This season of Jessica Jones takes place after the events of The Defenders. Jessica has returned to her work at Alias Investigations and is trying to move on with her life. Jessica gains a plethora of new clients due to her celebrity status after the events of the first season, one of which is an enhanced individual named Robert Coleman, who also calls himself “Whizzer.” He claims that he was given fear-induced super speed by IGH, the same company that gave Jessica her super strength and durability. When Robert is killed in an apparent construction accident, Jones traces his prescription to an abandoned building to learn more about the mysterious company that experimented on her. The season progresses very slowly and focuses a lot more on the secondary and tertiary characters rather than solely on Jessica Jones. This works at times but also drags down the momentum. Certain events will take place to heighten the suspense, then the story will shift to another character which gives an unbalanced feel to most episodes. The sound and lighting are well done and once again highlight the main color of the hero, in this case, purple. Krysten Ritter turns in another great performance as Jessica. She is still conflicted about her place in the world and what it means for her to have powers. Her character still behaves the same way that she did in the previous season and in The Defenders, which is somewhat hard to believe. You’d expect a little more growth from Jessica from all that she’s been through. One of the best parts of this season is learning about Jessica’s past. This is highlighted spectacularly in the episode “AKA I Want Your Cray Cray.” This episode allows the viewer to see what Trish and Jessica’s lives were like while Jessica was in college and Trish was focusing on her singing career. There are major revelations about Trish’s history of drug abuse and the creation of Alias Investigations. Rachael Taylor does a fine job as Trish this season, but her arc becomes scattered and annoying. At first, the show focuses on Trish trying to improve her career, then switches to her drug addiction and desire for superpowers. The latter should have been the single focus since the season teases more than once that she will become Hellcat, her alter ego in the comics. Eka Darville has a larger role this season as Malcolm Ducasse and is given a little more development. He is often pushed around by the other characters but eventually finds his own way. Seeing him enhance his investigation skills was rewarding on many levels. Once again, Carrie-Anne Moss has a great arc as Jeri Hogarth. A major medical diagnosis changes her life completely and sets her on a path that will affect characters of the other Netflix Marvel shows in a big way. As far as villains go, the ones this season are quite forgettable. Pryce Cheng, played by newcomer Terry Chen, operates Cheng Consulting, a rival investigation firm to Alias Investigations. Everything Cheng does feels pointless and unnecessary to the plot. It feels like he’s just there to antagonize Jessica and draw out similarities to her mother, Alisa, who is played by newcomer Janet McTeer. Watching her relationship with Jessica was interesting, to say the least. Alisa Jones could have made for a great villain. How she has influenced Jessica’s life in the past and affects everything with her uncontrollable temper tantrums in the present gives the show some real stakes. However, this is never capitalized on in a satisfying manner. Another issue with this show is the same issue every Marvel Netflix show has: its connection to the greater MCU. The show can work fine on its own but is hampered when viewers are supposed to believe that characters like the Avengers exist in the same world. There is still no mention of the Sokovia Accords, but they do mention the Raft several times. This would lead viewers to believe that this season is set sometime after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. But a little more information is needed to really make this show feel cemented in the MCU. I give Jessica Jones Season 2 an Average 3.31/5. It’s a definite step down from Season 1 but leaves hope for a better Season 3.