Jessica Jones kind of blew people away a couple years ago. We finally had a strong female superhero fans could get behind. Yes, it was on Netflix, instead of the silver screen, but it was a start. And it soon became obvious that Jessica was the best Defender of the bunch, and an instant hit. With great characters, a frightening villain, an snappy dialogue. It had everything a superhero show needed. Jessica’s second outing, out on Netflix last week (on International Women’s Day) had a lot of hype to live up to. Unfortunately, even with her impressive gliding abilities, she falls a bit short here.

“With great power, comes great mental illness.”

Season 2, finds our haggard, drunkard of a detective still struggling with the inner turmoil of having willingly killed a man. Yes, he was a maniacal murderer, but he was a living thing, and Jessica can’t cope. This all has to be put on hold when her friend Trish finds new leads on IGH, the organization behind Jessica’s powers, leading to the emergence of a dangerous new powered killer, and a pile of dead bodies. Meanwhile, Jessica’s occasional ally, and all-the-time icy bitch, Jeri, is dealing with a personal tragedy in the most destructive way possible.

What made the first season of Jessica Jones so successful was the focus on Jessica’s horrific relationship with the season’s big baddie, Kilgrave, and her reluctance to play the hero her city needs. That same hesitation is still here, and the character is still terrific and engaging as ever, but the focus and balance just seems totally shot. The episodes drag on all too often, and the actual plot seems to take forever to kick in. The lack of a solid villain also hurts, and makes the endgame all the less clear. Yes, it’s a bold move to step away from a traditional supervillain, but put together with the season’s erratic pace makes for some confusing writing choices.

The supporting cast gets a lot more attention this year, and that actually ends up being a real strength. Trish Walker moves ever closer to her comic book counterpart, which should make for an interesting turn later on. Jeri’s subplot, while a bit sudden and seemingly out of place, is saved by Carrie-Ann Moss’s great performance. The only odd thing here is that her story only intersects with Jessica’s main arc briefly, and very inconsequentially, making the whole thing seem a bit pointless.

“People die. New people are born. And we exist in between.”

While it ends on a relatively high, if bleak note, Jessica Jones‘ sophomore season just doesn’t pack the same great punch of her first outing. The elements are all there, with a great cast, and some great character development. But the story just comes off as unbalanced and unfocused. The lack of a solid villain doesn’t help matters. The cliffhangers at the end do allow some hope for some cool material to be explored in season 3, and Jessica remains the best and most compelling Defender introduced so far. Even if she’s still a sorry excuse for a hero. But maybe she’ll have some more backup next year. . .

This Guy Scores it: 6.5/10