Jessica Jones (Season 3)

 

I've finished season 3 of Jessica Jones, and with that I have watched all of the Netflix-era Marvel Defenders series shows, minus season 2 of Iron Fist, which I skipped on purpose. The only show left to watch is 2025's Daredevil: Born Again. Jessica Jones is on my podium of favorite Defenders characters in third place, so I was looking forward to this season. While we're discussing the podium, surprisingly The Punisher is number 2, and Matt Murdock's Daredevil is number 1. 

Season 3 starts where season 2 left off. Jessica is still mad at her friend/adoptive sister Trish for shooting her mom and going through with the experimental surgery to become superhuman. The very end of season 2 eluded to the fact that the surgery was successful, with her dropping then "catching" her phone with her foot. Adept comic readers probably figured this out long ago, but in season 3, because of the surgery, Trish is transformed into Hellcat. I was completely aloof, and didn't see this coming at all until the end of season 2 after Trish had the surgery.

Trish turning into Hellcat sets the stage for season 3. As mentioned, Jessica is still mad at Trish from the events of season 2. Jessica is attacked by a psychopath killer named Gregory Sallinger, who targets people with abilities and powers, believing them to be "unworthy" of their abilities. Jessica uses her private investigation skills to try to imprison Sallinger. This proves difficult, and the newly aggressive Trish Walker as Hellcat seeks quicker justice. This reaches a tipping point when Sallinger kills Trish's mom, and Hellcat attacks and kills Sallinger. Jessica is compelled to do the "right" thing, and turns Trish in to the authorities. In the final scene, we see Trish being taken to the Raft with Jessica watching in the background.

This season was fine, but I prefer the dynamic we got in season 1 with these characters. As the season progressed, it became a bit unclear who the actual enemy was - Sallinger or Trish. I don't particularly like Trish as a villain as I don't think she's a bad person by nature. Sallinger is a terrible person, and a good villain for a psychological thriller, but a bit of an odd choice for a comic book villain. Also, his identify was revealed very early, and since Jessica is a private eye, it would have been nice for his identity to have been a bit more of a mystery. This season also suffered a bit from the same problem that I had with Luke Cage season 2. With Hellcat being the more aggressive character going after Sallinger, and then subsequently becoming the villain and going to jail, you could almost remove Jessica completely from this season and it would have turned out mostly the same. 

Jessica Jones as a character is a good one. Her alcohol loving, don't give a shit attitude is always entertaining. Each subsequent season of all of the Netflix-era Defenders shows got a bit worse (with the exception of Daredevil), but this doesn't mean they were bad. They just weren't as good as their initial seasons. Jessica Jones has been announced to appear in Daredevil: Born Again season 2, and I am excited to see her appearance in that show next year.

My State of Mobile Gaming: Part 10 - Further Emphasis On Streaming

It's difficult to believe that we are entering the last part of the Playstation 5 lifecycle. Yet here we are, nearly 5 years after the PS5's launch, and rumors about the PS6 are beginning to take shape. The PS6 is anticipated to launch in 2027, and one of the more intriguing rumors is that it will have dedicated portable hardware to play games on the go. With the success of the Switch, and the recent reveal of Microsoft's Xbox handheld device called the Asus Rog Xbox Ally X, it seems as if portable is the way things are going for consoles. I've never owned an Xbox, so while a device such as the Rog Xbox Ally X picques my interest, it isn't something I'm going to buy. Much like how I wrestled with the idea of getting a Steam Deck, I'm in no way involved with Xbox or PC gaming, so getting such a device wouldn't make sense. However, I like where gaming consoles are going. As streaming becomes more of an option, the idea of playing your games on multiple devices away from the console itself is intriguing. While I don't see the console disappearing entirely, at least not during the next cycle of consoles, this concept of accessing content away from the console itself has tons of advantages. The fact that portable devices are getting powerful enough that they can run mainstream games is impressive. Which brings me to my current state of gaming on the Playstation Portal.

I was an early adopter to the Playstation Portal, having purchased one almost as soon as they became available. I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the device, though it's mostly been love. My biggest beef with the device is that using Remote Play is finicky at best. I've done everything in my power and with my knowledge to optimize my network for Remote Play, and the damn thing still disconnects frequently. The thing is, it was working quite well for probably close to a year. For whatever reason, however, for the past 2-3 months it has had difficulty maintaining a consistent connection. This is frustrating for obvious reasons, but the biggest frustration is that it isn't exactly clear why it has connection issues in the first place. Researching solutions on the internet is useless, so I'm stuck in frequent disconnect limbo. Being an early adopter, I accept the fact that this device and technology isn't ready for the masses, so I'm excited to see devices like the Rog Xbox Ally X and the Steam Deck being produced, although from what I've read the Rog device may also not quite be ready for the masses.

About a year ago, Sony enabled streaming on the Portal, completely bypassing the need to have a Playstation. In the past year, the streaming library has expanded a lot. My experience with streaming has been very positive. While not perfect, streaming provides a much more consistent experience than using Remote Play from the PS5. My connection with Remote Play has become so finicky that I'm starting to factor in whether or not I can stream the game on the Portal into my decision on which games to play. I've had the chance to stream games on the Portal and play them later on the console, and cloud saving between the devices worked perfectly. I did this a bit with The Witcher 3. 

I'm interested in hearing more about the capabilities of Sony's portable device for the PS6 (if the rumors are true). I imagine that it will involve a combination of streaming from the library in addition to local installation for games. I already have opinions about what this could look like and the pros/cons of this approach, which I will save until a later date. In the meantime, I'll continue to play my Portal, but will likely lean a bit more towards games that I can stream over playing Remote Play.

The Witcher: The Last Wish

 

I've been on a big The Witcher kick after recently completing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Prior to playing that game, I knew little to nothing about the character or series. I knew the games were based on a series of books, however, and it just so happens that the books are available to read on Kindle Unlimited. I discovered that the recommended order to read the books was not the same order as the books were released. The Last Wish is a series of unrelated short stories about the main character, Geralt of Rivia. There wasn't much in the way of introductions or story setup, and if it weren't for my background knowledge from the game, I would have had no idea what was going on in this book. I suppose since it came after some of the other books, the author Sapkowski assumed readers would have familiarity from them. At any rate, I'm glad I had some background of what was going on from the game. If someone were wanting to start the books from scratch, I'd probably recommend they do a little research, at least on the main characters.

At any rate, The Last Wish is a collection of six or seven short stories. They introduce Geralt, and you get a good sense of his demeanor and what he deals with as a Witcher from the short stories. I already had a pretty good sense of this from playing The Witcher 3 for 50+ hours. However, there were a couple of short stories in this book that caught my interest. The first involves Ciri. The entire plot of The Witcher 3 is about finding and protecting Ciri. You learn that she is "special" because she has Elder's Blood, and you know that she isn't Geralt's true daughter (she's more of an adoptive daughter), but you never really learn how Geralt came to know Ciri. The short story in the book explains how this happens. Geralt saves a man's life, and invokes "the law of surprises". From the book and ChatGTP:

As a reward for saving Duny’s life, Geralt refuses gold or land and jokingly claims the Law of Surprise himself — “Give me what you already have but do not know.” Moments later, Pavetta becomes nauseous, revealing she is pregnant. That unborn child is Ciri, tying her fate to Geralt’s forever.

The thing about this chapter, though, is that Ciri's name is never mentioned. I figured out that they were referencing Ciri based on the context, but had I not played the game I would have never known Ciri existed.

The second story that stood out described the circumstances of how Geralt met Yennefer. Geralt's friend, Dandelion, releases a djinn (similar to a genie) from a bottle. Dandelion is injured in the process, and Geralt finds the closest sorceress to heal Dandelion. The sorceress happens to be Yennefer. Yennefer agrees to help Dandelion, under the condition that Geralt helps her. From the book and ChatGTP:

Yennefer heals Dandelion but senses that Geralt still holds one unspoken wish from the djinn. She decides to use him and the djinn to capture the creature for herself, hoping to gain immense power. Her plan backfires: the djinn goes berserk, destroying parts of the town and threatening to kill her.

In the chaos, Geralt realizes Yennefer is doomed unless he uses his final wish. What he wishes for is never directly stated, but it’s implied that he wishes for their fates to be intertwined forever — binding their destinies together. The djinn vanishes, Yennefer is saved, and the magical explosion subsides.

In the aftermath, Geralt and Yennefer — drawn together by both magic and newfound emotion — spend the night together, beginning their complex and tumultuous relationship that continues throughout the Witcher saga.

Yennefer was much discussed in The Witcher 3, and she was referenced by name in the book (unlike Ciri), so I was quite familiar with her character. They even reference their bond in the game, and in one scene they meet up with the djinn to break their bond. In the book, however, the importance of this bond is unknown, unless you are familiar with the rest of The Witcher lore. 

At the end of the day, I enjoyed The Witcher 3 a lot, and thus was happy to extend my knowledge of the characters by reading this book. I think had I started with the book prior to playing the game I would have been lost. I have access to the other books on Kindle Unlimited and will likely read at least some of the other books. I haven't had access to Netflix since the days they were shipping DVDs, but there is a decent chance that I'll pick up a subscription in order to watch the TV series as well.

The Punisher (Season 2)

 

On the surface, The Punisher is a character, and thus show, that I wouldn't be overly interested in. From a superhero perspective, he doesn't have any special powers, per se. He's a violent, and oftentimes murdering vigilante, and in general this character type doesn't appeal to me. However, this show is so well done that he has become one of my favorite Defenders characters. Most of the shows in Netflix's Defenders seasons had better debut seasons when compared to their second season, and this is the case with The Punisher as well. Season 2 just wasn't quite as good as season 1. With that being said, however, it was pretty decent, and better than Luke Cage season 2. 

Season 2 starts with The Punisher trying to separate himself from the events of season 1. He's on a little road trip, but quickly finds himself involved in a violent scene in a bar, where he saves a young woman from a group of attackers. He had become friendly with the bartender, who was killed in the attack. This series of events leads to one of the main plots of the season. From ChatGTP:

1. Frank Castle and Amy Bendix

• Frank meets a teenage girl named Amy Bendix, who’s on the run after witnessing a murder tied to a covert operation.

• Amy is being hunted by professional killers, so Frank takes her under his protection.

• Their relationship grows into a surrogate father-daughter bond, grounding Frank emotionally.

3. John Pilgrim and the Schultz Family

• John Pilgrim, a violent ex–white supremacist turned religious enforcer, is sent by the wealthy Schultz family to silence Amy and protect their political ambitions.

• Pilgrim is torn between his brutal missions and his desire to protect his sick wife and children.

• His path eventually collides violently with Frank’s.

This part of the plot is the more interesting story. Unfortunately, it often takes a back seat to the other main plot, which is a continuation of Frank & Billy Russo's story from season 1. Billy, having his face destroyed by Frank, is now known as "Jigsaw", although I don't remember anyone actually calling him that in the show. Again, from ChatGTP:

2. Billy Russo’s Return as Jigsaw

• After surviving Frank’s brutal attack in season 1, Billy Russo suffers brain damage and memory loss.

• He forms a group of disaffected veterans, while struggling with rage, trauma, and his fractured identity.

• Russo becomes increasingly unstable, plotting revenge on Frank and those he blames for his downfall.

Frank & Billy's story works well in season 1, because it expands on the Punisher's background, first discussed in Daredevil season 2, and explains the background reason behind Frank's family being murdered, and how Frank became the Punisher. Their story is less interesting in season 2 because now that we have had the history explained to us in season 1, all that is left is for them to kill each other. Billy as Jigsaw is unstable at best, and is generally just a crazy character at this point and not all that interesting. He also forms this relationship with his psychiatrist that got a decent amount of screen time and I didn't find it all that believable. 

Frank's story with Amy & John Pilgrim was more intriguing, but unfortunately there were entire episodes where Amy wasn't even in the show. Eventually you learn that John is working with the Schultz family, but they get very little screen time. They are evil people, and when Frank finally kills them, it is somewhat satisfying, but I think it would have been more satisfying if they were featured more and Billy less.

At the end of the day, The Punisher was one of the better Netflix Defenders series shows. While it did suffer from season 2 letdown and seasons that were probably 2 episodes too long, Frank Castle turned out to be a much more complicated character than the psycho killer he's portrayed as (though he is that as well). Jon Bernthal does an excellent job portraying Frank, and his acting adds a lot of depth to the character. For season 2, I just wish there was a little less Billy and a little more John Pilgrim.