Warning: Very slight spoilers for Jessica Jones are ahead.
Though the show is wrapping up forever, Jessica Jones Season 3 still found time to introduce a new love interest for our leading lady, Jessica.
Though it sure seemed like Jessica was getting ready to lead a “normal” life with her landlord downstairs, Oscar and his son Vido, both those characters are abruptly written out of the season (his excuse is he “met someone new”) which leaves our dear Jessica Jones to bring a new guy, Erik, home, and he’s definitely more than she bargained for. Say hello to Erik, who — surprise! — is actually a super himself, and a character with a history in Marvel comics. (It may be something to worry about, but more on that later.)
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Erik, played by Benjamin Walker, is introduced as a guy at the bar who Jessica meets and brings home after he promises to show her the best burger in New York City. Uh huh, sure Erik. However, their night is completely derailed after someone shows up and stabs Jessica, sending her to the emergency room. While that sounds like something that’s sure to kill the mood for any second date, Erik shows up again and Jessica tells him to buzz off.
And then, Jessica realizes that the person who stabbed her wasn’t looking for her, they were looking for Erik. Turns out Erik’s in a bit of trouble himself, and he owes some bad people money and they want to collect. Jessica is able to help Erik escape them, and in doing so he comes clean that he’s actually a super.
No, Erik doesn’t have super strength or a cool super suit, but he can “sense” the good and bad in people. When Erik gets close to actual bad people, he gets splitting migraines, signifying that, well, they’re bad. At one point he mentions to Jessica that she makes him feel at ease because she’s not inherently bad (she might do bad things, but she does them for the right reason) and it clears his mind. While his powers aren’t super useful all the time, Erik is at least able to point Jessica in right and wrong directions when tracking down people.
Maybe surprisingly, Erik actually exists in the comics. In print, he’s known as Mind-Wave and he’s a bad guy. He’s got heightened ESP that allows him to stop non-telepathics, and an armored vehicle called the “Think Tank” that he uses to rob banks. Another version of Mind-Wave is also telekinetic. He’s also died a bunch of times and been brought back to life, mainly becoming a villain for the likes of Daredevil and The Punisher.
But here, he’s a love interest for Jessica. While he’s no Luke Cage (because no one will ever be Luke Cage) and he maybe doesn’t have as much raw sexual chemistry as Oscar (miss you, J. R. Ramirez!) Erik is at least a solid foil for Jessica and manages to keep her somewhat grounded during the last season.