Round Two: Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin: Season 1, Episode 2 “Chapter Two” (B+)

This was a perfectly entertaining episode, but I’m not sure that this is a show that I need to be watching every week. It turns out that it’s a surefire hit, already commissioned for a full season by its network. It is definitely committed to its stylized telenovela nature, even giving its bemused narrator the opportunity to crack jokes, like the fact that he didn’t care so much that Michael wasn’t a virgin. This episode turned everything on its head by adding in some new plotlines that, as tends to be the case, only select people know about, meaning that deception is in the air and no one knows the full truth. Jane googling Rafael was an unfortunate idea, but it seems that he truly has changed, though he of course should be raising the baby with Jane and not with Petra. Michael just happened to be surveying Petra, who it now appears may have pushed her lover to his death so that she could appease Michael and also rid herself of a problematic obstacle to getting to raise the baby with Rafael, something she may now actually want. Luisa is permitted her own plotline, and her romantic past isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either. Alba found out about Rogelio being Xiomara Jane’s father in just about the most fantastic way possible, and I’m sure that her daughter is going to have plenty of explaining to do after Alba hit the floor hard due to the shock of seeing a TV idol in bed with her daughter.