Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones. Image by YouTube Screenshot

Before #MeToo, before #TimesUp, before the year of the angry woman, there was Jessica Jones, Season One.

The first season of Jessica Jones dropped in the autumn of 2014, long before anyone suspected Donald Trump would go from fake firing pseudo-celebrities to threatening to actually fire nuclear weapons at an extremely dangerous enemy. It’s easy to forget how different life was back then but it’s impossible to forget how momentous the introduction of Jessica Jones was for television.

Created by Melissa Rosenberg, this was truly a superhero show by women and about women. I started watching the show because I wanted to see how Marvel depicted a female superhero. The world of superheroes had always seemed expressly male. Superman and Batman and Wolverine — this was the domain of little boys. The equivalents that existed for little girls were first and foremost sex symbols. They wore tight costumes, depended almost entirely on the power of seduction to subdue their victims, and created a lasting connection in the minds of boys and girls between female power and female sexuality.

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Jessica Jones changed everything.

In the first season, Jessica Jones, played by Krysten Ritter, is introduced as a tough, alcoholic, loner who has retired from a life of saving people due to a trauma with which we become more familiar as the episodes pass. We learn that power has been stripped from Jones by a man and she spends the season fighting to get that power back. Her emotional injuries are compared to rape, both literally and metaphorically.

They say that just holding a gun can be therapeutic for victims of rape. Watching a character like Jessica Jones using her power to defeat the man who took it from her is a similar feeling.

It’s been four years nearly since season one ended. Ritter has been busy playing Jones in other Marvel franchise series and films but our patience is finally being rewarded.

It’s hard to imagine season two will be as good as season one. But if it’s even half as amazing, you’ll catch me on my couch watching the entire thing from beginning to end without moving.

Watch the full trailer below:

Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott

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