Jane The Virgin – Chapter Fifty-Five

By starrymag | February 18, 2017

by: Emily Cross

 

The episode starts with a flashback to two weeks after Michael’s (Brett Dier) death. Alba (Ivonne Coll) is comforting Jane (Gina Rodriguez), telling her she will be okay and her life will feel beautiful again. Jane tearfully asks Alba how she did it. Alba says she didn’t have a choice and neither does Jane. Alba encourages Jane to let some light into the room and her life. Little by little, she did, the narrator (Anthony Mendez) tells us.

Back to our (now normal) time of three years later, Jane is getting ready for a wedding. She looks at the photobooth pictures of her and Michael, who tells her that she’s got this. Alba is chasing Mateo (Joseph Sanders) around the house, trying to get him to behave. Jane tells Alba not to yell, they have a new system: a chart marking Mateo’s good days and bad days. Guess he’s not a well-behaved kid…Mateo starts building a pillow fort, ignores Jane’s warnings and starts to throw a temper tantrum. Alba leaves Jane to deal with Mateo, who calls Jane the “worstest mommy ever.”

It’s Rogelio’s (Jaime Camil) wedding! We find out that Rogelio is marrying Darci (Justina Machado)! Jane arrives carrying a stubborn Mateo. She walks in just after the vows are said and Rogelio calls cut. It turns out the wedding is being filmed for their reality show. Darci and Rogelio hate each other now and the wedding is strictly for the cameras. While Darci and Rogelio argue, the producers show a promo reel, which showcases Rogelio and Darci’s fertility problems and Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) as the “evil ex.”

Xo is watching the promo reel in a new house with Bruce (Ricardo Chavira) and complains about the show portraying her in a negative light. Bruce encourages her to be happy the show is finally ending. Xo is happy to go outside without being harassed by Rogelio’s fans. She tells Bruce they are skipping the Marbella’s grand re-opening because Rogelio is going and she can’t be around him.

Petra (Yael Grobglas) lectures a bunch of employees to keep smiling because the Marbella (which now has a pirate theme and is kid-friendly) is the second happiest place on earth. She has the well-behaved twins with her: Anna (Mia Allan) and Ellie (Ella Allan). A bearded Rafael (Justin Baldoni) appears with Mateo, promising he will behave himself. Rafael takes the kids while Petra meets with Chuck (Johnny Messner), the new owner of the adults only hotel next door. Chuck warns Petra that he heard that the Marbella has a problem with the final inspection of the Kid’s Club.

The inspector confirms to Petra and Rafael that the structure is five feet over the Marbella’s property line. He tells them that they either need to tear it down or get an easement from their neighbor (Chuck). Rafael tells Petra that everything will be alright. Petra gets angry, proclaiming that she doesn’t need Zen Rafael. Who comes out of prison and gets softer?

Rafael tells Jane about this on the phone, but expresses faith that the Marbella will be successful. Jane teases Rafael about his new Zen persona (linen pants, world’s worst beard). They commiserate over being worried about Mateo’s parent-teacher conference the next day. Jane says to say hello to Abbey (Minka Kelly), Rafael’s new girlfriend! (Well, new to us. They’ve been dating for over a year!)

At the parent-teacher conference, everything seems to be great! But Mrs. Taub (Rachel Anderson) is talking about Ellie and Anna, who of course are perfect. Petra leaves and Jane comes in. Mrs. Taub tells Rafael and Jane that Mateo has some impulse control issues, which they knew previously. However, his behavior is disrupting class so she suggests getting him an aide. Jane feels that it is drastic, but Mrs. Taub tells them that it is necessary if Mateo wants to stay in the school.

In the end, Mrs. Taub gave them two weeks to whip Mateo into shape (translation: Jane begged). As they leave, Jane and Rafael run into Petra, who is queen of the preschool and has mom minions. Mateo runs over and Petra offers him a snack of baby carrots. He refuses and throws the carrots at the twins. Jane admonishes him, but so does Petra much to Jane’s annoyance. Rafael tells Jane that they are taking the twins for ice cream because they were named best helpers in the class. The twins offer to share with Mateo and call Jane “Auntie Jane!” Jane leaves for work, leaving Mateo with Rafael.

Jane is still working with Chloe (Maya Kazan), but it turns out she is kind of a nightmare, giving Jane tons of work and expecting it to be done perfectly. Chloe tells Jane that there’s an open slot in Miami’s Ones to Read and asks for recommendations.

At dinner at Alba’s, Jane tells Xo and Alba that she is submitting her own novel. They support Jane, but are cut off when Rogelio barges in. Jane and Alba set it up so that Xo and Rogelio can finally fix what’s between them. Xo and Rogelio go out to the porch swing to talk. Rogelio apologizes for Xo’s villainizing in the show and claims that he had no say in the decision, but Xo doesn’t believe him. He asks that they put it behind them because the show is over and Xo reluctantly agrees.

When Jane is putting Mateo to bed, he apologizes for being a bad boy. She tells him he’s just a good boy who sometimes does bad things, but that happens to everyone. He tells her that he loves her and that she’s the best mommy in the world. If only everyone could see this side of him.

After Mateo is asleep, Jane and Rafael each come up with a plan for Mateo’s behavior. Jane’s plan is to track Mateo’s meltdowns to see if there are any triggers. Rafael’s plan is martial arts, which Jane assumes he got from Petra (who put the twins in martial arts classes). Rafael denies this, but says that research shows it helps overactive kids like Mateo. In the end they decide to go with both plans. Looks like Jane and Rafael have this co-parenting thing figured out!

Petra approaches Chuck about signing the easement, but he refuses. She offers to split the cost of moving his pool (which he claims will be ruined by kids), but no dice. Before she leaves, Chuck propositions her… and she agrees! Apparently, this is the “last time.”

Jane and Rafael take Mateo to his first martial arts class. He can’t stand still at first, but the instructor whips him into shape.

Petra approaches Chuck again about signing the easement, this time with blackmail on his illegal lobster fishing. However, Chuck’s uncle is the wildlife commissioner so he is off the hook.

Jane approaches Chloe at work about submitting her novel for the showcase and she agrees to read it!

While filming pickups for the wedding, Darci tries to convince Rogelio to do more of the reality show by telling him that the network is willing to greenlight the American version of “Passions of Santos” (Passions of Steve) if Rogelio does one more year.

When Jane and Rafael pick Mateo up at preschool, he tells them that he wasn’t invited to a birthday party. Jane talks to the mother of the offending child, who tells her that Mateo’s behavior is not welcome.

Rafael visits Petra, who assumes he is there to talk about the party. He tells her that she will get Mateo invited, but that’s not why he’s there. He shows her blueprints that have obviously been tampered with. Petra assumes it was Chuck and tells Rafael that she was sleeping with him. She admits that the hate sex was the only thing keeping her sane. Rafael remarks that at least it was better than when he thought she was with Scott and asks where he’s been. Petra claims that after he split with Anezka he moved away and she hasn’t heard from him since.

Jane helps Mateo get ready for the birthday party, telling him that it’s important that he is on his best behavior. She then gets an email that she got the last slot for the showcase!

Jane is at the party when Xo texts her that another season of Rogelio’s reality show has been announced. When Mateo runs away to play, Petra once again throws her two cents in about Mateo’s behavior. Jane once again reminds her that Mateo’s behavior is none of her business. Petra reveals that Rafael asked her for help with the party situation and Jane resents this, saying that they didn’t need pity. As they are arguing, Mateo karate chops the birthday cake, much to the mother’s and Jane’s dismay.

Jane’s family is gathered at the Miami’s Ones to Read to support Jane. Professor Donaldson (Melanie Mayron) is also there! She surprisingly loves the book and Jane thanks her for pushing her to write it.

Rogelio approaches Xo, who is mad that he didn’t tell her the reality show was continuing. Rogelio tells Xo that Darci is only trying to pressure him. He turned the network down because it wasn’t worth it.

Petra meets with Chuck again and tells him she knows about the blueprints. After she admits that she’s protective of the Marbella because it’s the first thing that’s truly hers, Chuck happily signs the easement.

Jane is about to go onstage when the narrator reveals that the novel she finished was not about her abuela. It was a fictionalization of her love story with Michael. However, it’s different from reality in that they got their happy ending. Jane gets emotional and nearly bails on the reading. She texts Rafael. He finds her and uses tough love on her to help her pull it together.

Jane takes the stage at the showcase and reads from her novel, taking strength from her family in the audience. Alba comments to Xo that she raised a strong girl and Xo responds that they both raised her.

After the reading, Xo approaches Rogelio and tells him that she can put up with Twitter trolls for a few more months if it means he gets “Passions of Steve” on the air. She also says she’s sorry that fertility problems broke him and Darci up, but Rogelio reveals that wasn’t the case. He just couldn’t go through with being tied to Darci permanently.

Jane discusses her grief with Rafael, expressing that she thought that after three years she would be further along. He encourages her to accept where she is and Jane thanks him for being such a good friend. They agree to get Mateo an aide because he needs the help and support. Before she goes to bed that night, Jane listens to a voicemail Michael left her before his death and gets emotional.

Petra cuts the ribbon at the brand new Marbella. She thanks Rafael for his support, but he tells her that it was all her. She asks if he is ready to step back in full time, but he responds not yet, even though Abbey tells him all the time he should. The narrator almost forgot about her, which might be significant, but that’s for another day.

Petra gets a gift box from Chuck, wishing her a happy six-month bangaversary (ewww). She remembers that they broke ground on the clubhouse eight months ago. The timeline doesn’t add up and Chuck couldn’t have changed the blueprints. She confronts Chuck, who implies that he signed the easement because he has feelings for her and they sleep together again.

Jane apologizes to Petra and says that she didn’t ask for help because it felt like she failed as a parent. Petra tells Jane that’s completely ridiculous and she’s an incredible mother. She’s seen her every week for the last two years, she should know. This was true and we flashback to the day Rafael left for prison. Jane and Petra got the kids together for a playdate and Petra was heartbroken. Jane reassured her that the girls will be okay and suggested a weekly brunch so that Jane and Petra can check in on each other. Petra originally rejected it, saying that she doesn’t like to be pitied, but Jane pulled the “widow card” – she needs it too. The weekly brunches have continued since Rafael got back.

At this week’s brunch, Jane gets a call from a publisher who wants to publish her novel about Michael! She looks at her phone, which has a picture of Michael on the lock screen. He says that he told her she got this.

The brunch is interrupted when Petra gets a call and she and Rafael have to investigate something strange on the beach: Scott’s body! One of the kids on a treasure hunt dug it up and now the Marbella has a new murder to investigate.