Real talk: How did TV writers have one member of a love triangle find out important secrets about the other two members before baby monitors were invented? This is the second show I've watched in the past month where a well-placed baby monitor has provided the surveillance necessary for some extremely important secrets to emerge (the first being the Danish show Rita, which is on Netflix and is well worth your time). They're very handy little gadgets, baby monitors, and not just for checking up on your sleeping tot.
Such is the case on tonight's episode of Jane the Virgin, of course. The first time Jane spots the baby monitor while she's busy pouring her heart out, it turns out to be a bit of a Chekhov's gun. Like Chekhov's gun, if there's a baby monitor perfectly placed to reveal key secrets of the heart in act one, it will have revealed those secrets by the third act. We just had to wait for Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Michael (Brett Dier) to have the world's most explosive kiss in front of a paper mâché Matterhorn (complete with fake snow, because this show loves falling petals/snowflakes during a big, climatic liplock) before the baby monitor could finally do its dastardly revealing to Rafael (Justin Baldoni).
Unfortunately, Jane and Michael's big, wonderful kiss can only mean one thing: a custody agreement (womp womp). Rafael has been keeping up hope that Jane would realize her feelings for him, but she still wasn't into pursuing their relationship after their kiss in last week's episode. So he went straight for the jugular by asking to get lawyers involved and draw up a custody agreement for Mateo. You cut Jane deep, Rafael. She's clearly been dealing with some post-partum feelings of confusion over her evolving identity, and all Rafael wants is an answer about where they stand as a couple.
Jane the Virgin does an excellent job here of portraying the various degrees of post-partum blues and depression that can affect some mothers. While Jane is grappling with her worldview shifting to include Mateo and the idea of herself as a mother, time marches on. She also has to juggle going to school along with how having a baby has changed all of her interpersonal relationships, not just the romantic ones. To that latter point, this episode finally gave Lina (Diane Guerrero) a chance to shine. Her friendship with Jane is often put on the backburner so that the show can focus on Jane's family, Rafael, and Michael. This week, we really got to see how Jane and Lina have been there for one another since they were in middle school. It involves one very special dance to Nelly's "It's Getting Hot in Herre." Who knew young Jane had it in her to perform a dance to the 2002 classic in front of the nuns at her school talent show? In tangentially related news, we find out that Luciana (Kate del Castillo) is blackmailing Rogelio (Jaime Camil) with some unofficial auditing tapes the two had made back when they were amateur Scientologists. The digs this episode takes at the Church of Scientology are pretty epic. Jane the Virgin's writing staff clearly doesn't fear the wrath of Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Xenu. Do they not want to go clear or reach OT level III? Sea Org will never have them now. All is not completely well in Michael and Jane land after their big kiss, though. He's being carefully monitored by his new partner, who knows that something happened between him and his old partner (Nadine, who joined Sin Rostro). Plus, they're both watching Luisa (Yara Martinez), who manages to escape her mysterious German kidnappers. Or did they set her free? How did she ever get her medical license when she can barely manage to go a single day without being kidnapped? It doesn't even matter because by the end of the episode, Luisa is back in Sin Rostro's trap. Is the sex really that good, Luisa? You know Rose (Bridget Regan) is dangerous! I just want Jane and Michael to run off into the sunset together. Is that too much to ask? I know; of course it is. The show said it directly, "This is a telenovela. There has to be drama!"
Jane the Virgin does an excellent job here of portraying the various degrees of post-partum blues and depression that can affect some mothers. While Jane is grappling with her worldview shifting to include Mateo and the idea of herself as a mother, time marches on. She also has to juggle going to school along with how having a baby has changed all of her interpersonal relationships, not just the romantic ones. To that latter point, this episode finally gave Lina (Diane Guerrero) a chance to shine. Her friendship with Jane is often put on the backburner so that the show can focus on Jane's family, Rafael, and Michael. This week, we really got to see how Jane and Lina have been there for one another since they were in middle school. It involves one very special dance to Nelly's "It's Getting Hot in Herre." Who knew young Jane had it in her to perform a dance to the 2002 classic in front of the nuns at her school talent show? In tangentially related news, we find out that Luciana (Kate del Castillo) is blackmailing Rogelio (Jaime Camil) with some unofficial auditing tapes the two had made back when they were amateur Scientologists. The digs this episode takes at the Church of Scientology are pretty epic. Jane the Virgin's writing staff clearly doesn't fear the wrath of Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Xenu. Do they not want to go clear or reach OT level III? Sea Org will never have them now. All is not completely well in Michael and Jane land after their big kiss, though. He's being carefully monitored by his new partner, who knows that something happened between him and his old partner (Nadine, who joined Sin Rostro). Plus, they're both watching Luisa (Yara Martinez), who manages to escape her mysterious German kidnappers. Or did they set her free? How did she ever get her medical license when she can barely manage to go a single day without being kidnapped? It doesn't even matter because by the end of the episode, Luisa is back in Sin Rostro's trap. Is the sex really that good, Luisa? You know Rose (Bridget Regan) is dangerous! I just want Jane and Michael to run off into the sunset together. Is that too much to ask? I know; of course it is. The show said it directly, "This is a telenovela. There has to be drama!"