{"id":7644,"date":"2020-08-31T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T20:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7644"},"modified":"2020-08-24T06:49:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T13:49:34","slug":"mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s03e09-chapter-fifty-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/08\/mark-watches-jane-the-virgin-s03e09-chapter-fifty-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Jane the Virgin’: S03E09 – Chapter Fifty-Three"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the third season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Michael and Jane deal with stress; Rogelio and Darci hit a rough patch; and Petra plots to keep herself safe. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For extended discussion of anxiety, PTSD\/trauma.<\/b><\/p>\n

Managing Stress<\/b><\/p>\n

WHEW, THIS EPISODE WAS TOO CLOSE TO HOME. This is perhaps one of the most detailed representations of my own anxiety spirals I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen on television, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of me that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relieved that I can just point to this episode if I ever meet someone who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand them. This! This is what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like! I absolutely have a brain that jumps to the worst, most unlikely scenario at any given moment. I convince myself that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna happen, and then I become obsessed with doing anything to redirect the path of my life to a different end. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s… exhausting. Like, if you watched Michael and Jane fight and get more and more stressed, and it all made you feel tired, IMAGINE HOW IT FEELS TO EXPERIENCE IT. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truly the quickest way for me to deplete ALL the energy in my body y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Fifty-Three\u00e2\u20ac\u009d isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t solely about stress when it came to Michael and Jane. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another level to it, which is that the two of them have to learn how to deal with stress as a couple. I will admit that it seems incredibly ludicrous that someone is going to study for and take the LSAT in just a month, as I remember my friends taking much, much longer than that. I suppose that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point, though. Michael may have been stressed if this had been stretched out to a more normal timeline, but he is peak<\/i> stressed because of the accelerated timeline. So what happens between this couple when both<\/i> of them are overwhelmed? Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in crunch time because her novel thesis is due within a couple days. (Again, this is hitting too close to home, because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m currently on one of the most hellish deadlines of my life. As of the day I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing this review, I have thirteen days left to edit an entire<\/i> novel. AND MOVE AN APARTMENT. I have become Jane and Michael combined HELP.) The challenge here is that generally speaking, only one<\/i> of the two of them had been overwhelmed at a time. So, the other partner picked up the slack.<\/p>\n

Welcome to relationships! I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say I was necessarily super good at this, as I tend to ignore my own needs and desires to help another person. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working on this in therapy!) But it is a very real things that most couples eventually have to deal with. In this case, Michael and Jane gloriously<\/i> fail at it, and LORD, this got stressful to watch? SO STRESSFUL. Because I could see how badly each of them needed relaxation. They needed support. They needed to step back from the constant onslaught that was making them even more anxious by the day. So as silly as it seemed at the time, Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s idea to pull off the highway and CAMP ended up being the best thing here. They got to unplug! They got to be in a space that had little to do with their current predicaments. And while it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not explicitly said onscreen, it actually felt a lot like the techniques my therapist recommends. Even right now, as I juggle a complicated edit with a move, she is reminding me to take time to do shit that has nothing<\/i> to do with either of those things. I stress about time in particular and not having enough of it, but if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take substantive breaks and refill myself, then I end up being less productive thanks to anxiety. So look: they did it. And that scene in the tent was so sweet, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, so I hope it provides them with the guidance they need to deal with this when it happens again.<\/p>\n

Managing Emoners<\/b><\/p>\n

That word is so… cursed. I just had to type it again.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprised that Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confession made matters worse with Darci. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pragmatic, practical character, and much of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Fifty-Two\u00e2\u20ac\u009d supports thats. Her dating rules are incredibly<\/i> practical for the most part! And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s those rules that she uses to push Rogelio away for most of the episode. Why?<\/p>\n

Baggage.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I literally wrote about this in the beginning of the previous season. (And even used the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clean slate,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d too!) Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I absolutely loved<\/i> how Rogelio addressed the concept of emotional baggage. IT WAS SO DAMN REFRESHING! Because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that it is impossible to date a person and expect them to be a clean slate. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a state that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever exist again because… well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not how the world works. Rather than discuss her discomfort with how close Rogelio and Xo are, Darci just assumed the worst. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note that even though this was the case, we still got a glimpse of the reason why<\/i> that assumption happened. For all that Darci wanted a man without baggage, she had ignored her own<\/i> baggage. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that Rogelio was right, that an ex in Darci\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past went back to his ex, and thus, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got an anxiety that this will happen again. So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that these two found a way to at least forge ahead. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll last, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll actually have a child together either. But this is a start, right? An actual date! Well, a second<\/i> one, I should say.<\/p>\n

Writing<\/b><\/p>\n

Just briefly, as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made this point multiple times before: GODS, THIS SHOW DOES WRITING SO WELL. Until my middle grade book, which I completed this year, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I had ever<\/i> finished a manuscript and not immediately wanted to tear it apart. The most deeply relatable aspect of that in this episode is that shot of Jane standing in front of like forty index cards, evidence that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d torn the structure of her novel to shreds and now couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put it back together. HI, THIS IS A LOT. I use index cards in the Scrivener app these days, but I actually want to set up a giant pinboard in my new place to be able to plot this way.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Look, storytelling is fucking hard<\/i>. Especially in the novel form! So I appreciate that the writers are showing that struggle in Jane. One of the hardest things to do with a book is to let it go. It involves humility. It involves acceptance<\/i>. You have to accept that you did the best that you could. And more than anything, a book can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get published if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let it go, you know? So I try to see the optimism in that act. Letting a book go means you believe in the process.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AND ALSO, REAL QUICK: Alba accepting the manuscript? And saying all that drama would be worth it if Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book was what came out at the end? MY HEART.<\/p>\n

Catalina<\/b><\/p>\n

So, my take on all this: I think Catalina would not have done what she did in this episode if Jane hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t loudly called her a liar during yoga. I honestly believe that cut Catalina so deep that initially, she reacted defensively. Notice that after yoga, she went to Petra to tell her she was in on the plan to keep Rafael out of the hotel for a day. It was a petty, spiteful thing. Yet as she spent time with Rafael and he opened up to her, you could see<\/i> the guilt forming on her face.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, she told Rafael the truth. First, it was a<\/i> truth: that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have children. It was, perhaps, the most vulnerable moment we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever seen from her character. There was no ulterior motive on display. She was just being real with someone who liked and respected her. From there, more truths came to light, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how the whole Petra thing (which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to) was set into motion. Part of reckoning with the truth comes with accepting the consequences of your actions, too, so I appreciated that despite that Catalina did what was right, Rafael still got to say that he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want her around. It makes sense! He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to be around people he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust fully, especially RIGHT NOW, as his world is falling apart. Is this the last we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen of Catalina? Maybe. I suspect not. But if this is<\/i> it, I like where it ended.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fears<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m heartbroken. I know I spoke in the past about feeling strange towards Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arc after she was finally freed from her paralysis. So, while it hurt so much to admit the truth to Rafael, I appreciate that the writers gave her a moment to spell it out: Petra went though something deeply, deeply traumatic, and it shaped her perspective. So much so that she now relies on surveillance footage to navigate the world. Why? Well, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call back to a conversation early in the episode, in which Jane is talking to Alba about her book (but not<\/i> talking about it). She remarks on the ability to tell the difference between fiction and reality. I now see that as a slight hint to Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eventual release. Because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dealing with! What is<\/i> reality after someone so completely took over her life? Will people see her as Petra or as Anezka? What can she trust?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a twist that allows the audience not just sympathy, but empathy<\/i> towards Petra. We get to see things from her perspective, and ideally, we begin to understand why she did what she did here. In particular, it was that revelation about her kids that gutted me the most. We all saw how hard it was for her dealing with postpartum, and just as she finally began to bond with her kids, they were taken from her. In time, I hope they go back to how they were, but… gods. It isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the same anymore!<\/p>\n

Petra is clinging to certainty and stability because she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> have those things after what Anezka did. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why she finds comfort in the video feeds; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why she shredded the addendum to Rafael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will. Those things gave her agency<\/i>. They gave her control<\/i>. I hope, then, that she finds a way to deal with her own PTSD and trauma in therapy.<\/p>\n

In the meantime: OH NO, SCOTT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? Because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come back up, and I bet it will soon<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M WORRIED. He has the addendum now!!! THIS IS BAD!!!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Fifty-Three\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.
\n
\nMark 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":"