Jessica Jones season 2 episode 5 review: AKA The Octopus

Jessica Jones and her nemesis are de novo, lonely and angry. They belong nowhere — but at least they have each other?

“Octopuses like to live alone,” Jessica Jones learns from Dave, the man IGH framed for murder. “They don’t even raise their babies. Did you know that no other DNA is like an octopus’?” he asks her. “No one knows where their genes come from. They’re called de novo, which means ‘out of nowhere.'”

They’re a little on the nose, but Dave’s factoids about octopuses serve their purpose in Jessica Jones season 2’s fifth installment. No one really understands where Jessica comes from or what she is, either. She, too, prefers a solitary life. Even when she does long for human connection — as she does at Trish’s surprise engagement party or at Oscar’s family dinner — Jess can’t quite bring herself to join in. She’s uncomfortable, awkward. Her personality takes up too much space and makes others uneasy. At the end of AKA The Octopus, Jessica is starting to believe what Pryce and her dude-bro one night stand from a few episodes ago say about her: maybe she really is a freak.

However, she might not be one of a kind. Jess has an epiphany of sorts when she tracks Fake Dr. Hansen — who I’ll now refer to as the killer — down at an aquarium. “The killer and I are like two solitary animals circling each other in a tank,” Jessica says in voiceover. “Two creatures, out of nowhere, unconnected to anything. De novo.”

She’s not wrong. Even before the killer smashes a tank (a total Jessica move) and runs off with an IGH doc who experimented on Jessica, Jessica Jones draws parallels between its hero and its villain. We get to see the killer at home, burning the clothes she killed Pryce’s associate in and practicing piano. Her house could belong to any upper middle-class woman with a slightly bohemian flair: there are kilim rugs, tapestries, Buddha statues and plenty of natural light.

It’s apparently the killer’s sanctuary. As she mentions to her friendly neighbor, she doesn’t “get out much.” I think that’s because, like Jessica, the killer is a bit of a loner who’s frightened of what she’s capable of. That doesn’t mean she hates people, though. She’s cautiously pleased when she’s allowed to hold her neighbor’s baby, and she’s happy to hear a compliment about her music. And as Jessica witnesses, she’s in some sort of romantic relationship with IGH’s Dr. Karl.

Unfortunately, the killer doesn’t bond with her neighbor. The baby fusses, she makes mistakes at the piano, and she grows more and more frustrated. She ends up smashing the instrument to smithereens and burning the remnants. She has to: it’s evidence that she’s lost control.

I don’t blame Jessica for being shaken. As far as I can tell, the killer isn’t gleefully malicious like Kilgrave; she’s trying and failing to get a handle on her situation. Jessica might fear the killer more than any other foe because she’s able to understand her. It’s really hard to take the moral high ground when the person you’re fighting is basically you.

While Jessica and the killer are mournful about their solitary lifestyles, Trish is jonesing for some independence. Griffin, as it turns out, isn’t trying to steal her IGH story. He hacked into her computer and was making those shady phone calls in the name of love! He organizes a lavish, public proposal, which makes Trish realize they’re just not right for each other. It’s not like I’m Team Griffin or anything, but I wonder how much of this is really Trish and how much of it is the IGH inhaler she’s using recreationally.

I believe Trish when she says she’s looking for more from her life, but I don’t think she’s just talking about her career. She doesn’t want to be Griffin: she wants to be Jessica.

Next: Jessica Jones S2E4 recap: AKA God Help the Hobo

Misc.

• Apparently Jess’ auto-didactic anger management is working. Jessica, calling from the precinct: “It’s okay, I’m not mad at you.” Malcolm: “Have they got you on sedatives?”
• Malcolm resorts to some pretty low tactics to ensure Inez Green, one of the killer’s almost-victims, helps Alias with the IGH case. I wish the episode had let us realize this on our own without Jeri’s expository, “Sounds like Jessica’s people skills are rubbing off on you.”
• Still, I liked his line when he drops Inez off at Jeri’s: “Just keep an eye on your TV.”
• As I thought, Jeri is taking a personal interest in Inez so she can find out more about IGH’s unethical medical treatments.
• The sweet moment between Jessica and Detective Costa at the precinct is perfect. It reminds Jess — and us — that cops and supers don’t have to be enemies.
• Jessica Jones‘ attempts to resist — Malcolm’s sage “Truth matters” in this ep, Griffin’s quip about alternative facts from AKA God Help the Hobo — are commendable but also highly irritating.