My apologies on the lateness of the last two
Jane the Virgin reviews. I’ll start with just a few words about “Chapter Fifty-Nine” and then a lengthier look at Chapter “Sixty.” “Chapter Fifty-Nine” was written by Deidre Shaw and was directed by Anna Mastro. Shaw’s other credits include
American Gothic,
Jane by Design, and
Life Unexpected. This is a transitional episode as Jane is ready to start dating again – and its corrected title is
Jane the … Flirt!
The gimmick in this episode is the flirt assessment radar, and it seems to be going off for everyone. Jane (Gina Rodriguez) thinks that Alex (Deniz Akdeniz) is flirting with her, but he’s not. She is still going for boxing with Dennis (Christopher Allen), and when he tells her that he’s broken up with his fiancé, there is suddenly a spark between them.
The two end up going on a mini-golf date, but in the end, there is no real attraction, and Dennis ends up getting back together with his fiancé. However, when Jane goes to the first day of shooting on Rogelio’s (Jaime Camil) new telenovela, she’s very attracted to his super-hot new co-star Fabian (Francisco San Martin) – and we see that tell-tale glow – but it’s not Jane’s heart that glows!!
Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and Petra (Yael Grobglas) wake up from their drunken night of sex, and both vow not to do it again or speak of it. Rafael attempts to help Jane get her flirt on at the Mirabella, but Petra points out that it’s a kids’ hotel. The three of them head to the Fairwick because it’s a total meat market! Petra gets Rafael to flirt with her to make Chuck (Johnny Messner) jealous. Rafael starts to really feel something, and by the end of the episode, his heart is glowing for Petra. In another instance of bad timing, Petra has managed to win Chuck back by riding the mechanical bull – and losing a couple of teeth!
Xo (Andrea Navedo) tries to keep her break up with Bruce (Ricardo Chavira) from Rogelio. Bruce keeps dodging Rogelio’s calls but assures Xo that he’s acting professionally when she tells him to drop the case if it’s too hard. Bruce finally can’t do it just before he’s to meet with the judge to settle. Xo tells Rogelio that she’s still in love with him and he tells her that he is in love with her. It costs him his entire first year’s salary on the new telenovela, but Rogelio doesn’t care when it means he and Xo are back together.
Alba (Ivonne Coll) and Jorge (Alfonso DiLuca) manage to go on their first date. He takes her mini-golfing to show her the world, and she thinks it is the most romantic thing ever. Unfortunately, it’s the same night that Jane is there with Dennis, and Alba doesn’t want to ruin Jane’s first date in three years, so she and Jorge hide behind the 8th hole – where they end up getting caught making out! Alba ends up doing the #walkofshame to Rogelio’s first day of shooting! However, it was just a sleep over – no sex – even though Alba admits she wanted to!
Finally, Dennis and his partner Dana (Sheila Carrasco) offer Petra a deal. They could charge her with tampering with evidence for moving Scott’s body, but they just want Anezka. Petra maintains that she doesn’t know where she is and hasn’t had any contact. However, the two intercept an email from Petra to Anezka, telling Anezka that she’s put money in her account and to go dark.
Jane the Virgin “Chapter Sixty” was written by the team of Carolina Rivera and Micah Schraft and was directed by Micah Schraft. This is Schraft’s first time behind the camera, and I always love it when a show rewards one of its long-time creatives with a new outlet for their talent! There’s a nice thread of integrity that runs throughout the episode – whether it’s ok to give in to lust or do whatever it takes to market your novel.
The episode begins with the usual flashback – this time to Jane’s first experience of lust – watching a telenovela with Xo and Alba! Awkward! And we get the gimmick of the week – the waterfall treatment!
In the Present, Jane denies that she’s got the hots for Fabian, but Xo calls her on finding ridiculous excuses to visit Rogelio on set. Xo encourages Jane to “go for it,” but Jane maintains he’s out of her league. Xo – of course – suggest a “fling.” I did enjoy them totally objectifying a man for a change – and of course, this week’s alternate title card is
Jane the Virgin Horndog.
Xo at least realizes that Jane might not have changed that much from the girl who waited until she was married, but Jane is reconsidering her options. I loved Alba walking into the scene and them teasing her about not telling Jorge that she wants to wait to have sex. And of course the double entendre was perfect – “it’s hard” – LOL!
Jeremy (Evan Todd) gives Jane the good news that the writing part of her novel – Snow Falling – is over. It’s time to move on to the next phase – selling it. I also love that Jane still has Michael’s cat – even if he doesn’t look that happy lying on the bed with Mateo…
Meanwhile, we find out that Elvis (Craig Lee Thomas) is actually Rafael’s private eye – and he’s keeping his eye on Luisa (Yara Martinez) – who is due back in town for the annual shareholder’s meeting. Elvis has planted surveillance equipment in her room. Mainly, Rafael is still worried about Rose.
Perhaps one of my favorite Narrator (Anthony Mendez) moment ever, is when he clarifies the discussion between Rogelio and Fabian. They say “lady scientist” and the Narrator clarifies “scientist.” We truly can’t have enough of that kind of correction just now… Rogelio is feeling the pressure of having a younger co-star. I also loved that Fabian realizes that he’s a sex object. And you just know that the stunt of swinging from the hair is going to go horribly wrong for Rogelio.
Rogelio confides – or rants at – Xo that Fabian is trying to sabotage and undermine him on purpose!
There’s a nice segue from the Rogelio/Fabian selfie to proud Papa Rafael wanting to take a picture of the twins – it’s easy to see the rapport Baldoni has with the kids. The twins really seem to like Chuck, but Rafael thinks it’s too soon for Petra to bring him into their circle. She says they only know him as “Mommy’s friend” – but the twins are “gifted” and know he’s Mommy’s boyfriend “Smoochie, smoochie!”
Petra is still being hounded by Dennis and Dana. They bring her in and she has to bring her lawyer onboard. They tell her that she has to get Anezka back to Miami or face criminal charges! Petra does admit to sending Anezka money, but to keep her away.
Jane uses the age-old technique of winning a man through his stomach by breaking the ice with Fabian with his favorite candy – Gogi berries – the result of her honed research skills! Rogelio is NOT happy that Jane has set her sights on Fabian! In another crushingly embarrassing moment, Fabian overhears Rogelio forbidding Jane’s mega-crush on Fabian!
Jane tells Rogelio to stay out of it – that she’s an adult – and she wisely doesn’t let him “fix” it. I loved Fabian opening the door to his trailer with no shirt on and running back in because he forgot his… sunglasses! Yes. I think that Jane is far from the only one leering at him! Fabian is totally understanding and seems to believe Jane’s denial that she has a crush on him.
Meanwhile, Alba is doing plenty of leering of her own! I loved that Jorge got the waterfall treatment! Alba finally tells Jorge that she doesn’t believe in sex without marriage, and Jorge is pretty shocked. Alba clearly thinks that’s the end of their relationship.
Luisa returns with girlfriend Eileen (Elisabeth Rohm) – aka Rose – and Luisa immediately suspects that Eileen killed Scott when Rafael explains that the police are there investigating Scott’s death. Eileen is too cagey to talk freely in their room and suspects it’s wired.
Jane goes to her marketing meeting for the book, and it’s not at all what she’s expecting. Before she can tell them a bit about herself – like what influenced her writing – it’s clear that they want to focus on the more sensational things that have happened to her – like the virgin birth… Jane tells them she doesn’t want to talk about any of those things – they were really traumatic! She just wants to stick to the book. The marketing team tell her that her life story will get her interviews, but Jane is adamant that she wants the work to stand on its own.
Jane is worried that Jeremy only agreed to publish her book because of her life. He assures her that he loved her writing – and her life story was just a bonus for marketing. Jeremy tells her that the print run for the book is going to be only 10,000 copies – but she might still get into the big book fair if she has a good social media following. Unfortunately, Jane only has 3 twitter followers – but she also has a secret social media weapon…. Rogelio!
Jane goes to see him on set and finds out that Rogelio is having an emergency massage after pulling a muscle doing a stunt! Fabian, however, is very impressed to learn that Jane is an author. He tells her that he wrote a book too – and invites her for coffee to find out more about her book.
Jane tells Fabian about her book and then asks about his. He takes her hands, and then after he asks her to get the sugar, he jumps up and starts yelling at her! It’s all in an effort to help her get more Twitter followers so that she’ll put in a good word with Rogelio for him. It turns out that Fabian is a huge fan of Rogelio, and knows he keeps putting his foot in his mouth around Rogelio!
Rafael stops by Petra’s to drop off backpacks for the twins and find out how she’s doing with Anezka coming. He thinks she should talk to her therapist, but Chuck’s there and insists that she doesn’t need to because they’ve talked about it! I loved the parallel to the earlier scene from the televovela – complete with wigs and costumes!
Rogelio confronts Fabian about saying that Rogelio doesn’t need to take his shirt off – Fabian feels like all anyone cares about him is about his abs, not his acting – and Rogelio doesn’t need to do his own stunts – the show would fall apart if Rogelio got hurt. Rogelio warns Fabian not to toy with Jane’s emotions, and the two really bond. However, when Fabian invites Rogelio to go for manicures after work, Rogelio mysteriously turns him down.
Alba tells Jane she’s glad it turned out that Fabian was only interested in Jane to get to Rogelio – flings always send the wrong message. Then she tells Jane that she hasn’t heard from Jorge since she told him that she didn’t want a fling. She tells Jane that she’s glad that she found out his true nature now, and that she didn’t give in to her lust.
Jane goes to Marlene (Melanie Mayron) for a favor – but it seems the two have stayed close and Jane visits with her every Tuesday. She’s hoping that Marlene can get her famous writing friends to write some blurbs about Jane’s book to create some buzz. She confides in Marlene that she’s only getting a 10,000 copy run because she refuses to use her life to sell the book. Marlene tells her not to be an idiot and let integrity stand in the way of having a huge splash with her debut novel – Jane only gets one debut and she should make the most of it!
We get another brilliant seen from Rodriguez as she sacrifices for her art and calls Jeremy from her car to give the ok for the marketing department to sell the book however they want. She’s clearly distraught about it. However, we see later that she’s up on the book fair website. I loved her sitting at the table with the cat in her lap!! I love this cat!! Xo assures her that the more she talks about Michael, the easier it will get for her. And of course, it’s the trauma of losing Michael that she really doesn’t want to talk about.
Rafael has dinner with Luisa, who tells him that Eileen isn’t coming because Eileen’s off to see her guru. Rafael quickly texts Elvis to tell him to get in the suite and plant a bug under cover of fixing the air conditioning. Naturally, Eileen/Rose has finally had enough of the heat and has just peeled off her mask when Elvis comes in! And it’s really Bridget Regan! YEAH!! She pulls her dress up over her head to hide her face – but of course, it’s hysterical because Regan and Rohm have completely different body-types!
I love that they are giving Ivonne Coll more to do this season. She and Rodriguez both shine in the scene in which she is once again “tucking Jane in” for the night. Jane tells Alba that she doesn’t want Michael to become an anecdote, and Alba assures her that he never will. She tell her that just last week, the grocery store was having a sale on her grandfather’s favorite ice cream and it brought the grief of his loss back like it was yesterday. She tells Jane that she’s in a long term relationship with grief – but it has to evolve.
The show also has another guest star coup with real life author Maria Semple interviewing Jane at the book fair. Everyone is there to support her – Alba, Xo, Rogelio, Rafael – and even Fabian shows up. As Jane talks about the book – and she’s clearly a natural – Fabian suddenly realizes how hot she is! And Jane gets the waterfall treatment! But it’s her passion about her writing – it’s her mind that turns him on! This show always gets it right!
Jane gets her first fan (Rachel Rosenbloom) after the interview – and fangirls her right back! When the fan asks for Jane’s autograph, Rogelio proudly passes the “baton” – the sharpie with a purple, sparkly flourish!
Xo tells Jane to celebrate her success in her room that night with a picture of Fabian, and Jane tells her that she’s over him. She’s disappointed that he didn’t show up to the book fair as he said he would – and then the doorbell rings and it’s him! He tells her he was at the book fair but he was too nervous to speak to her! What she said about being exposed really spoke to him.
Fabian brings her a copy of his book to show her why her words spoke to him. He also tells her that he asked for Rogelio’s permission to ask her out – and Jane is clearly touched – and clearly NOT over him! Jane says yes, and the two kiss… and because Jane can never just kiss someone – and the writers are always way too clever with the gimmicks – the sprinklers come on and they are both in a real waterfall effect!
Chuck sees that Rafael still has the hots for Petra and asks her when they’re going to talk about it. Petra denies it, but also looks thoughtful about it. Meanwhile, Alba finds out that she’s misjudged Jorge. He really was surprised by her declaration about pre-marital sex, but he doesn’t want to break up over it. He didn’t text her because he doesn’t know how! He has a flip phone! And yes. That was a bit of a plot hole. After all, you’d only miss someone texting you if they’d ever actually texted you in the first place.
We finally get some insight into what’s going on with Rogelio – and it’s his own grief over Michael’s death. After all, Michael was his best friend. Camil is terrific in this scene with Navedo – and when Xo says Rogelio is a great actor – it truly applies to Camil in this scene.
Jane and Alba giggle over Fabian’s book which is a collection of selfies with captions. She tells Alba that she might not be in favor of premarital sex, but Jane has no problems with it and is planning to hit “that”!
Rose suspects something is up and is tired of being stuck in a sweaty room. She tells Luisa that she’s leaving. Luisa, however, doesn’t want to leave because she’s close to getting to see Rafael’s kids.
In the final scene, Petra is nervously waiting for Anezka to land. She got her to agree to come to talk to the police in exchange for an electric bicycle. Anezka finally calls, but tells Petra the police were waiting for her, and she’s in jail! She tells Petra to get her out or she will tell the police everything and Petra will be in an orange jumpsuit with her!
There were terrific performances in this episode from Rodriguez, Coll, and Camil. I really liked the way the threads and themes of this episode were woven together. I also like how they are continuing to deal with Michael’s death – and not just having the characters easily move on. What did you think about the episodes? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
