Warning: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED.
Mondays is when both Supergirl and Jane the Virgin come out, and being the busy (yet procrastinating) student I am, I decided to watch Jane the Virgin first. If you know me in real life, you will know that I was NOT happy with the premiere last week. Rafael and Rogelio's character development, I felt, were sacrificed in favor of Jane and Michael. In Jane's fantasy of a perfect life, Rafael was not in a single moment of it! Even though he is still Mateo's father, and still going to be part of the family, even if she is married to Michael! Rogelio was ARRESTED for trying to protect his family! And Petra - the showwriters truly hate her. Her own family conspired against her to put her in a f**king hospital while they blackmail Rafael!
...Okay, now that that rant's done, I'm ready to start talking about this episode. It was much better than the premiere, but I still feel uncomfortable watching Jane and Michael act lovey-dovey on screen. I wouldn't have minded it that much, but I feel like the writers have written them at the expense of Rafael. And yes, I know love triangles suck, but in season 2 Rafael was constantly being stepped on, betrayed, and hurt by the people he thought he loved and trusted while Jane and Michael got all the happy storylines. So sue me if I'm more than a little bitter about his treatment and distrustful of the writers because of it. Also, Rafael and Jane have more chemistry than Jane and Michael ever did. There, I said it. Sorry Brett Dier, it's nothing against you, but....hashtag Jafael forever. There was a lot of Jane and Michael content, but since I don't care for their relationship, I'm not going into detail.
Jane the Virgin has always been great about combining the elements of the show and the plot of the week with the narration (which is done by the iconic Anthony Mendez). And this week, it did not disappoint. The episode opened up with Jane's trauma from seeing her new husband lying in the hallway of the Marbella, having been shot by Sin Rostro. While I thought her reaction was genuine, it was weird seeing little to no Michael-centric reactions. Michael was the one who actually got shot, so.... Anyways, Jane tries to overcome her nightmares and fears by settling into a routine again. First on the list: finding a preschool for Mateo with Rafael. Rafael seems a changed person, too - all of a sudden, he changes his mind about the preschool they had previously picked out together. The reason, you may ask? It's because....he's no longer in love with Jane!
To the Jafael shippers, that sure stung a little. It also seemed to have come out of nowhere, considering a mere two episodes ago Rafael was struggling to get over the fresh heartbreak of seeing the love of his life get married to someone else. And considering we've pretty much seen nothing from Rafael's point of view (a major side eye to the writers once again)...it just felt a little out of character. The writers clearly could tell, and tried too hard to make it believable. All of a sudden, Rafael suddenly disagrees with all of Jane's decisions, and feels the need to tell her repeatedly that he's over her? Okay, guys. We get it, Jafael isn't endgame and you want to take all the elements that made Jafael special and shove it into Jane and Michael's relationship, alienating many fans in the process. OKAY. BUT I'M NOT BITTER AT ALL. NOPE. I'M NOT.
It also seemed to me that they were trying to villainize Rafael for not being more understanding of Jane's situation. This was a badly written scene, but Gina and Justin's chemistry was naturally off the charts. Hey, JTV writers? If you don't want people to ship something, don't hire actors with natural chemistry. Anyways, it wasn't completely horrible - Jane and Rafael have a nice talk later in the episode (set up in a creative way as well) that smoothes out their differences.
Meanwhile, Xo struggles with telling Abuela that she got an abortion. She became pregnant in the first place by accidentally sleeping with Rogelio's enemy Esteban. When Rogelio finds out, he's naturally upset, but part of what makes Xo and Rogelio's dynamic so great is that they support each other, no matter what. It's a shame they broke up because Xo didn't want any more kids, and Ro did. Another major side eye to the writers. Breaking up two of your best relationships? Not cool, bro, not cool. The cat eventually is let out of the bag, and Abuela is angry enough to stop talking to her own daughter for a little bit. Of course, they make up at the end and Abuela uses a wallpaper metaphor to offer a truce - agree to disagree, and move on. Between Jane and Rafael, Jane and Michael, Rogelio and Xo, and Abuela and Xo, it's clear that moving on is the center motif of this episode. With Abeula and Xo specifically comes a nice mother-daughter moment where the Villanueva ladies tear down the "ugly" cherry wallpaper in their remodeled house together. In my opinion, it wasn't that bad! Don't be so harsh about the wallpaper!
At the same time, Petra must continue her storyline of torture by watching her identical twin sister steal her identity. Anezka struggles to hide that she's not actually Petra, and even sleeps with the hotel manager that Petra hates. Anezka finds out that Scott secretly has tons of dirt on Rafael and uses that to her advantage to blackmail him and steal his money. That's the plan Anezka and her mother concocted, anyway. Ugh. Look, I honestly flip flop back and forth on my opinion of Petra, but even I don't think she deserves this. Petra may have inherited manipulation and lying skills from her horrible mother, but I do believe she has good intentions, and honestly? Nobody deserves to suffer paralysis by the hands of their own family. And still no one has suspected that there's something wrong with Petra, because that isn't the real Petra!! DO SOMETHING!! Also, I would like to add that it was a little more than frustrating when the narrator stated the "good news" to contrast Petra's plight - that Jane and Michael can finally have sex! Jane will no longer be a married virgin with a son! Good for them, but good news? Really? Come on.
In summation, Jane the Virgin may have its flaws - lots of them - and follow cliche telenovela plotlines, but its overarching themes are always on point. Are you flashing back to your English class with my use of "overarching themes"? Anyways, Jane the Virgin stars a Latinx family played by Latinx actors, and its storylines about issues of color such as immigration are always poignant. This week, it was abortion, and the increasing acceptance of cultural diversity. Jane the Virgin's discussion on abortion was well done - it wasn't a huge deal to the woman who wanted one, but it was to her more conservative mother. However, Xo had the right to choose, and Abuela didn't hold it against her for long. As for the cultural diversity storyline, Rogelio tries to audition for American shows to enter the American entertainment industry, but realizes that Americans should be more accepting of Latinx telenovelas instead, and that he shouldn't have to change for anyone. As a woman of color myself, this really resonated with me, and I'm so happy that the Jane the Virgin cast is talented enough to nail social issue after social issue. I was deeply unhappy last week, but I was pretty content after this episode. We'll just have to see what the next episode holds!
Rating: 7.5
Extras that didn't make in: Did I mention how uncomfortable I feel about Jane and Michael's relationship? Well, there. I said it again. I'm a proud member of the "Petra, Rogelio and Rafael deserve better 2kforever" movement.
*My next review will probably be of today's episode of The Flash! See you then!
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