That's exactly my take. Sure it was heavily derivative of the original movie, but they needed to remind people of what the franchise was all about before taking it into something different. It also helped that there was a clearing of the decks, especially with Solo's death.

Tarkin a grunt? You do recall him giving Vader orders, right?

I was more forgiving, because he had just learned about the driver's impairment and the cover-up of his supposed responsibility. It's pretty clear that he is still very much in love with his wife, and he wasn't acting rationally. It certainly doesn't excuse what he was about to do, but it wasn't as though he was…

Well, at that point she wasn't willing to tell Cage about Kilgrave's existence, so that may just have been a straightforward lie. She was certainly telling Cage quite a few of them at that point.

No, it's the same place. If you watch it again, keep an eye out for the scorch marks on the walls.

I think the issue was less of Jessica's responsibility for Reva's death than the fact that she spied on him, insinuated herself into his life, and then slept with him without telling Luke what she did. In a way it's every bit as creepy as Kilgrave walking into someone's apartment and taking over their lives.

It's not only as effective, it reflects the same basic strategy of someone who doesn't work for what he wants. Whether Kilgrave compels someone or makes them an offer they can't refuse, he's still getting what he wants without having to make any personal sacrifice whatsoever.

Yeah, stolen mob money always guarantees that life will get better.

That's a nice way of putting it. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when she confronts Kilgrave and experiences the other end of such control.

What really works for me in his portrayal is the level of immaturity. For all of his sophistication and evil he never seems to have progressed beyond being a self-centered child with an underdeveloped emotional immaturity. Tennant pulls it off masterfully.

I really liked how they writer set up the reveal by forcing her to do it to save the bus driver's life. She had essentially avoided detection (the scene where Cage read the file was nicely done) only to have to confession come to prevent Cage from going down the same road of eternal guilt that Jones experiences over…

The next episode suggests otherwise, though I don't know if they are being completely consistent in the portrayal of his powers.

I don't know; the way Cage threw off all of those rugby players in the bar fight was not something I can see even a person with human-level strength pulling off.

I found it fascinating as well from what it reveals about his powers, namely that people have free will around him unless he gives them specific direction. I wonder if they can remain consistent about that throughout the rest of the season.

I also get the impression that Kilgrave is careful not to draw too much attention to himself. Something like a real-estate transaction would involve all sorts of legal hurdles that would probably create all sorts of problems if he tried to just mind-control it into happening.

In the comics the Purple Man's powers came from exposure to an experimental nerve gas. Without spoiling too much, the eighth episode provides a different explanation but basically is in line with the whole "transformed by outside factors" explanation.

I'm thinking the same thing myself. There's a big question as to where the Man in the High Castle is getting the images he's using. It could be that he's just popping over to the alternate universe and grabbing documentary footage, though *PARTIAL SPOILER* the ninth episode suggests that this isn't the case.

Good review, though I'm surprised you don't mention the conversation between Smith and his aide prior to the ambush, as it does give a hint as to why the films matter so much. How they might destabilize the regime isn't explained, but it does suggest that they have a power beyond their seeming triviality.

I'm starting to wonder the same thing myself, Red.

True, but his letter to FDR was instrumental in the commissioning of what became the Manhattan Project.