Once Jane the Virgin, now Jane the Widow. Also Jane the overworked, exasperated, desperately missing a partner, publishing assistant and mother. For viewers it’s a shock to see how much has changed for Jane in three years time, given that to us, it really has only been a week since Michael’s death. The turnaround happens so fast in fact, that we only get to see a few minutes of Jane’s initial grief before flashing forward three years. In this new strange world, everything has changed, but luckily Michael’s presence is always felt.
Mateo is no longer a sweet little boy, but a troublesome, formidable four-year old. Strange as it seems, Petra’s children are the sweet ones! Even more disturbing is that Petra has become the model PTA mom as well as a successful hotel owner. Mateo’s behavior has become so out of control that the preschool that the teacher gives Jane and Rafael only two weeks to improves his attitude, or he’ll be assigned an aide. The good news is that Rafael and Jane have become in sync with their parenting and their friendship. They’re even researching together!
I guess you could say time in prison was actually good for Rafael. He has a new (to us) lady in his life, Abbey Whitman. Since she says two sentences in the whole episode, we can’t make a judgment on her yet. Rafael’s new zen attitude towards life helps him to juggle Petra and Jane’s strong, divergent opinions on parenting. Keeping calm is a good thing considering all the chaos of the last three years. Petra’s been so stressed raising her twins and rebuilding the Marbella that she only has time to have an affair with the sleazy owner of the hotel next door. However, we learn that he does have a genuine soft spot for Petra, so at least her taste in men has somewhat improved.
Darci and Rogelio, as well as Bruce and Xiomara, have progressed in their relationships in the last few years. The wedding Jane was attending was in fact Rogelio’s to Darci, but there’s a catch. Darci and Rogelio went on to build a successful reality TV romance, in spite of the fact that their behind the scenes romance fizzled long ago. An indirect part of their success was the an out of context joke about Xiomara being the ex from hell. Because of this, Xiomara and Rogelio’s friendship has deteriorated immensely. Only by showing Xo that he is willing to sacrifice a chance at a crossover career does he inch his way back into her good graces.
Somehow, some way, Jane managed to pick herself up and go on after Michael died. With Alba’s help at home, and even Petra’s weekly check-in, she built herself back up. In fact Jane even found inspiration in her tragedy. After painstaking worries, Jane gets herself on the book list for ‘Miami’s Ones to Read’ with the story of her and Michael’s love. Rafael proves himself as Jane’s best friend when he pushes her to get through the reading to honor her husband. It finally gives Jane the strength to listen to Michael’s last message to her. Michael’s love was always a huge part of Jane’s confidence in herself, and that didn’t die with his death. The power of their love is felt at Sunday brunches with all the kids, in the supportive friendship Rafael, Petra, and Jane have built, and in the passion of Jane’s storytelling. It’s so strong that Jane gets offered a deal to publish her novel! It seems appropriate that Jane, Petra, and Rafael’s high point should come right before the low point of Scott’s dead body being found on the beach. That won’t do well to draw tourists in.
Do you approve of how the show paid tribute to Michael, or did it seem too fast?
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