Despite Jessica's objections, Simpson gets involved in the hunt for Kilgrave. Jessica recalls pivotal moments in her life.
Tropes in this episode include:
- The Alcoholic: This episode hints that Jessica's always been a heavy drinker, even if she wasn't necessarily drinking herself unconscious every night.Jessica: [on the phone, in flashback] Hey, turns out I'm free for happy hour. ... Well, it's five o'clock somewhere and I need to update my resume. Would you put day-drinking under "Experience" or "Special Skills"?
- Bait-and-Switch: In one scene we focus on Trish in bed, looking like she's in pain, but it's then revealed she's happily receiving cunnilingus from Will Simpson.
- Beneath Suspicion: Discussed. Trish and Jessica point out that Malcolm is a perfect choice of spy for Kilgrave, as "everyone dismisses the junkie."
- Berserk Button: A downplayed instance in that she doesn't attack anyone, but Jessica makes it clear to her supervisor that it's a bad idea to bring up her deceased parents.
- Black Comedy: Kilgrave makes a newsstand vendor throw his cup of coffee in his own face.
- Continuity Nod: A kid in a Captain America costume runs through the park where Malcolm meets Kilgrave.
- Dehumanization: In his conversation with Jessica at the end of the episode, Kilgrave refers to Malcolm only as "the junkie."
- Doublespeak: The Happy Flashback of Jessica and Trish ends with Jessica, in voiceover, saying "There's 'before Kilgrave'...and then there's 'after Kilgrave.'" We then see that she's actually saying this as she and Trish look at Malcolm's Facebook page. The flashback shows that the line could be Jessica describing herself, in addition to Malcolm.
- Easily Forgiven: Two episodes ago, Simpson tried to kill Trish on Kilgrave's orders. Now they've become lovers. Jessica's a bit incredulous that Trish is so easily letting Simpson off the hook for this.Trish Walker: He's a war hero.Jessica Jones: Who's also the guy who was filled with remorse about attacking you, until he decided to turn it into a booty call.
- Fanservice: Simpson spends an entire scene in nothing but his underpants. He has the build for it.
- Foreshadowing: Kilgrave gets hit with a dose of surgical anesthesia, which knocks out his powers. Malcolm is shown instantly snapping out of his control once this happens, which is a clue that the guys who come to rescue Kilgrave aren't doing so out of mental compulsion.
- Good Feels Good: Jessica didn't want to be a hero; she rejected Trish's suggestion that she try it. Then she saved a little girl from getting run over...
- Happy Flashback: The show openly compares how Jessica was a much happier person before she ran into Kilgrave, by comparing her to what Kilgrave did to Malcolm.Jessica: There's before Kilgrave... and there's after Kilgrave.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Jessica has to interrupt a morning tryst between Trish and Simpson to tell Trish about Kilgrave's use of proxies.
- Jerkass Has a Point: All of Simpson's points about how a bullet to the head would be a more effective solution for neutralizing Kilgrave are totally valid.
- Kick the Dog: When the owner of a newsstand finds Kilgrave sampling his wares annoying, Kilgrave makes him throw his scalding-hot coffee in his own face.
- Morton's Fork: Kilgrave presents Jessica with a choice: he kills Malcolm (and she loses), or Jessica can send him daily selfies, both feeding his obsession and giving him a measure of control over her, without having to use his powers (and she loses but at least Malcolm doesn't). She chooses the latter.
- Motive Misidentification: Jessica naturally assumes the guys sent by Kilgrave are under his control, but it turns out they're Not Brainwashed but paid bodyguards working for a firm.
- Mythology Gag:
- Jessica's Jewel costume (with a mask) makes an appearance, as does the name, both of which Jessica thinks are stupid.
- The conversation that Jessica and Kilgrave have when they first meet is almost identical to that when they first met in the comics. The main difference is that when Kilgrave tells Jessica to say her "real name," she doesn't have to, since she doesn't have a Secret Identity.
- Origins Episode: This shows how Jessica moved into the hero game in the first place... and how it came apart when she met Kilgrave.
- Please Put Some Clothes On: Jessica does a nonverbal version with her eyes to Simpson who's just wearing briefs.
- Properly Paranoid:
- Kilgrave has a security team tailing him and carries a tracker. The kicker is that they're being paid to do it rather than compelled, in case he is knocked unconscious and loses his powers.
- Simpson suggests using one of his friends from the Special Forces as the driver instead of Trish. He might've been able to handle the Tasing better, or to react fast enough to prevent getting tased at all.
- Shout-Out:
- Jessica saving the girl from being hit by a cab resembles Edward saving Bella from a truck in Twilight; showrunner Melissa Rosenberg wrote all five films.
- Kilgrave threatens Jessica by saying he'll continue to use Malcolm unless she sends selfies of herself every day to him.Kilgrave: Send the picture, save the junkie. Sounds like an ad campaign. [chuckles] Let's start... um, now. Come on, Jessica. Tell me we have a deal. Let me hear your voice.
- Stating the Simple Solution: When Jessica shows up and interrupts Trish and Simpson's morning tryst, Simpson spends the whole conversation stating that putting a bullet in Kilgrave would be more effective.
- Stealth Pun: The script successfully avoids using the words "hero sandwich".
- Title Drop: This episode's title is dropped courtesy of a little girl whom Jessica saves from being run over by a car while she (Jessica) is dressed in a sandwich suit. Later on, Jessica gives Malcolm a peanut butter sandwich, once again saving someone with a sandwich.
- The Tooth Hurts: Kilgrave pulls out a broken tooth from the side of his mouth where Jessica punched him. Then smiling.
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Jessica has to share an elevator with an unconscious Malcolm and Ruben. Ruben proceeds to break the silence by asking if she wants to go out for a movie sometime.
- Vertigo Effect: The first time that Jessica sees Kilgrave meeting Malcolm in the park, the vertigo camera effect is used as her PTSD kicks in. She has to duck behind a bush and recite her street names before she can turn back around to surveil them.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: When Malcolm vomits into the toilet, we are shown it from behind his head at a distance, the bowl in shadow. The actual vomit is never shown.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Jessica chews out Simpson, a police officer, when he attempts to interrogate one of Kilgrave's bodyguards using torture.
