and lost sight of the main overarching plot.
TL;DR: Don't get your hopes up. Compared to Daredevil, this show looks more like Charmed. It has good stuff and it is entertaining, but there is a LOT of ground for improvement.
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