Xo + Rogelio + Baby
So we’re in the doctor’s and it is the worst — stage 3 cancer. I’m like YO dance may have saved this woman’s LIFE! It is a cancer that doesn’t show up well on scans and how would they even have known? The good news is it’s not in her lymph nodes, so mastectomy is the next phase. Xiomara has to decide whether she wants to remove both breasts or just remove the one. So good news but not great. In the meantime Xo is not letting anyone change their lives during this, she really doesn’t want Rogelio to push the shoot. You know he does anyways.
First things first, Rogelio comes to Jane about not overwhelming Xo with facts and research at dinner. Then Xo is at dinner like “Where’s the binders?” Everyone thinks she should have a double mastectomy. Xo reluctantly agrees and they are scheduling the surgery! Omg.
Ro suggests a spa day before the surgery, obviously for him and Xo, but she asks Jane to go… Ro’s face is so disappointed. When you really think about it, if my significant other was going into surgery I would want to spend as much time with them as possible, but under the circumstances, Rogelio just needs to do what Xo wants.
Xo’s Decision
While at the spa, Xo really gets in her body and is like, I don’t want to give up my body!
She decides she wants to try to hold on as long as possible and is going to do the lumpectomy. She is beside herself about her relationship with her body. This is where the writers at JTV excel. Someone out there said “what if we have a novela that was dramatic simply because life itself is dramatic” and then made it happen.
Xo has a heartfelt monologue with herself and realizes there is only one person she can talk to – her husband. It was amazing to see how these writers hit all the feelings, layer upon layer.
Not only was I crying because Xo realized that her main source of confidence had been her body. I was also crying because she really embraced what it is to have a life partner. She was so used to being single mom, dealing with everything with Jane on her own. Her mom never had that other half. ON top of that! She realizes that when her body changes it’s not just about her it’s about them.
So her and only Rogelio come to the perfect decision for them. I’m sobbing again, just sobbing!
As a married woman myself, I know how important it is to have this. Sometimes we forget that a partner is just that – a partner in life, always thinking with you and there to equal out the weight of the world. For the writers to convey what a partnership is and how intertwined your lives are. They really illustrated that the decisions you make for yourself are for yourself, but making them together is what reminds you that this other person makes you who you are too. I’m just – UUUgh!
So Xiomara is getting a lumpectomy and one breast will be removed. Xiomara and Rogelio have their own goodbye boob party. BTW I am still crying all of those layers of feelings out by this point.
Alba
Alba is taking it all really hard. At the medical supply store with Rogelio, Alba flips out at the store employee – in English!! Ro suggests talking to someone. She says she is talking to someone: “God. He’s like a therapist.” She insists she is fine. Ummm…wigging out on the medical store guy is def not fine.
Rogelio is persistent and tries to get her to talk to a therapist at lunch. Alba don’t play that. After lunch she lets it all out. The truth is, she is mad at Rogelio! She yells at him saying, he is selfish to still be talking to his agent. He is not putting Xo first. Alba refuses to let him bail on her daughter.
But Alba doesn’t know that Xo told Ro to keep his shoot dates even though he wanted to move them, or even that he moved them anyways! I’ve never seen Alba this angry.
When she finds out she yelled at Rogelio for no reason she feels like crap – she knows she did wrong. Truthfully, I would like to see Alba see a therapist – it would be more layers to Alba. Yay more layers!
Petra + Lawyer Jane
Petra is texting Lawyer Jane all regular expecting something extraordinary to happen. Like Lawyer Jane is just gonna respond: “Petra I’m in love with you”, after she get the text for Petra “hey, how are you, can we meet?” Lol.
Rafael overhears Petra practicing speaking to Lawyer Jane and immediately thinks she is talking about Jane Jane. Of course! But that’s why we love this show, they sprinkle in real actual novela story plots but then resolve them quick when the episode is serious. Rafael tells Jane and Jane is like – “Do you have feelings for me?” Petra is like Whahahaaaat! She literally says ew! HA! Jane Jane is pretty offended, but, it’s fine.
Since Rafael and Jane Jane are the only ones who know about Lawyer Jane, Petra heads over to Rafael’s and talks for 45 minutes! Just talking Rafael’s ear off. Lawyer Jane has responded to Petra’s message about a meet-up like “Why, is it about the case?” Once Rafael gets a word in, he tells her to meet with Lawyer Jane and woo her — oooOOOOooo!
So Petra invites Lawyer Jane to the Marbella. Petra’s got flowers (not really Petra’s thing) the whole shebang (hehehe). Lawyer Jane shows up and is like “What’s with the flowers?” Petra says it’s a romantic gesture, and Lawyer Jane is basically like ew creepy. (Buuuurrrrn) Lawyer Jane then proceeds to say that they would never work as a couple, they are both too manipulative. She ends with “Is there anything else – cuz I got a date?” Ow! Cold blooded! (Rick James voice again).
The woo thing is a real crash and burn. Petra calls Rafael like her therapist to vent AAAnnd is following Lawyer Jane in her car.
Petra sees Lawyer Jane on her date with another blonde woman. Pissed because she’s “Everyone’s type,” Petra hits a car right in front of Lawyer Jane’s view – announcing she is a stalker. Lawyer Jane is like were you following me?? Petra lets it all out. She confesses how this isn’t like her, the flowers, the stalking, the awkward texting and generally making a fool of herself.
BUT she did something right. Lawyer Jane shows up at Petra’s place while she is feeling sorry for herself wearing sweats and eating pickles. Lawyer Jane says: “Vulnerable Petra is way better than ice queen Petra.”
All my dreams are coming true, Petra is head over heels – Lawyer Jane is gonna make her a new woman!
YAY!! And still crying layers of feelings BTW
Rafael
After Rafael is done imagining romantic things happening between Jane and Petra – jeez — Rafael gets serious.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like we all forget that Rafael had cancer. Every time it becomes relevant everyone at home is saying “oh yea…right.” I also feel like the writers know exactly how everything is going down waaaay in advance. They knew they were gonna kill Michael. They knew they were gonna write in Xo’s cancer. To do that, they had to off-panel cure Rafael’s cancer. They are writing an interconnected web of mystery like Rebecca Sugar with Steven Universe.
Anyways, Rafael goes to meet with Xo about what she is going through. Xo even says out loud that she forgets he had cancer. But he really is the only one who knows how Xo feels. Rafael tells her she needs to put aside everyone else’s feelings for her own. He even tells Jane basically, that she can’t convince Xo to do what Jane wants, cuz it’s not happening to Jane.
Right now with everything going on, Rafael is on ultimate daddy duty. He’s got the twins and Mateo, while Mateo is trying to understand what is going on with Abuela (Xo). Mateo feels like praying all the time and Rafael is a little beside himself. Religion is not a big part of his life, but he sees it is becoming one for his son. He tells Mateo that praying may not heal Abuela, but “if it makes you feel strong, you should do it.” Rafael puts aside his own feelings about religion for Mateo, who really feels like praying and needs his father at that time. Aaaaahhh father/son, mother/daughter episode! My heart is growing three sizes this evening waaaahhh.
Jane + Everything
As we know, Jane is researching everything for Xiomara. She’s made multiple binders with information and has come to the most rational answer – cut them off! No risk for future anything, and as we know, everyone agrees. I’ll be honest, I agreed too — but I had to come to realizations watching this episode too.
When it comes to telling Mateo, I feel like Jane used a little radical honesty from Petra’s book. She didn’t sugar coat it or tell Mateo a fairytale to soften the blow. She tells him. Unfortunately, now Mateo feels like his Abuela is going to die and he needs to pray to save her. This really brings in how we talk to kids about death. This show gets it.
When Jane goes to the spa day with Xo, it’s fun and also not fun. Everyone is walking around naked or topless and it just reminds them of the whole surgery. Even the paperwork reminds them that they need to tell the massage therapist about any serious conditions. It never lets up, does it?
When Xo tells Jane that she wants the lumpectomy, Jane tries to remind her that they had already decided, like they had some board meeting and signed a contract that we were cutting ties with the boobies. In the end, Xo has to stick it to her, that she can’t make her decision based on Jane’s fear. I honestly feel like this is the first time they cannot lean on each other to make the right choice, or even that leaning on each other is the right thing to do.
In the end you can see how scared Jane is, and how hard it is to remember that her mother has someone now. The binders and research and pragmatic decisions were necessary when they only had each other, but now there is a whole tribe. We got Rafael who has intimate experiences, Petra who went through it from Jane’s side with Rafael, and we have Rogelio the love of Xo’s life, there for the both of them.
So instead she writes – it’s the best way she knows how to be. Then it’s like a mommy montage after that: words are flying through the air, past scenes from Xo being that fierce mama, it’s great and more layers of feelings to cry over.
I wish I could leave it there, but of course some ominous not-so-good figure is approaching in the storyline, literally in the night. We’ll see what new twist this brings. Another evil twin?? Rafael’s real dad?
Tune in next week on, Jane the – knowing her place daughter.
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