Despite her injury, Jessica refuses to sit idly by while others investigate the attack which results in both her and Trish racing to track down Andrew Brandt.  A big motivating factor for Jessica is her refusal to become a victim.  She immediately refutes the word when Detective Costa tells her he needs a statement from the victim and her determination to leave the hospital and find her attacker seems to be coming from the same place.  In the voiceover we hear her say, “But to hell with vulnerable.  Strength is a part of me and no one is going to take it away.”  It’s funny that she and Trish are so at odds since a defining characteristic of both characters this season has been their determination to show their strength.

While the last episode with Trish was necessary to understand and empathize where the character is coming from, her choices and attitude toward Jessica can still be somewhat aggravating.  Trish tries to convince Jessica that her motivations for finding Brandt are coming from a place of revenge rather than justice, but it falls flat because Trish hasn’t really done anything to show that her reasons are any better.  Part of this is a holdover from Trish’s development last season and her drive to be a hero no matter the cost.  But since she hasn’t really accomplished anything yet her chastisement of Jessica’s actions don’t really hold up.

Both Trish and Jessica refuse to see the other’s point-of-view which is a huge shame since they’re both after the same thing.  Jessica may have a good reason to be upset with Trish (the whole killing her mother thing) but Jessica isn’t any less guilty of the same crime.  Kilgrave was an uncontrollable maniac and she chose to kill him because of that.  Jessica may believe she could have gotten through to her mother, but there wasn’t any clear evidence of that.  She and Trish are more similar than they care to admit.  And they both have the same goal of finding Brandt.  Where they differ however is in their motivations.  Jessica wants to prove she’s not a victim by bringing in her attacker and Trish wants to play hero and stop a bad guy.  So far their dynamic has been necessary because of what happened in the last season, but if their relationship doesn’t change or develop soon it could easily get a bit repetitive.

One particularly strong aspect of the season so far has been Hogarth’s relationship with Kith Lyonne.  Because of her declining health, it seems that Hogarth is trying to close old wounds and her relationship (or lack thereof) with Kith has been left unresolved.  We find out in this episode that the relationship fell apart because Hogarth cheated which broke Kith’s heart.  It’s not surprising since we saw her cheat on Wendy in the first season so she clearly has a pattern.  Kith herself seems to be a very strong willed and intelligent person who’s able to see through some of Hogarth’s manipulative traits.

However, Hogarth is in a very fragile state both mentally and physically because of her ailment and is pursuing Kith for very selfish reasons.  Hogarth wants Kith and she’s going to stop at nothing to try and get her, as we saw with the assignment she gave to Malcolm.  The scene when Kith was playing the cello as Hogarth circled around her was framed as if Hogarth was a predator circling her prey.  As they were getting out of bed Hogarth seemed happy to have ‘won’ Kith’s affection, but is immediately annoyed when she finds out that Kith and her husband Peter have an open marriage.  It means that she’s not special enough to be the most important person in Kith’s life and for Hogarth, that’s not acceptable.  Even though Hogarth isn’t a villain, she’s still a terrifying individual and I worry for anyone who gets in her way.

VERDICT

4 spleens out of 5.

A central part of this episode is the animosity that lingers between Jessica and Trish, and while that needs to be addressed, if it goes on much longer it could easily overstay its welcome.  I don’t necessarily want them to make up and be buddies again, but they’ve made their positions clear and it could get annoying if they end up repeating the same emotional beats.  Hopefully something will happen in the next couple episodes that will alter the dynamic.  On the other hand, everything with Malcolm and Hogarth has been excellent and the most interesting part of the season so far.

ONE-SHOTS

  • Hopefully Hamburger Guy sticks around for a while.
  • It seems like Eka Darville has gotten even more ripped since his Spartacus days.
  • Hogarth’s advice to Jessica was very powerful when she was talking about how she doesn’t let her failing body control her.  However Jessica’s response was great as well, “A little hard to swallow a pep talk from a woman who begged me to snuff her.”  Jessica has had some really good zingers this season.  Her reluctant removal of the car crushing Brandt when she found out he was innocent was also great!
  • More pun doctor please!