AKA Hellcat

## Marvel Cinematic Universe

*"There are other assholes who can and will hurt people, and you know who they are."
"Yeah, there's a never-ending supply."
"Maybe I can save a life, or lives, by taking them down."*
―Trish Walker and Erik Gelden
***AKA Hellcat*** is the eleventh episode of the third season of the television series *Jessica Jones*.

## Synopsis

Trish revisits her troubled childhood with Dorothy while plotting to stop Sallinger and stamp out evil across the city.

## Plot

Many years ago, a much younger Trish and Dorothy Walker rehearse lines. Walker was only 10 years old at the time. They need a big break as they have sold everything down to the floorboards, and Walker's father's child support barely covers groceries. Dorothy grows angry and demands better from her.

Back to the night that Gregory Sallinger had killed Dorothy. Walker finds her body in her apartment, and while on the phone with Jones, she demands that Sallinger pays for his actions. Walker looks to her dead mother and says: "I’ve got this." She kisses her on the cheek and then leaves. Walker makes her way over to Sallinger's apartment, where after taking down the officers outside his building, she breaks down his front door. Sallinger charges at her with a kitchen knife, but she evades his attack and reveals her true identity to him. Walker disarms Sallinger and knocks him to the ground, where the fight continues. Sallinger grabs the knife only for Walker to disarm him again and continue her attack. She jumps on Sallinger's back, claws his face, and then grabs the knife. She holds it to his throat and that's when Jones steps in and stops her.

They retreat to a nearby hotel, where Jones washes Walker off, as she begins to cry as reality has set in, and she realizes that her mother is actually gone. Afterward, they lay in bed, where Jones accredits Dorothy for Walker being who she is. Jones then gets a call from Eddy Costa, who tells her to turn on the news. It is a press conference. Jeri Hogarth has announced a reward for the identification of the masked vigilante. Walker asks Jones if Sallinger ID'd her, but that's why Jones is leaving, to find out. She asks Walker not to go anywhere until she gets answers.

Dorothy leads 10-year-old Walker into her audition wearing a red wig. While the call is for a girl with blonde hair, Dorothy discovers that the show's EP, Devlin Hoskins, had hair like an orangutan. A cattle call is about catching someone's eye and that's what Dorothy is hoping to do with the wig. Dorothy then rips up the sides and skips the long lines of the actress also auditioning for the part. She cals out to Hoskins and introduces him to Walker, with whom he seems intrigued by and invites her in.

Walker wakes up in her hotel room to the sound of her neighbors fighting. Malcolm Ducasse arrives moments later with a bag of her clothes. He mentions how he is sorry for her mother's death. Despite doing everything right, Sallinger still won, which deeply frustrates her. Ducasse assures Walker that the bad guys didn't always win. But for her, they won enough for her not to want to be a vigilante anymore. The fighting next door continues to the point that Walker begins banging on the wall. The man next door barges into her room without so much as knocking and demands that Walker stop. She informs him that she could hear him beating on who she assumes to be his wife. It's when he says that she deserves it that Walker attacks the man. She kicks him into the hallway and beats him until he submits.

Jones returns later with Erik Gelden, who had come to apologize. Not only does Walker not accept his apology, but she also punches him in the face. Walker has no idea what Gelden has done for her. Just outside the door, Gelden makes a call, asking for any game. Inside, Jones explains how she helped with the Sallinger situation. Sallinger wants her to destroy the evidence that proved he killed Nathan Silva. Walker is angry and upset to learn that Jones did this on her behalf as she is willing to go to jail for killing Sallinger.

Walker enters the hospital and makes her way to Sallinger's room, which is heavily guarded. However, Sallinger tells the officer to let Walker through. While he may have made a deal with Jones, Walker is still angry. Although, were she to kill him, she won't make it very far. She gets closer to Sallinger and assures him that the police won't protect him forever. He reveals to Walker how it tortured Jones to do what she did just to keep Walker from going to jail. That will be in vain should Walker choose to kill him. He accuses her of killing just to make herself feel powerful. Himself, on the other hand, killing was just a byproduct of his work, which Walker refers to as torture porn pictures. He remarks that she must not have seen his latest achievement, which he left in an obvious place.

Walker rushes over to her mother's apartment, where there is an officer on guard. She claims that she needs something from inside of the apartment. Walker looks around the apartment for the photo she knows Sallinger left of her mother.

10-year-old Walker agrees to a role on "That’s Our Girl" as the best friend named Surprise. Dorothy is not pleased as she would’ve never signed off on the arrangement. A girl name Carrie Leigh Hirsch gets the lead. She has much more experience than Walker. However, experience and talent are not the same. Walker is born to be the lead. As for the table read, there won't be one as Carrie Leigh is getting over chicken pox. Dorothy takes this as an opportunity for Walker to steal the lead role. She wants Walker to call the writers and offer to read the lead, just for the table. Dorothy pinches Walker on the arm when she says she didn't want to and demands that she call the writers back.

Walker looks through all her old family photo albums, where she finds the photo that Sallinger had taken of her mother. Walker cries as she looks at the photo. As she left the building with the photo, she is approached by Omar, the doorman, who gives his condolences.

Walker heads over to Gelden's apartment. She knocks on the door as she remembers that he said he wanted to make it right. She recalls that Gelden blackmailed people, and wants to use that to repay a debt. She really wants to go after Sallinger, but in the meantime, there are others out there who could still hurt people. Gelden could use his power to find them. Maybe Walker could save lives by taking them down. The look on Gelden's face, she could tell that someone came to mind. It is a dirty cop. Officer Carl Nussbaumer, he reveals. He is guilty of killing some drug dealers, who are really just poor kids. Gelden has a file full of proof; intel from illegal immigrants, ex-cons, snitches, none of whom would testify. Nussbaumer had paid Gelden off twice, meaning he must’ve been guilty. Walker wants to get him to admit to his crimes on video. Even if it won't hold up, she would put it online to trigger an investigation. Gelden is reluctant but ultimately agrees and decides to join Walker on her mission. It is up to Gelden to get Nussbaumer to meet him at an isolated location.

As planned, 10-year-old Walker reads the lines for the lead of "That’s Our Girl". The entire room applauds as the table read comes to an end. Gelden and Walker reconvene that night before the meet up with Nussbaumer. He could tell that Nussbaumer has arrived as the headache set in. Nussbaumer enters with his gun drawn. He calls out Gelden by his name. He has learned everything about him since their last encounter. Walker interrupts as she cites the names of Nussbaumer's victims. David Corderas, age 16. Shot in the back of the head. Rui Avedo, 14. Hit and run. Marquel Booker, 19. Again, shot in the back of the head. Aaron Martinez, 21. Accidental overdose. As Nussbaumer proceeds into the abandoned factory, Walker disarms him and takes him down. He comes at her with a taser, and she turns it on him.

In the midst of the fight, Nussbaumer no longer appears as himself. To Walker, all she sees before her is Sallinger. She takes the taser and hits Nussbaumer in the face, then continues to site names. Tyrone DeGrasse, 19. Died in the back of Nussbaumer's squad car. Gelden records from his phone as this occurs. When Nussbaumer charges his way, Walker kicks him in the back and Nussbaumer hits his face on a steal beam and fell to the ground, where Walker rips off his badge. Nussbaumer starts bleeding from the back of his head. He dies there on the scene. Walker is panicked, but Gelden finds amusement in Nussbaumer's death. Gelden explains that the pain in his head is gone. It is as if the world just changed. It feels lighter and better. Walker and Gelden immediately vacate the premises.

Walker meets with Gene Burchell at the funeral home. As he leaves to reschedule his next appointment, Walker gets a New York Bulletin alert; Officer Carl Nussbaumer had been beaten to death. They are looking into a person of interest. That's when Jones arrives. Walker heads outside as the funeral planning is too much to bear. In that time, she is approached by detectives Imada and Defford. They are investigating officer Nussbaumer's murder. They have some questions for her, starting with how fast Jones could heal. Walker answers that she doesn't heal too fast. However, judging from their line of questioning, it sounds like Jones is their person of interest, which doesn't sit well with Walker.

Walker rushes over to Gelden's apartment to inform him that the cops suspect Jones of killing Nussbaumer. They can't let her get blamed for this. Gelden suggests that Walker rough up another bad guy to throw suspension away from Jones. They’d time it so that Jones is someplace visible when it happens. And then Walker would tell her victim that she also attacked Nussbaumer, who would tell the cops. That way, Jones has an alibi and they could take down another bad guy. However, when their mark reveals that the masked vigilante attacked him and Nussbaumer, Jones would know what they did. Walker agrees to own up and take all the blame because at the moment, Jones suspects Gelden of killing Nussbaumer. She and Jones had already lost so much, she doesn't want Jones to lose Gelden too. With a plan in motion, Gelden searches for their next mark.

After the reading, Dorothy and 10-year-old Walker watches as the writers discuss their next choice in action. Dorothy figures they are planning to make Walker the lead. When Walker expresses the slightest bit of joy, Dorothy grabs her hand very intensely and tells her to act like an adult and lead by example. A hundred people could have a job on that show for years, but they only feed their families if Walker does her job perfectly every day. When Walker shows signs of having second thoughts, Dorothy accuses her of being selfish. The world gives her a gift and it is up to her to give it back. Hoskins then approaches and offers her the lead, just as Dorothy says.

Walker looks over Jace Montero’s file as she and Gelden scope out Montero’s latest project. He spends most of his time in the trailer. Gelden blackmailed him a few years ago. The headache he gave Gelden nearly put him in the hospital. Along with being a developer, Montero was a repeat arsonist. The property they were developing used to be a landmark building, until it went up in flames. People died, but it freed Montero up to build whatever he wanted. Twelve people died total. In three different buildings Montero owned. No one had been able to pin it on him, and he just bought the old building in Queens. Which would surely burn as well. Walker thinks that Gelden’s power is amazing. He could change the world, but he simply wants an alibi for Jones. What he will do after that, he isn’t sure. Walker and Gelden watch as Montero arrive on site. However, before they could act, they has to make sure Jones is someplace public.

10-year-old Walker performs on stage before a live studio audience. She is joyfully greeted backstage by her mother. While there is nothing official, Hoskins informs them that it is possible they can be picked up by ABC. Dorothy wonders if they will be changing the name of the show, as they had already changed the name of the character to Patsy. Dorothy suggests "That’s Our Patsy" or "Here’s Patsy". Dorothy looks Walker in her eyes and tells her that she is proud. She then gives her a hug.

As Walker prepares for her mother's service, she gives another look at the photo Sallinger took. Then there is a knock at the door. Walker mistakes the knock for Jones, but it is actually Hogarth, who reveals that she knows Walker was the masked vigilante. Walker has been stealing her files and assaulting her clients. On top of that, Walker is looking at a long list of felonies for also assaulting a couple officers and maiming Sallinger. Walker raises her leg and holds Hogarth against a steal beam as she too is particularly responsible for Sallinger killing her mother. Hogarth claims she will destroy the footage in exchange for a favor that would require Walker's gifts. She needs Walker to steal something from a man named Demetri Patseras. He is trying to hurt someone Hogarth cared about, and he is a bad person. Hogarth arranges to have the specifics sent to Walker after the funeral.

After the service, Walker is questioned by detective Defford on Jones’ whereabouts. Walker then returns home, where she calls Gelden to inform him of the warrant out for Jones’ arrest. Walker wants to go after Montero that night, but with Jones in the wind with no alibi, Gelden doesn't think it is a good idea. She reasons that Montero will tell the cops it isn't Jones anyways, even if she doesn't have an alibi. And just to back up Walker's story, she plans to drop Nussbaumer's badge on the scene of the Montero attack. Walker wants to meet across the street from the construction site, but with the possibility of the police watching Walker to see if Jones reached out, they decide to wait until the morning.

The following morning, Walker and Gelden are about to meet up as planned. However, as they are approaching the meet up spot from opposite directions, Gelden takes cover and calls Walker to tell her to keep walking as she is being followed by Jones. Gelden then calls the cops in order to get Jones off Walker's trail.

That night, Walker barges into Montero's trailer and demands a confession for the fires he had started. Rather than confessing, Montero grabs an aluminum bat and starts swinging. Walker dodges his attacks, disarms him, and then begins to beat Montero until he confesses. She repeatedly asks how many died. He eventually reveals that 14 people died in those fires. She then mentions how he is worse than Nussbaumer and that he is to tell the police that she did this. She continues hitting him. Much like with Nussbaumer, Montero appears to her as Sallinger, which only increases her rage. She only stops hitting him after Gelden enters the trailer, but by then, it is too late as Montero is dead. Gelden leaves, as does Walker, but not before throwing Nussbaumer's badge down. As they are leaving the site, Walker asks Gelden if he felt it, if the world is better. From that, Walker believes she could make the world better, recalling what her mother once said to her of owing the world. While Gelden is done, Walker wants to continue, telling him that she already knows who is next.

## Cast

**Main Cast:**

* Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
* Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker/Hellcat
* Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse
* Benjamin Walker as Erik Gelden
* Jeremy Bobb as Gregory Sallinger
* Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth

**Guest Stars:**

* Rebecca De Mornay as Dorothy Walker
* Audrey Grace Marshall as Young Trish Walker
* Chaske Spencer as Jace Montero
* Tina Chilip as Detective Imada
* Anthoula Katsimatides as Detective Defford
* Larry Mitchell as Officer Carl Nussbaumer
* Mark Kenneth Smaltz as Gene Burchell
* Harry Smith as Devlin Hoskins
* Bowman Wright as Officer Pickett
* Nick Freni as Omar
* Betsy Hogg as Casting Assistant
* Denise Pillott as Uniformed Officer
* Jenelle Simone as Officer Gorman
* Lindsey Alley as Stage Mom
* David Michael Garry as Scary Man
* Dustin Nichols as Miles (uncredited)
* Sarah Kathryn Makl as Young Blonde Actress (uncredited)
* Bob Leszczak as Stage Dad (uncredited)
* Unknown Actor as Derek (uncredited)

## Appearances

### Locations

* New York City, New York
	+ Dorothy Walker's Apartment
	+ Gregory Sallinger's Apartment
	+ Nouvet Hotel
	+ Metro-General Hospital
	+ Edgecombe Funeral House
	+ Trish Walker's Hideout
	+ Walker Residence (flashback)

### Events

* Assassination of Dorothy Walker
* Trish Walker's Vigilante Campaign
	+ Attack on Gregory Sallinger
	+ Ambush on Carl Nussbaumer
	+ Attack on Jace Montero
* Infiltration into the NYPD Crime Laboratory (mentioned)

### Items

* *That's Our Girl* (flashback)
* *Patsy Walker* (picture)
* *It's Patsy* (mentioned)

### Organizations

* Alias Investigations
* Hogarth & Associates
* New York City Police Department
* Jace Montero Properties
* WJBP-TV
* WHiH World News
* *New York Bulletin*
* American Broadcasting Company (mentioned)

### Mentioned

* Joshua Walker
* Nathan Silva
* Patsy Walker
* Carrie Leigh Hursch
* Blake Tower
* David Corderas
* Rui Avedo
* Marquel Booker
* Aaron Martinez
* Tyrone DeGrasse
* Demetri Patseras
* Kith Lyonne
* Satan

## Trivia

* The episode's title is a reference to Trish Walker's comic book counterpart's alter-ego as well as the title of the comic series, *Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat*.

## References

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to **AKA Hellcat**.

## External Links

* AKA Hellcat on IMDb
* AKA Hellcat on Disney+
* AKA Hellcat on Marvel Database