What I’m Watching: Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin: Season 5, Episode 8 “Chapter Eighty-Nine” (B+)

It’s nice to be right in the middle of the narrative here as most of the other shows I’m watching are finishing out their seasons. This was a difficult episode to watch since Jane got so excited by the idea that Rafael wanted to initiate plans with her and that them rocking it as educational co-parents was a sign that their relationship was going to work out. As usual, a grand romantic gesture works better in practice – or on paper – than in real life, especially when, as has tended to be the case, she ends up putting Rafael in a truly uncomfortable position at work. I like that Rogelio and Jane’s relationship was also the focus of this episode, and they were both able to teach each other plenty about what’s important. The Ro-morse basket was a nice touch, and I enjoyed Rogelio cautioning Jane about her texting when every instinct of his was telling him to do the opposite. It was wonderful to see Jorge finally realize after they rocked the immigration interview that he does love Alba, and now they can be together when they’re not actually required to anymore. Petra discovering that it was her daughters who were staging threats so that they could rid of JR was devastating, and good for JR for matching the determination that Petra showed a little bit ago and declaring that she wasn’t going to give up on them just yet. Seeing that Rose’s henchman, who is also posing as Luisa’s best friend, is tailing Rafael is a bad note on which to end the episode, a sign of much more drama to come soon.