Jessica Jones S01 E13: AKA Smile

Cancel Sweet Christmas. If I was really clever, that's what I would have said at the end of the last episode when Jessica had to shoot Luke Cage in the face to stop his Kilgrave-powered rampage to kill her. We know Luke's okay, super-tough skin and upcoming Netflix series and all that, but the characters on the show don't.

Jessica rushes Luke to the closest Hell's Kitchen hospital, Metro General, which is where Claire Temple, Night Nurse, works. As other nurses struggle to give Luke medical treatment, bending needles and all (a plot complication that comes right from the pages of The Pulse), Night Nurse is there to help. I love Rosario Dawson so this is a more than welcome appearance.

The pre-Civil War antagonism is still festering, as another nurse sneers toward Luke, "he's one of those." Claire notes later that she herself is not special, but she keeps running into special. Claire gets the comatose Luke out of the hospital while Jessica contends with the Purple Man's amplified powers turning everyone in said hospital against her.

Night Nurse and Jessica have very good repartee and I would love to see them together again. At Jess' place they get Luke resting, and Jess patched up. Later a scene where Jess curls up with Luke is ruined by too much talk. Show, don't tell, folks. After a bit for Jess, it's back in the trail to Kilgrave. When Malcolm shows up (they keep writing him out but he never seems to leave), he and Claire get on well - I hope they both show up in "The Defenders."

If Kilgrave wasn't dangerous before, he's getting a real knack for the super-villain game now. Amazing what a jilted love and a couple days in a torture cell can do. A previous episode's title asks, what would Jessica do? Obviously she would turn a selfish jerk rapist into a full blown super-villain. She even found his mad scientist dad to help him modify and maximize his powers. Thanks, Jessica. And did anyone else think that, just for a second, Kilgrave was going to actually turn purple?

The horror show left in his wake at the penthouse where Dad amped him up is not for the squeamish. That last shot of amp must have messed him up good. There's a showdown with many people on his side, police and civilian, and a tense confrontation with Patsy, who should never have been there in the first place. The ending of Kilgrave is however too easy, and completely unsatisfying. And I hated it.

The closing of the series is more promising however, noir with a bit of hope. Jessica, Patsy, and Malcolm all on the road at least to being a hero. The first seven episodes, and the last two were very good, in between, not so much. "Jessica Jones" has been renewed for a second season, but first we'll have to see how "Daredevil" fares in his second...

Jessica Jones S01 E12: AKA Take a Bloody Number

We pick up scant moments after the last episode, when Luke Cage blew up his bar with himself in it, as per the Purple Man's commands, made sure Jessica Jones saw it. He is of course unhurt, but his bar is toast. As I wondered if he had insurance and what an insurance investigator might make of his story, we dove into flashback - Kilgrave has been busy during the episode where he was missing.

When he left the hanging restaurant with his father, he ran right into Luke Cage, who had been following Jess in hopes of running into Kilgrave. Best line, and our title reference comes when Kilgrave asks Luke what he wants. His reply is to kill him, and Kilgrave's sharp comeback - "Take a bloody number." Then he commands Luke into the getaway car for clarification and interrogation.

The second best line is when Jess brings Luke back to her office/apartment and tells him to mind the mess from the fight with Nuke. Luke asks if he needs to know what happened there, she simply replies, "I guess we're both lousy renters," to which both Luke and I said in unison, "at least it's not on fire." Five minutes in, this one's not so bad so far. I'm smiling.

Of course now that Luke is at her side and Jessica has sworn to kill the Purple Man, there's some creative stalling. Trish is still paranoid about Simpson, asks around and finds the program is a made-up organization called IGH, with initials that apparently stand for nothing. I wonder though, could that H stand for Hydra?

Despite Jessica's warning, Trish's mom comes to visit her estranged daughter in the hospital. What a harpy. Good thing Jess doesn't know. As she joked with Trish earlier regarding Simpson, Jess can only fight one big bad at a time. I guess Nuke and the harpy will have to take a bloody number.

There's mention made of Hammond Labs as being the place where Hope's fetus was sent. This could be a number of different references. There's a Hammond Labs where Speedball, later Penance, got his powers; or it could be a reference to Camp Hammond, a Marvel Civil War era training facility for superhumans; or simply a nod to the original android Human Torch.

The writing is much better in this episode, elevating it above previous ones. I'm not surprised to see the name Hilly Hicks, Jr. on the script. The playwright and screenwriter is also responsible for the excellent "AKA 99 Friends" earlier in the season. Perhaps he can be convinced to write more when the second season of "Jessica Jones" rolls around.

More clues about IGH come from a surprising source. When Trish's mom comes to visit her daughter at home, again against Jessica's wishes, she brings her a folder marked IGH. It contains Jessica's medical records from the accident that killed her parents and brother. IGH paid her bills. But I guess that's a mystery for another day.

The main event is the showdown in a blue-hued theater between the Purple Man and Jessica - and Kilgrave's proxy is Luke Cage. The whole episode, as their chemistry blended and he played sidekick, Luke was in Kilgrave's power, a puppet working her like a dummy. And now they dance. It's a fight we didn't know we wanted, and it's awesome.

It's a fight that can only be stopped by a shotgun blast to the face. Is the "Luke Cage" Netflix series canceled now? To be continued…

Next: Smile!

Jessica Jones S01 E11: AKA I've Got the Blues

Almost as if the showrunners knew I had given up on the show, they open this episode with something to grab my attention. As they've been doing for most of the series, they dangle Patsy Walker in front of us as bait. I doubt we're going to get Hellcat, at least not yet (I still hold out hope for "The Defenders"), but they have given us Patsy.

The flashback begins with young Jessica waking up in the hospital after the accident that killed her family. Patsy is there in her red wig and her mother. We even get a bit of the "It's Patsy" TV theme song. It actually has a bit of the Josie and the Pussycats movie vibe to it. Any chance of that showing up on iTunes? No? Too bad, I know I'd buy it. It's only a it though, and then it's back to the same old dreary "Jessica Jones" business.

Searching through morgues looking for Kilgrave's father, Jessica discovers something else - Clemons, murdered by Simpson. Not only has Nuke gone rogue from Kozlov and 'the program,' he's on his drugs and looking for both Jessica and Kilgrave. He's gonna hit them like a, well, like a nuke.

Along the way, Jessica, working on no sleep, gets hit by a truck. There are good moments with Malcolm and Trish. Like Flashback Island on "Arrow," we get short but intriguing vignettes of Patsy and Jess as kids, informing the relationship. It's like watching an alliance be formed, explaining the strength of the current friendship.

Then Nuke attacks. He's powered by his combat enhancers and Jess is battered by her accident, so they are almost a match. He believes that she's lying, and that she's been protecting Kilgrave from the start. The fight is no hallway fight like in "Daredevil," but it's probably the best we've seen so far in this series.

But it gets even better when Trish shows up to 'save the day.' As ridiculous as that sounds, she does. Trish takes one of Will's reds and evens the odds. Between her fighting like a 'hellcat,' and Jess helping, they take down Nuke. Trish nearly loses her life by -I kid you not- forgetting to breathe, it works out and is one of the highlights of the episode.

The end of this one is a bit puzzling. Kozlov and other 'boys from the program' retrieve Simpson, so he's not out of play yet. And Jessica gets a text from 'unknown' saying they ran into her boyfriend. Jess immediately rushed to the bar in time to see it blow up and Luke Cage, aflame, stagger out. Cue credits.

Kilgrave is on everyone's minds and lips this episode but he does not appear, which is refreshing. I liked all the young Jess and young Patsy bits. And of course I loved my sadly non-costumed Hellcat moments. This was better than previous episodes, let's see if they're on a streak...

Next: Take a Bloody Number

Jessica Jones S01 E06: AKA You're a Winner!

Almost on cue, as if knowing Jessica Jones needed a breather from the intensity of trying to capture the Purple Man, Luke Cage steps back into her life. Except she doesn't want him to. And Luke's not the only invader from the past in this episode. Everyone ignored and forgotten while Jess was concentrating on Kilgrave and Malcolm is back. Life catches up, even when you're trying to do the right thing.

We actually open on Kilgrave, obviously feeling a bit better and in the midst of a high roller card game. It's as funny as it is sinister when he's dealt a two and a seven, tells everyone all in, and then tells them all to fold. I need a mutant sociopath at my side the next time I visit Atlantic City... or maybe not, Kilgrave doesn't always treat others well, as seen in this game. We are reminded quite simply and strongly that the Purple Man is not just a villain, but a monster.

As Jess and the now straight Malcolm are pooling their knowledge on that monster, Luke Cage arrives on her doorstep, beaten, and with a case for her. He wants her to find someone for him, the son of a female friend, and he leaves out a lot of details, if you get my drift. Despite all that, when they silently shake on taking the case, the sexual electricity is live again.

Luke isn't the only one begging to be let back into the story. Lawyer and client Jeri Hogarth gets in touch, and not about the case she had already hired Jess for, but because of Hope. Yeah, remember her. The poor girl is still chilling in prison, but apparently with a death wish.

Another inmate, straight outta "Orange Is the New Black," beat Hope and put her in the infirmary. Jess pays her a visit, threatens to put her there too, and learns the painful truth. Hope paid for her own beat down. She's pregnant, with his child, and wanted to lose it. This is truly the stuff of nightmare. Hope wants to live, she wants to have children, but she refuses to give life to this... thing.

Throughout the episode, Jessica juggles her two cases, for Hogarth and for Luke, as well as Hope, and makes sure to send her daily blackmail photo to Kilgrave. She still remains on task. Even when Malcolm, out of concern for her, confronts Luke - and spills all the beans. Once on even ground, Luke and Jessica end up doing what they were doing before. Their chemistry is more solid here than ever before.

Here's where it gets messy, because if you're going to do noir, the rules indicate that nothing ever goes right for the protagonist. If Jessica finds this young man for Luke, his female friend will give him possible evidence of what happened to his wife - and we all know Jessica, even though she was under Kilgrave's influence, killed Luke's wife.

And here's where it gets silly. When Luke and Jessica finally find their quarry, so do the loan sharks who were looking for him too. The main loan shark is a guy named Lenny Sirkes... who in the comics is a guy named... the Lone Shark. He's a typical super-villain on the rampage with a dumb name and a shark battle suit. It's really embarrassing when something like this comes up, especially when this series is so well done.

The fight between Jessica and Luke and the lone sharks is a good one. We haven't had much superhuman activity of late, and this was fun. What wasn't fun was what came next. The evidence wasn't what Jessica thought it was, but proof that the bus driver that hit Luke's wife was drunk and that it was covered up. Luke takes off, presumedly to kill the bus driver.

Some tense moments on the bus lead to a scary confrontation between Cage and the bus driver. Before Luke can finish him off, Jessica intervenes, and must confess what really happened. It's truly heartbreaking, you can feel the pain of both characters, a momentary triumph for both Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter. Do Netflix shows get Emmys? Then why didn't it? This was the moment.

And all the while, Kilgrave is still out there, planning something even more sinister. He's bought a home, almost legitimately and above board... the house where Jessica grew up...

Next: Top Shelf Perverts

Jessica Jones S01 E03: AKA It's Called Whiskey

For the longest time, superhero sex has been a verboten topic. It's rarely brought up out of immature puberty, Mad magazine, or Kevin Smith movies. There is that great Larry Niven essay "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," Superman II, and in recent years the seen-but-not-spoken-of red solar lamp in Lois and Clark's bedroom... but for the most part, beyond innuendo, not much else. And yes, I am completely ignoring the Hank and Jan incident in Geoff Johns' Avengers.

In the last episode of "Jessica Jones," when our heroine and Luke Cage realize how strong and durable they both are, of course they have sex. Their first time in "AKA Ladies Night" was full of tentativeness and gentility, and remarks about not breaking each other. This time they can really cut loose, aware that 'normal' boundaries are no longer in the mix. They can relax and go with instinct and not hurt anyone - at least physically.

Just when I was going to make a comment about how Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter might only have chemistry when loving or brawling, I'm proven wrong by a post-coital coffee talk about their powers. It took three episodes, but the two have finally clicked. Colter was always good as Cage, but Sweet Christmas, Ritter finally caught up. I did dislike the idea that their destinies are intertwined however. Cage's wife being killed by a Kilgraved Jessica is a bit much, even for the funny pages.

With Jeri defending Hope, Jessica needs to turn public opinion regarding the case so she asks Trish out to lunch. Maybe some "Trish Talk" might sway some folks about the case. That's when we get a bit of explanation about Trish's training. She's doing Krav Maga, making sure she can defend herself now that Jessica isn't her roommate any more. That's why the training, the bruises, and the bloody nose. And then there's also her mysterious abusive mother. There's a lot more to Rachael Taylor's Trish Walker than at first meets the eye.

Patsy Walker is one of my favorite comic book characters, and not just because she has a cool last name. She first appeared in Miss America Magazine #2 as a romance/comedy feature in 1944, when Marvel Comics was known as Timely Comics. Think Betty and Veronica with cooler adventures. There's a very short list of characters who have been around non-stop since their beginnings in the Golden Age, and Patsy is one of them.

I was introduced to her when she popped into Avengers in the 1970s as a subplot that wouldn't go away. When the opportunity arose for Patsy to put on the powered costume of The Cat and join the Avengers in superheroing, she jumped at the chance, rechristening herself as the Hellcat, a more fitting name for this feisty redhead. She's floated around the Marvel Universe ever since, as an Avenger and as a Defender.

Seeing as the Defenders is the endgame for these first four Netflix series, I'm not the only one hoping Rachael Taylor will be donning a catsuit sooner or later. Also notably this is not Taylor's first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as she was also in 2005's Man-Thing.

In this episode, in an attempt to defend Hope, Jeri tricks Trish into putting it all out there on the air of her radio show about Kilgrave and mind control. Of course it tempts the Purple Man out of the shadows and he calls. Was I the only one watching with a stone in my stomach worried he might give a command to the entire listening public? I think not. Later as Jessica and Trish leave the studio they have an encounter with a fan who they suspect is an assassin sent from Kilgrave. The fan says he misses Trish's red hair and has a Patsy Walker comic book for her to sign.

When the real assassin does come in the form of a police officer, Trish does fight like a hellcat, but it's not quite good enough. Good thing Jessica comes to the rescue. And again, she fights with her wits as well as her fists. She follows the assailant back to Kilgrave and we finally get a look at him. He escapes and leaves Jessica in a room walled with images of her. He's been watching and he can be anywhere all the time. The eyes of New York are essentially his eyes...

See you later.

Jessica Jones S01 E02: AKA Crush Syndrome

If you're a listener to The GAR! Podcast, you know we talk about "Breaking Bad" a lot, and in the past when it has come up in conjunction with the then-upcoming "Jessica Jones" Netflix series, I have always had one roadblock. Who the hell was/is Krysten Ritter? I get beaten up every time, most recently right here.

I'm sorry, but some folks may have thought Ms. Ritter was amazing as Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend Jane Margolis in her nine episodes of "Breaking Bad," but she never left an impression on me. It's only when I have to be reminded of her role that I remember her, that I recall her, in my opinion, lackluster performance. Ritter in "Breaking Bad," to me, was very similar to her scenes with Mike Colter in the first episode of "Jessica Jones" - a cold fish hardly trying but surrounded by otherwise brilliance.

Don't get me wrong. Krysten Ritter's voiceover and solo bits as Jessica are brilliance, the same with her interacting with the other actors and characters. But. The one relationship that is the single most important to the character of Jessica Jones, the one with Mike Colter's Luke Cage, is the one that last episode I just did not believe. Sorry. It doesn't get much better this time around.

I hope this changes with this series. It should be noted that I am reviewing this Netflix series the same way I did with "Daredevil" - one episode at a time, as I watch it. So all you folks who consumed this entire thing in a mad binge watch, chill with the spoilers, because if I get something wrong or am misguided - I probably just haven't gotten there yet. Be patient.

We open on Jessica doing the right thing. Last time she had fallen into The Purple Man's trap for her, and allowed his will to make Midwest girl Hope kill her own parents. Instead of running, Jessica's first instinct, she takes the heroic turn - inspired by her friend Trish - and stays to deal with the authorities. Here at the police station, in mock interrogation, Ritter continues her cool modern day noir character.

The cop asking the questions, Oscar 'Ozzy' Clemons (Punisher supporter cast if memory serves), is played by one of my all time favorite actors - Clarke Peters, who was probably one of the single best things about both "Treme" and "The Wire," not just two of best shows HBO has ever produced, but also on television, period. Clemons is very close to his character on "The Wire." It's a small part, but Peters' inclusion here is a gigantic plus.

If "AKA Ladies Night" was meant as a tour through a day in the life of Jessica Jones, this episode continues that trend, further exploring the people and tactics in her life. We learn more about her relationship with Trish, we see her check in with Jeri, with Hope, and with Luke. We even meet her upstairs neighbors, bizarre fraternal twins who would make great 21st century additions to the tenants of 1970s horrors Rosemary's Baby and The Sentinel.

We also see what makes Jessica a great detective. We see her at work, we see her methods. The show is still pumping that film noir vibe hard, but I can't but imagine a watered down version of Jessica fitting in well with folks like Jim Rockford, Sam McCloud, and Columbo, just as much as Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. I like this, she's not just physical, but a thinking detective.

Speaking of physical however, one of the highlights of the episode has Jessica 'saving' Luke from a rugby team, not that Power Man needs saving. There is a certain harmony that she calls "teamwork" while they're fighting the jealous husbands club. Perhaps the chemistry works better when they don't talk. Important about the scene is that he sees that she's stronger than a normal woman, and she sees his effortless strength and unexplainably tough skin. They're peas in a super power pod, kindred souls.

There is also the horror that is Kilgrave. In Jessica's investigation we learn that he did not die by getting hit by a bus a year ago. In some medical stuff just a bit too close to home for me, we learn where this episode got its title and how Kilgrave lost the function of both kidneys, and then mind-controlled his way into two new kidneys. As one who knows the path, it is indeed gruesome.

David Tennant also makes his presence known by appropriating a stranger's home for his own. We still haven't seen him face the camera, but he is intimidating and powerful just off screen. Like the neon purple flashes that send Jessica into PTSD, it's more what we don't see than what we do. Speaking of what we don't see, is Trish already Hellcat, or just possibly training for it? Patsy fans want to know!

The episode was written by Micah Schraft who worked for the CW on shows like "Jane the Virgin" and "The Tomorrow People," notably neither of their hit superhero shows, "Arrow" and "The Flash." He might think of making that jump based on this episode.

More, please.

Jessica Jones S01 E01: AKA Ladies Night

I guess I should probably make this confession up front. I came to the character of Jessica Jones late. When writer/creator Brian Michael Bendis controversially came on board the Avengers franchise to much fanfare and derision, I sought out his other work just to see what we Avengers fans were in for.

My first impression was mixed. Bendis was, and is, a fantastic writer, but his style, no matter how things turned out (and they turned out well, he turned the comic into a million dollar franchise), was not for my Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I did not want Wolverine or Spider-Man on the team, or Spider-Woman or Sentry or Ares for that matter. I did not want the years long story arc of Secret Invasion. And most of all, I did not want deconstructionist thinking in my comic books. Bendis did all of these things, and yes, in hindsight, they all worked. But it wasn't my Avengers.

However, that said, in his other projects - before, during, after (and including) Avengers, they did work. Most notable and critically acclaimed was Alias, the title that brought us Jessica Jones. Operating outside and within the superhero universe that was the Marvel Universe, Jessica Jones was a former super-heroine, Jewel, who was now a private investigator. Later continuity implants placed her among the Avengers, and in the present day involved her with Luke Cage, now an Avenger, living with the team along with her and Luke's child. Because comics.

Now I normally dislike retcons unless they make sense and are absolutely necessary. Sometimes they are the mark of lazy writing. Bendis wanted Jewel to have a past with the Avengers so there it was. Don't get me started. Alias had some great stories, and some great storytelling, but the climax was what happened to Jessica to turn her from superhero to private investigator? This big question was the floater in the pool until we found out, and it appears to be the thrust of the Netflix TV series as well - the Purple Man.

"Marvel's Jessica Jones" was created for Netflix by, and the first episode was written by Melissa Rosenberg, and she's also an executive producer, and the showrunner. She is the award winning head writer of "Dexter," who also adapted most of the Twilight saga for the screen, and worked on "Birds of Prey," which was far better than anyone wants to remember. I am hopeful, and have faith in her abilities - despite how "Dexter" ended.

Also among the numerous executive producers for "Jessica Jones" is the character and series co-creator Brian Michael Bendis. Shouldn't he be busy wrecking the Iron Man comic or making the "Powers" TV series better? Yeah, that was sarcasm. Pardon me, I'm still bitt er about what he did to my Avengers…

The opening credit sequence is very cool, with graphics showcasing the art of David Mack, and I like the theme by Sean Callery. He's also scored "Homeland," "Le Femme Nikita," and "24" in both television and videogame formats.

I love the opening line of the series: "New York may be the city that never sleeps, but it sure does sleep around." Jessica is very old school Raymond Chandler down and out private dick, but one must wonder - would we have gotten such a gratuitous panties shot out of a sleeping Philip Marlowe?

From the first second we are thrust into the mood and vibe of this world. Film noir but in vibrant dark neon, mood music, and classic voiceover from private investigator Jessica Jones. Whatever my reservations about Krysten Ritter, they dissolved quickly. And without fanfare, even if one hasn't seen the trailers for the show, we get the hint, less than three minutes in, that Jessica may be more than we think.

There's also that longer than needed shot of the bus ad - the "Trish Talk" radio show - introducing one of my favorite comic book characters, one technically older than the corporate name of Marvel itself, Patsy Walker. No relation. And in this incarnation, she's blonde and going by Trish. I can't wait for more of her, whether she's 'catty' or not.

Carrie-Anne Moss' Ms. Jeri Hogarth is a gender-switched womanizing lesbian version of Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer who worked closely with Danny (Iron Fist) Rand. We also get our first glimpse of Mike Colter as Rand's partner from the comics, Luke Cage, while Jessica is on stakeout and peeping tomming it while trying to stay awake. The scenes with Luke Cage are the only places where Krysten Ritter falters. The words are there as is the direction, and Mike Colter is great, but there is no chemistry at least for me. This is the only time where Ritter seems remote, robotic, almost as if she's reading the words. I didn't believe her at all.

And then we also got our first taste of David Tennant's Kilgrave, the series' big bad, known as Zebediah Killgrave - The Purple Man - in the comics. I love the purple neon effect of his powers, and now we know why Jessica drinks herself to sleep. The Purple Man's power is such that he's caused post-traumatic stress disorder in Jessica. The drinking helps, and reciting street names helps. Either way he still haunts her. When Jessica finds that he has set her up with her current case, finding a Midwestern couple's daughter, solely to bring her back into his web, she freaks out. A drop in on her old friend Trish to ask for money to get away polarizes Jessica to do the right thing and rescue the girl.

And that's when we find out just what kind of sociopath Kilgrave is. The ending is horrific. If "Daredevil" raised the stakes in what can be done in comic book superhero television, "Jessica Jones" takes it to a whole new level. I can't wait for more.

Daredevil S01 E02: Cut Man

This episode introduces us to Claire Temple AKA Night Nurse, which is a bit of an anomaly, because in the comics, they're two different people. Here in the series she's played by Rosario Dawson, one of my favorite actresses, because of her talent, her looks, and that rooftop dance sequence in Clerks II. Be still, my heart.

We open on a trail of blood leading to a dumpster, in which Daredevil lies close to death. A neighbor kid taking out the trash alerts Claire, who he knows is a nurse. They bring Matt to her apartment. He's been beaten, stabbed, and refuses to go to the hospital. Whoever did this will kill everyone to get to him. He drops back into unconsciousness, and flashback territory.

Flashbacks have been an interesting storytelling tool so far in "Daredevil." Much like "Arrow," though notably less obvious and with smoother segueways, they not only tell us about the past and Daredevil's origins, but also shed light on the present day circumstances and predicaments. This one has a pre-accident Matty sewing up his dad after a big fight he lost by knockout. We get a sense of the boy's life, and his relationship with his father

In the comics, Claire Temple is purely supporting cast. She was originally Dr. Bill Foster's ex-wife. He himself a support character for a long time before he eventually became Black Goliath, then Giant-Man, and then Goliath before being killed by Thor's clone in the superhero Civil War. Yeah, I know, more than you wanted to know. She also spent some time as the on-again off-again love interest of Power Man, and that might be the key comic connection here as the third Marvel Netflix series will be "Luke Cage."

Despite being pulled from obscurity and recently gaining popularity under the pen of writer Brian Michael Bendis as a supporting character to Doctor Strange and the New Avengers, Night Nurse has been around much longer than most folks think. Linda Carter who would someday actually use the codename Night Nurse first appeared in the pre-Marvel Atlas Comic titled appropriately enough Linda Carter, Student Nurse way back in 1961.

A decade later when Stan Lee wanted to introduce comics to interest girls specifically, in some cases created by women, he brought out The Cat, a super cool heroine who later spun off into two other super cool heroines, Tigra and Hellcat; Shanna the She-Devil, who would later partner with another Savage Land jungle hero, Ka-Zar; and Night Nurse. In this last one, he reintroduced Linda along with two colleagues in this tense drama, hospital-based with no apparent connection to Marvel's superhero universe. Sadly these comics didn't last long, but the characters were remembered and loved.

Bendis brought Linda Carter back in a 2004 Daredevil comic, where she had taken on the name Night Nurse. Now a doctor, and having been saved at some point by a superhero, she had decided to pay it forward, giving medical aid to superheroes who needed it. Her first few 21st century appearances involved heroes from the Marvel Netflix series - Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, so it's really no wonder the character has been included here. One might imagine the merging of Claire with Night Nurse could also be to avoid confusion with that other superhero actress Lynda Carter.

Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple is very much the Good Samaritan, almost a soulmate for the Nelson and Murdock law office. And she works well with Charlie Cox, all of the actors so far are perfect fits. The details she gets from the beaten Matt are sketchy and elusive, no matter how she tries to pry his secrets from him, yet she helps him. It's the right thing to do. I can't express how nice it is to see so many good characters in a grim and gritty superhero show. Claire gets her superhero wings in this episode.

Of all the good things I can say about this episode, it must be said, and it must be recognized - "Cut Man" is what would be considered on network a filler episode. The thrust of the story is simple, but surrounding it, and supporting it are character and plot bits, like the flashbacks mentioned above. We get to see what wonderful chemistry Elden Henson's Foggy and Deborah Ann Woll's Karen have. Both actors continue to impress.

Much of the support, the flashbacks, involve Matt's father's fight with the young Crusher Creel. It's a fight in which the elder Murdock is supposed to take a fall, but wins by knockout. It's his last. I imagine we will be seeing bits and pieces of the complete Daredevil origin in this way throughout the series. The father/son theme is strong as the kidnapping of a boy from his dad is the case that gets Matt beaten by the Russians to begin with.

Again there is that unbearable level of evil to the villains. Even the police have been infiltrated. The Russians and their human trafficking were among Daredevil's first targets. And of course at the end we are treated to another amazing fight scene, this time with a fixed camera in the confined space of a hallway, nice. I am loving this.

Catching Up with the New Avengers

"More Answers" - my comic book review of New Avengers #43, by Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan, is now online at Avengers Forever.

Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil battle Skrulls in the Savage Land - all this and more - check out my review here:

http://www.avengersforever.org/reviews/default.asp?RID=616

...and...

"Loose" - my comic book review of New Avengers #48, by Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan, is also now online at Avengers Forever.

In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion, the new Captain America tries to reform what’s left of the New Avengers - all this and more - check out my review here:

http://www.avengersforever.org/reviews/default.asp?RID=618

...but that’s not all...

"The Fall of Luke Cage" - my comic book review of New Avengers #49, by Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan, is, yes, you guessed it, now online as well at Avengers Forever.

As Dark Reign begins, Luke Cage makes a deal with the devil and the New Avengers get their first look at the Dark Avengers - all this and more - check out my review here:

http://www.avengersforever.org/reviews/default.asp?RID=619

Enjoy!

If you want to discuss these reviews, these issues or anything Avengers, please check out the Avengers Forever Forum.

New Avengers #38 Reviewed

"Love in the Age of Skrull" - my comic book review of the New Avengers #38, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, is now online at Avengers Forever.

The creative team from Alias return for this latest drastic change in the life of Jessica Jones as her marriage to Luke Cage reaches the breaking point, all that and a new headquarters for the New Avengers - check out my review here:

http://www.avengersforever.org/reviews/default.asp?RID=580

Enjoy!

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