Jessica Jones - Hellcat

 

So here is a flipside to what we saw in "Hero Pants" where the episode follows Trish instead of Jessica, as Erik is roped into helping Trish find bad guys to beat up in order to "rescue" Jessica from being charged and imprisoned for the murder of the cop who killed poor kids. I thought this episode was neat because the camera / story gives us what was happening in Trish's head, flashbacking to certain memories involving her and Dorothy during the initial stages of child stardom. While Trish isn't allowed to be a child, Dorothy pushes her to pay the bills since the out-of-the-picture father isn't providing for them. Dorothy's pressure is this vice that expects so much out of this girl, nowhere near an adult. I couldn't help but think of Britney Spears the entire episode. I can imagine she underwent the same kind of arm twisting, high stress demand to be perfect, to pose perfect, to say her lines perfect, to perform for the surrounding audience with very little chance to be a kid, a teenager, even some freedom as a young adult. Dorothy wanted to transform Trish into Patsy, giving her red hair (it looks like a bad wig that could fall off her at any given time) and really working over a big producer with determined manipulation to see her daughter become a big sitcom TGIF star. Trish always had to be perfect, always had to remain "on the job", not chance to unwind and just be herself. Those memories go back and forth with present day as Trish accidentally kills the cop when she confronts him in a warehouse, Erik hidden away with a camera, recording Nussbaumer's  "confession" about the kids he harmed. Because Trish's kicks and punches can be so forceful and land with great impact, there is always the chance a victim could suffer some type of head or bodily injury. When Nussbaumer is kicked into a pole and lands hard to the concrete floor, a puddle of blood forms and Erik feels this great relief as the cop dies. That "Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh shit"....it leads to Trish and Erik understandably mortified. Since Jessica is caught on a body cam threatening Nussbaumer, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. That and Jessica has physical strength that is capable of brutalizing a big grown man. So Trish and Erik orchestrate a second mark to be injured, but leave the victim alive not dead. Again, Trish, when punching the guy -- he buys buildings in NYC and burns them down so he can build new ones, knowing each had people inside them, never hindered by a guilty conscience -- sees Sallinger and her rage gets the better of her. All it really takes when punching Nussbaumer and Jace Montero (Chaske Spencer) to push her over the edge is briefly seeing Sallinger's face transposed onto them. Erik, again, feels the ache of Jace's evil dissipate as life slips out of the killer, with Trish less bothered this time than the last.

Trish feels like killing these fuckers is a service to the community, and Erik remains obviously worried about how much easier it appears for her to do so. Trish, in a conversation with Erik, keeps on him about using his "gift" to help her find bad guys. Erik, if he were to do that, would just remain more and more complicit in each death. Trish, ironically, isn't much better than Jessica's mom...the whole point was not to kill people as Jessica's mom did. And much like she was encouraged as a child by Dorothy to perform a dutiful service for the world -- a psychological tactic Dorothy used to push her daughter to work harder and harder so the success brought in money and fame -- Trish conceives of her mission in life...kill bad guys. Erik, unfortunately, is seeing a monster created right before his eyes. 

Also in the episode Jeri comes to Trish for a favor, willing to destroy footage in her office of Trish breaking and entering. Jeri wants Trish to help her take down someone hurting Kith. Trish agrees, but that meeting between them is quite expectedly intense. Trish with an extended leg and foot firmly held to Jeri's throat, she made her intentions clear...Jeri needs to keep in mind that Trish won't hesitate to crush her.

How the episode features Jessica as a character outside of the story instead of how she is usually front and center was a breath of fresh air. And I just thought it was quite clever, following Trish as she tries to dig Jessica out of a hole she created when killing Nussbaumer, instead making more of a mess. 4/5