Not since November 2015 have we been able to lay eyes on a fresh episode of Marvel's Jessica Jones – but now all the anticipation to see the flawed heroine is about to be paid off – with 26 helpings of binge-worthy classic noir, nicely drizzled with psychological and criminal intrigue.
It's no coincidence that Netflix has chosen this Thursday – International Women's Day 2018 – to bring back its vulnerable, emotionally torn and super-powered killer, impressively realised by the American actress Krysten Ritter in both Jessica Jones and its multi-hero spin-off, The Defenders.
With so many superhero films and TV shows unduly dismissed as fluffy and inconsequential popcorn fare, the first season of Marvel's Jessica Jones upended all expectations to win the prestigious American Peabody Award – as storytelling that expands our horizons.
"Marvel's Jessica Jones is a story that matters," according to the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors, who praised Marvel and Netflix for deploying a popular genre to ask unpopular questions about power and consent.
“Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg took a subplot from the original comic series about Kilgrave, a character who uses his mental abilities to bend others to his will, and turns it into a season-long exploration of how a powerful woman can reclaim her life and stand up against her abuser,” the jurors said.
Kilgrave, portrayed by Scottish actor (and 10th Doctor Who) David Tenant, was at once charming and terrifying – a man who did evil things but did not see himself as evil.
Jessica is a former superhero who opens her own detective agency. Back for her second series, in the gritty Harlem and Hell's Kitchen neighbourhoods of New York City, this Jessica is forced to question who she really is, how she came by her powers and whether she will survive an immediate and deadly threat.
“Her present is about to slam into her past as the show continues to venture into some cool, sexy, dark and morally questionable places,” says Rosenberg.
“We get to the end of season one and Jessica is forced to kill someone. Even though that person is her tormenter and attacker Kilgrave, she is still taking a life, so it’s this very dark victory.
“On one hand, she’s gotten rid of a bad guy, but on the other hand she’s become what he wanted her to become – so she’s very deep in doubt about who she is.”
Delighted with how deeply audiences have embraced her character, Ritter credits the show’s success to the fact they’ve never seen anyone quite like Jessica on television screens before.
“She kind of represents everything,” she says. “She is male and female. She is strong. She is vulnerable. She is angry. She cries. She is gooey on the inside and hard on the outside. I think that people found her to be pretty refreshing. I know that I did when I read the first scripts years ago.
“I think the success of season one just proves that there was a real appetite for that and it’s really exciting for me to be a part of it.”
The returning cast includes: Rachael Taylor (666 Park Avenue) as her adoptive sister and best friend Trish; Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix trilogy) as her fiercely powerful attorney and ally Jeri Hogarth; and Eka Darville (Empire) as her junkie neighbour Malcolm.
Another actor expected to make a substantial impact on Jessica's emotional journey this season is J R Ramirez (Power, Arrow), who joins the cast as Oscar, a single doting father, talented artist and Jessica's new building superintendent. Jessica will naturally gravitate towards him, says Ritter. "Oscar and his son are a family," she says. "They're Cuban and there's always food and talking and lots of life and family around. It's picture-perfect and everything that's the opposite to what Jessica has. There's a physical attraction between Jessica and Oscar and that leads to a deeper friendship."
Another new yet accomplished thespian face on board this season is the Academy Award nominee Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs, Damages), the British actress who already has Tony, Olivier and Drama Desk awards on her mantelpiece. The details of her character, however, are being kept under wraps, other than she plays a mysterious woman who holds crucial insights into Jessica's past and others like her.
“She’s complicated,” says McTeer, 56. “What I loved about her is that there’s nothing obvious about her. Every time you think it’s going to go one way, it goes slightly another way. It feels really creative, fun and unexpected.
“There are a lot of women spearheading this production – and there’s something really empowering about that and all of these characters that Melissa Rosenberg has written.
“They’re fully-rounded, messed up, complicated, tricky and unexpected and that leads to great drama when they’re all interacting. All the actors have been fantastic and it’s been a thrill to be able to work with these wonderful women. As a woman of my generation – to see these young actresses be empowered is great.”
Ritter, 36, says: “Janet is the fiercest actress I’ve ever worked opposite. I couldn’t wait to go to work with her every day and steal all of her tricks.”
The second season of Marvel’s Jessica Jones is available for streaming on Netflix from Thursday
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Netflix announces first 'ambitious' Arabic original series
Your guide to online video streaming in the UAE in 2018
Netflix announces first 'ambitious' Arabic original series
Your guide to online video streaming in the UAE in 2018
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
The biog
Favourite pet: cats. She has two: Eva and Bito
Favourite city: Cape Town, South Africa
Hobby: Running. "I like to think I’m artsy but I’m not".
Favourite move: Romantic comedies, specifically Return to me. "I cry every time".
Favourite spot in Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat beach
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
International 4, United States 1
Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods (US) beat Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann (International) 4 and 3.
Adam Hadwin and Sungjae Im (International) beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay (US) 2 up.
Adam Scott and Byeong Hun An (International) beat Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau (US) 2 and 1.
Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan (International) beat Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed (US) 1 up.
Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen (International) beat Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland (US) 4 and 3.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E660hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C100Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E488km-560km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh850%2C000%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOctober%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The biog
Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages
Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”
Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”
Favourite film: “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”
Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHigh%20fever%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIntense%20pain%20behind%20your%20eyes%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESevere%20headache%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENausea%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EVomiting%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ESwollen%20glands%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ERash%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIf%20symptoms%20occur%2C%20they%20usually%20last%20for%20two-seven%20days%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
