What I’m Watching: Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin: Season 1, Episode 21 “Chapter Twenty-One” (B)

While I still like this show, I do feel that it’s not delivering as much as it did earlier in the season. It’s mainly that the plot is stalling somewhat now as Jane tries to discover who she is and romantic attachments realign themselves. Michael isn’t over Jane, Rafael isn’t over Jane, Petra isn’t over Rafael, Rogelio is over Xiomara, and Jane isn’t sure what she’s feeling, except for the certainty that the high school crush who didn’t know her name and freaked out when he saw that she was pregnant probably isn’t the right guy for her. It’s frustrating to watch Rafael fail miserably at confessing his feelings for Jane and taking everything back, and he went to all the trouble of tricking Petra into thinking that he was falling for her again so that she would force her mother to turn herself in to the police. It’s easy to like Michael now because he is so good-natured and seemed genuinely interested in Jane and how she’s feeling, something that never ranked first for Rafael even in the best of times. Rogelio being afraid of heights in spite of his affinity for grand staircase entrances made sense, and it was incredibly sweet that Xiomara stepped up to the plate and pretended to be the one afraid in order to save his dignity. Hopefully he’ll see and appreciate the gesture for what it is and interpret it as more than just mere friendship. Jane pursuing her future with a graduate writing program is a great step, and it should provide just the positive motivation she needs to get through the first stages of raising a child without a fully committed partner.