Well we are back after a mid-season break from Jane the Virgin, well…not a virgin. Of course, if you haven’t watched the episode stop now, I will be getting into the novela drama that is Jane.
We begin, as we do, with our loveable narrator recapping from our last episode (yes, I am about to recap the recap). Some crazy stuff had happened before we took a break. Alba had been proposed to…and said no after not feeling like she could let go of the love she had with her late husband. Xo (Xiomara) was mad at Rogelio—but what is new. Oh they were going to go to therapy, that is definitely new. Aneshka (Petra’s twin) faked her death so she wasn’t dead. Petra had tried to manipulate Aneshka into giving up her shares of the hotel because Aneshka and their mother had plotted to get Luisa (Rafael’s sister) committed after convincing her she was hallucinating a man named Carl—even though Carl was real! Aneshka played the revenge card against Petra and told Luisa that Rafael and Petra had actually lied and were the ones who took advantage of her not them…and then Aneshka died falling off a balcony when confronting Petra (they really need to secure these balconies…). Also Rafael and Jane are lying to the school district so Mateo could go to the better public school. AND THEN Rafael kissed Jane (yawn…).
So we start with Jane of course watching a telenovela as a child and witnessing the first kiss of her favorite stars wondering how her first kiss will be. Alba gives her the PG, not real version and Xo keeps it real. Then in present day, we find out that Jane did care for the kiss she had with Rafael. I am with her, it was novela style with the windows blowing open, wind through their hair—but I wasn’t buying it. Jane had just found out her childhood boo she was reconnecting with and falling for was moving to LA to pursue his comic book artist career. She had her small book tour that was a small fail and was feeling betrayed and stressed. To top it off, her book reviews were mediocre. All that to say, Rafael was in his own feelings when he jumped into that kiss. Jane confides in her mom that she felt nothing, meanwhile Rafael is confiding in Alba that it was just as magical as before. Oh jeez…
Cut to Xo and Rogelio in therapy. Now, of course, Rogelio doesn’t believe in therapy. We all really know why— because he is just too self-centered to think there could be something “wrong” with him that he would need therapy (as if therapy means there is something wrong with you). At therapy, he is literally tweeting that he’s “so bored.” Xo is pissed. Then the therapist gets him to open up about his relationship with his mother. Needless to say, he has a breakthrough about how being pushed into child stardom affected his life as an adult. We then see, later in the episode, that Rogelio talks Xo’s ear off about his problems, and she just needs a break.
So the next day after this kiss (again, yawn), Rafael is all excited to talk about getting back together with Jane, but she is just not excited. He takes a page from her book and plans it out, literally writing a proposal about all the factors. She says something and he’s like “I thought of that.” Then he gets to the kiss…Jane’s like uh…“It was not that great.” He’s like… “What?” and I’m at home like “Exactly!” I feel like I was team Rafael at first or as Alba says “Jafael.” But then they got my heart with that episode when Michael died. I was like, I may have been team Rafael but this is true love with Michael, you can’t stop love. The beautiful story arc and writing so expertly dealt with loss that I was down with just watching Jane’s journey and was looking forward to new characters coming into her life. So going back to Rafael after he tried to go back to Petra and Jane to her old school fling seems like just too easy of a move. But I know its a novela so they will flip the script. Anyways Rafael’s pride is hurt by the end of that convo.
The biggest news of the episode is not the therapy breakthroughs or the unearthing of past relationships, but the newest addition to the cast. Right after the moment Rafael kisses Jane, Petra calls about Aneshka falling off the balcony and that she’s at the precinct giving her statement about self-defense. Rafael was like, “ I thought she was already dead,” (Hahahaha!). So then he rushes out to help and tells Petra to “call a lawyer—a good one.”
Petra tells her assistant to get the best lawyer and guess who it is? It’s my girl!!! Rosario Dawson!! I’m like, yes, I’ll allow it. Rosario’s character’s name is Jane and this just irks Petra, so as she does, she treats people like dirt by condescending them. She basically tells Rosario (Lawyer Jane) that she knows she’s just trying to bleed her for money. Like a BOSS Rosario gives her the rundown on what is going to happen in the investigation—’cause of course, there is going to be an investigation. There has been so much murder in this hotel that the next season of American Horror Story is gonna be called ‘The Marbella.’ In the end, Petra gets subpoenaed for access to her emails and yup, just as predicted, the investigation begins, and Petra calls Lawyer Jane back. BUT as Lawyer Jane gets back in her car after agreeing to work with Petra, she says, “It’s done I’m her lawyer, what’s next.” *Novela style gasp!*
A strong theme we have seen this season is around lies, working to be honest, and finding the truth. It was only fitting that in order to get the best out of a messed up system, the co-parents teach their son how to lie properly. They tell him, “We are going to play a game” and pretend Xo and Rogelio’s house is their house so he can have a playdate after his first day of kindergarten. Who has a playdate right after the first day of school? Maybe that’s just me, I was raised on: we ain’t doin’ nothing without advance notice… “Can we have a playdate?” “Yea on Friday.”
Anyways the couple who brings their son over (a lovely same-sex couple btw YAAAASS JTV bringing reality into their show). The couple quickly sees that this home is not theirs. Thankfully they are cool and send a gentle warning that Rafael and Jane should be careful cuz other parents are snitches. They then say, “Now you can give this house back to the porn stars who own it.” Oh dang lol!
My favorite part of the show is always seeing Alba’s journey and this episode you truly see Abuela’s struggle with her past. We see her turn down her boo’s proposal because she can never love anyone like she loved her late husband. It was so difficult because we all know that she will never love anyone like her husband. Xo and Jane try to explain this to her, but who can explain anything to Alba?—you can’t tell her nothing. She always has a realization in her own way, she begins to understand, it hurts, but she also knows life can hurt but compassion for the people you love is so much more important than the pain. Xo confides in Alba about her regret of not being able to spend time with her father when he was around, that he was always working.
Alba gets so defensive—saying he worked hard to get them the things they needed and provide for her. Xo said she knows, but in the end, all the stuff didn’t really mean half as much as getting time to spend with her father. It was so deep. Alba holds on so tightly to the memory of her husband, I feel like it inhibits her sometimes from growth and taking full advantage of her life in the now. Rafael helps her see the truth, letting her know that it’s much similar to his situation with Jane. When they kissed he had an experience much different from Jane’s and he had to acknowledge that. Alba finds it within herself to apologize, and I truly hope this will be a beginning to her continued journey through her loss and how she will move forward in the now.
Towards the end, everyone is having realizations and finding the truth. Rafael finds out that Petra was doing the Petra thing, lying, being cutthroat and not telling Rafael what was really going on. He received a letter from Luisa upset that he had conspired with Petra to have her committed in order to get her shares of the hotel. You see Rafael confront Petra and run off.
Xo and Rogelio understand the deepest parts of each other’s past that has truly made them who they are. Rogelio has an epiphany that he needs spend time with his new child, “Bab,y” and does the unthinkable—a selfless act, turns down a big novela sequel to be a stay at home dad!
And in the end, Rafael sees what he has to do, he has to make a change. He finds a small studio apartment in Mateo’s school district, so they can stop the lies and Rafael and Jane can have space from each other. He’s still not convinced that the kiss was bad and makes a joke. Jane gives in and says fine “try again.” Oh boy, here we go… He whispers some obviously sexual things in her ear about what he would do after they kiss. Then *record skip sound in my head* I just realized they have never had sex! Jane may no longer be a virgin, but she damn sure waited until marriage, and that was to Michael! So I may not be excited about them kissing again but well, they can at least get it in ’cause that is definitely a long time coming!
Anyways, they start making out and Mateo comes in the room all excited like now we can all be together!
That’s where they leave us. But I’ll be honest, I’m still stuck on Rosario… Is lawyer Jane a villain?? Tune in next week to Jane the Virgin, but not a virgin.
Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?
Show Comments