Entertainment

This Shocking Development Brought Jessica Jones One Step Closer To The Truth About Her Powers

by Jack O'Keeffe
David Giesbrecht/Netflix

Spoilers for Jessica Jones Season 2 Episodes 1-5. Jessica Jones may have killed the single biggest tormentor in her life, but she still carries some unfinished business with her. Season 2 of Jessica Jones shows the titular private eye looking into her past, and along the way she learns about a mysterious doctor. Who's Dr. Leslie Hansen to Jessica Jones? It might be impossible to fully answer that question for one specific reason.

Jessica Jones hopes to learn a great deal from a dive bar meeting with Dr. Hansen. Jessica, like the audience, is eager to learn about her connection with IGH, the organization that gave Jessica Jones powers. She also wants to know if Dr. Hansen is aware of the murders of those associated with IGH or, worse yet, if she's responsible for them? While Jessica doesn't get all of these answers from that one meeting, she does learn some interesting information. First, she learns that she and Hansen have more in common than Jones expected — specifically, that Hansen seems to have abilities comparable to Jessica's, if not more powerful.

While Jessica is learning the hard way that Dr. Hansen is more than meets the eye, Malcolm and Tricia learn that there's way more to Dr. Hansen than the person Jessica meets lets on. They discover that the doctor is actually dead. Since Jessica is not talking to a ghost, the woman who claims to be Dr. Hansen (played by Janet McTeer) is not the deceased doctor at all. But then, who is she? It's looking like the fake "Dr. Hansen" could end up being the big bad of Jessica Jones Season 2.

David Giesbrecht/Netflix

Long-time fans of the Marvel cinematic universe, from the Netflix shows to the Blockbuster movies, may have noticed that the franchise likes to follow a very specific format when it comes to villains. Most characters' first villains end up being a reflection of themselves. This is why Iron Man's first villain was a man in a larger iron suit. This is why Luke Cage's first season ended in him facing off against a genetically enhanced half-brother with most of Cage's same powers, or why Captain America faces off against his childhood friend who has had the same injections that Cap had.

This pattern is part of why Jessica Jones Season 1 was so surprising – they broke the mold. Kilgrave was about as far away from Jessica Jones as someone could be, with mental powers instead of physical powers. However, since the show skipped over the whole "fighting against a villainous version of yourself" in Season 1, it looks as though the show could be taking that route for Season 2. Dr. Leslie Hansen — the woman pretending to be her, anyway — seems to be the person that Jessica Jones could be if she had gone down an alternate path.

The real Dr. Leslie Hansen seemed to have also been connected to IGH, and the fictional one adapted the name in an attempt to lure Trish out of hiding after the radio host talked about her work on the air. The fake Dr. Hansen tells Jessica that the powers that she was given "saved her," so while this person isn't who they were looking for, it seems she knows enough about IGH's work to be just as useful to Jessica Jones' investigation. However, since she's probably responsible for a trail of dead bodies — including Hansen's — it's hard to believe that Jessica will form a friendly working relationship with her. But there's always a chance that the tide will turn.

Fans may learn more about the deceased Dr. Hansen and how she impacted Jessica's life as the series goes on; for now, what matters most is that her name has led Jessica to a mystery woman who might know everything about her past.