Jessica Jones season 2 episode 10 recap and review: AKA Pork Chop

The moral of “AKA Pork Chop” — and possibly Jessica Jones season 2 as a whole — is that everyone is a little bit awful.

I can hardly believe I’m saying this but the person I rooted for most in the 10th episode of Jessica Jones season 2 was Jeri Hogarth. You know, the shark of an attorney who makes Jessica seem warm and cuddly by comparison?

At the beginning of “AKA Pork Chop,” Jeri is basically skipping with joy. She feels great, is professionally confident and believes her existential crisis has changed her for the better. Reality comes crashing down when Jessica informs her — per Dr. Karl — that IGH never treated a patient named Shane, nor anyone who could heal using their powers.

Suddenly Inez’s admission that she’s “a user” last episode makes even more sense. Inez took advantage of Jeri’s desperation in order to get Shane, a friend or a boyfriend, out of prison. (In retrospect, Inez was so obviously playing Jeri that I feel embarrassed I didn’t see it before.) Jeri doesn’t want to believe it at first, but comes back to an apartment that’s been ransacked with no Inez or Shane in sight. Crying, she crumbles to the floor in despair.

Jeri is far from a perfect person. She can be cruel, unfeeling and selfish, but Jessica is right: she doesn’t deserve this.

As for Jessica Jones herself, she spends the episode alternately defending and condemning her mother’s behavior — which is understandable. Jess doesn’t delude herself about her mother’s actions, but like Oscar says, Alisa is still her family. It is possible to love someone and recognize their faults.

Plus, no matter what Alisa has done, Jessica cannot abide her mother being abused. In an undercooked development that apparently exists for no other reason than to highlight Jess’ similarities to her mother, Jessica accidentally kills the guard who has been terrorizing Alisa in prison.

Jess finds out that the guard, Dale Holiday, was somehow connected to several prisoner suicides at his last posting. After breaking into his house, Jessica uncovers inmate number badges and sees that Dale is an alpha male — his home is littered with gun magazines and hunting trophies. His status as the Epitome of Toxic Masculinity is confirmed when he returns home, pepper sprays Jess, proceeds to beat her with a club and roars, “You attacked me in my home! Self-defense!”

Jessica manages to get the club away from Dale and — with her vision fuzzy and her adrenaline spiked — hits him with it. And that’s the end of him.

The fact that the whole Dale subplot is shoehorned in clumsily isn’t my only issue with it. It’s that Jessica Jones seems to be exploring the same question over and over: Is Jessica just like her mother? The show can’t seem to make up its mind, so it keeps going around in circles. The more time it spends on the question, the less compelling it becomes.

One crucial difference between the two Joneses is that Jessica is blind to Trish’s shortcomings and Alisa is not. Trish ostensibly visits Alisa to find out where Karl is, so she can break the IGH story before ZCN, but it’s really so the two can fight about who Jessica likes best. They both have points: Alisa is a killer and Karl’s medical experiments are highly unethical, but Trish’s interest in the case goes beyond professional ambition. She’s jealous of what Jessica is capable of.

“She’s got [powers], and you don’t,” Alisa taunts Trish. “And you can’t stand that, can you? That’s why you wouldn’t let this investigation die.”

That’s also why Trish started using the IGH inhaler in the first place. And now that it’s run out and can’t be replicated, Trish is flailing. She tanks her ZCN audition (called it!), alienates Jess by calling Alisa “an animal” and initially gets the brush-off from a post-relapse Malcolm. He eventually forgives her though and they decide to go after Karl together. When they find him hiding out at a trashy motel, Malcolm wants to confront him with Trish. Trish officially loses her mind, pistol whips Malcolm and locks him in the trunk of her car.

Like I said, everyone is kind of terrible in “AKA Pork Chop.”

Next: Jessica Jones S2E9 recap: AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed

Misc.

• Trish finds out the IGH inhaler contained “toxins too dangerous for any human being to ingest,” and the side effects could include liver failure, kidney failure, neurological degeneration, and immunodeficiency. So much for it being harmless, huh Trish?
• Honestly, the train wreck that is Trish this season makes me wonder how she ever becomes Hellcat.
• Dale takes a leaf from Aunt Lydia‘s book and tortures Alisa with specially ordered, electric restraints.
• Alisa has a problem taking responsibility for her actions. One minute it’s, “If they want the person responsible for who I am, they already have her.” Next thing you know, she’s yelling, “You are the reason why I did everything I did!” at Trish.
• Malcolm: “I’m so sick of being the only one who’s for real around here.” The only one who’s for real or the one who is easiest to manipulate?