Jessica Jones season 2 episode 8 recap and review: AKA Ain’t We Got Fun

They have tons of baggage to sort through but that doesn’t stop Jessica Jones and her mother from slipping right back into their old roles.

Confession: even after the events of AKA I Want Your Cray Cray, which I loved, I had my doubts about whether Alisa was actually Jessica’s mother. Even for a Marvel title that development seemed a little too insane. However, in episode 8 my reservations evaporated. Jessica and Alisa don’t have fun, exactly, but they do have a rapport that can only be described as familial.

Although Alisa’s face is different, her voice is the same. (“[It] makes me feel like I’m back with you in our old house, before everything,” Jess says at one point.) Her memories are also intact, which is why Jessica decides early in the episode to hide her mother while she sorts the situation out. Turning your own mother into the authorities would be near-impossible for anyone, even for a pragmatist like Jessica Jones.

Dr. Karl is not invited along for the ride, however. Despite Alisa’s defense and Karl’s claims that he loves her, I have to agree with Jessica on this one. Whatever he feels for Alisa and vice versa, their relationship is troubling and deeply flawed.

On paper, his methods seem reasonable. Alisa is dangerous and he’s the only one who knows how to help when she goes into a rage. In practice, things are creepy. He keeps her isolated and she just has to trust that he’s doing the right thing. On some level, Alisa, must know something is off. Otherwise she wouldn’t have taken to sneaking out.

As usual, Jessica says it best: “He is a pervert with a god complex who made himself a powered girlfriend for kicks.”

To bring it back to Jess and her mom, in some ways the two pick up right where they left off 17 years ago. As I watched AKA Ain’t We Got Fun, I just kept thinking about how, in spite of the absurdity of their circumstances, they could be like any mother and daughter.

They bicker and reminisce. Alisa is nosy about Jessica’s life and her relationship with Oscar. Jess is embarrassed and annoyed when her mother yells at a cabbie for texting and driving, even though she actually agrees with Alisa. Alisa more or less tells Jessica to grow up when Jessica talks about her childhood as if it was perfect. As we find out, not all of Jess’ problems can be traced back to grief or Kilgrave. She was always “adept at shutting [her]self down.”

Basically, Jessica and Alisa’s relationship, like all mother-daughter bonds, is complex, intense, and deeply ingrained. Not even 17 years apart could change it.

Most of the episode’s time is spent with the Joneses, but Malcolm’s story is also significant, and not just because he finally gets to break out on his own a bit. I was pleasantly surprised when, once the afterglow wears off, he realizes Trish is on something and confronts her about it. (Which, thank goodness. The suspension of disbelief I employ for Jessica Jones reached new heights when, in AKA Facetime, recovering addict Malcolm somehow didn’t recognize he was hooking up with a high person.)

Anyway, Malcolm makes a good call and decides to put some distance between himself and his IGH inhaler-huffing one night stand. With Jessica MIA, he takes some initiative and tries to find some dirt on Jeri’s law partners, per her deal with Jess.

If Jessica did pride, she would be so proud of Malcolm when he tracks down Steven Benowitz, who is married to a woman, at a gay bar. He pulls a truly impressive double twist. We assume he’s going to blackmail Benowitz into leaving Jeri alone. But he pivots and warns Benowitz that the other law partner, Linda Chao, is going after him. He then pivots once more by taking advantage of Benowitz’s fear and anger by asking him what dirt he has on Chao. Turns out he has plenty.

Really, it’s a beautifully executed dance. Malcolm takes mercy on a nice closeted man and still manages to deliver for his client. The student becomes the master.

Next: Jessica Jones S2E7 recap: AKA I Want Your Cray Cray

Misc.

• He’s a master until Trish coerces him into using the inhaler, that is. To his credit, Malcolm instantly regrets it.
• Speaking of Trish, she spends the entire episode living by that old “an addict is lying if their lips are moving” adage.
• Jess’ relationship with her mother also has a bit of a Frankenstein flavor.
• I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on this until now. “Alias” is an anagram of “Alisa.” That can’t be a coincidence, right?
• Inez helps Jeri find Shane, the healer. Jeri gets him out of jail and seems confident that he’ll cure her ALS. She’s understandably thrilled, probably happier than we’ve ever seen her.
• Jeri and Inez also hook up in AKA Ain’t We Got Fun. The two of them seem to communicate solely through power moves. So when Jeri asks Inez for her consent, it’s surprising, sexy, and sweet.
• Dr. Karl: “I’ll find another treatment.” Jessica: “Spoiler alert, it won’t work.”
• Poor Jess. There’s no universe where this situation with her mother works out for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether Alisa keeps living as she has been or ends up in the special prison for supers. She’ll still keep hurting people.
• Case in point: “There’s no manual that tells you what to do when your mother who’s been dead for 17 years comes back and is a mass murderer. I’m kinda winging it.”