Is there anyone else besides me that is actually very upset that aren’t getting any more Netflix MCU series? If you don’t already know, the third season of Jessica Jones will be the last time we see a Marvel series on Netflix in the immediate future. And while Disney’s upcoming streaming service will feature some new shows centered around Marvel characters, it doesn’t seem like they have any plans to pick up anything Netflix has previously worked on. It was only through miraculous timing that we got to see a third season of Jessica Jones, as they were already mostly through filming when Netflix decided to start canceling its MCU shows. So as upset as I am (and we all are) I am incredibly grateful we got one last season of Jessica Jones.

We pick up about year where the last season left off. Jessica (Krysten Ritter) has not talked to Trish (Rachael Taylor) since last season when killed Jessica’s mother (cause she was a wanted super-enhanced murderer and Jessica would have been killed by the police along with if she wasn’t stopped.) However, Jessica is forced to once again talk to her best friend when Trish’s relentless stage mother hires her to find her after being missing for a couple of days. Much to Jessica’s dismay, she learns that Trish has since gained super-enhanced powers from the experiment she forced on herself last season and has been training to be a crime-fighting vigilante. Meanwhile, our favorite morally ambivalent lawyer Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) is still suffering from ALS, yet is just as much of an opportunistic shark both in her career and her personal life. Not wanting to die alone, Jeri pursues her (very much married to someone else) former girlfriend. The real trouble begins when Jessica brings home Erik Gelden (Benjamin Walker), a potential one night stand, only to get attacked by a masked killer who was after him.

This season highlights a perhaps critical observation about this series that just dawned on me: Almost all of the characters (save for Jessica) suffer from degradation instead of growth. That is to say, most of them seem to make worse decisions in the series instead of learning their lessons. Jeri Hogarth is a prime example of this. You would think after almost losing her life due to greed in the first season and her character development in the second, she would have learned that her desire to have everything she wants at the cost of others often gets her in trouble. The seemingly well meaning and well developed character Malcolm also falls into this trap in this season. And we can’t forget the entire series seems to center around the fall of Trish Walker. Trish starts out in season one as perhaps the most sane character in season one. By the end she is is so hungry for recognition as “being a hero”, that she ends up being the final villain Jessica must face. For the most part, these character degradations are handled realistically and for good progression of the plot. It’s still frustrating, none the less, to witness people I’m rooting for destroy themselves and make everyone’s lives that much harder.

Along the same vein, it was an interesting transition between the first and third season to see Jessica face a very dangerous main villain (Killgrave) and an annoying nuisance like Gregory Sallinger. Don’t get me wrong, Sallinger was still a very dangerous and effective villain. But unlike Jessica’s other nemesis, he possesses no superpowers, but rather a deep intellect, Batman-like preparedness, and a manipulative personality. His self righteousness and need to put down others he feels don’t deserve as much attention can almost be taken as nod to so called “incel” types of people in real life. (Spend a bit of time on the internet, and you will find way too many of these.)

At this point, I’m sure the series is trying to spell out a few points to the audience. Mainly, you really are your own main villain. Rather than just being frustrated at the stupidity of various characters throughout the series, I choose to take their downfalls as a morality lesson and leave it at that. After all, I’m the same reviewer who defended the way Daenerys ended up in Game of Thrones. In fact, I can greatly draw parallels between Trish Walker and Daenery’s journeys. While they both suffer from the same weakness and nearly the same fate, the only difference is that we get significantly less time to see the fall of Trish. Not that I fault Jessica Jones for that. Again, I am incredibly grateful for the three seasons.

The other major point I believe this series is trying to spell out is what really makes a “true hero.” A sort of overdone trope in the superhero genre to be sure, but still fairly poignant in a depressing “noir” sort of series. Jessica herself surprisingly avoids most of the “dark brooding” main character pitfalls and proves herself to be the least corrupted character in the show. That point is pretty much spoon-fed to us by evil detecting Erik, assuring us of Jessica’s goodness. But even without him telling us so, it’s very apparent by the end that Jessica is about as heroic (deep down) as the best of the Avengers.

Overall, this series was both very enjoyable and frustrating. I loved how prominent the detective noir theme stuck throughout the show. I loved the clever dialogue and intricate plot lines. And surprisingly enough, I ended up loving Jessica, a character who at the beginning of the series, was unpleasant enough to   isolate the entire audience from her. At the same time, Jessica Jones had so many frustrating moments with characters being such selfish idiots that the plot seemed to artificially drag a bit from their actions. I also wish Jessica and all of the other Defenders had more chances to interact with each other in each of their respective series. Despite this, I assure you I’m going to greatly miss Jessica Jones and all of the other MCU shows on Netflix. It’s really the end of a great television era.