There’s a lot of love going around Jane the Virgin. Rafael loves Jane, Jane loves Rafael, Jane loves Petra (!), but someone doesn’t immediately love Jane. In this week’s episode, which should be appropriately renamed “Everybody Loves Jane”, Jane #2 doesn’t immediately take to our Jane, sparking a lot of conversation about the seriousness of everyone’s relationships. Whether people exchanged “I Love You’s” or “I Like You’s”, you couldn’t help but smile.
Now that Xiomara is on the road to recovery, things are looking up. Though the narrator might be upset that Rafael and Jane’s first “I Love You’s” since getting back together were so abrupt, it was still sweet. And hey, that’s as realistic an “I Love You” as you’re going to get rushing three kids out the door. He more than makes up for it, but what they both realize too late is that they reached this milestone on the anniversary of Michael’s death. Jane and Rafael’s love does not take away from what she had with Michael. Let’s put that argument to rest once and for all. If everyone can accept that, we can move on to enjoying Jane and Rafael moving in together.
In other news, JR met Petra’s kids for the first time. In a bathrobe. Talk about awkward. Even more awkward was JR’s statement that she didn’t ever want to meet Petra’s kids. We can forgive that since it was said out of a lack of real commitment. Not to mention, Petra is right. Her kids are not normal kids. But moving on. JR actually gets along very well with Rafael, just not with our Jane. It’s still kind of tough for Jane to deal with people not liking her, since she has a way of wearing people down. Let’s face it, Petra and Jane’s friendship was a miracle. Beyond that, they’ve built this weird family together that really works. I’ll agree with Rafael a little bit when he says that Petra got a bigger “I Love You” from Jane than he did. But can we all agree that this “I Love You” wasn’t a given, and therefore completely justified in its grandiosity?
Between Xiomara’s mastectomy and getting a new show off the ground, there is no way Rogelio has the time to be a full-time nanny to Baby. We all knew he was going to back out of this commitment eventually. But in his fear for his life (seriously, Darci could probably break Rogelio), Rogelio only tells Darci half the truth. He tells her about Xo’s cancer, but not about his show being in pre-production. The lie inevitably blows up in his face, and in order to make it up to both of his baby mama’s, he tries to poach a nanny. One day, they will tell the story (okay, Rogelio will tell the story) about the time Rogelio got in a bidding war with Mario Lopez over a nanny. You’ve got to give it to Rogelio for his determination. Not many people would go toe-to-toe with Mario Lopez on the playground. What Darci didn’t tell Rogelio is that she already knew about his show, and lied to make him feel guilty about his lie. I never thought I’d say this, but Bravo Esteban! He rightly called out both parents on their behavior, and is responsible for opening the lines of communication between them.
Things hit a snag in the Villanueva happy, healing bubble when Alba realizes she mixed up the date for her citizenship test. She is used to juggling multiple tasks at once, but cramming for a citizenship test while taking care of your sick child is a strain, even for her. Truth be told, she does a lot more caretaking than studying, which makes Xo feel smothered. She tells her mother to leave. It’s terrible how that one word took on a whole new context when applied to Alba’s situation. But Xo doesn’t actually feel smothered. She just wanted her mom to study for her test. Once the girls have their cards on the table, and Alba tries and fails to give it one more shot with Jorge, Alba is ready to take the test. When she is two minutes late, Xo turns into a force of nature to push the Immigration office to let her mother in. Though sick and in pain, Xo was a hero. Thus completes the circle of love, with Alba’s love for her new country.
Whose “I Love” or “I Like” story was the sweetest?
