Getting close to the home stretch now! In the last four episodes before the finale, the show really gets moving with its plot, and David Tennant’s Kilgrave is particularly intriguing, as we see him and Jessica prepare for their final showdown.
Episode 9 picks up where episode 8 left off, with Kilgrave being placed in the containment unit by Jessica, who alerts Hogarth that she has the man and has a plan to get evidence from him. You see, Jessica stole from Kilgrave (before leaving the house) the flash drive that Kilgrave had stolen from Reva, in the events leading up to the woman’s untimely death. On the flash drive were numerous files detailing experiments on children that had been done, including particularly excruciating experiments done on young Kevin, aka Kilgrave, at the hands of his parents. Jessica thinks she can use the videos to get Kilgrave riled up, and ready to flash his powers and kill. Hogarth thinks the plan is terrible, as the confession will be under duress, and the demonstration of his powers will looked faked, but Jessica wants to give it a try nonetheless. She enters the cell with Kilgrave, while the video is projected into the cell, a camera recording the whole thing, and Hogarth standing by to push the failsafe button, which will send a jolt of electricity through the pool of water in the cell, shocking Jessica and Kilgrave and knocking them out. Jessica bates Kilgrave, but as always he is one step ahead of her, refusing to use his abilities because he knows he is being watched. Enraged, Jessica begins to beat on him, hoping Kilgrave will get desperate and use his abilities, but to no avail. Eventually Hogarth is forced to shock both of them just to prevent Jessica from killing him.
Trish meanwhile, has received a call from Will asking for help, and she finds him half-dead outside of Jessica’s old house, mumbling about his dead friends and the bomb. Trish takes him to the hospital, but Will demands that they call a doctor he knows, which seems oddly suspicious for a man desperately in need of medical attention. Trish leaves Will in the care of the hospital and heads to the CDC safehouse to check on Jessica, and Will is visited by the doctor in question. He asks to be re-enlisted in the program he was a part of, which gave him access to drugs that amped up his adrenaline, strength, and stamina, and allow him to recover from his wounds much faster. Unfortunately, they also make the man seem a bit unhinged, as he seems hell-bent on killing Kilgrave now, no matter what.
Jessica tries to approach the situation from another angle, and tracks down Kilgrave’s awful parents, who just so happened to have come to town upon hearing about Hope murdering her parents, with the mom actually showing up to the Kilgrave victims support group. Jessica finds them both, and demands they help atone for the monster they created, learning the story than Kilgrave was born with a disease that his parents were trying to cure him of, belatedly realizing the drug used to cure him also granted him his powers. They were under his thrall for some time before escaping, which is why Kilgrave was left alone at such a young age. The parents also reveal that Kilgrave’s power is really an airborne virus, and that it can be cured if they find an antidote. Regardless, Jessica takes them to the safehouse with a new plan. Get Kilgrave to use his powers to attempt to kill his parents, and catch him in the act.
Unfortunately while Jessica is gone Kilgrave converses with Hogarth, who could really use some help forcing Wendy to sign the divorce papers. Hogarth has also learned of a plea deal for Hope, claiming only 20 years in prison if Hope confesses, a deal Jessica wants no part of, especially when she is so close to getting the evidence she needs. We do not see what comes of the conversation between Hogarth and Kilgrave just yet, but we know it cannot be good. Jessica recruits Detective Clemons to come to the safehouse to see Kilgrave’s power, knowing the man remembers what he saw at the station the night Jessica turned herself in, and would be willing to help her bring the killer to justice. Clemons is not at all on board with what he sees when he arrives, but Jessica handcuffs him to the wall so he can witness the events, knowing they will need his testimony. Jessica puts Kilgrave’s parents into the cell, her finger on the failsafe in case anything happens, with everyone watching to see what Kilgrave does. After some heated words with his mother, wherein she seems to want to genuinely reconcile with her son, the woman pulls out a pair of scissors and stabs Kilgrave, clearly believing her son needs to die before more people get hurt. Enraged, Kilgrave finally activates his power, telling his mother to kill herself. The evidence is now there, and Jessica hits the failsafe, but it does not work. She orders everyone to flee, but Trish and Clemons do not leave (Clemons is still handcuffed to the wall), though Hogarth is out the door. Jessica goes into the cell, but is too late to save Kilgrave’s mother, though she does manage to knock out Kilgrave’s father before he can kill himself. Trish opens fire on Kilgrave with the gun Will gave her, breaking the cell wide open and allowing Kilgrave to escape. Kilgrave orders Clemons to follow him to help with the escape, with Clemons breaking his thumb to free himself from the cuffs, and then Kilgrave orders Trish to put a bullet in her head (luckily her gun is now empty, though she does try to jam a bullet into her head manually). Jessica charges after Kilgrave, grabbing him on his way out. He orders her to let go, but she does not. We realize she is somehow now immune to Kilgrave (apparently killing Reva was the last command Jessica’s mind would permit, hence how she was able to escape the first time). Clemons distracts Jessica and Kilgrave escapes, into the car of Hogarth whose getaway was not as clean as intended.
Jessica runs outside too late to see Kilgrave leave with Hogarth, and heads back inside realizing Hogarth made a deal with Kilgrave and cut the failsafe cord. Because of her immunity, Kilgrave’s father offers to attempt to create a vaccine for his son’s powers using Jessicas’s blood, and Jessica sends him and Trish back to the man’s hotel room to figure it out. (she saves Trish by telling her to put the bullet in her mouth, which technically is putting a bullet in her head, thus freeing Trish from Kilgrave’s command). Clemons stays behind to clean up and collect the evidence, and Jessica heads out to hunt down Hogarth. Unfortunately for Clemons, Will has figured out where everybody went, and arrives on the scene when only Clemons is left behind. Will tricks Clemons into revealing the hotel room where Trish and Kilgrave’s father are working, then shoots the man through the head, following that despicable act with burning down the safehouse, evidence included (at this point, Will officially becomes the worst character on the show, if for nothing else than sheer stupidity).
Hogarth meanwhile is commanded by Kilgrave to take him to a doctor she trusts, which ironically leads them to Wendy’s house, where we learn the deal the pair made involves Kilgrave forcing Wendy to sign the divorce papers. Once patched up, Kilgrave talks to Wendy and seems to enjoy the animosity between her and Hogarth, the latter of which is terrified at Kilgrave’s power, which she seemed to not fully believe before. Wendy describes Hogarth’s betrayal as akin to 1,000’s of cuts, a phrase which Kilgrave immensely enjoys. He leaves the pair alone, ordering Wendy to kill Hogarth with 1,000 cuts, which Wendy gleefully does, shredding into Hogarth, who valiantly (yet unsuccessfully) tries to defend herself. Luckily, Pam was looking for Hogarth and happened to think to look for her at Wendy’s where she comes in to the horrific scene, even as Wendy continues to cut her former lover, counting with each slice. Pam grabs a nearby statue and knocks Wendy in the head with it. Wendy falls into the side of a glass table which slices into her head, leaving her dead. Pam is pissed at Hogarth for her actions in making a deal with Kilgrave, and breaks it off with Hogarth, leaving the woman bloodied and alone.
Malcolm meanwhile has problems of his own, as Robyn will not stop pestering him about Reuben, and he takes his issues to the support group, who are losing faith in Jessica Jones, and do not believe the group is helping anyone get through their issues. Malcolm tells them the story of Reuben, little realizing that Robyn is eavesdropping. She makes her presence known once she knows the truth, and rallies the group against Jessica, wanting blood for her brother. Jessica learns that Kilgrave got Hope set free from prison, still trying to entice Jessica to him, and though she is grateful Hope is free, she confronts Kilgrave anyway. We learn that he let her mind be free for 18 seconds during their time together, and the fact that she did not flee makes Kilgrave think she secretly loves him, a fact which is refuted by Jessica, as she vividly remembers that day, and knows she would have escaped if she had more time to pull herself together. Jessica returns home with a bound and gagged Kilgrave, ready for the next plan, when she is confronted by Malcolm, who warns her about the support group coming for her. Incredibly they arrived and manage to knock out Jessica, finding Kilgrave in the back. Robyn, who has no idea what the man looks like, stupidly frees him, and we know everyone is now in a lot of trouble.
Trish meanwhile works with Kilgrave’s father, Albert, to create the cure, with the man unsure of whether or not the final product will actually work. She hears a knock on the door and finds Will there, clearly still trying to protect her even in his compromised state, demanding answers from Albert. When he pushes Trish into a wall, she has had enough, and throws him out, realizing that Will has become some kind of monster. Fortunately, he does not come busting back in the door, and instead opts to leave to fight another day.
Jessica awakens (most likely with a concussion), finding out that Kilgrave took the group, and now also has Hope, demanding a trade of Hope for his father. Jessica picks up Albert, ordering Trish to stay away, and they go to meet Kilgrave, hoping the vaccine will work. They arrive at a restaurant where Hope and Kilgrave sit at a lone table, and the entire support group (including Malcolm and Robyn) are standing on the bar, nooses around their necks, ready to jump to their deaths on Kilgrave’s command. Albert walks toward his son, and it becomes clear the vaccine is not working, leaving Jessica the only one immune to Kilgrave. In desperation, and knowing that she is tired of being a pawn in Kilgrave’s plans, Hope kills herself to allow Jessica the chance to take out the man, stabbing herself with a broken glass. Enraged, Kilgrave orders everyone else to hang themselves, though Jessica manages to pull down the ceiling pipe to prevent the group from dying. She cradles Hope as she dies, knowing the girl sacrificed herself so Jessica would not have to worry about her, and could finally focus on killing Kilgrave and ending the threat.
Tired and exhausted, Jessica starts to watch the morgues to see if Albert’s body comes up, working with Trish to work her way past administrators who would not normally allow them entry. Trish soon finds herself in desperate need of sleep, and suggests that Jessica needs to rest as well, calling it a night. As she retires, Jessica fights past her body, and continues to search, until in an exhausted state, she spots who she thinks is Kilgrave and runs to catch him, not seeing the truck coming down the road that smashes into her. She survives the impact, but its clear she might once again be concussed, and has some broken ribs.
Trish meanwhile is visited by Will, who apologizes for his earlier actions, though Trish is worried about him (especially after she stole some of the strange red pills he had been taking). Hogarth has her own troubles trying to defend Pam for Wendy’s murder, especially in light of Pam wanting nothing to with with Hogarth now that she knows how ruthless she can be. Malcolm and Robyn talk about Jessica, and Malcolm is close to giving up trying to help the women, especially since she had been so distant to him of late.
Jessica gets fixed up by Trish following her accident, and Trish orders her to sleep on the couch, as she herself goes back to bed. Of course, Jessica gets a lead on her phone and heads out anyway, finding the burnt corpse of Clemens in the morgue, and realizing that Will was the only one who could have done it. Outside of Trish’s apartment Will is confronted by military in the employ of his doctor, who say they need to bring him in. Will kills them on the spot, then drags them into Trish’s apartment where she realizes he has gone insane. Which of course leads to the main action piece of the night, the epic Will vs Jessica fight, with a little bit of Trish thrown is as well. Eventually Will, Jessica, and Trish end up back at Jessica’s apartment, with the two females struggling to fend him off, as Jessica is too tired and injured to access her full powers. (as we know Will one day becomes the comic character Nuke, and Trish becomes Hellcat, it was fun to see pseudo origins for their powered selves). The fight between the three is brutal, powerful, and well scripted, in particular it was great to see Trish take one of the red pills and go after Will, effectively finally getting her vengeance for their initially meeting, where he beat her and almost killed her (though at the time he was Kilgraved). At the end of the fight, a battered and exhausted Jessica finally manages to take down Will, and they are safe for the moment. At least until Jessica gets a message from Kilgrave claiming to have found her boyfriend, which sends Jessica right back to Luke’s bar. As soon as he spots her, the building explodes.
Luke clearly survives the explosion because of his power, and he explains to Jessica how he came in contact with Kilgrave. Apparently he had followed Jessica to the restaurant (the one where Hope died) hoping she would lead him to Kilgrave. Luke confronted Kilgrave as he exited the building, little understanding how powerful Kilgrave truly is, allowing Kilgrave to take control of Luke, and learn about his relationship to Jessica, and the fact that he is Reva’s husband. He then orders Luke to blow up the bar with himself inside once he sees Jessica coming, with Kilgrave unaware of Luke’s powers. Jessica takes Luke back to her place, saying that he needs to rest, and she needs to wait for 10 hours to make sure Kilgrave’s influence is not still present.
Kilgrave meanwhile has been busy with his father, who is actively engaged in making his powers stronger. He has been dosing Kilgrave with more of the original drug that gave him the ability, as well as using samples from the fetus of Hope’s aborted child to enhance Kilgrave’s power (Kilgrave got the fetus from Hogarth, who saved the fetus for study). We do not yet know the full extent of his expanded powers, but it definitely does not bode well for Jessica, as he now might be strong enough to be able to control her again as well as everyone around him in an expanded radius.
Once 14 hours have passed Jessica deems Luke trustworthy, and they begin to track Kilgrave, staking out several chemical companies that Kilgrave is getting supplies for his father’s experiments from. While on the stakeout, Jessica and Luke reconcile, with him claiming to forgive her for what happened with Reva now that he understands Kilgrave’s powers, and genuinely mending their relationship. Meanwhile Malcolm has a nice moment with Robyn, reminding him that he naturally cares for people, including Jessica, and should not walk away when he is still needed in New York. Trish is visited by her mother, who brings along information about Jessica’s accident and medical treatment, opening up a whole new line of investigation for where Jessica’s powers came from, in the form of a company named IGH. Trish’s vindictive mother claims to have more information, but will only dole it out if Trish agrees to see her more often and try to establish a relationship, and while the idea is anathema to Trish, it seems there is very little she would not due for Jessica.
Jessica and Luke meanwhile, track Kilgrave to a club where he is testing his enhanced powers on large crowds. Once she confirms Kilgrave is present, she sends Luke away so he is not controlled again, and confronts her villain, who learns he still cannot control her. Fortunately, for him, he yet again has a plan B. Luke reveals himself to Jessica, having been under Kilgrave’s thrall the whole time (Kilgrave’s power now continues for over 16 hours). Kilgrave gloats that he made Luke make amends with Jessica, and every kind word coming out of Luke’s mouth was put there by Kilgrave, who pathetically still believes Jessica should end up with him. Regardless, in a rage, Kilgrave orders Luke to kill Jessica, knowing he will either rid himself of a nuisance (Jessica) or force her to kill a man she cares so much about. The Luke/ Jessica fight is pretty amazing, and sometimes difficult to watch, as Luke is so much stronger than her, and we know Jessica is slightly holding back because she knows Luke is not in control of himself. Eventually the fight goes outside the club, where a cop car is parked. Jessica rips off one of the doors to use as a shield, and Luke hammers away at her, crushing the door. In desperation, she grabs a shotgun from the car, and points it to Luke’s chin. In a moment of lucidity, he tells her to do what needs to be done, and she pulls the trigger. Luke goes down, and while we know the bullet did not penetrate his skin, the blunt force trauma from point blank was definitely enough to rattle his brain, and his skull, and Jessica prays she has not done permanent damage.
That’s it for 9-12, come back soon for a recap of the finale, and a review of the series!
