In the second episode of the second season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Jane struggles with an impossible choice. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of racism, xenophobia, consent, trauma.<\/b><\/p>\n
I really need to just accept that this show is going to move at a lightning pace from here on out. HOW IS ALL THIS SHIT ALREADY HAPPENING.<\/p>\n
Jane Gives A Rose To…<\/b><\/p>\n
I. LOVE. THIS. FRAMING. DEVICE. I really do! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a cleverness to it in multiple ways, and I am going to tell y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all why. Inherent in the way the writers use this narrative frame to talk about the love triangle is a criticism of the choice itself. In much of the discussion around love triangles is the idea that you have<\/i> to choose someone as soon as possible. Haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we all done this? Haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we all discussed a triangle in those terms? One thing that makes a love triangle actually<\/i> interesting is how the two possible love interests represent what kind of life a person wants. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about a very popular one: Peeta and Gale in The Hunger Games<\/i>. Collins wrote these two less as a means of determining who was hotter or who was a better \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for Katniss. Years and years after I read that trilogy, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now clear to me that Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice was more about what life she wanted after being involved in this uprising.<\/p>\n
So what life does Rafael wants? What about Michael? The truly frustrating thing about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-Four\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the writers have built up these two characters so convincingly that THE CHOICE GENUINELY FEELS IMPOSSIBLE. Over the course of this episode, Jane \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tests\u00e2\u20ac\u009d each of these men, even though they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being tested. What do each of them have to offer? How do they make her feel? What sort of life does she imagine with them? Michael offers Jane familiarity, and their history together has proven to Jane that Michael will be there for her. Yes, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s messed up, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been willing to do the work to repair his friendship with Jane, too. Look how dedicated he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remained to her after she broke off the engagement! So there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no doubt here: Jane knows he will show up for her and Mateo because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done so outside of a romantic relationship. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thoughtful in a way that Rafael isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t normally; Rafael has had to work to be like this.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, a great fit, right?<\/p>\n And then the episode runs us through a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Thursday with Rafael, and christ, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, HE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. He clearly thought through making his suite Mateo-friendly; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done so much work to be more attentive; and it also seems very clear that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prioritizing raising his kid rather than focusing only on the Marbella. That whole car ride and the ranking of the fries? Him saying that he wants his normal days to be this<\/i>? UGH IT WAS SO HARD TO WATCH. Not because it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a delight\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit was!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut because I knew the writers were not designing this to be easy.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? I was shocked when Jane told Michael and Rafael to their faces that she was in love with them both, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the truth! She is! Both of them compliment her in unique ways, and both of them offer her the possibility of happiness. Now, the queer part of me is all FORM A TRIAD, POLYAMORY IS RIGHT THERE, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect that to be the solution here. There isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t one, actually, at least not right now. Because instead of forcing Jane to make a choice, this episode ends with her choosing no one<\/i>. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have<\/i> to make this decision! Look how much else she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to deal with. Romance is not at all at the top of her list, and it is perfectly fine for her to choose herself<\/i>. Taking care of Mateo and gaining some normalcy to her life is her priority, so I love that this is where the episode ends in that regard.<\/p>\n The Neighbors<\/b><\/p>\n I can squint and see the point of this plot line, but you know what? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it. At all. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much hinted at here with Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new neighbors, yet barely anything is explored. Like… look. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore the horrible racist implications of NUMEROUS things here as the show does. These characters are clearly entitled, as one of them asserts their right to be in the neighborhood because their dad specifically rented them a house their due to the later sound ordinance laws. So, clearly there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some level of class separation here, and these people also have no stake in the neighborhood itself. I also cannot ignore that two white people are targeting a Latinx family with continued harassment and then call the cops on them. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so clearly and obviously a racist act; it was back when this episode aired and it is today. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also seen how willing people are to assume that Alba is undocumented (which she is), and thus, this threat is so damn credible. These two white folks were horrible to the Villanuevas, and when Jane finally takes action, not only is she the sole person to get in trouble, but Alba is traumatized. Actually, then she has to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153make up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the act to the neighbors to get them to be quiet, so they actually get a TWO-WEEK PAYING GIG as a reward for their harassment!!! NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT. That is bad!!!<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that Alba is going to pursue getting a green card, but the whole thing feels like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fault for stealing the amp? UGH. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LIKE IT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Choice<\/b><\/p>\n This is going to be an utter disaster. I know it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Petra knows she is in the wrong. 100%. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no delusion of that here; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why she does what she can to keep Scott happy because protecting the truth is more important to her. Which is also fucked up in and of itself; Scott is blackmailing his way to a promotion, which is going to backfire SO badly now that Rafael knows the truth. What the hell<\/i> is Petra going to do??? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pregnant. WITH RAFAEL\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S BABY. WHICH HE DID NOT CONSENT TO!!! How the fuck is this going to work?? I literally do not have a SINGLE guess because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve now moved into a timeline of PURE CHAOS. Oh my god.<\/p>\n There was one other thing I wanted to address. In general, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a huge fan of the narrator and their presence on the show; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a fun addition. But did anyone else feel really weird about the tone of the narrator poking fun at Rafael during his epiphany? Like… there was an almost glee at watching this man realize that someone STOLE his SPERM? That seemed like such an odd way to look at the situation and certainly more cruel than I expected. Right???<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m on a boat!<\/b><\/p>\n HEY I LOVE THIS PLOT A LOT. A lot!!! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that while the show leans into the humor of Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego, we still get to see him called out. Here, Xiomara checks his tantrum-like behavior aboard the cruise ship when he and Xiomara accidentally get stuck on it. Which, for the record, is such a beautifully hilarious telenovela plot. A+ FOR ALL INVOLVED. As ridiculous as it is, though, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a wonderfully intimate and vulnerable story at the heart of this. First, as I mentioned, I was glad that the writers pointed out the obvious: that while Rogelio thought he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153above\u00e2\u20ac\u009d this type of performance, this was a HUGE deal for Xiomara. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important perspective that I think some of y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all can relate to as well. I SURE DID. From here, the show briefly explores part of why Rogelio feels this way\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmortality and all that\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut also gives Xiomara and Rogelio a chance to move closer to one another. While I was very<\/i> happy to see them make up, I was more thrilled by the difficult conversation that came from it.<\/p>\n Because while Xiomara definitely wants to be with Rogelio, she also knows that he needs to heal. I loved that the writers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exonerate Xiomara, that she still owned up to making a terrible mistake that hurt Rogelio. Rather, the two have to figure out how to move on together, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to require Rogelio to deal with his unresolved trauma from the wife who cheated on him publicly. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if that means they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go to therapy together\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI can only dream!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut I love that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s expressed so plainly. Xiomara is willing to take this journey with him, which is a kind, noble, and beautiful thing. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking out for herself, too! Look, I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve talked about this before, but if not: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the way our society talks about the idea of having \u00e2\u20ac\u0153baggage\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in a relationship. To me, if someone says they want to date someone without \u00e2\u20ac\u0153baggage,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit of a red flag. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely fair to say that you want a person to be making healthy emotional decisions or to not punish you for past mistakes that someone else<\/i> made. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this weird notion that we should come into a new relationship like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a clean slate?<\/p>\n Nah. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s… not something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested in. Rather, I like this approach: both characters have an open mind. Xiomara has acknowledged that Rogelio is hurting because of what someone else did to him. As long as she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not getting harmed herself, she wants to be a part of this journey. That feels healthy to me, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited to see the two of them try to work on this.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lachlan Sucks<\/b><\/p>\n Point blank. I mean, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re supposed to dislike him, so at least there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that? But wow, I knew going into this that he was vindictive and gross, that he will always hold on to his grudge against these characters, and yet!!! Yet!!! I was still shocked by his betrayal of Rafael and Petra. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s… that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on me. I should have seen that coming. So! Now he and his employers own the land that they want to use to ruin the Marbella\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s view… LORD. Also: wow, rich people are so fucking WEIRD. This is how they get back at one another!!! sorry CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T RELATE<\/p>\n Luisa(\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcs writing sucks)<\/b><\/p>\n I just want MORE for her! In these first two episodes, she only exists for Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story. The premiere saw her pushing Petra towards having a baby, even if she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know the context of why Petra was upset. Here, she messes up a meeting, which sets in motion the whole plot with Lachlan (because she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still tender after Juicy broke up with her). Then she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kidnapped by Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s associate? Maybe that plot will give us more of Luisa? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so frustrating because again: absolutely here for messy, chaotic queer characters, but she still isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really being given her own story. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to hoping?<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-Four\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> In the second episode of the second season of Jane the Virgin, Jane struggles with an impossible choice. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[705],"tags":[706],"class_list":["post-7594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jane-the-virgin","tag-mark-watches-jane-the-virgin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\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":"