Jane the Virgin, 3.06 - "Chapter Fifty"

Warning: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED.

After ending on a wild note, Jane the Virgin loses some of the previous episode's sparkle and intrigue. On another note, the show is halfway to 100 and having been around since nearly the beginning of season 1, I'm proud of the cast for getting so far. Let's discuss!


The episode picks up right where it left off - Jane's strange distant British cousin Catalina discovered where she lives and is standing in front of the house. Surprisingly, Jane isn't concerned or suspicious at all when she should be, even inviting Catalina to stay for a few days, especially with all the sh*t she has faced throughout the seasons. Mateo and Rogelio's kidnapping and Petra's whole identity fiasco should really have made her more aware of strangers. Michael is understandably more cautious but still lets her stay.

Jane soon starts feeling boring while listening to her cousin's exotic adventures, and decides to spice up her life. Taking Catalina's advice to fake it until you make it, Jane receives mixed results. While applying for an assistant job, her pretense at knowing computer software results in the deletion of unsaved material. However, Jane's false confidence impresses the other assistant, Alice - will it result in getting the job?

Catalina's arrival also helps to spice up her life; she and Rafael have an instantaneous spark upon meeting - they eventually sleep together at the end of the episode. I know the relationship is just to cause drama, but....attraction at first sight is never acted well. You can't force chemistry, and I know this best of all, coming from other TV shows (Arrow). For once in her life, Jane is the awkward third wheel at their 7 pm drinks date, and even starts showing signs of jealousy. Michael, Catalina and Rafael collectively call her out on her hypocrisy, even when she attempts to disguise it. To be fair, it does make sense, especially when Rafael's new flame is Jane's blood relation.

Alba is still hesitant about Catalina - after all, she and her sister (Catalina's grandmother) had a nasty falling out after carefully kept secrets were revealed and relationships fell apart. However, she (reluctantly) agrees to meet her for Jane's sake. Both Jane and Alba feel that their closeness has been severed by the family drama, and try to find a balance, since it's usually Xo and Alba who give each other the cold shoulder. Alas, Alba doesn't find Catalina trustworthy, and to be honest? Neither should Jane. Catalina's arrival was so sudden, it can't possibly mean anything good. Catalina herself hints that she may be up to trouble.

Meanwhile, Xiomara has successfully found a space for her dance studio with Rogelio's help. It turns out Xo and Rogelio have an inside joke about dancing - we see flashbacks of the two as teenagers having a dance off. I literally remember nothing about their backstory from the previous seasons, so I thought they didn't go to school together. Turns out, they did, and Rogelio specifically went to the dance class to befriend Xo. The new place seems perfect, except for one thing - Xiomara's old flame Bruce works across the street. Despite insisting that she's over him after he got into her head (and called him out for it, too), Rogelio catches them kissing....just as he's about to confess his lingering feelings. He's heartbroken, but takes it as a sign that they wouldn't have worked out, as he still wants children, and she doesn't. Really, this show did both of the main couples dirty. Rogelio and Xo were cute together, and so were Jane and Rafael. Sigh. By the way, I still would like to know more of the repercussions of the abortion storyline. Once Xiomara had it, it disappeared forever - does she have regrets? Does Rogelio? Anyways, Rogelio applies the situation to the plot of a The Passions of Santos episode, bizarrely incorporating a product placement as well. (If you recall, the product placement was in exchange for him appearing nude in an American role.) It's very random, but also somehow deep and metaphorical at the same time.

Petra has finally escaped from her paralysis, and demands that Rafael hand over his hotel stakes. He doesn't go down with a fight - he and Scott go behind her back to force her to give up on that goal. Scott sues her for sexual harassment, and Rafael will dismiss the case if he gets his shares back. Petra has no choice but to reluctantly oblige. I love Rafael, but that was kind of shitty to do. I know he was in a tight situation, but Petra has gone through a lot. Also, now he owes Scott of all people a favor, and God knows what kind of BS he'll have to do. Ugh.

Overall, this was a decent episode. It wasn't as strong as the previous one, but this show has never let me down in its writing, like some other shows I watch have (Arrow). However, I do want to say that JTV still needs to work on nicely tying up and bringing back storylines. I've said this before, but they juggle too much at a time which can lower the quality of the writing. Hopefully the mid season finale is better! (Also, I can't believe we're already at midseason hiatus. It flew by so fast!)

Rating: 7.7
Extras that didn't make it in: Michael and Jane got a cat!! Yay!!!

*My next review will probably be of Pitch or Supergirl or the Flash. See you then!