We're taking a stroll back in time to see exactly what led Trish out of her cushy life and chasing a man related to an assault.
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Walking on the edge of legality, Jessica investigates when Trish goes missing, and as Malcolm questions his position, Hogarth's health begins to fail.
Karl's televised death pushes Alisa off the deep end, leaving Jessica to defend Trish, and Hogarth plots her revenge against Inez and Shane.
Having killed Dale, Jessica finds herself haunted by a painful memory as Trish hatches a plan with the captive Karl Malus.
Taking fire, Jessica and Alisa soon have many problems to deal with, and as Hogarth makes progress with Shane, Trish goes off the deep end.
After the heartbreaking knowledge Jessica gained last episode, she struggles to make her next moveas the others take steps on different cases.
Having been tranqued by Karl, Jessica wakes up chained to Alisa's bed. As he tries to explain that Alisa is the same as she ever was, minus the rage, Jessica scoffs and says his meddling was sick. Karl says it was Trish's prodding that caused Alisa's outbursts, as he had been planning on ignoring the reporting. With a desire to protect him, Alisa went to cover his tracks. Upstairs, Alisa tries to cook breakfast, but becomes easily frustrated when she breaks things and begins destroying it all, though Karl acts as though it's normal. Jessica's phone goes off and Karl opens it for Jessica, who says Trish will call the police otherwise, and she says she has dropped the IGH case because the killers escaped, and that she is in a bar. Having seemingly convinced Jessica to join him upstairs and calm Alisa, Karl frees her and walks out, only for her to slam the door shut and quickly text Detective Costa a picture of her arm with the address written on it and the message "killer." Alisa soon slams the door open and knocks Jessica's phone away. The two struggle as Alisa tells Karl to leave before the police arrive, which he reluctantly does. Awake after their night of passion, a worried Trish suggests they search every bar for Jessica, but Malcolm turns the conversation to her inhalant. Noting that she starting behaving completely different once she used it, as well as his own experiences with drugs, he demands to know what she is on. Initially feigning ignorance, Trish finally admits it is Simpson's combat enhancing drug. She assures Malcolm it isn't addictive but he says he won't go anywhere with her as long as she's using it. This scene was slightly distracting like Jessica's past encounter with Dorothy in the previous episode, as there were some rough cuts that made the sound a bit choppy. It's overall not a problem, but I happened to notice it again. Back at Karl's, both Jessica and Alisa know the latter will be taken to "The Raft" prison is captured, and never make it out, so Alisa tells Jess to say anything on her mind. We then head to Hogarth, who learns Shane Ryback, the healing man Inez told her about, is currently in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. Inez shrugs it off, saying they only met once and she must have been luckier to wind up on the streets after IGH. After prompting from Hogarth, Inez explains that she got jumpy around patients after Alisa's escape, damaging her nursing career, and her life began collapsing as eventually she turned to sex work. Inez says Hogarth wouldn't know what she means about things getting hard, and the latter opens up that she grew up with four siblings in a poor household and a terrible life at school, so she built a better life from the ground up. Apparently annoyed with Inez's assumption, Hogarth says she needs to find a new place to stay. Angry about Hogarth not believing her about Shane, Inez says she can die alone and crippled. At Karl's, Jessica finally opens up a bit about feeling abandoned since discovering her mother has been alive all this time. Frustrated with Jessica's assertions that it seems to have been simple for her and her standards dropped to be with Karl, Alisa blurts out that she and Jessica's father were considering a divorce. Jessica, after more talk, explains that she doesn't see her mother when looking at Alisa, but is reminded of the past when hearing her voice. The two become quiet momentarily, and Alisa recounts a trip to the shore for rides, and because Jessica's father and brother feared heights, Alisa felt like the Ferris Wheel was just their thing. Reminded of her initial opposition to the wheel and a following smile, Jessica begins to tear up but suddenly wonders how Alisa had been escaping the room to kill. After a quick search, she discovers a hole in the wall behind a bookcase, and throws together a bag for Alisa as the two leave shortly before police arrive and find the room. In a quick scene with Malcolm, we learn that Benowitz has a high bill for "Chocolate Bar," which Malcolm realizes is a night at Whiskers, the bar from the previous episode, for people to hook up with black men. Getting back to Hogarth, a visit to prison proves somewhat successful as Shane seems skeptical of her help, but exhibits the ability to learn what's wrong with her. Upon realizing she has ALS, he freaks out and calls the guards, saying he feels sick. Jessica and Alisa walk back to the former's apartment when the latter becomes angry at a cab driver for texting. Alisa tries to express her pride in Jessica for making a life and shows interest in Oscar's painting. Jessica keeps a wall up and asks if Alisa will run again, but the latter says she could have left with Karl, having chosen Jessica instead. Jessica says she has to make the plan as she goes, due to the odd nature of their situation, and as she looks through Alisa's things, her mother explains how the drugs work on her. The police arrive to question Jessica, and she says she arrived at Karl's, found it empty, and left after texting them the location. Not sharing how she got the location, she pretends she has a client to see and Costa leaves. She goes back to the apartment, finding it empty with an open window. We see that Malcolm is going off his lead about "Chocolate Bar" as a worried Trish continues searching for Jessica and becomes frustrated wondering if he's going to tell Jess about the inhaler. Jessica fails to find Alisa, only to return to her floor and see her talking to Oscar. The two bond, to Jessica's displeasure, and Jessica denies his worries that she hates his painting, saying she loves it but is busy with her mom. Alisa explains she jumped to the roof, thinking Costa was going to enter the apartment. She almost seems happy that Jessica worried about losing her again, only for the latter to say she thought her mom was out murdering people again. Jessica tells her the sleeping arrangements and says that while she's not sure what will come later down the road, she knows it won't end well. Malcolm heads to Whiskers, where he encounters Benowitz. Explaining he's not there for a hook-up, he says Chao hired him to find dirt on Benowitz. Angered, Benowitz leaves but doesn't share the dirt he has on her, and refuses to help Malcolm after a group of guys yells slurs at them. Malcolm's responds causes the men to approach him, and after taunting he turns and fights. Almost overwhelmed, he is saved when Trish arrives. She gives him the inhalant, which he reluctantly takes, only for him to become overwhelmed and run away while telling her to stay away from him. While an excited Hogarth makes a decision as Inez plans to leave, Jessica ends the episode after becomes emotional about Alisa and a new situation surprises them. While I probably ranted about something minimal last episode, I was glad I didn't notice as much I disliked about editing for this episode, as I was able to focus on the story more. Definitely right off the bat I have to say Karl, who is supposed to be incredibly smart, came off as stupid to me when he was quick to trust Jessica, and more so since he left the room before her. Obviously she wasn't fully trusting of him and Alisa, and he should have taken more care when trying to get her to agree with what they were doing. I was glad to see Malcolm get a bit more spotlight in this episode, particularly because of how he figured out Benowitz' secret. With him disgusted about Trish's secret and wanting to avoid her, he throws himself into working cases, which he is more free to do since Jessica told them to drop the IGH case and she isn't there to constantly shut him out. While it seemed like he was going to pretend to hook up with Benowitz and then somehow record proof to blackmail him, I was intrigued by the approach he took, pitting Benowitz against Chao in an effort to get dirt on her and ruin their partnership. It was disappointing in a way to watch Malcolm accept the inhalant from Trish, but his reaction after shows how far he's come. With Malcolm's life forcefully ruined with drugs by Killgrave, he's had a rough go of it since Jessica saved him, and he has made strides in his recovery. Whenever the possibility of doing nothing was offered, he always refused, noting that he could fall into old habits. Here, it must be a painful situation because he's taking the drug because of his pain, but it's a drug nonetheless and from a friend he trusts. The fact that he shows immediate regret proves that, though taking the inhalant could be considered a moment of weakness, he still wants to fight his addiction. We saw less of Trish this episode but it doesn't really bother me considering she is just obsessed with the inhalant right now, and we did get a glimpse of her anger. We see Hogarth opening up even more, her vulnerability more open as her ALS worsens, and it was cool to see her encounter with Shane that left her hopeful. More vulnerability came with Jessica and Alisa, and while it hurts to see Jessica reliving memories of a happier time, it's good to see that she's conflicted. She wants to turn Alisa and Karl in, but it's not so easy to come to terms with your mother being a killer and handing her over to the police yourself. It's possible that, more than her mom being a killer, Jessica's initial rage came from how Karl has kept her mom alive and a secret for all this time, and Alisa went with it. She clearly feels abandoned, and though she doesn't trust either person yet, she's beginning to open up more to her mother, who clearly does still care for her. With Karl on the run, Jessica hiding Alisa, Malcolm and Trish having difficulties and Hogarth making a breakthrough, future episodes will get a lot more complex. Now knowing that "Leslie Hansen" is, in fact, her mother Alisa, Jessica straps in for a painful trip down memory lane.
Our opening scene shows us Alisa's view of the accident, groggily phasing to the IGH hospital, where a nurse waits on her. Confused as to her whereabouts and condition, Alisa stands and sees her gruesome reflection. Having taken worse damage than Jessica, Alisa's whole body has been burned beyond recognition; she is the meat-faced man from Jessica's dreams. Horrified at her appearance, the confused and scared Alisa shoves her nurse, who becomes frightened and sets off an alarm, causing Alisa to dash from the room, knocking over anyone in her path. Down the hall she unknowingly attacks Jessica, but Dr. Karl sedates her, and she later wakes up with her current appearance. At first confused, especially upon finding she is chained to the bed, Karl explains that she has been in a coma for five years and doesn't remember him due to memory loss. Though for much of the episode Karl seems trustworthy, a bit of suspicion is definitely necessary given this is a comic book series and he is doing some shady things. Asking if she knows him is a potential sign that she wasn't always asleep for the five years, and he is certainly dressed in a less-professional way than expected of a doctor. Karl calms down Alisa when she becomes upset about her kids, and explains that, because was certainly a goner after the accident, he put her through genetic modification that has healed her, though she now looks different. She becomes upset again when he says her husband and son died, then enraged wanting to see Jessica, and he assures her she will once they fix "complications" from her procedure. We cut to a club where Jessica listens to a bland pop song with essentially only one lyrical line that Trish has just released in a music video. The show quickly establishes they are still somewhere in the past, when Jessica was in college and Trish was spiraling downward due to drug addiction. The two argue about the path she's taking, and Jessica heads to the bar where she finds Trish's mom and is skeptical of the latter being around Trish. The interaction is another show of Dorothy Walker's poor treatment of her daughter in the past, but it's a bit awkward to watch due to the editing. Like I said in my review of the last episode of 13 Reasons season two, I don't know a whole lot about more technical aspects like good angles and lighting. However, editing is one area I've always been interested in and actually pretty good at, and honestly the scene was quite jarring for me. The two sit next to each other at the bar, with Jessica looking at Dorothy and Dorothy looking at a makeup compact. Therefore, it's easy to get a shot of just the two of them, but not as easy to get good, necessary angles on just one at a time for shot-reverse-shot cutting as they talk. For example, we could take a look at the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight. Now I am in no way a "DC fanboy," this is just what I found to be a good example. In this scene, we have several instances of the camera cutting between characters as they go at each other. We start with simple cutting from Gordon to Joker, then over-the-shoulder shots with Batman and Joker, occasional shots to Gordon, then other, different angles as Batman threatens Joker. We go back and forth to the correct person speaking, at times bridging the cuts by having one person start talking before we switch. There is plenty of cutting, but it is bridged well and cuts appropriately from one angle to another that is different enough to keep from feeling stunted. In the scene from Jessica Jones, the two characters are seated right next to each other at a bar. Obviously you can't do shot-reverse-shot with this, because Dorothy isn't looking at her compact. The scene almost works, at one point going from a shot focused on Jessica to one over her shoulder at Dorothy. However, for parts of it the cutting seems jerky and the sound cuts suddenly. We go from a shot of them both talking to a slightly closer and angled shot of Jessica, then jerkily cut to a slightly different shot as Dorothy responds, and finally to a better shot focused on Jessica and then the over-the-shoulder. The final two work as back and forth, but there are so many angles that are almost exactly the same, it feels odd to look at, especially as the actors expressions change a bit between cuts. The sound often seems to start right on a cut, making the conversation seem rushed, and sometimes one of the two will have seemingly still been ending a sentence and already be preparing for the other to speak. I feel I've harped on the editing enough, so I'll get back to the rest of the story now and focus on the story's progression. The bartender, Stirling, draws Jessica's attention, and he soon quits his job when the owner dogs him about how much alcohol he gives. Trish tries to dragon Jess to a party, but the latter wants to study and tells her sister the girls she's with are not her friends; they're simply using her. Angered, Trish fires back that Jessica is, too, noting that she pays for Jessica's schooling. Jess becomes enraged as well and steals money from an ATM, when she hears Stirling call to her. Back with Alisa after apparent years, we find she has grown tired of all the testing and wants to see Jessica, but Karl continues to say there are side effects to look at. He agrees to tell her more, but only if she'll strap into a chair, which she at first doesn't want to do, saying she can control the rage his experiments gave her. Once in, she is able to manage her pain upon learning that Jessica has been adopted, but flies into a fury upon learning she has been declared dead because of Karl's experiments being illegal. Cutting forward again, Jessica is happily living with Stirling, stealing whatever they want. He is trying to open a nightclub, which he plans to call "Alias," but she soon learns his parents don't support his decision. She jokes that he should pretend they died in a car accident, and when pressed about him wanting to meet Trish, agrees to meet his family and introduce him to hers. They go to the nightclub where Trish eagerly meets Stirling, but Jess hurries out when he talks to Trish about the nightclub as an investment, saying they don't need her help. We go back to Alisa, obviously at her escape as we see Luanne and Inez. As Inez goes about unlocking Alisa's restraints to care for her, Luanne discovers Alisa didn't take her medication. Too late for Luanne to warn Inez, Alisa leaps up, shoving Inez into a glass case and demanding to know where Jessica lives. Luanne tells her about the Walkers and tries to sound the alarm, but Alisa twists her head completely backward and escapes. Jess and Stirling, meanwhile, get a visit from a group of shady guys who invested in his club, demanding a return. They disregard Jess enough at first to mock her, but are surprised as she beats them all easily, and they rush out. In a surprisingly open moment, Jess hugs Stirling, explaining that he's the only family she has left, and she won't let anyone take him away. Alisa manages to track down Dorothy, controlling her anger at the latter's insults toward Jessica, and learns how she is living with Stirling and that she is strong. She manages to find her daughter, overjoyed especially after seeing her demonstrate her powers, and follows her to a bar. There, she has an interaction with the unaware Jessica in the bathroom, and goes out to prepare for a drink between them when she sees Stirling be led outside to an alley. Watching from around a corner, she learns they want to use Jessica as muscle, and Stirling agrees under the condition that he get a cut of what they earn. Enraged at what she sees as using Jessica, Alisa bashes his head against a wall, and Jessica finds him dead in the street, where she screams and cries for help. The episode comes to a close with Jessica going to Trish for both support and a last attempt at being support, Alisa goes back to IGH, and a return to the future. Aside from the odd editing that bothered possibly only me, I enjoyed the episode as a way of explaining Alisa's past as well as aspects of Jessica and Trish's life we hadn't seen before. In a way, this could be one of the biggest episodes to explain important show aspects, like why Jessica is so bitter and chose to name her business "Alias Investigations." Stirling was obviously incredibly important to Jessica, and finding him murdered must have been one of the things that pushed her over the edge into her drunken days. It's worth noting how positive Jessica seemed at this point, as she talks about working hard in college and was more in control than Trish at the time. This, combined with her relationship with Stirling, make me think this all happened prior to her suffering at the hands of Killgrave, as that was what we've seen as the biggest reason for her current condition. With Jessica now knowing what happened with her mother, one can only wonder what kind of pain she'll feel and the path she'll take moving forward. Now knowing Dr. Karl and "Hansen" seem to be together, Jessica has more to go on with this episode of Jessica Jones.
Picking up right where we left off, Karl and "Hansen" run off as Jessica notices a nearby store with security cameras, but it's closed. Her phone wet, she buys rice from another store to dry it out and finds a tabloid magazine talking about Trish's breakup. She heads back to her apartment, but deciding she doesn't want to be alone, heads to Oscar's apartment, where he shares that he wasn't a great husband before but it better now, and the two hook up. Trish, emboldened by her new strength, is searching the streets in the meantime, staring down a man who turns out to be a normal guy. To her pleasure, a woman on the bus she's on says a man touched her, so she rushes over and kicks him out. Waking up, Jessica finds Oscar is painting a picture of her and rushes back to the office. Malcolm cracks jokes before pointing out to her the ring on Karl's finger, which she previously circled on a picture she took, is a class ring, from his college. Inez finally tells Hogarth about IGH after receiving supplies like clothes, but says that while IGH was creating an advanced healing process through illegal means, she doesn't know what the process was or any people, because she was told nothing. Jessica meets Trish outside the store from the episode's beginning, where they manage to coax the owner into showing them the camera, with Jessica having to keep the aggressive Trish in check. The footage reveals that Karl had to sedate "Hansen" to get her in the car, and Jessica thinks he likely tranquilizes her to use as a weapon. At his old college, Malcolm meets up with his ex, who initially gives him the cold shoulder, not believing his past stories about Killgrave. She finally relents and gives him a hug, at which point he swipes her student ID. Back at the apartment, Jessica is confused on the phone with Hogarth, learning of Inez staying with her, and says there seems to be something on Benowitz regarding chocolate bars. Hogarth gives her a day to figure things out, saying she doesn't care if Inez has to live in a cardboard box, which the latter overhears. Upset, Inez rifles through Hogarth's drawers to find things to pawn, but stops when she finds and recognizes Hogarth's ALS medication. Malcolm shows Jess a yearbook from his school which has a photo of Dr. Karl, and comforts the ravenous Trish as Jessica searches for dirt on Karl. Jess tells Malcolm to punch out, and after Trish swears seemingly at one of them, she says not to encourage Malcolm, who she says has a crush on Trish. Despite finding no address for Dr. Karl, Jessica finds a record of the pantyhose company Ambyhose paying for different things for Karl. She calls a golf club the Ambyhose owner, Justis Ambrose, belongs to, and discovers he is there. The golf club's security keeps them out, but Trish makes a scene, saying she's offended about them having sexist member policies and giving Jess time to get in. Jessica finds Ambrose and learns that his company has been funding small expenses for Karl ever since the doctor cured his son of craniofacial dysostosis, which had initially left people believing he would die by age five. Trish suddenly becomes ill from needing the inhalant, and Jessica heads out to her when Ambrose refuses to tell her where Karl is, saying she is wrong about him. He soon gives Karl a call, and the doctor is shown to be caring for "Hansen," who is chained up in his basement. Jess puts Trish to bed, but the latter leaps up to search for the inhalant, which Malcolm discovers in a jacket she left at the office. Back at Hogarth's, Inez reveals what she was going to do and says that while she didn't know everything at IGH, she knew of a boy who could heal people. Though it didn't always work and made him sick to do, he is the reason she can even walk. While Jessica finds Oscar's painting and has to deal with what to do with it, Malcolm heads to Trish's, where the latter has another strong reaction to the inhalant. Jessica finds Ambrose's son and uses him as a bargaining chip to find Karl, and brings the episode to a close after making a shocking discovery at his house. This episode continues a new trend of flipping Trish and Jessica's normal roles with one another since Trish became addicted to the inhalant. I's rather cringey to see the way Trish is acting now, since she now has the power to do things she couldn't before. On the other hand, it's nice to see the calmer, more level-headed Jessica, who seems to know something is up with Trish but won't push to find out what. She's more open with those around her and as a result is doing better then before, though obviously she is still rough with targets of interest. Obviously it's still hard for Jessica to be this way, as despite spending a night with Oscar, she is uncomfortable with his painting. It is clear she likes Oscar, but her experiences with Killgrave has caused her to fear opening up to people, as they might hurt her in the long run. Hogarth's situation has taken an interesting turn with the revelation of a boy who can heal with his hands. As someone who never had a lot of access to comics and had to learn through shows, moves, and the internet, I don't have a guess who it is. In a way I like this however, as knowing too much about where a show or movie is heading leads to less entertainment and tension, and I'm interested to see who will be introduced. Though not for sure, it also seems as though something may be budding between Hogarth and Inez. Though Hogarth views Inez with contempt, they've been closer and seen more of each other than people typically do, and Jessica and Oscar started out with similar disliking earlier this season. It's good to see Malcolm improving further from his beginning as a drug-addicted slave, and while he hasn't said anything about thinking something is up with Trish to either her or Jessica, it's obvious he has suspicions. With the discovery she made this episode, Jessica's will become tens of times more complicated than it even was before in future episodes. Jessica Jones ended the last episode stuck in a jail cell, so now she must open up to others if she wants to get out and figure out the true culprit.
In the last episode, Jessica and Trish found Inez, a former IGH nurse, only to head back to Jessica's apartment and find a squadron of police ready to arrest her. While they were away, Pryce Cheng's associate broke in and stole all their files, but "Leslie Hansen" arrived and murdered him. With only the obviously super-powered crime scene as a clue, the police could only conclude Jessica killed him, despite her claims of innocence. As Jessica angrily paces, "Hansen" burns her clothes and all of Jessica's files, and Jessica calls Hogarth, who urges her to tell the police everything she knows, as alienating everyone around her will only leave her alone. Trish, coming down from her high on Simpson's drug, learns from her mom that she has been asleep for 26 hours. Despite Trish's concern for Jessica, her mother says she has gotten Trish a meeting with people at ZCN. Jessica uses her one call to tell Malcolm she isn't mad about the theft happening, but wants him to find out everything he can about IGH from Inez. At "Hansen's" place, a bout of piano practice attracts a neighbor Sophie, who says her son Aaron, who has been emotional, calmed after hearing the playing. "Hansen" allows Sophie in, but becomes agitated as Aaron begins crying, and her playing becomes distorted. Sophie, shocked at her neighbor's breakdown, collects her things and bolts from the house before "Hansen" destroys the piano in a fit of rage. Back at the jail, Jessica relents and tells the police everything she has learned about IGH and shows them the picture she has of "Hansen. Malcolm, meanwhile, questions Inez about another nurse, Luanne McClure, who she said "Hansen" murdered, despite a man named David Kawecki serving prison time for murdering her after her body was found in his bathtub. Inez becomes upset as Malcolm questions her, but he urges her to cooperate, as he can't help if she doesn't give him information. Jessic and Hogarth get a moment to themselves where Jessica tries to calm down after realizing Hogarth's medication has sickly side effects. The police come back and tell Jessica that although they found no proof of "Hansen" existing, a camera outside her apartment showed "Hansen" suddenly bin frame at the murder scene a split second after a completely blank photo. Though one officer says she'd prefer Jessica being behind bars, the other explains he remembers Killgrave forcing him and others to hold their own guns to their heads, and he and some other officers support her. Outside, Jessica asks Hogarth to provide Inez with a safehouse, and Hogarth notes that Jessica didn't mention Inez to police, a tactic that was ineffective before. Hogarth agrees that Jessica can get Inez to her after Jessica says Inez is her responsibility, saying that she will handle it and Jessica's paranoia is exhausting. Cheng charges in as the two prepare to leave, demanding to know how Jessica is out after she obviously killed his friend. As Hogarth tries to defuse the situation, Cheng rants that he and his friend survived two wars until Jessica, and that he heard everything that happened to him. Despite his prodding, Jessica stays calm, saying he doesn't know why she's free because he's a crap investigator, and that as she is free now, she'll discover the true killer, walking away as Cheng stands dumbfounded in the street. Jessica goes back to the apartment where Malcolm shares what he has learned, including that Kawecki is apparently mentally incompetent. Though Jess thinks is could be a ruse, Inez assures her that Kawecki is harmless, then rants that she couldn't possibly forget "Hansen's" ferocity. Malcolm convinces her to go back to his apartment with the door locked to wait, and Jessica says she can handle sneaking into the facility Kawecki is being kept at. She writes down Hogarth's informtaion and tells Malcolm to take Inez to her and say he is Jess' associate, to his surprise and joy. Malcolm goes back to his apartment, discovering that Inez stole his TV. He finds her in the street trying to hock it, and he threatens that if she doesn't help, he will leak her location to IGH, finally getting her to agree. Jessica, meanwhile, visits Oscar to ask him for a fake ID for the facility. Despite police surrounding the building related to her and the obvious danger of helping, Oscar agrees as he still believes the woman who saved his son wouldn't be cold-blooded. Trish and her mother head to where her meeting is set, only for Trish to learn it is actually an event Griffin put together to propose. Jessica, having been called by Griffin, shows up and is as confused as Trish. Despite everyone's joy, Trish merely gives him a halfhearted "thank you," and after he asks Jessica not to ruin Trish's day, he leaves to speak with Trish privately. Malcolm and Inez arrive at Hogarth's, and despite going along with the plan, Inez says Malcolm is the worst kind of person, pretending to care when he's in it for himself. Hogarth assures him it is good Jess seems to be rubbing off on him. Jess heads back to Oscar's later for the ID, and is sad that she must turn down dinner with him, Vido and Oscar's mother. We see "Hansen" burning her piano's remains, then go to Hogarth's where Inez wonders why the award-winning lawyer would be helping. Hogarth explains she wants to know everything about IGH, especially their experiments. Jess gets into the facility Kawecki is at, and asks him what happened with Luanne. She notices inconsistencies as he says Luanne was nice but didn't want to date him, yet he somehow got her into his apartment and essentially hugged her to death. He becomes upset that Jess doesn't believe him, saying he simply forgets things sometimes, and she calms him by talking about octopuses, as he is drawing one. Kawecki eagerly explains that he is like an octopus, being antisocial. He says they have DNA unlike any other creature, with their genes called "de novo" or "out of nowhere." Jessica asks how he knows so much, and he says his friend Dr. Karl told him. When he continues that he used to join Karl for lunch at the aquarium, Jess asks if Karl is also the one who told him he killed Luanne. He starts to become agitated again, so Jess asks if he'll draw a picture of himself at the aquarium with Karl, which he beings doing. The episode comes to an end as Trish and her mother have a confrontation about her actions at Griffin's proposal, and Jessica investigates the aquarium. A key component of this episode is on multiple characters' secrecy, especially Jessica, who has a hard time trusting most people. Jessica's reluctance to cooperate with police comes from her preconceived notion that they won't believe her no matter what, and likely from her horrific experiences with Killgrave. As Hogarth notes, however, she has to let people in completely if she wants their help, as alienating those around her won't yield good results. It is this advice that not only leads to Jessica's release, but also in the revelation that at least a few officers are more than willing to help her succeed. It could also be that this good experience contributed to her following actions, where she realized Cheng was goading her and she could tell him off without violence. Both Jessica and Malcolm also benefit as a result of her trusting him more, as they are able to work better and get more done. Jessica, meanwhile, faces more difficulties from secrets, as her desire to be more helpful has caused her to hide her new drug addiction from Jessica. In the proposal scene, we learn that Griffin's sneaking around in previous episodes, like downloading information from Trish's computer and his secret phone call, were all related to him popping the question. I liked that this was the surprise that resulted, as I didn't understand why the show would show us these moments if he was a villain. Obviously it creates curiosity and tension as we wonder what he was doing, but it would have made it boring if he were actually revealed to be with IGH. On the note of IGH, it's interesting that Hogarth told Inez she wanted to know specifically about the experiments they conducted. While it's obvious this information could help Jessica, she didn't say she was going to ask anything. Given her diagnosis and desire to find a cure, it's likely that Hogarth is trying to fix herself using the IGH experimentation. While I had thought IGH would experiment on Trish and turn her into Hellcat, it could be that something happens to Hogarth and Trish simply continues using the drug. Inez, of course, has to reveal many dark secrets to help Jessica, but in her case there is more of a dangerous element, as she has no way to protect herself from IGH. With more secrets now out and Jessica getting closer to IGH, the danger is becoming more prominent with Hansen an unpredictable foe. Jessica's tasks continue to pile up as she tries to balance Hogarth's case, Cheng's lawsuit, and now the discovery of "Leslie Hansen."
The episode opens with Jessica attending mandatory anger management, where the teacher has everyone throw a ball against a wall as they describe their troubles. Despite wanting to leave, Jessica is pulled in after everyone has taken a turn, and as she gets brutally open about what has happened to her, her throw breaks the wall. Shocked by her strength, the teacher signs her court order and she leaves. Returning to her apartment, Jessica shows Malcolm a tabloid magazine showing him and Trish, wondering about them as a new couple. Trying to focus on the case, Jessica scans the photo of "Hansen," distracted by Oscar and his ex-wife arguing until she realizes "Hansen" is wearing a wig. She calls Trish, who expressed her annoyance at Jessica's actions and what she now has to deal with. Jessica apologizes and shares her revelation, and Trish replies that it had to have been a good wig, suggesting it was made of human hair, narrowing their search to three shops in the city. After Jessica hangs up, Oscar's son Video comes over to escape his fighting parents, badgering her about her powers. She yells to his parents when they notice he's gone, and turns to see him at her window, asking if she could save him. Jessica pulls him back in as he starts to fall, and his mother uses it as a reason why she should have custody of him, while Oscar tells Jessica she has 25 days left. Still dealing with the press, Trish is relieved when Griffin shows up, kissing in front of reporters to prove they are together. Inside, he offers her a place at his company, but she says she doesn't want to be known just as his girlfriend. At Hogarth's office, Cheng stops by to ask why she is no longer backing his lawsuit. When she says he should stop fighting when he can't win, he notes that something is different about her and says he hopes she can deal with it. Jessica and Trish head to the wig store Trish went to as a kid, and after some bribing, are told "Hansen" pays in cash for wigs, having lost all her hair. Jessica suggests she may have cancer, and if IGH is paying her bills, there would be medical records. Outside, Trish shows Jessica the video Malcolm took of Max Tatum. It has been three days since her threat to go public, so Jessica says they should go back, promising to try not to hurt him. In an attempt to undermine Jessica's business, Cheng comes over as Malcolm works, offering him a job in exchange for info, but is turned down and leaves a card. Trish and Jessica show the video of herself to a young actress in Max's movie, and she quits. He complains to them about it, but Jessica demands his hospital clearance. When he refuses, Jessica threatens him for preying on young girls. He says he only went after Trish, whom he loved, and an enraged Jessica gets him to agree by slamming her fist through his car. Later, Hogarth gives Jessica a call to ask about Chao and Benowitz, and the latter explains that while she has been busy, she dug into their expense accounts. Hogarth gives a simple explanation for everything Jessica found, and tells her to dig deeper because her partners are not foolish enough to leave obvious evidence. She answers a knock at the door to find Oscar offering whiskey as a peace offering, saying Video told him how Jessica saved his life and the eviction is dropped. He turns to leave, but Jessica invites him to come inside and drink with her. We cut to Trish and Griffin in the bedroom, and she tells him she is grateful that he stuck around after her poor track record with boyfriends. She goes to shower, and when he hears the water start running, he takes a call, saying that Trish "doesn't know anything" and to keep it that way. Back at Jessica's, Oscar explains that he doesn't hate super-powered people, he just hated her. He tells her it was simply her timing that was off, as he had only been out of prison for a few months. Jessica opens up about being treated unfairly because of her powers, and as the two bond, she kisses him. She goes for his pants, but he says them moving so fast from hating each other before is wrong, and leaves. The next day, Malcolm confronts Jessica at the elevator, demanding more work and a cut of her profits at Alias, and she agrees to give him 20%. She leaves, and he has a comedic awkward moment when he messes up the name of the girl in his apartment. Hogarth visits her doctor after several failed calls, requesting a cure for ALS. The doctor says she can't give her that, but Hogarth brings up possible illegal European drugs. Mentioning how her own father died from brain cancer that immobilized him, Hogarth tells the doctor that she'll go to a back alley doctor if necessary. Jessica and Trish discover that IGH only covered medical bills for Jessica, Whizzer, and a woman named Inez Green, who they discover is homeless. Using Green's arrest record, they track her to a location on the streets, and Trish retrieves Simpsons bag, wanting to bring a large gun and his drug. Jessica refuses to let her bring the gun, but allows her to take an enhanced taser after they find it can even knock out Jessica. A homeless man directs them to the person in the picture, and once there Jessica searches for her. When Jessica is attacked, Trish takes Simpson's drug and rushes in with the taser, but they discover it is another woman. A friend of Cheng, meanwhile, breaks into Jessica's apartment to steal all her files, leaving as Malcolm enters with a woman. Despite realizing they have been robbed, Malcolm doesn't find the man. As Jessica and Trish find out who the woman really is, Cheng's associate has a horrific meet-up that causes further problems for them. While this episode mostly goes with Jessica's problems being solved quickly, like with Oscar or finding the homeless woman, more are piled on in their place. In Jessica's case, it's never a simple matter, because everything that happens to her ends up a confusing, wound up mystery for her to solve. Despite convincing Max Tatum to help, there is the potential for him to cause problems due to her damaging his car, though of course Trish can leak the video. Pryce Cheng is the most pressing matter, both because he still has his lawsuit against Jessica and because of this episode's end. Despite being the mastermind behind the break-in at her place, it will likely be difficult for Jessica to prove him of any wrongdoing. Oscar and Jessica's relationship took a turn I expected back when they first met, though I was surprised he turned her down. At the same time, I'm glad he did so, because like he said, it was weird. They hated each other a short time before, and I personally just get tired of how every superhero show needs a complicated romance arc in each season. Of course there is also the fact that, knowing how things go in the comics, I'm still waiting for the time that Jessica and Luke Cage will tie the knot. Trish taking Sampsons drug is going to bring an interesting aspect to the show, as now along with Jessica's anger issues, she will deal with problems similar to Simpson. While I was initially unsure how they would eventually make Trish become Hellcat, it seems the showrunners plan to have Simpson's drug play a key role in her transformation. As IGH is still a mystery and has been able to give people superpowers, I still wonder if Trish will perhaps be experimented on as well at some point. Hogarth's situation has potential for an interesting future, but could also cause more problems for her. Jessica is already having a hard time finding any dirt on Chao and Benowitz, and her determination to even use illegal drugs to cure her ALS could lead to her partners having further grounds to push her out. Jessica may have taken steps to solving everything this episode, but now she's got a lot more on her plate to deal with. |
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