In the eighth episode of the fifth season of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Jane tries to recover after a rejection, while others reconnect with those they love. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of trauma.<\/b><\/p>\n
Reconnecting and Reading<\/b><\/p>\n
My experience with what Jane goes through in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Eighty-Nine\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is limited, but I wanted to open with a discussion on being romantically rejected and boundary setting. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been in four long-term relationships, and the other person ended things in three of them. Even so, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until I<\/i> initiated the end of a break-up that I finally experienced something close to what we see here: that intense longing and irrational pining that seems impossible to overcome. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that we live in a society here in the States (and elsewhere, too) that pushes the message of true love and persistence as part of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153normal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d romantic experience. If true love exists, then those people are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153destined\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to be together. This, however, does not account for the confusing, horrible experience of realizing that the image of one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true love that a person has in their head doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually match up with reality. That dissonance hurts<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and it took me four relationships to finally understand why some people become so messy, chaotic, and intense after a break-up.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still speaking in a very<\/i> general sense. Once you start including the specific context of Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s break-up with Rafael, though, this became more complicated. Jane is only certain now<\/i> that Rafael is her destiny, and throughout this episode, she makes it clear through her actions (and sometimes her words) that she wants Rafael to get over his resentment towards her as soon as possible. If she can just prove that her love is true, that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be better off together, then everything will be fine!<\/p>\n Except Rafael already told her his problem with Jane and why he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get back together with: Trust issues! And instead of actually listening to him and working on said trust problems, Jane does\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a lot of bad things. She ignores Rafael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boundaries. She stalks him. She follows him. She uses information from her son in order to be in the same place as him. (Which ended up having a positive affect, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t negate what she did prior to that.) Then the whole thing with the home and the grand gesture? Oh my god, Jane, HE SAID HE DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TRUST YOU. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go and do something that will make him trust you EVEN LESS!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The problem (of many, sure) is that Jane spends most of this episode, right up until she makes that terrible mistake, only thinking about herself and what she wants. She isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trying to make amends; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just trying to prove herself. Also, another thing: THE OTHER PERSON SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN YOU MAKING AMENDS!!! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a key part of this! But Jane doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t involve Rafael; she merely inflicts herself and her desires on him. This has to be an active process, and look, even though I acknowledge that Jane was heartbroken and her intent was good, there was such a better way to go about this. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s take the misinterpreted signal, for example. If Rafael really had<\/i> wanted to begin to repair things, then Jane should have respected that this needed to happen on his schedule. She shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have tried to jumpstart it because she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to wait any longer!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Look, this is also out of my lane of experience because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all wrapped up in co-parenting. If Jane is going to successfully manage this, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to separate the two, like Rafael was trying to do. This hurt to watch, of course, because I know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to want someone you cannot have. But as Xo points out, loving someone is not ownership, and that was the hard lesson Jane had to learn.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Amidst this, though, was a really nice story about Jane and Rafael learning to adjust in their education of Mateo and reading. I was an early reader, but kids like Mateo are far less frequent in fiction, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad we got this whole plot. In particular: you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect anyone to learn the same way others do. We all learn best through different means and at different paces, too. Flashcards might be how Jane best synthesizes information, but clearly, this didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work. Humor, however? Look how Raul began to connect to rhyming once he got to be silly. And I also hope that if Mateo grows up to dislike reading, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not treated differently for that.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n JR<\/b><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m only realizing now as I type this review that this plot is on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of boundaries and break-ups. First of all: I NEVER SAW THIS COMING. TRULY!!! I thought that Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughters had seen one of Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s henchmen on the balcony and that the issue they had with JR was completely separate from that. However\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 holy shit. This went a really<\/i> upsetting place, but it was one that was explored so respectfully and so kindly. And I mean that from all angles! As freaked out as Petra was, she was so great with her kids when she spoke to them. There was no yelling, no judging, and instead, she just listened<\/i> to them. They felt safe enough to tell her the truth: They were trying to sabotage JR. This is not the first time this show has addressed the strange ways in which the human mind copes with trauma. Here, we see a new context: Children witnessing something violent and misreading a situation because of it. They were told guns were bad, and so, they saw JR\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions as being unsafe. Which, of course, is the terrible irony here; JR saved Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the conversation that JR and Petra have? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the healthiest ones they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve EVER had. Both characters are deeply understanding of the other, and they both communicate extremely well. Petra sets a boundary and makes it clear that she has<\/i> to be a good mother to Annie and Ellie first. That is her priority. And when JR counters that she wants to work harder on spending time with Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughters, she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t assume she knows best. She fights for her relationship with Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with<\/i> Petra. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the exact opposite of what Jane does with Rafael. Petra is involved in the entire process! They come to an agreement together!!! UGH I FELT SO GOOD ABOUT THIS, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M VERY HAPPY. Please let a good thing last?<\/p>\n New Pilot and Ro-morse<\/b><\/p>\n Well, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect this either! I figured that Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s show was ready to go and would be picked up after all that work, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Hollywood. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Hollywood does. I should have expected this! What comes from this news, though, is a really fascinating story. It was hard to watch, yes, because Jane delivered a double dose of disappointment here. (That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a mouthful!) After upsetting Raul, she also upsets her father when she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t finish the proposal for his new show. While that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important plot point, I was more interested in what Rogelio asked of Jane. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like what she did before, where she wrote out her father from his show. A proposal is a completely different beast! (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only written fiction manuscript proposals at this point in my life, but fundamentally, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not all that different across industries.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So what will this do for Jane? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been stuck for so long on her second novel, and sometimes, working on something else is exactly the right solution for writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s block. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also interested in the her idea. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely ridiculous to try and cram all of the network\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hot items and topics into a single pitch, but the dual timeline narrative\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith one timeline in space\u00e2\u20ac\u201dactually seems kinda cool. Will River be into it in the end? Is Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s writing career going to lead her to television, or will she stay in the novel world? I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES.<\/p>\n Final Test<\/b><\/p>\n Oh, wow, this plot crushed me AND THEN HEALED ME AGAIN. It fits so well with the other two relationship stories, too, since it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about boundaries and the complications of love. As Alba was telling Jane not to read too much into what Rafael was texting her, she was having to put the same advice into practice in her own life. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gotten pretty good at it, too! Not just that, but she involved Xiomara in the process to help her when things got too rough. So, I braced myself. I wondered if this would be the end of Alba\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story with Jorge. If they passed their immigration interview, then what reason was there for them to stay together?<\/p>\n Pride.<\/p>\n I LOVE HOW THIS CAME TOGETHER. I love that this acknowledges why Jorge behaved as he did after both<\/i> of Alba\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rejections, but also, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more depth to all his scenes post-marriage this season!!! Because he did<\/i> feel something for Alba!!! HIS PRIDE WAS JUST GETTING IN THE WAY. Oh my god, Jorge declaring his love for Alba\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 A GOOD THING HAPPENED. AND IT WAS GLORIOUS. Ugh, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy for Alba!<\/p>\n Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Plan<\/b><\/p>\n Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET IT. TRULY. What the fuck? What exactly is the plan here? One of Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s henchmen has infiltrated Luisa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, and apparently, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to get Luisa to allow Rafael to let her see his kids. For\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what? What possible benefit could this provide for Rose? I genuinely don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it. Is this a revenge plot? Why are these people doing Rose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bidding? For money? WHAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HAPPENING???<\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Eighty-Nine\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – My second novel, EACH OF US A DESERT, is now out in the world!<\/a> In the eighth episode of the fifth season of Jane the Virgin, Jane tries to recover after a rejection, while others reconnect with those they love. 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-7703","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\/7703","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=7703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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