{"id":7606,"date":"2020-07-06T13:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T20:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7606"},"modified":"2020-07-03T18:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T01:44:00","slug":"mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s02e07-chapter-twenty-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/07\/mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s02e07-chapter-twenty-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Jane the Virgin’: S02E07 – Chapter Twenty-Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventh episode of the second season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, this single episode was a journey in and of itself. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of abuse, anti-Blackness and misogynoir<\/b><\/p>\n

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

I just want to say that while I have been pretty vocal about some of the writing choices for Petra, I am absolutely here for Jane and Petra becoming friends. (And my shipper klaxon has been ringing loudly in my head for a while, but this episode sent it into overdrive.) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a moment in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-Nine\u00e2\u20ac\u009d where the Narrator points out how hard it is for Petra to socialize with Jane, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s honestly the realest moment in this whole episode. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so short, and yet it speaks volumes to Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character. She has been surrounded by toxicity: a controlling, abusive, and manipulative mother. A controlling, abusive, and manipulative ex, who has blackmailed her into a marriage. And thus, Petra behaves in a toxic manner, too. Part of it is survival; part of it is because her whole environment is sick, and so she acts that way, too. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an exoneration of her behavior, but an explanation of it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so refreshing to see that attempt from her in a genuine way. Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life has become complicated and deeply toxic again because of Milos and<\/i> because Magda murdered Ivan at the end of the last episode. So what does she do? She reaches out to someone she knows will treat her with kindness. She asks Jane for lunch because she knows Jane will be honest with her without being cruel. To me, that was the sign of someone desperate for normalcy and genuine, true love. And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean sexual or romantic! She wants platonic<\/i> love and support in that moment. (Though I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny the queer undertones of the whole exchange and oh boy, do I have thoughts on that, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna wait to see if something develops before I comment on it further.) It made me sad to see her sabotage this potential friendship because of Magda. I WILL CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN THAT MAGDA NEEDS TO BE OUT OF PETRA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LIFE FOR HER TO SUCCEED. I say this as someone who is reaching three and a half years of no contact with their own mother! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a painful decision to make for a whole host of reasons, but sometimes, you need to break things off with a person to find peace.<\/p>\n

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

Okay, I definitely did not expect THIS twist. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll recall, I found it a little weird that Michael was fired so easily. Initially, I took this as poor representation of policing in the US (which is still a criticism I think applies to Jane the Virgin<\/i> in other ways). Like… where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the police union in all of this? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the number one reason why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so hard to get justice for cops who behave immorally and illegally. But the truth is that, with Bennett\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suggestion, Michael went undercover! And while undercover, he partnered with Nadine to track down Sin Rostro, letting Nadine believe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been fired.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaaaannnnnd that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where this utterly falls apart for me. I had vocalized my distaste for how Nadine appeared to be written out of the show in season one. And while I was definitely wrong about that, what happens in this episode only makes things worse for her character. There was a potentially interesting storyline in exploring how Nadine was manipulated by Sin Rostro that easily could have had parallels with, say, Petra! Powerful women using that power to harm others? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right there.<\/p>\n

Instead, Nadine was an agent of the plot, pushing Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story forward with no real depth to her own. Here, all of the six months of Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undercover journey is summarized bizarrely by a single scene at night in an alley of sorts, where Michael is nearly assassinated\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwe have to assume it was one of Sin Rostro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s people\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut at the last second, Nadine dives in front of the bullet. So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spell that out: Nadine doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really get her own story this season, and the only recurring Black woman on the show dies so the white man can live. Yeah, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like that at all, not just for the optics, but because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not good writing at the end of the day. It falls into tropes and harmful patterns of misogynoir (a term coined by queer Black feminist Moya Bailey to address the specific misogyny that Black women face), and it leads to a disappointing end for this character.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Advisors<\/b><\/p>\n

Some of the cringe-inducing awkwardness here was hard to watch. IT WAS SO AWKWARD. The plate of deviled eggs? Replying to an email instead of forwarding it? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TOO PAINFUL. While I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have experience with higher education and creative writing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcollege dropout here!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI was very thrilled by how the show depicting the process of writing, especially<\/i> when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got multiple voices telling you contradictory things about a piece you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve written. All of that shit\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe take that Dr. Chavez has on Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work versus Dr. Bolton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u201dspeaks to the subjectivity of writing. An editor helps shape a manuscript, of course, and people who provide feedback can also see your story taking a much different course than what you intended for it. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a bad thing by itself! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a joy in watching a book re-shape itself, and I speak from experience. Many of you know that Anger is A Gift<\/i> went through a drastic genre change before I got an agent. Well, working with my editor on my second novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, was eerily similar, as the book went from a far-future dystopia to secondary world fantasy.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I loved about Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggle is that she had to figure out which of these two professors spoke to the intent of her work while challenging her. And both certainly did, but my guess is that Dr. Bolton is a much bigger fan of commercial writing, whereas Dr. Chavez is a more literary teacher. In the end, it was Dr. Chavez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s notes that felt more in line with what Jane wanted with her story. Another aspect that makes this fascinating and fulfilling is that Jane is mostly writing drama\/romance, and you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often see that associated with literary fiction. Dr. Chavez is not telling her she shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t write romance; he just wants her to write it better<\/i>. And that tells me that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a better fit for her as an advisor! So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the one Jane will work with. (Also, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m selfish and have had a longstanding crush on Adam Rodriguez, so I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T CARE, I LIKE LOOKING AT HIS FACE.)<\/p>\n

Chepa and Babysitting<\/b><\/p>\n

Okay, please someone validate me: Was anyone else utterly paranoid that when Jane was watching the babycam footage, we were about to see Chepa mistreating Mateo or being caught doing something embarrassing? I WAS SO AFRAID OF THAT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about what she actually<\/i> saw in a bit. OH, JANE. Jane!!! Jane the perfectionist, Jane the worrier, Jane the unable-to-let-Mateo-go. It was so hard watching this because this struggle was SO REAL!!! It is entirely understandable that she was torn between these choices, and it was nice to also see her give herself a chance to breathe and have time on her own. I like that about Jane the Virgin<\/i>; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen that thematic motif pop up more than once. Because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing wrong with valuing self-love or giving one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self time to be alone or to go on dates. You have to find that balance to take care of yourself! At the same time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair that Jane wants to have the best possible babysitter so that when she is<\/i> taking time away from Mateo, she is able to trust someone and not have to think about her son every five minutes.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chepa seems like a wonderful fit, and I really hope that we see Jane relying on her more as she commits further to her writing career. I was also going to say that it would help her with her romantic life, but… oh no. More on that in a second.<\/p>\n

Downsizing Rogelio<\/b><\/p>\n

Jane the Virgin<\/i> mostly relies on humor to brush past some of Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more abrasive behaviors and beliefs, and I admit that I laugh at how over-the-top he is. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny, and Jaime Camil is just outstanding in this role. But I also love how slowly, the show is chipping away at his ego and getting him to look at how flawed he is. We saw that in his on-and-off-again romance with Xiomara last season and some of this season, too. He is learning to compromise. He is learning to put other people before himself. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failing at that, too, as he does here when his ego makes him think that Esteban was fucking with him regarding Xiomara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theme song, only to accidentally torpedo Xiomara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prospects. But I was equally intrigued by the depiction of someone who did not come from money, suddenly earning a lot<\/i> of it, and then letting that affect his current behavior. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve met people like that, and some of them actually continue to be thrifty and responsible upon accumulating money or wealth because they are afraid of every returning to a state of insecurity again. Rogelio did not do that. Rather, he built up a lifestyle he always wanted, and when his finances were in fluctuation, he made decisions to keep that life, rather than act in his own best interests creatively or personally. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of conflict in that!<\/p>\n

Reconnecting with Rafael<\/b><\/p>\n

Hi, wow, remember when there was HOPE here? Remember when things felt GOOD? Remember when Rafael took Jane to a house that resembled the one of the family she babysat for? REMEMBER?<\/p>\n

Because holy shit, this just turned into a horrible mess. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that understands at the core why Rafael did what he did. Look, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got very justifiable reasons to feel protective and frightened of Sin Rostro. At the same time… lord. This is bad. A very bad decision. A VERY HARMFUL DECISION. And I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore that this is another example of Rafael seeing a problem and throwing money at it! He paid that man to get Michael fired, and then lied about it when Michael confronted him.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On top of this all is Welsey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s betrayal of his friendship with Jane. That article is not going to help!!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only making matters more tense and frustrating, which is absolutely affecting all involved. UGH EVERYTHING IS SO MESSY! Oh my god, we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even dealt with the reveal that Luisa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother is not dead and is probably the drug lord Mutter that Michael and Bennett have been tracking down. Seriously, the Solano family is so messed up??? What effect is this going to have on the story and specifically on Luisa?<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Twenty-Nine\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":"