Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Sixteen,” was written by the team of Josh Reims and Carolina Rivera and directed by the wonderful Joanna Kerns. I’ve put off posting this review because I thought it would be helpful to have a refresher closer to the airing of the new episode. This episode once again wove humor and heart-warming scenes as Jane’s (Gina Rodriguez) fantasy butts up against reality. The show also features a real life celebrity again – Grammy-winning Spanish pop star David Brisbal – playing himself: reality intruding in fantasy.
As always the episode begins with a flashback to young Jane at Calle Ocho – Miami’s annual carnaval. Young Jane (Jenna Ortega) falls in love with the romance and fantasy of the salsa dance. The fantasy is cracked, however, when she catches the salsa dancer in the arms of another. We learn later in the episode that Calle Ocho is really all about family for Jane. She just wants Xo (Andrea Navedo) and Alba (Ivonne Coll) to get along. But more importantly, the theme of this episode carries throughout as all the characters have to deal with reality intruding on their fantasies.
For Jane, her reality is literally stopping her fantasy. She decides to devote herself to her writing because Rafael (Justin Baldoni) is immersing himself in his work after she turned down his proposal. She tells Xo that she’s not going to obsess over Rafael becoming distant, but she can’t get him out of her head and ends up with writer’s block. Michael (Brett Dier) tells her about a writing workshop being run by one of Jane’s favorite romance writers, Amanda Elaine, played by Jane Seymour.
Reality intrudes even in the workshop, however. At first, Jane finds the workshop is a fantasy – friendly, stimulating, inspiring. Jane doesn’t read the back of the flyer, so when it comes time to do the “compliment cards,” Jane thinks she’s supposed to give criticism both good and bad on Wendy’s (Kathleen Wilhoite) story. Wilhoite and Rodriguez are great in this scene. We, of course, know how sweet Jane is and the “criticism” isn’t mean or harsh, but it shatters the fantasy for Wendy too. When Jane tries to make it up to Wendy by writing an entire page of nice things about her story, Wendy ends up in tears again. When Jane said there was no chemistry between the couple in the story and that they seemed like they’d be better apart, Wendy was upset because the couple is really her and her husband. Jane was commenting on the reality, not the fantasy, without even meaning to.
Naturally, the writing group rallies around Wendy, offering lots of suggestions for how to infuse her marriage with romance again. Jane offers her a suite for the weekend at the Mirabella. I loved Wendy saying isn’t that the hotel with all the murders? Regardless, by the end of the episode, Jane sees Wendy and her husband dancing – Jane’s own symbol of the ultimate romantic fantasy.
Another intrusion of reality into the writing group is Andie (Rachel DiPillo). Of course, this scenario is still waiting to play out as we know a lot more by the end of the episode than Jane does. We know that Andie was Michael’s ex-girlfriend from three years ago – just before he went out with Jane! We also know that she likes churros too. Apparently, Michael has a type!
It’s Amanda who gives Jane the advice she needs in both her writing and her reality. I liked how Jane manages to get a second chance by using the plot of one of Amanda’s books – Love Under the Bridge – to plead her own case. When Amanda invites her to share her own writing with the group, Jane confesses she’s having writer’s block. Amanda tells Jane that her writing block, likely isn’t coming from where she thinks it is, but is further back in the story.
Jane tries to fix things with Rafael with a romantic gesture of her own with lunch, planning on having his favorite song, “Living on a Prayer” playing as he walks in and dancing to it. Rafael completely misses the lunch, and Jane has the excruciatingly embarrassing moment of Petra (Yael Grobglas) walking in on her. Jane finally loses her temper with Rafael and confronts him about being distant and distracted. He tries to say that it’s just life, and real life is not all fantasy. But Jane isn’t having any of it. She tells him that it’s not her fault but his for asking too soon. She tells him he’s impulsive and he needs to stop putting this all on her. Jane feels better after clearing the air.
Meanwhile, there is some truth to Rafael’s assertion that he’s been distracted by work. He’s been getting ready for a big event at the Mirabella for Calle Oche. Petra gets the idea to ask Rogelio (Jaime Camil) for help getting David Brisbal to sing after seeing Rogelio tweet about his friendship with Brisbal. Rafael is immediately suspicious of why Petra is following Rogelio on Twitter and wants to know if it has something to do with Jane. Petra insists she’s just trying to save the hotel.
When Brisbal show up with his entourage, Shelley (Bella Popa) gives his dog into Petra and Rafael’s safe keeping. The dog is hilariously scruffy, and I adored his subtitles, including the “Awkward” when Petra walks in on a dancing Jane. After his fight with Jane, Rafael asks Petra if five months seemed quick to propose to her. She agrees that it was quick but made sense because of how badly he’s always wanted a family. This really helps to give him perspective on why he’d proposed to Jane. Unfortunately, as they are talking, the dog runs away.
An hilarious chase ensues – nicely paralleled by Rogelio and Michael’s chase through Calle Oche. Petra gets to be the hero and capture the dog – just as Shelley returns for him and admits the dog is actually hers. She’d only lied to ensure they took good care of it. Rafael tells Petra that he really does know him, and what she told him will really help with Jane. It’s clear that Petra isn’t over Rafael yet. Grobglas is really good in this episode. I liked the little smile on her face as she left Jane – it was quite enigmatic. I’m not quite sure if she was amused at what Jane was doing, happy she’d embarrassed her or happy knowing Rafael was going to miss it. Likewise, even though we don’t want her getting between Rafael and Jane, it’s hard not to feel sorry after Rafael tells her she’s helped with Jane.
Jane fantasizes about salsa dancing with Rafael, but in the end, neither he nor Alba show up for the festival. Rafael is finally able to come to Jane after the concert, and they clear the air. Jane tells him she doesn’t have writer’s block anymore – the problem was further back. Jane tells Rafael that she doesn’t want the big romantic gestures, she’s wants them to really connect in a meaningful way. Rafael tells her that he heard what she said about going back. He tells her it was all about family for him and that he wanted to lock it down so she wouldn’t leave. He’s still scared by his mother having left. Jane supports him not believing what his father had told him because of how Xo had lied to her about Rogelio.
Jane tells Rafael that he can look for her. People are complicated, so maybe she had a good reason for leaving. As the episode ends, Rafael hits search on the computer for his mother – Elena Di Nola. Her name isn’t a perfect anagram, but it’s close for Amanda Elaine… Could Jane’s favorite author be Rafael’s mother?!
Meanwhile, things are changing at Jane’s house. Xo and Rogelio are moving in together now that Rogelio has found a house bigger than Esteban’s (Keller Wortham)! It’s so perfectly Rogelio! Xo tells Alba she’s moving out and is a bit shocked when Alba takes it perfectly calmly – right up until she sees Xo packing. Then she tells her to “call it off!” Turns out she never expected Xo to carry through with it. I loved that Alba pulled out the old chestnut – “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free” – chestnut! Doesn’t every mother say that? And of course, Jane is all the while trying to play peacemaker between the two.
Rogelio is completely distracted because he’s losing followers on Twitter due a GIF of him from the new show that shows him holding his space gun incorrectly. Camil is always a joy to watch. I loved him sidling up beside Michael in an attempt to garner sympathy – which Jane is not quick to hand out! Rogelio gets the bright idea to shadow Michael after he reminds him that he can handle guns because he’s a cop. I loved the little negotiation between Michael and Rogelio about Rogelio carrying a gun! Just no… In the end, Michael says he’ll let Rogelio do it – for which we, as viewers, will be forever grateful. Camil and Dier are terrific together.
Before heading off with Michael, however, Rogelio has a meeting with Rafael. Rafael wants to ask a favor of Rogelio – to ask his friend to come down and play for Calle Oche. Unfortunately, Rogelio was expecting that Rafael was going to apologize for not asking him for Jane’s hand in marriage before asking her. I love Balsoni blurting out the obvious, but I’ve known her longer than you! In the end, he agrees to do so in the future.
Michael gets the information on who to stake out from the unlikely source of Aaron (Alano Miller). In a really unexpected move, Aaron gives up the USB he found in his mother’s pendant. It certainly seems like Aaron really is a good guy – and not an evil twin.
Things are likely to get more awkward as Rogelio ends up clearly liking Michael a lot. Rogelio is like a little kid on stake out with Michael – he’s bored and hungry after only 26 minutes! I loved Rogelio telling Michael that the “D” in De La Vega stands for danger! Dier is hilarious as he pulls out his impressions of Ace Ventura and a lizard. Dier also shows how good he is as he goes from this comedic moment to a very serious one as he asks Rogelio is Jane is truly happy. Rogelio gives Michael some hope when he tells him that Jane turned down Rafael’s proposal. Michael’s fantasy seems to be more of a possibility – at least to him. But then the episode ends with him running into Andie.
I loved that Rogelio really did have a useful part to play when Michael is chasing the guy through the crowds. Of course, the entire idea of Rogelio shadowing Michael blurs the line between the reality of Michael’s job and the fantasy of Rogelio’s job. So it’s a nice touch when it’s Rogelio’s fans who actually stop the guy.
This was a really nicely written episode with the theme of fantasy and reality nicely woven through each story thread – and of course, it’s a line that the show itself walks all the time. We are left with quite a few questions. How long will Alba stay mad about Xo moving out – clearly she’s more than just angry about it! Can we really trust Aaron? Is Petra going to try to steal Rafael back? Will Michael and Andie get back together? Will Rafael find his mother? Will Rogelio get his twitter followers back? Let me know what you thought about the episode 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.
