Jane the Virgin – Chapter Sixty-One

By starrymag | May 6, 2017

By: Emily Cross

 

When Jane was fourteen years old, she went on her first date. Well, a double date with Lina and her boyfriend who were engaging in some major PDA. The guy tried to kiss her, but no way was this going to be Jane’s first kiss.

In the present, Jane (Gina Rodriguez) is excited about embarking on her first fling with Fabian. On the phone with Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), she insists that she’s totally ready for it. Xo is on set to meet Rogelio for lunch and she and Jane make dinner plans. When Jane hangs up and approaches a food truck, she sees Lina (Diane Guerrero) in line. Jane didn’t know Lina was in town for wedding planning (a lot has changed) and Lina tells her she was just about to text her (yeah right). Apparently, Lina had moved to New York two years earlier and she and Jane kind of fell out of touch. In the present, things are a bit awkward, which is sad given they were as close as sisters once.

Speaking of sisters, Petra (Yael Grobglas) visits Anezka in jail. Anezka insists that she didn’t kill Scott and that she loved him. She accuses Petra of the murder, which Petra shuts down. Petra tells her that the police have a video of Anezka threatening Scott the day he was killed. Anezka doesn’t remember this so Petra tries to walk through the day with her. Earlier that day, Anezka had gotten a text from Scott breaking off their marriage. Anezka was upset so Petra offered to go to her apartment with Scott to pack her things in order for Anezka not to have to see Scott again. Then, Anezka drank her sorrows away in Petra’s penthouse and fell asleep on the couch. Petra thinks that Anezka must have gone back out after Petra went back to work. Realizing that she could have been Scott’s killer, Anezka begs Petra to fix it.

At dinner with Xo and Rogelio (Jaime Camil), Jane can’t believe Lina came back to Miami and didn’t call her. Rogelio assures her that, like Oprah and Gayle, one night together could mend Jane and Lina’s friendship. Jane thanks Ro, but thinks it’s easier to just talk to Lina. When Rogelio leaves the table to help Mateo, Xo worries that her relationship with him is moving too fast. Jane encourages her to talk to him about it, but every time Xo tries they just end up having sex. Speaking of sex, Jane has to get ready for her Netflix and chill date with Fabian!

At the date, there is way too much Netflix going on and not enough “chilling.” When Jane starts to get the evening going, as it were, Fabian (Francisco San Martin) tells her that he’s waiting. Oh how the tables have turned! He’s had so much meaningless sex that he wants to wait until he has a meaningful relationship to put it back on the table. This is not what Jane had in mind!

The next day, Jane tells Xo about her non-sex on the phone when Alba (Ivonne Coll) enters the kitchen, upset about the new ICE raids. Jane tells Alba she should march with her, but Alba refuses. To cheer Alba up, Jane tells her about Fabian and that she is going to end the fling. Alba encourages her to give Fabian a chance because it wasn’t long ago that Jane was on the opposite side of this situation.

Jane takes Alba’s advice when she goes to pick up Mateo (Joseph Sanders) from the telenovela set and sees how good Fabian is with kids. They decide they are going to see each other again.

Meanwhile, Jane isn’t the only piney one. Rafael (Justin Baldoni) is very clearly pining after Petra, who tells him that she’s helping clear Anezka’s name. Rafael can’t believe she’s helping the woman who paralyzed her, but Petra defends her. Although Anezka has done some terrible things, she’s no murderer. Rafael knows there’s something deeper going on and manages to get Petra to confess that it’s her in the video, not Anezka. Earlier that day, Petra fired Scott, got him to turn in his work phone and texted Anezka from it ending the relationship. She slipped something in Anezka’s drink to make her fall asleep and went to yell at Scott so that he would think Anezka broke up with him. She didn’t tell Rafael any of this because she didn’t want him to lie for her. After she confesses, Chuck (Johnny Messner) stops by to take her to lunch, which annoys Rafael. Chuck is still convinced that Rafael has feelings for Petra and Petra refuses to believe it.

At her date with Fabian, Jane can’t concentrate on the conversation and gets distracted by Fabian’s every action, even the gross ones.

Xo talks to Rogelio about moving too fast. He agrees to slow things down if that’s what she wants, but admits that he’s always loved her and feels like they aren’t moving fast enough.

So, they decide to move in together, as Alba learns when she takes a call from Xo during work. After she hangs up, a woman comes into the shop and speaks with Jorge in Spanish. As a white woman walks out, she tells the woman to speak English. Everyone is shocked.

At home, Alba rants about the woman to Jane, even quoting the Preamble to the Constitution. Jane once again encourages Alba to march, but Alba is worried about encountering ICE agents and having her green card revoked.

Lina arrives as Alba leaves for work. It’s awkward, with Mateo outright announcing that Lina is a stranger. They fumble through a conversation (Lina shows Jane the Bumble app, a dating site where the girls have to text first) before Lina has to leave to make it to a last minute venue appointment. Jane is disappointed, but not surprised.

At the Marbella, Jane complains to Rafael how annoying it is to constantly want sex from someone who doesn’t put out. He jokes that it wasn’t easy dating her and he practically gave himself carpal tunnel. In all seriousness, he loved her and always knew she was worth waiting for. As Petra passes, Jane notices Rafael’s piney look and he admits his feelings for Petra. This surprises Jane and she asks Rafael to be sure of his feelings before he does anything so as to not hurt Petra.

As Jane prepares for another date with Fabian, she laments her lost friendship with Lina to Alba, who suggests that it’s somehow about Michael’s death. Jane’s date takes place in a “dining in the dark” restaurant so that she isn’t distracted by Fabian’s appearance. It’s somewhat successful, but when Jane’s face is lit up when she looks at her phone at a text from Lina it is then that Fabian notices that she looks sad and encourages her to fight for her friendship. As our narrator (Anthony Mendez) says, spoken like a true telenovela star.

When Rogelio is picking up Xo to see a house, she calls him and tells him she is sick, not knowing he is outside and can see that she’s faking it. Before he leaves, he overhears Alba telling Xo that she is doing the right thing and it’s too early to move in with Rogelio.

Petra and Rafael meet with Elvis (Craig Lee Thomas), who found some writing on the missing page of Scott’s burn book that had been erased. The writing revealed that Scott was planning to “shake down” someone known as “JP” at a bar in Pensacola. Elvis decides to go to the bar to try to identify JP so they can give the cops an anonymous tip. After Elvis leaves, Petra realizes Chuck was right, and asks Rafael point blank if he has feelings for her. Rafael, remembering what Jane said, denies it.

On Fabian’s instruction, Jane shows up at Lina and her fiance Danny’s (Joshua Chang) cake testing to smooth things over with Lina. Jane learns that Lina was in town a few months earlier and didn’t call her and gets upset thinking Lina just doesn’t want to be friends with her.

Lina drags her to the bathroom so they can speak in private. Jane accuses Lina of not calling or texting after she moved to New York, but it turns out that Lina had a reason. Soon after she starting dating Danny, they had their first fight and Lina called Jane. Jane told her that it was insignificant in the big picture and she would give anything to have another fight with Michael. After Michael’s death, Lina didn’t know how to be upset around Jane because it would always be compared to losing a husband. She didn’t know how to be happy either because then she would feel bad about being happy when Jane was miserable. The present conversation is emotional, but both women agree that they want to be in each other’s lives again.

Petra speaks with Anezka on the phone. Anezka is getting impatient and Petra begs for more time to follow Elvis’ lead. After she hangs up, Chuck suggests they drive to Pensacola themselves. Chuck wants to be the guy that helps her so Petra agrees.

Back at the bakery, Jane tells Lina about Fabian. Lina encourages her not to write Fabian off just because they are different.

When tucking Mateo in, Alba notices something is up with him. She asks if he wants to talk about it and he refuses. She makes him promise that he will tell Jane or Rafael, and he does. Sometimes it’s hard to be brave and use your words, and Alba suggests that they both try to do better.

At the Marbella, Alba tells Jorge (Alfonso DiLuca) that she took a lesson from Mateo and decided to march. She asks Jorge go as well, but he refuses, kind of rudely. Alba speaks to him later and finds out that he is undocumented. Alba promises to march for both of them.

Jane and Rafael talk to Mateo about what was upsetting him. He doesn’t understand why some people don’t want Alba in the country. Jane explains that although America was built by immigrants, some people can’t see that. She promises that no one is taking Alba away and that makes Mateo feel better. When Jane takes Mateo to bed, Rafael gets a text from Petra informing him that she and Chuck are going to Pensacola.

Alba has Rogelio drive her to the studio lot and he is upset at her. He confesses that he overheard what she told Xo and she smiles. She admits that she did tell Xo that she should live with Rogelio before they’re married. Rogelio still doesn’t get it, but turns around to see one of the stages set up like a beach (echoing their teenage love declarations) and Xo standing in front of it. She apologizes for canceling on him and says that she wants to do things differently this time. He proposes to her with her father’s ring and he says yes!

Meanwhile, Jane goes to Fabian’s apartment to apologize for cutting their date short. When she sees a book on his bookshelf that she recommended she decides to take Lina’s advice and give him another chance. They spend the evening getting to know each other and actually have a good time.

The next morning, Rafael leaves a message for Petra confessing his feelings for her.

The police speak to Anezka again, who continues to proclaim her innocence in Scott’s murder. When Dennis asks who JP is she tells them it stands for Jerky Pants, the guy who wanted to buy the hotel next door, a/k/a Chuck! Petra might be in danger!