Don we now our gay apparel, for even though Jane the Virgin takes place in Miami (and it's currently 60 degrees in New York City), it's Christmas time, dammit. For television shows, that means all the usual trappings: visits to Santa, tree trimming, couples therapy...well, maybe not that last one. But Jane the Virgin has never been a show that plays by the rules, and that's why we love it so much.
So how 'bout that couples therapy, right? Most of our central pairings are having issues on the midseason finale. Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Rafael (Justin Baldoni) are obviously embroiled in all sorts of messy tension because he's been lying to her for six months about the fact that he paid someone to turn Michael (Brett Dier) into the authorities. Jane thinks this resulted in Michael being fired, but that was only a fake firing. Still, she can't forgive Rafael in a very real way. Plus, she's probably in love with Michael again.
Yup, we're back at that end of the love triangle. Do I wish she'd fall in love with her very hot professor (Adam Rodriguez) just to switch things up a bit? Yes, yes I do.
Anyway, Jane and Rafael are fighting constantly to the extent that Jane wants to sue Rafael for full custody of Mateo. Alba's (Ivonne Coll) immigration lawyer suggests Jane dig up any dirt she can on unscrupulous financial behavior in which Rafael may be engaging. Unfortunately, this results in Jane finding out that Rafael has been siphoning off funds...to invest in a charity for domestic abuse survivors. Her heart having been softened a little — okay, a lot — Jane agrees to go to couples therapy.
At therapy, Jane and Rafael realize that they've both let each other down in a lot of ways when it comes to this whole Sin Rostro (Bridget Regan) situation. Jane let Michael off the hook for releasing Nadine (Azie Tesfai) during Mateo's kidnapping, when really she should have forced Michael to make Nadine lead them closer to Sin Rostro. Rafael can't believe Jane just let Sin Rostro go after she murdered his father, and that Jane forgot about that part of the situation. Jane now understands why Rafael is so upset, but she can't get over the fact that he's been lying to her for six months. Why can't she get over the lying?
Well, there's a very good reason for that, and it takes us to our second couple with an Issue in this episode. Rogelio (Jaime Camil) has been more than a little down in the dumps since his last passion project fell apart. He wishes he could talk to Michael about it, and so do I. Those two have some of the best chemistry on the show. Now that Michael is no longer involved with Jane; however, Rogelio knows it would probably be a conflict of interest for him to continue his bromance with Michael. It's still pretty devastating to have this confirmed when he goes to confront Michael about the situation directly at his favorite coffee cart.
Xo (Andrea Navedo) senses Rogelio's sadness and asks what's wrong. He explains that he sometimes needs to discuss his feelings of sadness about the fact that she kept Jane from him for 23 years with Michael, and he can no longer do that. It's a touching moment, watching a father who truly regrets missing the first two decades of his daughter's life voice his inner torment about it. It also explains why Jane has zero tolerance for people who lie or withhold information from her.
And speaking of people who lie, let's discuss that snake Wesley Masters (Brian Jordan Alvarez), Jane's fake friend from graduate school. He only buddied up to Jane to get dirt on the Solanos for an exposé he was writing about the family for a local magazine. The only reason I'm mentioning him here is because of how awesome it is to watch Jane go off on him in this episode.
Plus, Wesley does serve a purpose. He's supposed to be a TA next semester, a position Jane desperately needs when it comes to light that the scholarship she thinks she has for graduate school had actually been invented and paid for by Rogelio. Now that he's broke, he can no longer pay.
Jane begs hot professor (he probably has a name, but I'm just going to call him hot professor for the sake of this recap because let's be real, Adam Rodriguez is super hot) for a TA position, and he encourages her to enter a short story contest with a cash prize instead. At the end of the episode, he reveals that he secretly got snaky Wesley kicked out of school for violating his fellow student's confidentiality, and Jane now has his TA position. Score one for hot professor.
By the time the episode ends, things are looking pretty great for the Villanuevas. Jane can continue at school thanks to the TA position. They locate the missing angel for the top of their Christmas tree (Michael took it home from Mateo's christening and returned it right in time for the holidays, making him a knight in shining armor, just like he is in the short story Jane writes for the contest). Alba's green card arrives. Rogelio finds his next passion project. Christmas miracles abound in the Villanueva household.
Unfortunately, things aren't looking so great for Petra (Yael Grobglas). After she confesses everything that's happened in the past few months to Rafael, she feels like a huge burden has been lifted. Her blood pressure has been extremely high, which is unhealthy for someone in her condition (she's pregnant). It seems like having someone with whom she can share this metaphorical load will help ease her stress, especially because Rafael not only believes Petra, he also understands her more than ever before.
Not everyone can have a happy ending, though. Rafael encourages Petra to turn her mother into the police for murdering Ivan, a henchman. Right when Petra's about to do just that, her mother flips the script and has the police arrest Petra for Ivan's murder. We, of course, get the ol' "To be continued..."
And that's how they wish you a Merry Christmas, Jane the Virgin-style, I guess. See you next year!