Netflix’s Jessica Jones recently released its third and final season and it couldn’t have been better timing.
Jessica Jones season 3 is all about justice — more specifically the justice system.
Jessica and her newly-powered adoptive sister Trish are trying to take down a serial killer, but it isn’t as easy as you’d think.
This guy is careful and calculating. He covers his tracks and covers them well.
And yet, even after he’s caught red-handed disposing body parts, the police still can’t make the arrest still. They can’t find any DNA or fingerprints on the bodies. And Jessica’s eye-witness testimony just isn’t enough.
The irony of it all is that we know that, in the real world, prosecutors could make a conviction stick with little or no evidence. Well, when it’s not a white man.
Just look at the Central Park Five, who were convicted with no DNA evidence, a warped timeline, and no eyewitnesses. [Read: Everything You Need to Know About the Central Park Five]
Or, if you need a more recent example, check out Curtis Flowers. He was convicted of murder despite no gun found, no DNA evidence, and multiple, conflicting eyewitness statements. His case was recently heard by the Supreme Court.
Ok, so back to Jessica Jones.
After our fictional serial killer is released by the police, his new lawyer (aka Hogarth) holds a press conference highlighting his innocence and victimhood.
She points out how meek and unassuming he looks. He’s the picture-perfect American White Male. And he’s merely a victim of Jessica’s misguided, vigilante feminism.
Of course, Mr. Serial Killer isn’t the only psychopath on Hogarth’s client list. Her roster seems to exclusively include horrible humans whose money and power have paid for their freedom.
As anyone knows, a good, expensive lawyer can often make the difference between conviction and no conviction. The so-called “justice” system isn’t exactly fair.
In the end, Jessica has to put her own life at risk in order to get Mr. Serial Killer behind bars. Police started diverting resources away from the case and it became clear that Jessica was the only one who could put an end to things.
For a series that focuses on superpowers, Jessica Jones ended up being more realistic than maybe we would have liked. I guess even fiction can’t escape the ugly truth.
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