What I’m Watching: Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin: Season 5, Episode 10 “Chapter Ninety-One” (B+)

One of the things that this show does best is showing how Jane reacts when someone tells her definitively that she can’t do something, which in almost all cases results in her doing just that to spite them. Rafael putting his foot down about Mateo not being tested for a learning disability was nearly negated by Petra easily convincing him to be okay with it, but Jane having already set up the appointment just infuriated him to the point of storming off. Getting into a fender bender as Jane was pursuing him was something that he couldn’t really blame on her, and it was very funny to watch her flail as she evaded the questions about the house that she was hopeless to be able to answer. That help will hopefully make him much more open to a positive relationship between them, even if a changed custody agreement is still what he wanted to do next. I’ve been championing Petra and JR’s relationship for a while now, and it’s sad to see it end in this way when Petra’s overstepping act of assistance ended up showing JR just how much Petra was controlling what she could do. It was nice that Jane could be there for Petra when she needed her, even it meant adding yet another distraction to her workload. Dena refusing to speak to Rogelio and only talking through Jane was never going to work, and I enjoyed that he convinced her of his changed ways by having Xiomara, Darcy, and River vouch for him. Rose trapping Luisa by explaining that she did sign the papers willingly so long ago worked, and Rafael was partially responsible for pushing her away and right into the position Rose has so long desired for her to fill. The storytelling device in this episode was especially effective, with Jane confusing real life, her novel, and the pilot script, highlighted by the strong representation of Mateo’s ADHD and Alba in a spacesuit telling Rogelio that he couldn’t have sex because he wasn’t married in a Catholic ceremony.