Jane the Virgin recap: Has the Jane and Rafael ship sailed?
Jane has many balls in the air. No longer having to worry about her formerly dead husband whisking her away to Montana, Jane’s personal life is definitely on the mend. Sure, Rafael isn’t necessarily asking her to move back in, but things are better in that department. And her writing career has never been better.
Why? Because the executives over at Rogelio’s telenovela want Jane to write the pilot script for This is Mars! The exciting news reaches celebratory status when Rogelio hands Jane a hefty check. Plus, Jane will get to work with Rogelio’s former writer Dina. Fantastic!
There’s just one tiny problem that is easily solved. Dina won’t work with Rogelio because he treated her poorly for all those years. However, she can be persuaded to forgive all when Rogelio continues to throw money her way and he agrees that she will only have to work with Jane. Let’s get this script written!
Or should I say novel? When Jane’s editor praises the chapters in Jane’s new book, Marlene strongly suggests Jane couch the telenovela for the time being to finish her new project. You see, Marlene’s new lover is in the publishing world and Marlene promised that she would pass on the entirety of Jane’s work in two weeks.
No problem. Jane will divide her time between This is Mars and her new manuscript. And working at the Marbella. And spending intentional time with Mateo, while trying not to fall head over heels for Rafael again. Easy peasy.
That last one is proving to be tough. Especially since Mateo’s teacher gently suggests to Jane and Rafael that Mateo’s inability to focus in class might be a learning disorder. She proposes they have Mateo tested. Jane is all for it. Rafael refuses. Mateo is an energetic boy. Case closed. He’s putting his foot down.
Jane receives this news with a big smile on her face and agrees to ignore the educator’s direction. Except not. She immediately calls the doctor and makes an appointment. So much for co-parenting.
Over at the Marbella, JR gingerly tiptoes around the job interview she landed in Houston. When Petra enters the room looking like a nightmare version of a Texan (minus the big hair — that was dead on), JR relaxes. Petra assures her they can make long distance work.
Jane’s trying to make it work, too. Her novel characters have officially started intermingling with her This is Mars characters, thanks to Jane’s two worlds colliding. Scenes of her father, the Martian, chastising earthling Young Jane for crumpling a flower was a bit much. But she’s determined to make time for both in her busy schedule.
Meanwhile, Rafael heads to Petra’s to pick up the twins. She casually mentions that the girls are obsessed with their new circuit builder, and Rafael mutters under his breath that perhaps they should be tested too. Petra immediately puts Rafael in his place when she sharply reminds him that his two daughters are currently in therapy and he is on antidepressants. He should cut Jane some slack.
So he does. Rafael approaches Jane downstairs as she’s working and apologizes for not being on her side before. He immediately calls the doctor’s office and is furious when the nurse informs him that Mateo already has an appointment.
Jane is majorly on the struggle bus. Her book editor wants to see more chapters. Something serious may be wrong with her son. Rafael is currently not speaking to her and now the telenovela executives need their pages in two weeks. The only solution that makes sense is to ask Petra for some time off.
Petra, who is enjoying some sexy time with JR via FaceTime, immediately gives Jane the time off. She’s in a good mood! Jane is sorry to hear that JR might be moving to Texas for an immigration job, but Petra assures her they can make long distance work. Jane flippantly wonders out loud why JR couldn’t get an immigration job in Miami and then walks away. The wheels begin to turn in Petra’s head.
The next day, Jane meets Rafael at the testing center. With three hours to spare as Mateo is observed, Jane is eager to talk to Rafael about overstepping her boundaries. Instead of a long, drawn-out conversation, Rafael cooly announces that he has hired a lawyer so she will never make medical decisions about their son again.
He walks away in a huff and Jane follows. He gets in his car and drives away and Jane follows. Then he gets in a fender bender as Jane follows. Rafael will officially be late meeting potential buyers for a sale that would make him big time money. Jane asks for the keys and offers to stall until Rafael gets there.
Which takes FOREVER. Jane describes the living room as “roomy” and “built for living.” She appears obsessed with the bathroom and has no idea what “walkability” means. As she grabs her phone to Google “what does an HVAC do,” Rafael bounds into the kitchen and charms his way into the hearts of the buyers with charisma, knowledge, and stunning good looks.
The couple is enamored with the house and dream about their kids growing up in the backyard. But before they sign the dotted line, there’s just one hiccup: the house is in a flood zone. Of course, all of Miami is in a flood zone, so that’s what insurance is for, right? Rafael tells them, “We plan when things are good so you can be covered when things are bad.”
Jane silently cheers when they decide to put an offer on the house. She once again apologizes to Rafael, who slowly begins to crumble in front of her. He’s worried about Mateo. Jane reminds him that Mateo is the same kid today as he was yesterday, and if anything is wrong, they will deal with it. Together. All is forgiven.
All is not forgiven when it comes to Luisa. Rafael still doesn’t believe that Luisa didn’t know anything about her signature all over Rose’s bank accounts. A distraught Luisa turns to creepy Bobby, who encourages her to go see Rose so she can get proof that she didn’t know what was going on.
For some reason, Luisa listens. And of course, Rose manipulates her. Let the record show that Luisa did sign the paperwork. The record should also reflect that Luisa was blackout drunk when she did it. So Luisa technically wasn’t lying to Rafael. Oh, and Rose confesses that creepy Bobby is actually working for Rose. He’s protecting Luisa. (Sure he is.)
Back at the Marbella, Petra is super excited to reunite with JR. And JR has some good news, too. On her way back from the airport, she got another job offer from a group in Miami. They heard about her reputation and didn’t even need to meet with her before extending an offer.
JR is halfway surprised when Petra doesn’t grasp her pearls in shock. Then it dawns on her: Petra made the call. Petra giggles, tipping her own hat that she had the great idea to lean on a few higher-ups in Miami to get JR the immigration job of her dreams AND be in the same zip code. Spoiler: JR is not a happy camper. Neither is our heroine.
Jane just received the news that Mateo has ADHD. When she begins to break down, Rafael is there to hold her up. He reminds her that Mateo is the same kid yesterday as he is today. And we’re back to superstar co-parenting, people. Applause, applause.
Now that there is a direction for Mateo, Jane must concentrate on her writing. Luckily, Rogelio lets her off the hook and insists she work on her novel alone. Jane winces at the thought of losing all that money, but Rafael guarantees that money can’t buy passion. Jane deserves to passionately write her novel, just as he deserves a passionate writer.
Which is Dina. There aren’t enough gift baskets and baked goods in the world that would persuade Dina to work with only Rogelio. So our favorite Martian pulls in a panel of women to prove that he is a changed man. Although he still lives in a somewhat selfish bubble, Xo, River, and Darci all vouch that Dina can trust him to keep it together. She agrees and all is well.
Sadly, all is not well with JR. Although it pains her, she makes the decision to break up with Petra and move to Houston. The idea of starting completely over is appealing and she can’t look at Petra without seeing all of her baggage. It’s time to say good-bye.
A sobbing Petra makes her way to Jane’s house for some comfort. The worst part about this break-up? Petra was going to propose. Jane stares at the ginormous diamond and offers to take the rock off Petra’s hands. It’s already engraved with the names “Jane and Petra.” Can’t this be a friendship ring?
I vote yes.
Love is a tricky business. Especially when sociopaths constantly screw things up. Even though Luisa officially admits to Rafael that she did indeed sign her name (without really knowing), he doesn’t want anything to do with her. Instead of sobbing a bucket of tears like Petra, Luisa swings the opposite direction. She goes to creepy Bobby. And offers to do whatever Rose wants her to do.
Do you buy it? Or is Luisa playing the game to win her family back? And what’s up with Bobby’s, “Heyyyy guuuurrrrlllll!” Please make it stop.
Related content:
