Jane the Virgin “Chapter Eighty-Nine” was written by the team of Katie Wech and Valentina L Garza and was directed by Zetna Fuentes. There were a lot of glowing hearts in this episode, but it seems like only one relationship really ends up on track by the end of this episode. Of course, we’ve got 11 more episodes yet to go! Lots of time for some twists and turns yet – this IS a telenovela after all! I do have to say that I’m getting really tired of Rafael (Justin Baldoni) being a jerk. And yes, Jane (Gina Rodriguez) does act badly here too. But let’s dive in…
We begin with our flashback to how Jane (Cali DiCapo) fell in love with reading and romance at age 9. We also get a re-cap of how love always came easily to Jane… until it didn’t. But aren’t we also forgetting that the first time Jane met Rafael he basically dumped her? Moving on… Both, of course, are the themes of the episode.
Jane is Facebook stalking Rafael and Alba (Ivonne Coll) tells her to respect the fact that Rafael has asked for space. She tells Jane that Rafael has been hurt and he needs time. It’s a nice reminder of Alba’s own broken heart over Jorge (Alfonso DiLuca). Xo (Andrea Navedo) also tells Jane to back off and give Rafael time. Jane continues not to respect Rafael’s boundaries, leading to this week’s title card –
Jane the Virgin STALKER. I also did love the gimmick of having her GPS call her on being a stalker too! Jane even stoops to pumping Mateo (Elias Janssen) for information on Rafael.
Jane is heading to Mateo’s school to “bump into” Rafael at the book fair when she gets a call from Rafael - Mateo has had a meltdown. Jane then joins Rafael to meet with Mateo’s teacher, Ms Everette (Jodi Harris) who tells them that Simon called Mateo stupid – but also tells them that Mateo is way behind the other children with his reading skills. Jane and Rafael are both shocked that they didn’t notice – but really, shouldn’t the teacher have told them this at some point already? She tells them not to pressure Mateo but to make it fun with word games. Rafael says that they need to put all the crazy behind them and focus on Mateo. He tells Jane that they are a good team and they’ll get him there.
Meanwhile, Rogelio (Jaime Camil) gets the devastating news from the network (Gigi Bermingham and Matthew Rocheleau) that they are passing on his pilot! They tell him that it’s too conventional and feels too much like a soap opera. They want it to be bigger, maybe incorporate some sci fi. But the most devastating note for Rogelio is that they want younger stars.
While Jane is trying to help Mateo with his reading, Rogelio also shows up having a meltdown. Really, though if a kid is “karate chopping” reading cards out of your hands that needs to be dealt with!!! In the end, Jane has to give both men in her life a pep talk. Rogelio and Mateo both want to quit. Rogelio tells her that the show is really the Passion of Rogelio – to bring the telenovela to America – and he convinces Jane to re-write the Pilot for him.
While Jane is working on the proposal, she stops herself from texting Rafael only to have him text her! He wants to work together with Mateo the next day. And really? Has Rafael met Jane? He sets her up to think he is starting to come around with all the emojis! When they do work together – and are clearly getting somewhere with Mateo and having fun as a family, what did he think Jane would think when he suggested that they have breakfast – just the two of them???? I really don’t blame Jane for jumping to conclusions because so was I!
Meanwhile, Alba reaches out to Xo for help with preparing for her interview with Jorge and immigration. It is nice to see that Xo does seem to be recovering slowly. Kudos to the show again for the realistic way that they have been handling Xo’s cancer – and kudos to Andrea Navedo for having the courage to stick with looking ill. Alba tells Xo that she’s ok with Jorge not being in love with her and she’s ready to get through the exam and move on. Of course, we see that she’s not so ok with it when they have to practice answers for the exam. Alba gets flustered when her emotions are tweaked and worries that if they blow the exam, Jorge will get deported and she could go to jail!
Rogelio and Jane meet to discuss the proposal. He tells her that for the younger leads maybe they could just CGI him younger like they did Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button. And that was easily the creepiest effect that they’ve ever done! Jane suggests that they could do a
This Is Us kind of storyline with the younger leads in the past and Rogelio and River’s (Brooke Shields) part in the present.
Rogelio immediately mentions that he knows Justin Hartley – and we flash to Rogelio introducing himself while the two are in Cocoon Fitness Pods – which is possibly the most bizarre product placement ever! Is it ever not hilarious when Camil gets to go to town on rolling out Rogelio de la Vega?? Of course, he doesn’t really know Hartley but suggests he might get him for a cameo – to which the Narrator (Anthony Mendez) says Hartley NEVER does cameos – LOL! I love this clever show!
Xo’s study session with Alba and Jorge goes really well. Jorge looks very thoughtful about Alba’s answer about his pride getting in the way of him loading the dishwasher correctly. Then Jane comes in all aglow with the news that Rafael wants to get together for breakfast. Xo tells her to be careful, but Jane insists that she doesn’t want to. They love each other and that doesn’t just go away! Jorge and Alba both look at each other thoughtfully…
Jane is working on the proposal which needs a big romantic gesture and naturally, being Jane, it gets her thinking about Rafael. She ends up throwing a big romantic gesture for him – a surprise picnic at a house that he’s supposed to be taking pictures in. Unfortunately, he shows up with his boss (AJ Tannen) and clients to look at the house! His boss tells him to leave after asking if he has romantic liaisons in all the houses they have for sale! Jane truly did screw up. Rafael reads her the riot act and tells her again that they are through. He never wanted a date, he just wanted to get together to talk about Mateo to be a good co-parent. He tells Jane that she needs to move on.
Once again Xo tells Jane to leave Rafael alone. She tells her that just because you want someone doesn’t mean that you get to have them. I did love them making Jane into a guy – it looks super creepy! – but more importantly, it really drives home what Jane was doing. Xo tells her that you can’t force someone to feel something. She also tells her that she doesn’t have to “believe” what Rafael tells her, but she does have to accept it.
When Jane shows up at Rogelio’s without the proposal done because of stalking Rafael, he’s very disappointed in her. After all, he told her how important this was to him. She returns with a Ro-morse basket – hilarious! He forgives her – of course – and they go back to work. Rogelio actually helps Jane with her texting to Rafael – keeping it just co-parenting – but then Rafael has to add an emoji again! Jane finally has a breakthrough for the proposal – Rogelio and River will be in the FUTURE! On MARS! They can call it
This Is Mars!!!
Alba and Jorge have their interviews. It’s clear that Jorge has rediscovered his love for Alba. Alba seems to get through the interview completely matter of factly – and seems a bit ticked off at Jorge – what woman who lives with a man, isn’t?!? LOL! When the two get the news from the lawyer that they passed, they are both thrilled. And then Jorge admits to his pride keeping them apart and says he still loves Alba! The two kiss in our typical romantic tableau. I did love how this “older” romantic storyline mimicked the “older” storyline that Rogelio had to include in his own telenovela – always so clever, this show!
We get a familiar scene with the Villanueva women on the swing. Jane admits that she’s sad that the one thing that Mateo is struggling with is reading – because of how much she loves it and the fact that she’s a writer! Hmmmm. Maybe he’s intimidated by all that? Xo and Jane are thrilled for Alba about Jorge. Alba also apologizes to Xo for all the grief she’s given her over the years, trying to make her something she isn’t. And in the end, look how much support and great advice she got from Xo! It’s a really nice mother/daughter moment.
Petra (Yael Grobglas) and JR (Rosario Dawson) seem to have their relationship back on track – even if they have to make out in a closet to avoid Petra’s extra security cameras. When Petra overhears Pammy the Parrot (Katie Michels) speaking Czech on the phone, she has her arrested as the stalker. So many stalkers! Pammy denies it of course…
This allows the twins to finally come home. In the end, it turns out that Anna (Mia Allan) and Ellie (Ella Allan) faked all of it because they wanted to break Petra and JR up. It also turns out that they are afraid of JR because they saw her shoot Milosh!
I really loved that we got to see how much Petra has grown as a parent. She tells JR that she has to break it off with her because she has to put the twins first. JR admits that since they got back together she hasn’t tried at all with the twins. She asks for a chance to really try with the girls. Petra says ok, but she also tells Rafael about the whole thing and that they need to consider therapy for the girls. I have to admit that I was a bit impressed with how thorough the two were! They are definitely their mother’s daughters when it comes to intrigue!
And finally, we get back to the real intrigue and the real stalker of the episode! Bobby (Tommy Dorfman) – Rose’s (Bridget Reagan) undercover henchman – is stalking Rafael and Petra. He calls Luisa (Yara Martinez), claiming he’s at the laundromat, and encourages her to push Rafael to see the Anna, Ellie, and Mateo! Why?!?!?! What are they up to?!?!?!
This was a bit of a frustrating episode. I liked the new twist with Rogelio’s show, but I’m getting tired of the Jane/Rafael plot. I did like that we seem to have come to a resolution for Jorge and Alba. Now we can turn our attention back to Rose! What is she up to? Will whatever she has planned be the thing that brings Jane and Rafael back together? I’m kind of betting it is. What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts – especially about what Rose is up to – below!
