Jessica Jones is known for its excellent script and powerful storylines, and season 2 didn’t disappoint, giving Jessica a chance to hold her own not just in a physical fight, but also in a verbal one.
Related: Jessica Jones: What’s next for a potential season 3?
Here are Jessica Jones season 2’s most powerful quotes, which are worth remembering, whether it’s to quote them or to appreciate how far the characters have come.
“I never take no for an answer.” “How rapey of you.”
Episode 1 “AKA Start at the Beginning”
Jessica’s encounters with Pryce Cheng were a great chance to see her wit and harsh sincerity in full display. In many ways, Pryce represents everything Jessica hates: a man with authority who feels entitled to her powers, and one that believes he knows what’s best for her better than she does herself. It’s no surprise that Jessica’s immediate reaction is one of dislike.
Not taking no for an answer is a phrase we hear often in daily life, and honestly it’s nice to see it deconstructed a bit. After all, Jessica knows better than anyone the consequences of that way of thinking.
“With great power comes great mental illness”
Episode 2 “AKA Freak Accident”
Even though we knew Whizzer for a very short time, his death was undoubtedly a tragedy and left us feeling, like Jessica, kind of guilty for not taking him more seriously. But even in death, Whizzer had some powerful things to say through his vlogs, especially about the impact his powers had on his life and his sanity.
For Jessica, this quote rings especially true. The trauma associated with her powers and how they were manipulated by Kilgrave has left profound effects on every aspect of her life, particularly on how she relates to others and how she thinks of herself.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. All of it nauseating.”
“Looks like your face got in the way of someone’s fist. Want a replay?”
Episode 4 “AKA God Help the Hobo”
Many of the best quotes of this season come from Jessica and Trish’s encounter with Max, a man who sexually abused Trish when she was a child star. Naturally, is more than happy to be Trish’s muscle in this situation, first intimidating Max with words, and later with her fists.
“I’m angry. And I’m not sure there’s anything I won’t do anymore. Especially to a prick like you who thinks you can take whatever and whoever he wants.”
Jessica’s control finally snaps when he refuses to help them get information on IGH, and a lot of her frustration comes out in a rush that sounds a lot like something she would tell Kilgrave.
Jessica Jones always makes a point of reminding us that even though powered monsters like Kilgrave exist, there are equally horrible men who don’t have powers and still succeed in scarring people in other ways. And like Jessica, we’re angry.
“Our ‘panties’? Grown goddamn women don’t wear panties. We wear underwear!”
Episode 8 “AKA Ain’t We Got Fun”
Alisa clearly has issues, but she also occasionally has a good point. Like any woman who has ever been told something vaguely misogynistic by a taxi driver, Alisa gets angry — although Jessica has to hold her own temper in check, for once, to make sure no one dies.
Still, it resulted in this very quotable moment about “don’t get your panties in a twist” — one of the most offensive versions of “calm down” that can be said to a woman.
“Feel how you feel. You have nothing to forgive yourself for.”
Episode 9 “AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed”
Again, Alisa is hardly the person to go to for wisdom when she’s barely able to stop herself from killing people, but she does have her moments — even when she’s trying to convince Jessica to let her execute Pryce Cheng.
Even though Jessica’s remorse is a part of what makes her a better person than Kilgrave or Alisa, it’s resulted in her isolating herself and lashing out at others. It’s not Jessica’s fault that these things happened to her, and she has the right to her emotions.
“Bad shit happens every day and every single goddamn person has the power to do something about it.”
Episode 9 “AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed”
Trish Walker’s breakdown on Trish Talk shocked us, and ultimately led to a real bender — but it also had a grain of truth, especially coming from someone habituated to a life of comfort and privilege, and easily had the luxury of avoiding the injustices happening in the world.
It would have been great if Trish had actually listened to her own advice. Everyone has the power to do something about it — it’s not a power that needs to be gained somehow. Trish’s strength was always her moral compass; as soon as she started neglecting it, she ceased to be a hero.
“I relied on you. I don’t rely on anyone, but I relied on you.”
Episode 11 “AKA Three Lives and Counting”
Probably one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show, Jessica’s final argument with Malcom showed both of their true natures in all their ugly glory. A big part of Jessica’s journey to becoming a better person and recovering from the trauma of Kilgrave, was to open herself up to other people: particularly Malcom. Even though her treatment of him was never particularly great, she was doing her best — and considering everything she was dealing with it, it’s a surprise that she handled it so well.
Unfortunately, Malcom wasn’t able to see the effort Jessica was putting into holding her life together. And although Jessica was able to avoid shutting herself down completely, this scene proved that her friends weren’t there for her in the way she had thought they would be.
“I can control myself, which means I’m more powerful than you ever were.”
Episode 11 “AKA Three Lives and Counting”
In season 1, Jessica defeated Kilgrave in person, but in season 2 she had to defeat him as an ideology. Her fear of becoming a killer like him, or losing control like her mother, nearly destroyed her in season 2. But her breakthrough moment was realizing that more than her strength or her resourcefulness, it was her ability to control herself that made her powerful.
Jessica’s journey to finding her agency as a victim of abuse and a survivor of many tragedies has been the most beautiful part of Jessica Jones, and seeing her finally begin to shed the weight of her pain made season 2 more poignant than we ever could have imagined.