Everyone has underlying issues. Even on TV. And especially on Jane the Lackey/Soon-to-be-Published Writer. Some are more serious than others. Some are more so lying issues than underlying ones. But they all have one thing in common in real life and on this show: Underlying issues always have different ways of manifesting themselves, depending on the person.
Jane’s underlying issues stem from Michael’s death, from her horrible boss, money, and Mateo. And these will always be there, and are pretty much out of her control, especially Michael’s death. But at least until this episode, she’d been managing her panic attacks quite well. But then she quit her job, because she found out her book deal would get her $50,000. This storyline gave me a panic attack throughout the first half of the episode. As a writer myself I know how these deals can seem too good to be true...and they are. I was biting my lip waiting for the catch, and there was one -- which is sad for Jane, but great that this show approaches her career path in a realistic way.
And then Jane she ran into Dennis at The Marbella and slapped him. A panic attack, and Jane’s new way of manifesting her issues. I love the way the show built up to the reveal of the tension between them, and slowly unraveled it throughout the episode in a natural way. At a certain point, I actually thought they possibly got romantic with each other at some point, or maybe he made a pass at her. But by the end of the episode, Dennis made it pretty clear that he’s a good guy by letting Jane hit him dozens of times and by addressing his underlying issues with proving Michael’s innocence. He did it to protect Michael’s name, and kept it from her to protect her from even more panic attacks! The less people getting slapped, the better.
Rogelio has underlying issues, but he’s also one of the liars. He’s been lying to Xo about knowing that the producers turned her into a villain. It was kind of heartbreaking to see Xo break-up the nice dinner scene with the video. But Rogelio needed good ratings to save his reputation after “penis-gate,” which apparently wasn’t as well received to people who live his universe as it was with me. Rogelio manifests his issues with Ropology Baskets, and using his charming personality to get away with doing bad things to people. But he’s getting better, and I’m glad he had that scene with Darci. He hurt her, too, but was too invested in is own world to notice.
Abuela is perfect and doesn’t seem to have any underlying issues. I loved her scene with Rogelio in this episode, and love seeing her speak up for Xo.
Rafael? He’s another one of the liars, because apparently he’s hiring his prison friends to work at The Marbella without Petra’s knowledge, and also that little bit at the end that revealed he’s probably (definitely) involved in Scott’s murder. Rafael uses his zen mode to hide behind his lies. I mean, no one will suspect a bearded, low key Rafael a murderer of a vest-obsessed former employee. Even if the victim held the proof that could lose Rafael everything. And also, loving Minka Kelly as his girlfriend, whose name escapes me, kind like her existence escapes The Narrator’s. Might she be the Ann to Jane the Virgin’s Arrested Development? I’m sure we’ll see way more of her in episodes to come.
Petra is another liar! But her underlying issue? She kind of likes Chuck, but is embarrassed by it. To hide her weakness, she goes into her work mode - The Marbella mode. And there’s no stopping her. I was kind of suspicious of Petra’s involvement in Scott’s death last week, but the return of Rose/Luisa in Chapter Fifty-Four convinced me otherwise. Her idea to track down footage from The De La Factor Factor was brilliant, but not as brilliant as the scene between Petra and Rogelio. I never thought about it before, but they’ve really never had any scenes together, because until now, there’s never been much of a reason for them to.
Which brings me to the new section: Where in the World Are Rose and Luisa? In which I guess where Rose and Luisa are, and what they’re doing when we haven’t seen them for a while: Rose and Luisa have sunk back into their submarine for a few weeks, so Rose can have her real face before they come back to Miami to do some murders and drug dealings. In the three years since we’ve seen them, I’m guessing that Luisa has successfully sold Rafael and Company on Rose’s new identity. Maybe they’ve even had Thanksgivings or Christmases together? Who knows. I’m also hoping that what Rose has plans means Dennis sticks around. Because by the end of writing this recap I am totally #TeamDennis now.
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