Jessica Jones - Pork Chop

There is a hole in our soul…Let’s not use each other to fill it.

Trish’s descent continues. Pork Chop has her seducing Malcolm during her struggle coming down from the IGH drug Will Sampson left behind in his inhaler that heightened her senses, bringing her closer to Jessica. This is addressed in perhaps my favorite scene, when Trish visits Alisa (in a highly secure prison) wanting Karl’s whereabouts so she can (according to her) break the appropriate story, but Alisa sees through the ruse. What motivates everything is Trish’ desire to secure more of the super-drug, and Karl is the key to replenishing her supply. Jessica spends the episode trying to find out where Karl is so she can initiate an escape to South America, getting lover / artist, Oscar, to prepare and create a fake passport. But she needs Alisa to sign documents that will assure a confession about IGH, Karl’s whereabouts, the whole shebang. Jessica doesn’t want Alisa to land in a “superhero prison”, called The Raft, and this orchestrated confession allows daughter to visit her mother, even as she will always be in prison. Making sure Karl is out of the country is the way to get Alisa to do that and Trish goes behind Jessica’s back in order to locate IGH’s [mad] scientist. The government wants to get their hands on Karl and gain access to what his genius can provide…perhaps an army of supersoldiers or created superheroes? Jessica dueling with Trish and Alisa, both totally despising each other, makes her life much more complicated. Karl tells Jessica (she eventually finds him at a cheap, seedy “love motel”, through a veiled, coded conversation with Alisa) he married her mother in the room she finds him, but convinces him to give her a picture so she could get him a passport. And yet Trish gets Malcolm to find those pics on Jessica’s computer, eventually a location map sends them to the love motel. Malcolm ends up knocked unconscious by Trish with the butt of a gun, dumped in the trunk of her car, with Trish eyeing the chance to confront Karl, more than likely for more of the juice. Earlier, Trish had the contents of Will’s “pump” analyzed, the poisonous ingredients not enough to quell her pursuit of Karl. Trish has become the very thing she seemed poised to fight against…a junkie willing to do whatever it takes to secure more of the drug she’s now beholden to.

Sometimes you just need a hug

Trish before she foils Jessica's plans

Downward spiral ensues.

Dale inflicting his conditions on Alisa

Jeri realizing she's been had.

The Love Motel

Subplots include Jeri being snookered by Inez and “healer” Shane, as Jessica got it from the horse’s mouth (Karl) that he never “created” someone who can heal illness. Inez seduced and played Jeri. Shane was released from prison thanks to Jeri and her fancy apartment was Inez and Shane’s to pillage and plunder while the owner was away. Jessica tried to convince Jeri to allow her to go after them con artists, but Jeri had to see for herself how much of a patsy Inez made her. Jeri feeling the euphoria of a façade, the whole “healing” just a placebo effect of cons working her over, and collapsing to her floor later as she looks around at everything missing, the abode disheveled and robbed…it is the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Also a Corrections officer, Dale Holiday (Brian Hutchison), refuses to allow Alisa to get away with dictating who is in control (she could have snapped his neck after breaking through her chains and pushing him against the wall of her cell), responsible not only for reinforced steel shackles but also electrically charged wrist locks on each side of the bed, his mere push of a button on a remote device proof of much agony if she doesn’t “cooperate”. Eating meat, PROTEIN, off her plate is enough to stir Dale up while Alisa’s brief dominance over him instigated much retaliation. Jessica sees the burns on her arms, following Dale after work, soon learning of suicides under his watch, later locating “trophies” of his victims, the number patches off their prison uniforms. Dale assaults her and Jessica responds with one swipe of the captured billy club across his skull, left with the horror of killing someone else. Even as it was self defense, being in his home, learning of his past, realizing the kind of monster he really was (he told Alisa he was a “bad seed”, his upbringing all about discipline when he “acted up”), Jessica being caught by him with mace to the eyes and a club (and feet kicks) to the torso allowed for the end results. The next episode will follow up on that death and how Jessica must once again contend with the stress of being the one responsible. [3/5]