Now that Jessica Jones has come to its (premature, in our opinion) conclusion, it seems like a good time to reflect on all of the characters who came in and out of her orbit that ultimately defined her journey across the course of three seasons. During her tenure as a reluctant superhero, she has had quite a few different partners in fighting crime. Sometimes it was for the better, sometimes it was for the worse, but Jessica’s companions often times guided the course of her story more than she did.
Jessica can be one tough nut to crack, but every one of these characters managed to crack her in one way or another. Obviously, the saga of Jessica Jones was about Jessica Jones herself. But looking back, which of her companions rocked the house, and which left something to be desired? Now that we’ve seen the entire series, here are all of Jessica Jones’ companions, ranked.
Alisa Jones
Theoretically as far as companions go, your long lost mother whom you believed to be dead but is miraculously alive seems like the sidekick of your dreams. However, Jessica is not very lucky here. After spending years believing that she was an orphan, Jessica discovers that the same experimental treatments that saved her life and gave her super strength also saved her mother and gave mom some added unique abilities. But those unique abilities also tended to make Alisa go all Hulk smash, which inevitably led to tragedy for Jessica. Clearly, that’s not the kind of family reunion Jessica always dreamed of.
Dorothy Walker
When it comes to being a parent, Dorothy Walker was kind of the worst. She took Jessica in when Jessica had no one, but she was also an abusive, nightmarish stage mom. Ironically, Dorothy was the first person to put Jessica on the path towards becoming a superhero, but their relationship has always been strained to say the least. Dorothy ultimately met a tragic end, and her death revealed some of the complexities of Jessica’s emotions towards her foster mom. But she did take care of Jessica and keep her secret, and honestly, she can at least say she has Alisa Jones beat when it comes to her relationship with Jess.
Oscar Arocho
Jessica’s friendships and romantic relationships have always been complex, and her relationship with Oscar Arocho is no exception. Their relationship started off pretty rocky, but Oscar eventually became a true friend and decent boyfriend to Jessica.
Every superhero could use a nice dose of reality every once in a while, and Oscar gave Jessica just that. But despite the brief reprieve that Oscar offered, ultimately both Jessica and Oscar realized that their lives weren’t particularly compatible with each other. Surprisingly, they managed to end the relationship amicably and remain friends afterward, which is honestly a pretty shocking feat for someone like Jessica Jones.
Will Simpson
Police officer Will Simpson definitely crashed into Jessica’s life with a bang, but his first impression left a lot to be desired. Will’s intro into the saga of Jessica vs. Kilgrave was a violent and scary one. Kilgrave found Will and compelled him to attack and kill Jessica’s sister and eternal BFF, Trish Walker, and were it not for Jessica’s intervention in the attack, he most likely would have succeeded. But after nearly killing Trish and killing himself (at Kilgrave’s behest, of course) Will’s determination to defeat Kilgrave became almost as intense as Jessica’s. They didn’t always get along, but as a team, they could move mountains.
Jeri Hogarth
A lot of Jessica’s associates are, shall we say, morally ambiguous. There are surprisingly few characters who are consistently heroic in a show that’s ostensibly about superheroes. But there are few characters who are more morally ambiguous (at best) than lawyer Jeri Hogarth. Hogarth usually employs Jessica, but on more than a few occasions their mutual understanding has bordered on friendship, and the usually cold and calculating Jeri has shown a few shreds of humanity to Jess. And although their relationship could also be pretty darn rocky, their teamwork has often yielded some seriously impressive results. For better or worse, few people have had a bigger impact on Jessica.
Erik Gelden
Most of the other “enhanced” characters that Jessica meets are even more heroic than she is, so finally meeting up with fellow super-powered but not necessarily super-heroic Erik Gelden was a nice change of pace. Erik’s blackmailing racket is a lousy use of his empathic superpowers, but Jessica of all people seems to put him on a path towards becoming a legitimate hero.
Their romantic feelings towards each other seems to make both of them feel a little more morally righteous, and it looks like Jessica may have finally met her perfect match with Erik (whether or not that means they’re a love match, a superpower match, or both is something I guess we’ll never know).
Hope Shlottman
Not all heroes wear capes. Hope’s relationship with Jessica was borne completely out of tragedy, and it initially seemed like Hope was simply a pawn in Kilgrave’s deranged game to get at Jessica. But both Kilgrave and Jessica got a lot more than they bargained for with Hope. Jessica’s determination to destroy Kilgrave actually seemed outmatched by Hope’s determination, and Hope essentially guaranteed that Jessica would put an end to Kilgrave once and for all with her own suicide. Jessica was a hot mess before and after she met Hope, but Hope undoubtedly pushed Jessica into becoming the hero she was always meant to be.
Luke Cage
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? Well, the dream team of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, of course!
Luke and Jessica’s relationship took a literally fatal hit before it even began (or rather, Luke’s wife took that fatal hit from Jessica’s hand), but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a perfect match. Their superpowers seem to fit together like puzzle pieces, and in a lot of ways, their personalities seem to fit together too. Their romantic relationship was kind of doomed to fail, but their partnership has been one of the strongest and most powerful of the entire Netflix MCU.
Malcolm Ducasse
Sometimes it seems like two people were just fated to meet. The first time Jessica even met Malcolm Ducasse, it seemed to be just a coincidence, she saved him from a mugging and unfortunately caught the attention of Kilgrave in the process. But their relationship was far from finished at that moment, because Malcolm eventually became Kilgrave’s compelled spy sent to watch and photograph Jessica for pretty much every waking hour. Strangely, a pretty much unbreakable bond of friendship and trust formed between the two of them in the process, and Jessica even trusted Malcolm enough to hand over her investigative torch to him at the end of the series.
Trish Walker
Whether they’re sisters, BFFs, or straight up rivals, it’s undeniable that no one person has had a bigger effect on Jessica Jones than Trish Walker. Trish and Jessica’s relationship definitely ended the series on a down note, but they have a bond that can’t be broken.
Trish pushed Jessica into becoming the hero she was meant to be, and Jessica pulled Trish back from the villain she had become. Relationships have come and gone in Jessica’s life throughout the course of the series, but the relationship between Jessica Jones and Trish Walker was truly the love story at the heart of Jessica Jones.
