From: The Scene Blog
Review: Jane the Virgin, Season Three Premiere
From Wikimedia.
WARNING: Major spoilers ahead!
And we’re back! Yes my friends, season three of the CW’s Jane the Virgin premiered on Monday, Oct. 17 and we’re ready for some more baby mama drama.
Season two left us with so many cliffhangers, I was sure we were about to fall off the edge. As a recap, Jane (Gina Rodriguez)’s mother Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) is pregnant with the baby of Rogelio’s nemesis, Esteban (Keller Wortham). Petra’s evil twin sister Anezka (both portrayed by Yael Grobglas) injects her with a drug that leaves her immobile. Rafael’s (Justin Baldoni) sister Luisa (Yara Martinez) runs away with Sin Rostro (Bridget Regan), the evil villain of the past three seasons who is surprisingly not truly dead. And last but not least, Jane and Michael (Brett Dier) finally get married, and before they can get it on in the honeymoon suite, boom Michael gets shot and we’re stuck wondering if Jane’s going to remain a virgin forever.
Aside from the episode’s opening flashback to Jane’s adolescent days, it picks up immediately where last season left off, starting with Jane discovering Michael’s body in the middle of the hallway. It was a miracle he was breathing, but it was still enough to shatter the dream world fantasy that came with the wedding just moments before, replacing it with deep grief and panic. Although this feeling lasts throughout the entirety of the episode, even an event as startling as Michael's attempted murder does not take away from what we love about Jane: her empathetic and understanding soul that remains even through the toughest of times. She manages to retain her patience even as Michael’s mother treats her unfairly out of fear, something I know I would not have been able to do during a time like this.
It isn’t long before we are introduced to Sam, a character of Jane’s past who had never been mentioned in the slightest bit until now. Even though I appreciated the narrator acknowledging my thoughts (“Who the heck is Sam?”), it wasn’t enough to have me convinced he was necessary to the plotline. Sure, Miles Caston Villanueva has had his fair share of guest starring roles, but frankly, seeing him in this one made it feel as though he were a random guy who won a contest to guest star on the show, regardless of his performance being irrelevant and easily forgotten. After all, it’s not like he would have any significance later in the show. I tried to believe it was the writers’ way of answering their own question, “How does knowing the end affect the journey?” or advising us to have faith that it’ll be relevant to the rest of the story, but I believe it could have been implemented better.
Aside from Jane and Michael’s story, we are able to see a continuous growth in Rogelio’s character as he is willing to do anything for his daughter, even if it means peeing for strangers for a drug test. We also find out what Xo plans on doing with the baby, although there is no doubt there is more to the story than what the writers are letting on. Despite Raf sleeping with Anezka while thinking she’s Petra, it doesn’t change the same story we’ve heard before: he’s just not that into her.
Overall, I appreciated the fact that they made sure to address all of our questions from last season, while letting us know that there is more to come. The montage of Jane and Michael’s potential future, as well as the five second clip of Jane laughing with her mother, reminded me why it’s easy to have a good time while watching the show despite the tragedies we watch the characters face. However, while it was nice to see Jane maintain her pragmatic, but passionate, qualities during this time, it was surprising to watch feeling like none of the other characters would change at all after following Michael’s attempted murder. After all, if there was anything I got out of the odd flashback of Jane and Michael’s past, it was the fact that Michael had been affiliated with the Villanueva family for quite some time. I understand that everyone had to be strong for Jane, but even in moments where they weren’t near her you’d think they would have felt for Michael as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t see much of that.
Also, the Rafael/Petra possibility has been played with and shot down far too many times and does not carry as much weight as some would expect. I also still believe Sam didn’t need to be featured in the episode and the inclusion of his character takes away from the storyline. Finally, as someone who isn’t a fan of Luisa, I was glad I didn’t have to see her much throughout the episode. However, the submarine in the closing scene seemed a bit cheap and uncanny, almost like they were trying too hard to emphasize the ludicrosity of some telenovela plotlines by tossing in a random scene that I don’t care too much about.
If you’re a fan of the drama that comes with telenovelas or daytime soap operas mixed with a lot more laughs, definitely tune into Jane the Virgin. It’s the perfect combination of craftiness, hilarity and fun.
Available on CW website, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video
Grade: C+
