Jane The Virgin Season 3, Episode 17 Recap: "Chapter Sixty-One"

On this week’s “Jane the Long Lost Friend,” everyone’s surprising each other. And there are a lot of surprises in this episode. So many that I can’t keep up with all of them. And sadly, none of them were Luisa and Rose on a spaceship or anything cool like that.

“Chapter 61” was one of the strongest episodes since the three-year time jump. Turns out Jane sharing her memories of Michael with the world last week had as strong of an effect on the show as it did on her.

Jane is surprised by herself this week. She was in heat for Michael when they first got married, but Fabian is the first guy she’s truly just wanted sex from. But then she gives him a chance with the help of Lina, who gave Jane advice that my single friends never take when I give it to them. She’s also surprised by Lina, who hasn’t stayed in touch as well as Jane would like. This is a thing that happens in your late 20s, and I’m glad it was shown this realistically. Have you really lived if you haven’t had a fight that turned into a heartfelt conversation on a bathroom floor? Yes, but you haven’t lived as long.

Side note: I kind of forgot about Lina being a person, but seeing her again was a pleasant surprise.

Jane is also surprised at Rafael’s Pining for Petra (should I copyright that?), and gives him some valuable advice. After all they’ve been through, she’s that last person anyone would think he’d want back. Rafael almost seems pretty shocked by his own feelings, but can’t control them enough to not make it obvious how much he loves Petra again. He is so blinded that he rudely leaves her a voicemail. It’s 2017, Zen Rafael! Just send a text message. I don’t exactly buy Rafael being so cool with Petra lying to police after his stint in jail, but I’ll get over it by the time I write the next sentence in this recap.

Petra goes for Chuck’s offer to drive her to Pensacola. And I as a reluctant fan of Chuck’s this season, was surprised to learn that he is in fact Jerky Pants and has some hunting gear in the back of his car that he probably uses for animals and humans. Will Rafael save the day? Probably, but if Petra’s proved anything this season, it’s that she can take care of herself — and her damn sister at the same time.

Xo’s proposal to Rogelio was such a nice touch, even though this story line was B at most. Maybe even a C story. Rogelio got so meta when he said that this relationship needs to move more forward, because watching a slow courtship yet again would be painfully boring. I feel bad for Bruce, who is probably still brooding in his house, but at least their relationship is going somewhere and soon.

The most surprising thing about this episode was how shamelessly political it got. Yes, it’s no surprise for this show to make political comments, but this week they went for it and made a statement. With immigrants and people of color being the primary focus of this show, it’s a perfect fit. I, like many people, identify with Abuela: I used to not be very political until the past year or so. And now I march and I am brave, just like she is, and just like Mateo (who wipes his own butt now!) will be. Oh, and Jane reading Orwell? Dark. Next week she’ll probably be talking about watching/reading The Handmaid’s Tale.

I’ll end with the least surprising thing in the episode that was all about surprises: Rogelio getting botox on his day off.