This review pains me to write, because I genuinely think that Season 1 was the pinnacle of serialized television. It had amazing plotting, a satisfying ending, a terrifying villain, characters that I loved, nothing superfluous, beautiful cinematography and tone. It delivered on every promise that it made.
I could not wait for Season 2. And those two years were tough. Alas it finally arrived. I knew going in that it had a tough act to follow and so I made a concerted effort to judge it on it's own merits and not to dismiss it just for failing to achieve the impossible by living up to the first.
What went wrong. Plotting: All over the place with little focus. A terrifying villain? Try NO villain. Characters that I love? Yes but the two leads are mostly kept separate from each other for some strange reason. Nothing superfluous? Carrie Ann Moss and her entire sub-plot was boring and irrelevant. Jessica's rival PI was a flat plot device. A satisfying ending? I wouldn't know, I couldn't get past episode 8. It was putting me to sleep. The season did continue to have beautiful cinematography and tone/atmosphere, but that gets no points from me if the writing is dull. Nutmeg can make good egg nog great, but it's not appetizing when eaten on it's own.
I think the biggest problem with Season 2 is that it fails to deliver on Jessica Jones' core promise: it is a sci-fi super-hero show about a tortured loner who does not want to be a superhero but is, none-the-less, forced to fight super-villains because they are threatening her and the people she loves.
In other words, Season 2 was Jurassic Park without Dinosaurs.
I'm giving the show a 5. A perfect 10 for the first season, and a 0 for the second.
I could not wait for Season 2. And those two years were tough. Alas it finally arrived. I knew going in that it had a tough act to follow and so I made a concerted effort to judge it on it's own merits and not to dismiss it just for failing to achieve the impossible by living up to the first.
What went wrong. Plotting: All over the place with little focus. A terrifying villain? Try NO villain. Characters that I love? Yes but the two leads are mostly kept separate from each other for some strange reason. Nothing superfluous? Carrie Ann Moss and her entire sub-plot was boring and irrelevant. Jessica's rival PI was a flat plot device. A satisfying ending? I wouldn't know, I couldn't get past episode 8. It was putting me to sleep. The season did continue to have beautiful cinematography and tone/atmosphere, but that gets no points from me if the writing is dull. Nutmeg can make good egg nog great, but it's not appetizing when eaten on it's own.
I think the biggest problem with Season 2 is that it fails to deliver on Jessica Jones' core promise: it is a sci-fi super-hero show about a tortured loner who does not want to be a superhero but is, none-the-less, forced to fight super-villains because they are threatening her and the people she loves.
In other words, Season 2 was Jurassic Park without Dinosaurs.
I'm giving the show a 5. A perfect 10 for the first season, and a 0 for the second.