Jane by Design 1.12 “The Celebrity” Review

Jane Quimby is we and we is Jane Quimby. Or something.

The major appeal that somebody like Jane has is that she’s meant to represent the every(wo)man, the underdog. We’re supposed to almost like vicariously live through her trip into the fashion underworld, as dreams are being fulfilled, victories are being earned, and the weird, whimsical kid in her class finally comes into her own. It makes following her journey on Jane by Design both enjoyable and frustrating, though; while you want to see Jane continue to grow and learn more about the business we call fashion, the closeness that we feel to her and the kinship that has been formed amplifies mistakes. Jane has been pretty okay at handling herself in the adult world, but once she slips, it tends to lead to cringe-y moments and some major secondhand embarrassment.

Funny thing, though. In “The Celebrity”, Jane’s sudden brush with fame, complete with strutting-down-the-hallway-in-your-sunglasses scene and all, was handled much better than I expected it to be. Thanks to that relatability (and some unintentional consequences), you could forgive Jane for being a little quick to embrace the fame that her appearance with Aiden Chayse (Suburgatory’s Parker Young) got her. For once in her life, the girl that goes unnoticed at school finally got to be in the spotlight and have all eyes on her and that can be a lot to handle if you’re not prepared for it. Jane could be the girl that she always wanted to be, glamorous and accepted by the masses, which can be a hard thing to give up for someone with as much insecurity as she has. You had to feel empathy for the poor girl because everybody wants to be noticed and to be wanted and sometimes, to get that, it involves (inadvertently, in her case) hurting other people. The thing that surprised me most, though, was that the show didn’t immediately try to sweep her celebrity exposure under the rug or make it another limp attempt at exposing Jane. This was arguably Jane’s most vulnerable episode in terms of keeping her lives separate and Jane by Design didn’t take the bait, actually allowing the students to know a little bit about Jane’s other side.

But the topper to an already strong subplot was in the final few minutes of the episode, where Jane rushes out of the party to try and make it back for the movie night only to find Billy had “moved on” with another girl. “The Celebrity” is the second episode in a row to embrace sadness and not turn away from it in an attempt to keep the show light, Jane not making it back in time and Ben being dumped by Rita over a disagreement about their relationship status. That minor tweak in the storytelling has made the second half of Jane by Design‘s first season feel like a different show but a better show, real life finally cracking the fairy tale sheen that surrounded Jane’s world. Introducing a love interest for Billy brought an interesting dynamic shift, as well. Most of Jane by Design has everybody in Jane Quimby’s orbit reacting to her – her career, her boy toy, her life choices. With Billy checked out, both in protecting Jane from being “tainted” by his reputation and protecting himself from falling for her again, Jane’s a little more alone and on the defense, which could be a pleasant change to watch unfurl in the coming weeks.

One of my worries from the premiere was that Eli and Jane were going to be jammed together in a typical “you’re a cute boy, you’re a cute girl, you must like one another, right????” way, but lo and behold, their “relationship” got a little more shading in “The Celebrity”. It wasn’t tremendous bonding, nor did we find out that much more about who Eli is, but he turned out to be a good designer (Aiden picking his jacket to wear for the billboard) and a pretty decent guy on his outing with Jane. For the audience to be able to buy yet another attractive man falling at Jane’s feet, they had to made Eli an actual person and show why they’d be into one another, which this episode brought that out a bit; they have a fun energy between them that I could see growing into something pretty decent a little down the line. As long as they have some type of logical base to stand on regarding their time together and connection, I’m okay with another love interest, particularly if Billy keeps seeing the girl he brought to the movie.

The theme of “The Celebrity” seemed to be that regardless of how old we get, insecurity never quite leaves us behind. Jane let the sudden rush of attention go to her head after years of being socially neglected; Ben pushed too hard with Rita and let his past heartbreak deter his current relationship; Billy chose to leave Jane behind due to concerns about his new reputation as a “bad boy”; India’s firing made her feel as small as she ever has before, the catalyst for her blackmail of Jeremy and revenge plot against Gray and Jane. Egos are fragile and once people get hurt often enough, they retreat until they see it’s okay to come back into the fold. It’s what makes us human and it’s what makes the characters of Jane by Design compelling, regardless of what weakness they may have otherwise.

Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“Bummer? This is like an asteroid striking Earth, Billy.”
-“Okay, boys. Look, you’re both very handsome.”
-“Too bad you’re not a mind reader. We almost had something in common.”
-“You have unusually tiny knuckles.”
-The sequence of Ben telling the gorilla-gram “I canceled you, man!”, the gorilla handing him one big pink balloon, and Jane watching something about monkeys at her house was really cute.
-Another Ben thing I liked: his talk to Billy. Ben may be the comic relief a lot of times, but it’s nice to see a reminder that he can be a thoughtful, sincere guy. When he calms down, of course.
-Jane and Billy having things like “movie night” where they watch 50s b-movies is the type of detail I like to see from Jane by Design. We’ve seen the two be great friends, but it felt like a nice, minor character beat to flesh things out a tiny bit more.
-Clothing of the Night: I loved Billy’s green jacket and Eli’s suit at the party. Jane’s poofy red dress was fun and girly, but her green-and-white top didn’t do anything for me.
-Not much Nick or Lulu this season. Thoughts?
-There’s a Mean Girls-style arc in the pipeline for later this season. Fetch or not so fetch?
-TV Equals talked to David Clayton Rogers, getting information about the upcoming half-season, his projects away from Jane by Design, and the show he’d most like to guest star on.
-Next week on Jane by Design: Jane thinks that nobody knows it’s her birthday, inadvertently foiling the surprise party planned by Ben and Billy. India puts pressure on Jeremy to supply her with information about Gray and Donovan Decker.