Netflix has introduced a new and refreshing take on your average superhero with its newest series Jessica Jones. The show is based upon the Marvel Comics character Jessica Jones, a private investigator, played by Krysten Rider, who tries to rebuild her life after experiencing tragedy when her superhero career came to an abrupt end. Jones opens up Alias Investigations and deals with cases involving people who have unique abilities similar and different to her own.

Throughout the first season of the series (the show was just renewed for its second season) Jones faces many obstacles pertaining to not only her personal life, but to those she loves as well. Every episode includes some kind of lingering feeling of potential danger, whether it is from Jones’ past, or from the possibility of others finding out about her powers.

Jessica Jones is not necessarily your standard superhero. One could almost call her an antihero. She isn’t squeaky clean like the common hero. She fights addiction, (alcohol) PTSD (due to an unhealthy relationship with the evil mind controller, Kilgrave, played by David Tennant) and numerous other human problems.  These glaringly human characteristics make Jones seem not only more relatable that the common hero, but also more plausible. She makes human decisions, decisions that are not always the best ones. She’s hard headed, determined, and not afraid to bash some heads in. It’s almost refreshing, seeing such and un-hero-like character, who identifies as a former superhero, (Jones is merely a private investigator who has a few tricks up her sleeve.) Viewers may question her decisions and are not always quick to choose her side. Oftentimes one may actually lean more towards Kilgrave, the villainous man who ruined Jones’ life and is determined to win her back whether through manipulation or threats to the people that Jones is close too. Kilgrave is malicious and truly evil, manipulating and eliminating all who get in his way.

Hollywood is filled with heroic characters who can “do no wrong,” who are okay for children to look up to and idolize. Jessica Jones is definitely not the person that you want your child to look up to. The show is specifically for those who are a little older (adults) and is not recommended for young children due to nudity, sex scenes, cussing, and violence.

The show does a great job in portraying the relationship between Jones and her adoptive sister, Trish (played by Rachael Taylor) by not “sugar coating” anything. You see all of the fights, the misunderstandings, the ugly conversations between the two. You see all the makings of a realistic sibling relationship, which is a department in which Hollywood is often lacking. The show also does a great job in not taking attention away from the female main character by adding in a male love interest, it is true that there is one, but he has been written in a way that almost complements Jones’ character. He in no way undermines her importance in the show and he is also not only there for the lead’s character development, (as romantic side characters often are). He is a rounded character with his own feelings and his own backstory.

Overall, Jessica Jones is a show that will leave the viewer rethinking their feelings about the standard superhero and wondering what exactly will happen next. I highly recommend it for those who are tired of seeing heroes portrayed as “clean-cut goody-two-shoes” and are ready for a raw and conflicted female superhero. Also if you’re looking for uncut violence, manipulation, and a seriously creepy and terrifying villain played by a former Doctor, than Netflix’s Jessica Jones is definitely the show for you.