{"id":7588,"date":"2020-06-17T13:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7588"},"modified":"2020-06-10T11:05:46","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T18:05:46","slug":"mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s01e21-chapter-twenty-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/06\/mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s01e21-chapter-twenty-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Jane the Virgin’: S01E21 – Chapter Twenty-One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the first season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Jane tries her best to navigate choppy waters. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jane the Virgin<\/i> is doing something incredibly fascinating with the exploration of desire versus reality, something we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen across this entire season. While this show isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a contemporary fantasy, and it also only teases us with the notion of magical realism, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that the fantastical still lives right alongside the real on this show. In the context of the main interpersonal relationships, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen how telenovelas have influenced how some characters view love; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also seen Rafael struggle with what it means to love someone and be a father when your upbringing is what it is. Each of these people have entertained fantasies of what their relationships could be, and many of them are still entertaining them to some extent.<\/p>\n

And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reality. And reality is a million times more messy and complicated.<\/p>\n

Rogelio and Xiomara<\/b><\/p>\n

That goes for break-ups, too. Every single one of the main characters interacts with an ex in this episode, and their relationship is fraught with the reality of interaction, not the fantasy. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear now that Rogelio and Xiomara both want to get back together, but Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego and his very real concerns have made it hard for to say what he wants. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sticking to his guns and, again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a strong reason for the break-up. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the fantasy cropping up: Those of us who have dealt with breakups often wish they were clean-cut, easy, and that both parties went their separate ways without any complications. Ha! If only! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no fantasy in a break-up, and these two characters are smack in the middle of their own mess.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, I thought Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s freak-out on set was projection. He was still attracted to Xiomara, and he<\/i> was the one who couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deal with his emotions. I still think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some of that going on here, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Xiomara. She took a HUGE hit here to support someone else. I do feel a little strange about Rogelio letting it happen; I feel like he can take the hit to his career (now that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back on The Passions of Santos<\/i>), but she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. From her perspective, though, this was her way of showing that she still cared. She was willing to let that director rip into her so that she could save Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s show. (Still love the joke about it being a residency IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S NEVER NOT FUNNY.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what is Rogelio going to do for Xiomara? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very likely she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just been kicked off the show? And if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking fantasy versus reality, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this it? Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this exactly the sort of romantic gesture that so many of us would love to be on the receiving end of? Sometimes, fantasy is<\/i> reality.<\/p>\n

Jane and Michael<\/b><\/p>\n

I know I wrote about this recently, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still deeply impressed that this show is able to make the love triangle (not even sure it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a triangle anymore!) so interesting. There are moments in this episode where the idea of Jane and Michael getting back together feels possible. The same goes for Rafael and Jane. We get these glimpses of hope, of what seems to be a chance for reconciliation and repair, but are those bits of fantasy, too? Is it just wishful thinking?<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I think the writers are playing with here. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very real thing, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s achingly relatable to me. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so easy to fall not only into old patterns, but the comfortable, familiar intimacy that comes from a person you were close with for so long. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on my mind a lot, as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this on the sixth month anniversary of my ex passing. And man, I spent so much of 2019 in a state that felt so close to what I saw in this episode. It was easier to feel comfortable with this person than to tear myself away and try to move on.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But is this the right time for Jane to be seriously considering this? No. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comfortable, and she needed that sort of comfort during this time, but I feel like Jane recognizes that she has to truly, truly take care of this herself.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I say that also recognizing that I have literally not the slightest clue where this is going. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know who she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to end up with and it might not even be Michael or<\/i> Rafael by the end of the show.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Petra and Rafael<\/b><\/p>\n

If Magda is really gone for a good long while\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmaybe not permanently\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthen I want to see who Petra becomes. The fantasy that lives in Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually unreasonable. She still loves Rafael, and perhaps there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a chance that he might revisit things with her. That being said\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh, this is so toxic. It is! And like I said before, it seems that whenever Magda is around, Petra falls right back into this behavior. Here, she schemes in a confusing manner to look like the bigger person\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 so that Rafael will like her? Look, I understand the psychology at work here on the surface, and truthfully, I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s half the problem: this is a very superficial means of getting Rafael back. Yeah, Rafael does<\/i> greatly appreciate what Petra does for him, and yes, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an intimate familiarity there. But Petra schemes here with the expectation that this will translate into a desire to rekindle their relationship. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to be that easy, first of all. Secondly, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so disappointing about watching this unfold is that Petra should have realized that this kind of manipulation ALWAYS ENDS BADLY. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to happen if (no, WHEN) Rafael figures out that her intentions weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pure? Like if Magda gets out and tells Rafael the truth?<\/p>\n

Jane and Rafael<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, part of the problem here is that while Rafael said<\/i> he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t love Jane anymore, he actually still does. I worry that even if he tells her the truth, it might not be enough for her. I know I was harsh on Rafael in the latter part of the previous review, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still concerned about how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to show up for his child once they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re born. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even that I disagree with Luisa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice. Luisa is coming from a genuine place of concern for her brother, and I also think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair of her to suggest that he at least communicate the truth. Nothing will happen if he keeps it to himself.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the course of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-One,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d nearly all of Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concerns are addressed. Magda is arrested, through a wonderful bit of mean girl manipulation that Jane picked up at her high school reunion. Petra mostly backs off. Jane has taken time away from work to focus on her writing. And yet? I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see her as being ready to date again, and I certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think she wants to get back with Rafael. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on the other side of it, right? She can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t unsee or un-think what she knows, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty damn sure that Rafael and her are just too different.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That notion of hindsight plays into a lot of the reunion scenes, too. Jane has to reconcile her fears with reality, and in hindsight, she realizes that her anxiety over her own \u00e2\u20ac\u0153success\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is based on unfair expectations she held for herself. Okay, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a published book at 23. Trust me, I get this deeply! Truly! Completely! When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an overachiever in school, everyone expects you to be perfect and changing the whole world by the time you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re 20.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This episode allows Jane the proper reflection: No, she is not where she wants to be. But guess what? She can still get there. There is an unhealthy, damaging idea in our society that you have to have success young or you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never<\/i> have it. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just untrue, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s painful! I succumbed to that belief for many, many years, something I wrote about when I was reviewing Moving Pictures <\/i>for Mark Reads. I see this shit all the time in publishing, too. (I saw it in the music industry, too.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Jane gets to look back in this episode, and she gets to appreciate how far she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s come. With her family, I might add, who remain supportive of her and her dreams. Ugh, I love the idea of her going to school for her writing! Not only does she get to learn more tools to improve her craft (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M JEALOUS), but she loves school. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll provide her structure and a life outside of raising her kid. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SUCH A GOOD IDEA, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see anything regarding this until next season, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited! Which is a good thing to be going into this finale because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also very, very frightened by what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about to happen.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-One\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– You can now pre-order my second YA novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a>
\n– Not only that, but my very first pre-order campaign is now live for North American readers! If you submit proof of pre-order, you can get a limited edition print that comes with the book<\/a>.
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"