AKA A Lotta Worms

## Marvel Cinematic Universe

*"That's a lotta worms."*
―Jessica Jones
***AKA A Lotta Worms*** is the twelfth episode of the third season of the television series *Jessica Jones*.

## Synopsis

As Trish makes a move on Sallinger, Jessica intervenes - and ends up caught in a harrowing dance with the killer.

## Plot

Inside the 15th Precinct Police Station, Jessica Jones is informed by Imada that she is free to go as she is no longer a suspect in Carl Nussbaumer's murder because the killer has struck again while she is at the precinct. A witness had seen the masked vigilante near the scene and Imada questions Jones if any of it is connected before letting her go.

Still no word from Walker, Jones returns home where she finds Erik Gelden laying in the tub. Gelden informs Jones that Walker has crossed the line and that she is in trouble. Jones has already pieced together that Walker murdered Nussbaumer and Jace Montero with Gelden's help. He reveals that when Nussbaumer and Montero died, his headaches lifted as if the balance in the world tilted towards good. Gelden doesn't know where Walker is, but they suspect her next target is Gregory Sallinger and if she killed him, she would only get darker.

Against the doctor's orders, Sallinger checks himself out of the Metro-General Hospital, though he is visibly weak and barely able to walk. Walker arrives at the hospital to finish Sallinger, only to be confronted by Jones who grabs Sallinger to take him away from Walker. Jones attempts to reason with her, explaining that there is still a possibility to take Sallinger down the right way, as she hadn't destroyed all the evidence on the murder of Nathan Silva. Sallinger then threatens to expose Walker, though she does not care about it, and attacks Sallinger again. Jones saves him, throwing Walker onto the neighboring building.

The following morning, Jeri Hogarth enters her firm to find Jones and Sallinger inside. Jones tells Hogarth that Sallinger is now her problem and that she needs to find his protection, possibly a safe house, however, Hogarth & Associates doesn't provide protection. Sallinger would much rather have Jones as his protection anyways, noting that she needs to keep him safe for Walker's sake. As Sallinger exits, Hogarth reveals that she knows Walker is the vigilante and that Walker may have threatened her after Hogarth admittedly pressures Walker into doing something for her. Hogarth asks if she should be worried, to which Jones replies that Hogarth doesn't fit her profile.

Jones contacts Gelden and Malcolm Ducasse, asking them for help to capture Walker. Ducasse thinks that Brianna Gelden had told her brother that she is back in New York City, and before they could talk any further, Brianna comes through the door with groceries in hand. Ducasse insists that he is just doing her a solid, but Gelden is upset that she didn't tell him she left Georgia what Gelden accepts.

Jones escorts Sallinger home and waits for Walker to arrive, while Sallinger offers her to end all this by releasing the photo and letting the NYPD handle Walker. However, Jones does not want Walker to be arrested, so she dismisses his offer and keeps looking for Walker. Noticing that she is watching them, Jones throws Sallinger to the ground and attacks him, before finding a camera, which Sallinger claims uploads to a server, which is a lie, and smashes it. While Walker is watching, she is apprehended by Ducasse and Gelden who take her to her apartment.

Ducasse has been tasked with watching over tied Walker, while she maintains her stance that Nussbaumer and Montero got what they deserved, however, Ducasse does not think their reckoning is her job. Walker explains that she too had a lot to make up for and she is hoping to balance the scales. Ducasse questions if Walker ever misses the person she used to be, but she does not respond.

Gelden and Jones meet up at the bar, where he apologizes for bringing so much pain to Jones' world, but she is sure it would have found her one way or another. This situation with Walker has been a long time coming, so Gelden assures her she could bring Walker back, as Jones does the same with him.

Jones returns home, where she takes several more drinks and begins working, however, she finds out that the whiskey has been laced. She then falls unconscious to the ground, while Sallinger breaks into her office and duct-tapes to a chair. Using the tranquilizer to paralyze her, Sallinger starts photograph Jones, insisting that she deserves everything he is doing with her.

Even while chained up, Walker manages to get her routine exercise in. Ducasse passes her a bottle of water and explains that he did that too. It helps keep the cravings at bay. "Once an addict, always an addict" Walker claims that it is just exercise. While Ducasse agrees that chaining her up is messed up, he refuses to let her go. Walker thinks she knows Ducasse, but in actuality, he is just an asshole. He replies that his ex-girlfriend will agree with that. Ducasse loves her, but the man that she loved, the good guy, that isn't Ducasse anymore. So he cheated on her with a hooker. And rather than owning up to it, he made her believe that she is the problem so that he didn't have to see the look on her face when she realized who he really is. Ducasss asks Walker if he deserves to be executed for it, but it is hardly on the level of what Sallinger did. Ducasse admits that he destroyed lives. Some people may think that he deserved to die for that.

When Walker is 7 years old, her dad still lived at home and they were happy when he is sober. He never physically hurt Walker. Her mom takes all the hits, but she is too proud to call the police. One day, Walker comes home and her dad is screaming at her mom. Walker hears a thump and she goes upstairs. Her mom is bleeding. He had hit her head into the wall. And that's when Walker decides he has to go. She touches her mom's blood, smears it all over her face and t-shirt before running across to the neighbor and telling her how her dad hit her. Dorothy never contradicts Walker. Walker jokes that this must’ve been when her mother realizes she could act. Walker's dad is arrested and she never sees him again. Admittedly, what Walker did is wrong, but it is also right. Ducasse asks if the ends justify the means. They do if Walker wants the evil to end. And if she were to become the evil, Walker hasn't thought about that.

Sallinger examines the photos, and in them, he finds Jones’ truth. Sallinger claims he lives in truth. Jones replies that Dorothy did too. She lived in her truth. She was ambitious, broken, sometimes cruel, but she owned it all, and Sallinger killed her anyways. He needs that logic because if they were worthy kills, then in his mind, he is not just a murderer. Jones calls Sallinger out for being a fraud because he loves to kill. That is the real reason he kills his victims. It brings him pleasure. Sallinger denies the fact. He claims to have killed Dorothy to punish them. With the admittance of having killed Dorothy, Jones reveals that she has installed a camera and that Sallinger's entire attack is recorded. Jones then breaks free of her restraints, knocks Sallinger to the ground and restrains him. Gelden comes from out the room and assures that he had it all on video, before punching Sallinger.

Jones calls Eddy Costa the following morning to inform him how she has Sallinger's confession on tape. She also has him on kidnapping and attempted murder. She told Costa he could pick Sallinger up at her office. While talking to Costa, Jones and Gelden are simultaneously ransacking Sallinger's apartment, where they find his server. Along with the server, Jones takes the knife Sallinger used from his apartment.

Costa enters Jones’ apartment to find Sallinger's confession on repeat, with Sallinger laying on the floor, duct taped.

Ducasse asks if Walker still dreamed. He doesn't, not after all the things he had done. However, it doesn't seem to bother Walker. If she feels even half the remorse that he does, there's no way she could continue. Walker responds that she doesn't dream. And what she does have are worse than nightmares. She sees Nussbaumer, Montero, and even Jones’ mother, every time she closes her eyes. She doesn't do it because she wants to. She does it because she has to. Maybe generating change in the world and being effective is a drug, she admits. She continues to admit that the things she's done isn't like her. But as long as Sallinger and others like him are free, she doesn't know if she could get her old self back. Jones arrives to report that Sallinger is in jail for good and the photo of Walker had been destroyed. When Walker questions how, Jones throws her the balled up photo Sallinger took of her. Even with his arrest, Walker is still angry. As is Jones. But that is the burden they had to carry. Walker tells Jones that she never meant to hurt her and vice versa. Jones then breaks Walker free of her chains and they hug.

Walker arrives on set for Style by Trish. She is greeted by Grace Bennett, who can't believe Walker is ready to come back so soon. Much like Walker, Grace is furious even with Sallinger behind bars. She worries that he'd use the court system to his advantage. She'd much rather he be dead.

Before heading down to the precinct, Jones and Gelden discuss their take down of Sallinger. Gelden questions if this made him a super hero. Jones then gets a call Sallinger, who is expecting to see her soon. He knows Jones has raided his apartment. He tells her that his plan was never to expose Walker as it would’ve been too easy. Walker is a true believer and that kind of faith never goes away. Jones would have to face the test eventually. He is eager to find out if Jones would make the sacrifice.

Sallinger is escorted through the tunnels of the courthouse by three officers. As the elevator came down to pick them up, he hears a thud and tells them not to open the elevator door in fear that Walker is on the other side. Walker quickly dispatches of all three guards and then attacks Sallinger. She drags him by the chains on his ankles into the elevator. She slams his head against the walls and presses the elevator button, but she gets distracted when the doors don't shut and Sallinger uses that opportunity to get a hold of Walker, though that doesn't last long, as she quickly breaks free.

Just upstairs, Hogarth awaits Sallinger's arrival, questioning what is taking so long. The officer informs her that the equipment is old. In the 40s, the tunnels are used to bring monsters from jail to the courthouse. Walker stops the elevator and begins punching Sallinger repeatedly. She asks about the pictures and what Sallinger wants to see from them. He wants to see her truth, he replies. And now he has seen Walker's. She proceeds to attack Sallinger, taking his life by stomping on his head until his blood splatters everywhere. Jones and Costa arrive at the courthouse to the sound of a woman's scream. They head upstairs, where they find Sallinger's body in the elevator, blood everywhere.

## 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:**

* John Ventimiglia as Detective Eddy Costa
* Aneesh Sheth as Gillian
* Jamie Neumann as Brianna Gelden
* Tina Chilip as Detective Imada
* Chris McGinn as Sharon
* Jessica Frances Dukes as Grace Bennett
* Tamir as Grandmother
* Jacob Laval as Grandson
* Michael Alexander Henry as Guard
* Gio Castellano as Bailiff
* Taprena Michelle Augustine as Medical Assistant
* Glen Raphael as Police Detective (uncredited)
* Lynn Marocola as NYPD Officer (uncredited)
* Joseph Violante as NYPD Officer (uncredited)
* Ryan Jordan McCarthy as Policeman (uncredited)
* Jamaal Burcher as Man on Crutches (uncredited)

## Appearances

### Locations

* New York City, New York
	+ 15th Precinct Police Station
	+ Jessica Jones' Apartment Building
		- Alias Investigations Office
		- Malcolm Ducasse's Apartment
	+ Metro-General Hospital
	+ Hogarth & Associates Law Office
	+ Gregory Sallinger's Apartment
	+ Trish Walker's Hideout
	+ ARN Broadcasting Center
	+ New York State Supreme Court Building
	+ *Rudy's Bar & Grill*
* Georgia (mentioned)

### Events

* Trish Walker's Vigilante Campaign
	+ Chase of Gregory Sallinger
	+ Capture of Trish Walker
	+ Arrest of Gregory Sallinger
	+ Assassination of Gregory Sallinger
	+ Ambush on Carl Nussbaumer (mentioned)
	+ Attack on Jace Montero (mentioned)
* Skirmish at the Hudson Ferry Terminal (mentioned)
* Assassination of Dorothy Walker (mentioned)
* Assassination of Alisa Jones (mentioned)

### Items

* Darwington's
* *Style by Trish* (mentioned)

### Organizations

* Alias Investigations
* Hogarth & Associates
* New York City Police Department
* ARN
* New York City Department of Correction

### Mentioned

* Carl Nussbaumer
* Jace Montero
* Kilgrave
* Donny Sallinger
* Dorothy Walker
* Zaya Okonjo
* Joshua Walker
* Levin
* Alisa Jones

## References

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

## External Links

* AKA A Lotta Worms on IMDb
* AKA A Lotta Worms on Disney+
* AKA Lotta Worms on Marvel Database