Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Seven,” was written by David S Rosenthal and directed by Janice Cooke. Rosenthal has an impressive resume, including The Middle, 90210, Gilmore Girls and Ellen (the tv series). Cooke has lots of romance and rom-coms on her resume, including Hart of Dixie, Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. Showrunner Jennie Snyder seems to like to work with people she’s worked with before or who've worked on the same shows, and it’s really working for the show! We don’t have a new episode this week, but that gives us more of a chance to talk about the last installment!
The episode begins with a flashback to “the kiss” five years ago. We see Jane (Gina Rodriguez) excitedly telling Xo (Andrea Navedo) about it. Xo is excited for her, but also realistic – he sounds like a playboy to her. Jane assures her that he’s not like that, he’s different. But Xo warns her, “that’s what makes a good playboy. You never feel like you’re being played.” And sure enough Rafael (Justin Baldoni) didn’t call five years ago. In his defense, he has admitted that he was a jerk back then…
In the present, we pick up right where the last chapter ended: “the kiss” in the present! Xo is clearly not at all impressed. It was terrific watching Jane and Xo trade places in this episode. Navedo is terrific as she moves between caring mother to dramatic girlfriend and a really grounded performance. She lists all of the things that should be keeping Jane away from Rafael and they pop up as emoticons – playboy, lifestyle, baby, he’s married, his wife’s crazy. I loved them being repeated later in the episode and popping backwards as Rafael shoots them all down!
Jane’s sensible side tells her that her mother is right, but she’s feeling the pressure of the coming baby – this could be her last chance to take a chance! Rafael shows up at the house the next day and wants to take Jane on a date – to do things properly. Jane is completely honest with him about how she’s feeling – and we know she is completely honest and sincere thanks to the narrator (Anthony Mendez) helpfully filling us in. Jane is cautious by nature and asks Rafael for more time as she’s only just broken up with Michael (Brett Dier).
It’s impossible not to feel sorry for Michael. He’s the only one we see texting Jane, but now it’s just to get his watch back. Michael is sure it can’t be over. He feels terrible about having lied but explains he panicked. And for the first time we see Jane lie – she tells Michael it’s not about Rafael. Michael is terribly hurt then when he sees the flowers from Rafael and the note tells him that they’ve kissed and are planning to see each other again. He tells Jane that she’s not the person he thought she was. He still really hasn’t given up on her though until after Xo calls looking for Jane and he sees the pictures of Jane at the club and knows she’s spent the night with Rafael. It’s hard to blame him for having sex with his partner, Nadine (Azi Tesfai). I’m still very much enjoying Dier’s performance as he’s doing a terrific job keeping Michael sympathetic.
Baldoni is also doing a great job making Rafael equally likeable with just that edge of can we really trust him? Jane, of course, is unlike any of the vacuous or manipulative women he’s dated before. She has this wonderful blend of innocence – she’s a virgin after all! – but it’s blended with an almost old soul wisdom. She is brave, practical and smart, enough of both to usually be the parent in her relationship with her mother – and now her father!
I loved that she went after Rafael about the flowers because of how it hurt Michael. Jane is completely concerned about his feelings. Rafael doesn’t come off well in that scene. He tries to turn it around on himself, saying that Michael had been a jerk to him. Jane points out that Michael was clearly justified in his feelings of jealousy. It seems that Rafael is only thinking of himself in this scene, while Jane, as always, is considering how her actions affect everyone.
I loved the scene in which Jane had to ask Rafael to get them into the club for Frankie’s (Camille Collard) birthday. Rafael is happy to be able to do something for Jane and that he gets to see her that night. Endearingly, he can’t keep the smile off his face. Jane is sure he’s not taking her statement that it’s not a date seriously and demands he says it’s not a date with “No teeth!” He does it for her, but smiles as soon as her back is turned. When Rafael tries to respect her wishes at the club, Jane – as the sober, pregnant girl – is definitely not happy to watch him surrounded by beautiful women. It is, of course, his job as an investor to ensure that all his guest have a good time though…
I loved that all the magical realism elements in this episode really had to do with Rafael. So Jane sees the Stop sign as saying “Stop. No Rafael,” the cash register says “Will you tell them you kissed him,” and the Exit sign “No Exit” to Rafael. Her subconscious keeps telling her no, but her heart keeps saying it’s meant to be. We return to the emoticon and Rafael pops each one in turn. Baldoni is wonderfully sincere in this scene as he tells her he’s divorcing Petra (Yael Grobglas) and will buy her off to get rid of her the moment Jane says to. He tells her they will be discreet as he doesn’t want to hurt Michael either. He appeals to Jane’s first wish – that the baby have two loving parents and be with both of them. He encourages her to use the time before the baby to get to know each other.
Jane gives in and they secretly slip away and spend the night having one of those wonderful talks. He confides his fear of ducks and we learn that Jane can rap – not wrap! We also learn that Rafael’s mother left the morning after his fourth birthday with no explanation. His father (Carlo Rota) told him she was gone, she was selfish, and it was time to move on. So here’s another thing that they have in common. Even though Rafael had a series of step-mothers, he really grew up with only one parent too. This of course begs the question of what happened to his mother. Could SHE be Sin Rostra – the man without a face?
The final magic realism for these two is three heart emoticons that come up as they fall asleep together! Xo is frantic when Jane doesn’t come home and declares this is a sign of the bad influence that Rafael is having on Jane already. Jane echos Rafael’s sentiment that she has to use the time before the baby to explore her feeling because after the baby she will have to be safe and sensible. I loved Jane telling Xo that she’s not a very good judge of men right in front of Rogelio (Jaime Camil). Camil never fails to be hilarious!
The other fall out from Jane’s sleep over is at work. Sister Margaret (Leslie Simms) has been capitalizing on the website about Jane and her notoriety to give out fertility coins with Jane’s picture on them to couples coming to the Church. A hug from Jane could potentially increase their chances to get pregnant! It’s hilarious as Jane tries to figure out why these random strangers want to hug her – first she assumes they must be parents of the kids she’s teaching and then she assumes they are fans of her father – which is hilarious when they assume Holy Father! Jane puts her foot down about the coins, but has to use it as a bargaining chip to keep her job. Simms and Willow Greer (Sister Theresa) make an hilarious pair.
Meanwhile, Xo and Rogelio are circling each other as Xo tries to keep Rogelio at arms length so as not to jeopardize his relationship with Jane. I loved him going to Rafael and giving him a dressing down over keeping Jane out all night – trying to act like a father and how confused Rafael is by the entire conversation.
Xo tells Jane that Rogelio is “too dramatic” – um, yeah! And of course, he accuses her of the same – um, yeah! It’s why they’re meant for each other! I love the narrator’s voice over that sounded more like he was giving color commentary to a nature show: “What you are about to witness is two creatures who are inherently dramatic attempt to behave like they are not dramatic.” And of course, they both are even more dramatic – and lie themselves into finding dates for a double date.
I really liked Nicholas Gonzalez as Marco. I also really like how the show can play a straight performance with something more over the top – like Rogelio – and it doesn’t seem strained. This ability to seamlessly blend performances and genres is one of the most endearing aspects of the show and really works only because of the caliber of both acting and writing on the show.
It’s a nice parallel to Jane’s own dilemma now that Xo has Marco – a gorgeous, retired professional soccer player, who only retired to spend more time with his daughter – and Rogelio both pursuing her – the practical and the “meant to be.” The worst double date in history was hilarious. I loved Rogelio thinking he was all that and trying to one up Marco only to be one upped himself. And of course, he’s the irresponsible one who drinks too much and can’t get home on his own – wasn’t he staying at the hotel??? And Marco is the responsible one, going home early to be able to get up with his daughter.
I really can’t say enough about Navedo and Camil’s ability to play both straight and comic, to go from broad comedy to heartbreaking. Rogelio is still playing the part of the famous telenovela star, and I’m looking forward to Camil continuing to peel back the layers on him. He clearly is in love with Xo, but now we have Marco too! Aarghh! I’m finding it impossible to root for a single pairing here too!
Meahwhile, Petra and Magda (Priscilla Barnes) are dealing with having kidnapped Ivan (Christopher Corbin). I loved how they started with us in the pillow case with him – a nice reflection of us being in the dark as to what Petra was really up to too. Clearly, she deliberately feeds him peanuts to win his trust by being able to save him. Grobglas is really terrific in the role and it’s impossible to know whether she is a victim or a villain – she plays that line perfectly. I still think Magda would have been happy to just out and out kill him. I really did think there was a good shot that Magda was Sin Rostra, but if she was, no doubt she would have better access to resources to deal with Ivan or at least get rid of the body – without blowing her cover. I think we can cross her off the list.
We see that Petra does manage to manipulate Lachlan (Michael Rady) to her side – even if she does have to sleep with him and doesn’t get her money up front. I’m dying to know what they told Mr Solano to win him to their side against his own son – and why does Rafael have to stand Jane up on their first really official date to go to Mexico? I’m sure we all agree that Jane won’t throw Rafael to the curb if he loses all his money.
This show is just brilliant, especially in its consistency. Every episode maintains the endearing qualities of the first. It’s nice for a show to actually make you root for everyone! Even the villains are sympathetic and likeable on some level! Again, this is a real testament to the writers and the actors. What did you think of the episode? Are you missing it as much as I am this week? Who do you think Sin Rostra is? What did you think of Marco? Do you think he’ll put up with either Rogelio’s or Xo’s drama? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
