Jane the Virgin: Chapter Twenty-Eight

November 17, 2015 9:06 AM - Season 2, Episode 6

AV Club refers to this episode as a "fasterpiece," as we fast-forward through several months of everyone's lives so we can catch up to Thanksgiving.

Again, I was doing NaNo word count, didn't really have the time to take notes on a writeup, but notable moments:

(a) Jane is totally broken up with Michael, Rafael starts dating someone else and realizes he'd rather be with Jane even if she's an asshole when sick, they get interested in each other again by Thanksgiving.
(b) Jane has a lot of problems in her writer program and makes a gay friend who's already writing about "the curse of the Solanos." Not that I can blame him.
(c) Mateo had to wear a helmet for awhile. Oh yeah, and he's gonna inherit $40 million. (Rafael needs to figure out how to divvy this out three ways.)
(d) Rafael is adorable at mommy and me classes.
(e) Michael hauled off to Mexico with Nadine for months on end to investigate Sin Rostro.
(f) Are Rogelio and Xo still married? This wasn't answered. They seem to still be together though.
(g) "The Passion of Santos" has ended (oh no!!!!!), Rogelio tries his own ripoff of Mad Men called Hombres Locos.
(h) Petra's having twin girls, Jane takes pity on that situation and lets Magda out of jail, Magda and Petra plot to get rid of those grenades, Magda blows herself up a bit and ends up stabbing their old hostage Ivan with a hook by the end of the episode.
(i) But hey, Petra got invited to Thanksgiving, so there's that.

I did like this episode a lot. I concur with the AV Club that I do not like that next week is going to be an all-whoring-for-the-sponsor episode, though.

posted by jenfullmoon (5 comments total)

This episode was fantastic. It was a new leap for the show to move through time so aggressively, which let story lines grow and breathe in a different way. And after getting so bogged down in the minutia and see-saw of "zomg who will Jane pick?!1" it brought in a huge host of new threads, all of which felt genuine. Except maybe that scheming master program "friend" .... my jury is wary of that one being interesting.
Lots of laughs, too. From the sly Orange is the New Black Reference, to Magda's hook hand, to Jane flubbing her way through that absurdly complicated baby song...good stuff. And Rogelio's take on Mad Men! and #RafaelTheVirgin.
It was interesting to have an episode almost free of Michael. I missed him, but was grateful he wasn't around. It felt good to see Rafael as his own character, and not as a reactionary plot prop. He's a good dad, right?
Jane's teacher seems like a crazy hard-ass. I'm hoping there is more of him down the line, since he seems to be fleshed out much more than "generic teacher character." I give the writers props for making even very minor characters seem interesting.
And man, look, do I want the next episode to be set in Target? No. But am I terrified of this show going off the air? Yup! So if they need to have an ad-filled episode for that sweet, sweet cash GO for it, Jane the Virgin. #EyesOnTheTarget
posted by missmary6 at 11:07 PM on November 17, 2015

I also loved this; it was interesting to see the "Action / Consequence" immediacy of the "fasterpiece" styling. I.e. Jane turns Rafael down (again), he realizes that he needs to move on / Rafael starts dating / month-long relationship / relationship ends & Jane is now ready to date Rafael (again).

As for (f) Are Rogelio and Xo still married? I don't think so? Xo had said that she wanted to annul/ divorce & start over. I kind of figured it went down that way off screen.

I also enjoyed the little clip of Hombres Locos (I will play Don Juan Draper, somewhat like Jon Hamm, but very good-looking). Love Rogelio
posted by Laura in Canada at 8:11 AM on November 18, 2015

Such a different episode! But I missed Luisa, and I missed Michael, and I missed Sin Rostro, and I feel like there were a lot of loose ends. I found it rushed, and somehow more boring than other episodes. I had really gotten into the flashback at the beginning, tie-in at the end format that had developed over the first season and a half.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:20 PM on November 18, 2015

Wow, this was fantastic.

First of all, my wife and I have a 5 month old baby and we are constantly cracking up about all the very, very realistic jokes about life with a newborn. It's really the most realistic portrayal of life with a baby I've ever seen on tv while still being funny. Worries about head shape, mastititis, bladder issues, its so much more specific than the typical boring baby jokes about not getting enough sleep and diapers.

Rafael really shined in this episode, his little bear choreography was hilarious. I've never heard of that song, and it doesn't come up in a google search, I wonder if it was written for the show.

Hope the show isn't near cancellation.
posted by skewed at 8:03 PM on November 18, 2015

After enjoying the full episode, I laughed out loud at the narrator's last line: "[Magda]'s gonna be on the hook for that one"

Even after the Narrator trope became so iconic for the prime time TV viewer through Arrested Development (and HIMYM, to a lesser extent), this show makes it still feel fresh and viable. Love it.
posted by itesser at 5:35 PM on October 4, 2019