What I’m Watching: Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin: Season 3, Episode 4 “Chapter Forty-Eight” (B+)

There’s a lot about this show, unrelated to it being a telenovela, that often seems far-fetched and hard to believe. That’s what makes episodes like this, which provide a reality check, particularly poignant. Disregarding the fact that Petra was heavily subsidizing the rent, making their place absurdly affordable, Jane and Michael are both spending plenty of money and need to reign in their expenses in a big way. Their humorous discussion about the frivolous indulgences each of them has led to a far more serious fight about Jane padding the budget just to be safe, ultimately resulting in an expected and sweet reconciliation that we always seem to find from this happy couple. It’s about time someone picked up on the fact that Anezka is posing as Petra, and kudos to Jane for finally putting it together just as Rafael’s livelihood and ownership in his company was once again threatened when Anezka got intimidated by a henchwoman, played by Dot-Marie Jones from “Glee,” sent by her mother. That’s sure to change things in a big way, and I’m curious to see what will happen with the newly restarted hunt for Rose. I loved seeing Luisa bond with Rogelio since watching clips of his shows was actually therapeutic for her, until of course it started serving as a trigger for her to drink again. Seeing Xiomara work at a bank was fun, though of course her extreme attempts to hide the fact that she quit from her mother were more far entertaining, also leading to a typically sappy reconciliation.