Jane the Virgin: Full Series Retrospective

I I passed over for a promotion again that sucks my ex- fiance was uh accidentally artificially inated with the sperm of this Rich Hotel owner she just happened to have a crush on in high school they had their baby tonight so oh you [Music] win the following is an in-depth story analysis if you haven't seen Jane the Virgin you may want to before watching this video in case you haven't heard the CW network has recently decided to get out of the scripted television game per a meeting with the television critics Association pivoting to sports game shows and relationship reality shows in an effort to break into the big four television networks and transform them into the big five not to mention also attempting to finally you know be profitable a super hero for every weekday you guys are programming masterminds but who would want to do a thing like make money when there's accolades to be one if you're someone who's familiar with some of the CW's more Infamous offerings odds are your reaction to their scripted programming Wing shuttering is good riddens but back in the mid-2010s if you tuned into the CW there was a decent chance you'd find something unfamiliar that's because the CW had found themselves somewhere unfamiliar the world of critical Acclaim Jane the virgin's breakout star Gina Rodriguez brought home the Golden Globe for best comedy actress following the show's debut season the first Golden Globe win in the Network's history and a year later Rachel Bloom of crazy ex-girlfriend would win the network their second and premiering between Jane the Virgin and crazy ex-girlfriend was I zombie which well didn't win any major Awards but I really loved the first couple seasons and despite low ratings compared to the DC arse offerings the trio shared a Channel with all three series would be granted plenty of season renewals to flesh out their characters and tell their stories in full most notably Crazy Ex-Girlfriend which holds a historic record as the lowest rated Network show to ever be renewed which brings us here now in the closing days of the scripted CW let's take a look back on all 100 chapters of The Golden Child of the golden age of the CW yes chapters they didn't title any of the episodes which is always absolute hell on my already scatterbrained editing process so sorry this video took so long this is Jane the Virgin Jane the Virgin tells the story of Jane Gloriana vua who's a virgin that's right our Jane has lived 23 years but gotten zero action though the reason she can't get laid probably isn't the same reason why you the viewer can't Jane is abstaining from sex because of the Catholic guilt urging of her grandmother Alba as well as abstaining in an effort to avoid becoming an accidental single mother like her mother Zara before her not that Michael her boyfriend of 2 years who works as a detective at oh God Miami Metro Minds all that much he's thinking of Jane with his heart not either one of his heads unfortunately for Jane accidental single motherhood is what Fate has in St door for her when she is accidentally artificially inseminated by an absent-minded gynecologist during what was meant to be a routine papsmear and the shooter of said sperm that would be Raphael Solano millionaire Playboy owner of the Marbella hotel that Jane just so happens to work at who also just so happened to share a kiss with Jane and then ghost her 5 years prior so Jane is drawn into a love triangle between Michael and Raphael well at the same time the entire cast is drawn into a web of criminal conspiracies tied to the Marbella and all along the way there will be ever so many for romantic misunderstandings that's the basic premise of the series though I will admit what initially sparked my interest in the show was more the execution Jane the Virgin shares a similar structure with my much beloved Pushing Daisies a bright colorful look Larger than Life characters each episode begins with a flashback to the character's childhoods that introduces the core emotional themes of the episode the main couple is cursed to be unable to get physically intimate with one another and most overtly both shows are tied together by a charismatic narrator with a compelling voice though the virgin's narrator is certainly much more sassy than Pushing Daisies it should be noted that these words will come back to haunt Pedra but you don't know that yet pretend you don't know that in addition to those elements one of the more self-indulgent aspects of Jane the virgin's structure are the frequent fantasy sequences though unlike scrubs or say Fred the Movie rather than largely existing as brief cutaway gags within the main character's head these fantasies are instead used to highlight the emotions and inner thoughts of the cast at large the fantasy sequences also incorporate aoras Board of other types of entertainment like sports commentary The Bash threat musicals pro wrestling Hitchcock but most frequently of all telen noas what are you implying I'm implying exactly what you know I'm implying Jane the Virgin itself is actually based on a Venezuelan Tel Nolla Wana La virgin though admittedly based very Loosely really just the initial inciting incident Jane the Virgin itself is sort of a half parody of telen noas but it's also one of those things that just kind of becomes the thing it's parodying and is a tel Nolla at points no better way for me to demonstrate the heightened drama and ludicrous coincidences that the show is known for than introducing the cast and how they all know each other the villain way of a family in Michael you know and now Raphael is tied up with Jane thanks to his sample being used for the artificial insemination but the Doctor Who did the insemination that's Raphael's recovering alcoholic half sister Louisa so now Jane is suing the half sister of the father of her child for malpractice but Lisa's malpractice insurance is backed by Raphael's Hotel shares so if Jane Sues and Raphael's father's Hotel goes under RAF 's recently married father amelos salano whose wife Rose just so happens to be tied up in a Tor love affair with her stepdaughter Louisa with me so far Raphael doesn't want to tell Jane about the hotel being tied up in the lawsuit because he wants her to make her own decisions without his feelings for her complicating things wait why does he have feelings for Jane he's married to Petra but seeking divorce she had a miscarriage he had a battle with cancer now she's having an affair or was until her lover got impaled on a ice sculpture so the Love Is On The Rocks Petra decides that if she can't stay joined to him beat him and begins employing underhanded legal tactics and underhanded illegal tactics to torment Raphael at every turn and get her hands on his fortune but they still have to keep up the illusion of a happily wetted life if they want Jane to hand over the baby instead of keeping it for herself since she doesn't want her child growing up in a broken home and detective Michael cero investigating Petra's Lover's murder gets in on the Raph ex Petra happy marriage Shad since he doesn't want to get stuck with the kid a deception which ultimately destroys his engagement with Jane and his shot at boldly going where no man has gone before between her legs but he's not the only one hiding a secret from Jane zo's ex-lover and Jane's father is back in town Tel Nolla star roio DEA sorry that name needs more Gusto roio DEA I am roio DEA you do not want to make an enemy out of me zo's kept his real identity a secret from Jane for All These Years Learning he has a daughter Ro Helio is all too eager to finally reconnect with zo and finally connect with Jane even if Jane has a lot going on right now I'm your father what I'm your father no I heard you yeah but you said what so I thought you didn't so yeah you can see what a tangled emotional web the writers weave on this show and they delight at tangling it further week after week fortunately though the first season has a good habit of quarantining over-the-top drama to the over-the-top story lines while keeping the interpersonal and relationship drama more grounded and relatable a lot of the conflicts are born from deceptions being revealed though unlike many overwrought sitcoms where Little White Lies erupt into big manufactured drama Jean the virgin freshman near Lies come from a genuine character place where you can see where both sides are coming from though of course hand inand with the familial themes Jane the Virgin runs with a whole honesty is the best policy thematic undercurrent a sweet and optimistic outlet that imbus the show with an uplifting cozy charm characters are learning and bonding and tackling the difficult conversations for the sake of mutual understanding and to a man the characters are so well established and endearing that it's nice to see them largely putting their differences aside and getting along and when the show does indul and bickering over minor miscommunications and misunderstandings it's almost always Z and reelio played for Laughs instead of drama and perfectly in character for two played for Laughs drama queens that is not why I'm upset sham and the fact that you don't know why I'm upset makes me doubly upset you've been trying to impress the director non-stop so you could play Jesus Christ Superstar there are many Jesus christs there's only one Jane it's a well-rounded cast of characters and even Louisa who on paper should be frustrating to watch since she so constantly gets Our Heroes into trouble by being so easily manipulated by the villains managed to win me over thanks to being such a lovable manic mess I think my father might be a criminal mastermind and I'm worried that my stepmother is in imminent danger yes I am calling from The Haven view Psychiatric Hospital unfortunately the fun characterization of our primary and secondary characters doesn't extend to the tertiary antagonists of the Season most of whom are confined to their own little Misadventures with Petra with only a tenuous connection to the rest of the story lines they're all pretty one note basically just being defined as jerks who are even worse than Petra so the audience will root for Petra when she pits wits with them despite her also being a villain it wound up being an unnecessary measure for me one the glimpses behind the gold digger Veil into a happier marriage derailed by the tragedy of her miscarriage serve as an effective psychological excuse for some of her villainy and two I always naturally root for the sexy blonde villains anyways from Cersei Lannister to Skyler white Petra pitted that was a joke please don't kill me Petra pitted against revenge porn blackmailer llan hot-headed Czech arms dealer stalker Milos and his henchman Ivan her own duplicitous mother who drags Petra into a cover up of a cover up when she attempts to kill Alba all the way up to actual murderer Roman zazo who through his ganism practicing twin brother to his death in an attempt to steal his life I'm a Jane a Jane Jane ISM it's my faith yeah yeah jism no need to explain it we all saw Mandalore Gaming's video on I Divine cybermancy something something of Guild the show definitely seems to think this collection of side villains are all hammier and more fun to watch than they are and Petra is a deliciously fun primary villain for Raphael and Jane so they're even less welcome when they're busy sidetracking our favorite fem fatal from her evil duties that brings me to the other big bad of Jane the Virgin season 1 and the true bbeg of the series as a whole sin roostro The Man Without a Face subject of Michael cord's ongoing investigation revealed at The Season's halfway point to be none other than Louis's lover and P and Raphael's stepmom Rose kills their father alelo then skips town when her criminal plastic surgery operation is discovered in a secret lab beneath the Marbella she's apparently out of the drug game and in the changing criminals faces so they can clear their bounties game and gives herself a fresh new face randomization so she can return as another secret villain next season we have his pitcher we can sit out an APB with his face on it don't bother that is not not his face anymore the nice part about how Jane the Virgin tackles something as pulpy as a criminal face changing organization is that they so effortlessly tied into the emotions of the characters Amelio may have been buried alive in concrete by a super villain but it still impacts Raphael and by proxy his burgeoning relationship with Jane like a real death and the conflict of interest with the recently dumped by Jane detective Michael breathing down the neck of the recently cuffed by Jane Raphael is just another angle for the writers to work the narrative interconnectivity bit big crazy high stakes criminal nonsense all managing to work hand inand with the smaller story lines of Jane dealing with the interpersonal drama coming from her rapidly expanding family a trick the series would not be able to consistently pull off in later Seasons there are plenty of small relatable plot lines Beyond just the romance angles that the show also incorporates vignettes about the varied struggles of pregnancy which for the most part seem personal to the writers as a consequence also feeling personal to the characters and are far from the stock weird cravings and Lamas classes boilerplate sitcom pregnancy plot lines like I could engage with the story lines and I don't even have kids yet well that I know of got to get out of my comfort zone and watch shows about characters who aren't just what I know from my own life sometimes not every show I cover can be about Disturbed addicts come let's get a drink we can you know because we are not alcoholics thank God then of course we have the main love triangle of the show tying it all together well I praised how organically the conflicts arose between characters on the relationship drama front in season 1 I did find the Catalyst of and Raphael's big breakup underwhelming like Michael got caught in a lie collaborating in an elaborate plot to not get stuck with the baby even if it meant sending it off to a home he alone knew was dysfunctional perfectly legitimate reason for Jane to leave him though he's still not entirely in the wrong since Jane was clearly developing feelings for Raphael and less than 24 hours after dumping her fiance she's macking on the guy but toward the end of the season Raphael callously dumps Jane just because I guess he thinks he'll be a bad influence on her then rapidly realizes he's made a huge mistake and wants to get back together I mean it's not like it's implausible breaking up with someone for some flimsy ass reason only to immediately regret it been there coined that but it does come across like the writers just want Jane to be single going into the show's sophomore year so audiences will stick around for round two of the love triangle Shenanigans without feeling alienated by their team losing and I really do want us to be friends great and when it comes to audience retention that brings us to the big Cliffhangers of season 1 petrick gets her hands on a second sample of rafhael sperm previously thought to have been lost and contemplates revisiting the baby trap plan from 9 months ago and after Jane delivers her baby boy Mato an agent of sin roostro poses as a nurse and snatches the newborn up like she's jarth the Goblin King hey look at that all that talking and arguing and fighting about who's going to take the baby when it's born and the problem just solves itself now I'm just messing around why was the baby taken what does s roostro want from him or want and return for him tune in to season 2 to find out Michael someone took him someone took my tail Jane I I need you to listen to for a second are you listening what is happening Jane listen I need you to clear out the room I know who has Mato and I know how to get him back the season hits the ground running with Michael rapael and the not quite mobile again Jane racing around Miami to track down a Sinister sin roostro flash drive in Louis's possession so they can exchange the drive for the captive Mato not wanting to keep audiences in Peril for too long though it isn't long into the episode before the exchange is made with Michael's turncoat former partner and we can return to our regularly scheduled new baby programming and also of course course our regularly scheduled love triangle in contrast to the previous season where Jane could barely go a few hours without a man in her life until the endgame the first half of season 2 is a much more shall we say actively competing for her hand love triangle though Michael and Raphael's roles are now reversed Michael is the guy unwittingly winning Jane over even as he tries to respect her boundaries well Raphael is the recently broken up with missed being Her Lover by that much lover trying to get his foot back in the door although regardless of if you're team Michael or team Raphael I think we can all admit Mr Solano has lost some of his Mojo did I ever tell you the definition of insanity it's dropping the I love you and that's my son so let's be a real family line over and over and expecting a different outcome how is he helping he's the reason you need a security system in the first place even Rose knew he was obsessed with you that's why she took Mato tell him to move on the two Suitor Shuffle can only last for so long and after rapael goes whistleblower on Michael to get him fired and Michael responds by starting a fist fight Jane is simultaneously disgusted by both men deciding instead to play the field for a bit and while Jane and Michael will ultimately reunite and get engaged again late in the season most of season 2 is silly dating Antics those dates certainly have their moments but I always appreciated how the first season of Jane the Virgin actually celebrated the main characters getting together using their relationships as a source of positivity as they should be in real life instead of falling into the typical sitcom trap of making the main couple endlessly bicker and fight out of a misguided fear that resolving the core will they won't they will kill the dramatic tension and well you might expect that the vignettes about unexpected complications of pregnancy would be replaced by similar small story lines about unexpected complications with raising a child they're actually replaced with episodic plots involving Jane attending grad school I mean Jane's got a whole proverbial Village to raise Mato anyways but despite not being an expectant parent the pregnancy stories could sometimes unexpectedly grab me but I went to college not grad school not made of money but didn't find many of these arcs particularly captivated me it's a shame we still have all the out of this world criminal Capers and Sh is chicanery making up the sweet doughy shell but the first half of season 2 was really lacking those intimate relationship and family moments that were the show's creamy filling your wife Petra Solano she came by our office two weeks ago to retrieve the sample we found speaking of creamy fillings Petra knocks herself up with Raphael's second sperm sample after a drunken night with a turkey baster while this initially comes across as the makings of another classic Petra scheme Petra as a villain is no longer what the show is going for with the character in year 2 with not just a child but twinss on the way Petra realizes she is out of her depth in the motherhood world and comes to rely on Jane and the people who guided her through her pregnancy to work their magic a second time so yeah Petra is now doing the whole somewhat reformed villain collaborating with the heroes through gritted teeth thing a hard direction to resist for a beloved and Charming antagonist so I can understand the writer's desire to take her in that direction even if the majority of the cast are remarkably forgiving of her heinous past actions especially this most recent turkey basty one though the times her Litany of evil Deeds do crop up again it's always a good gag even though you and I are in a good place now it hasn't always been that way I mean you've done some [Music] things sorry sorry I forgot people don't want to read TV when I watched season 2 of Jane the Virgin live I still enjoyed the charming cast of characters but I never found the season clicked with me in the same way the debut season did and re watching the series for this video I've had the same experience again did I just enjoy the pregnancy material more than the grad school and newborn material and was it because the pregnancy material was better executed or just a matter of subject matter taste did I just like the characters more when they were paired off together instead of out in their own separate single and mingling worlds but when you take a step back from the little details and look at the season as a whole the real problem crystallizes season 2 of Jane the Virgin is one of those sequels that just repeats the first installments plot again but worse Raphael inadvertent got a woman pregnant with a sperm sample again only instead of Jane who has complicated and varied personal relationships with the rest of the cast it's Petra who has a unilateral adversarial relationship with everyone there is a new crime Lord in town going by the extremely unimposing pseudonym mutter who is yet again revealed to be one of Papa Amelio solano's ex-lovers only instead of a novel criminal identity eraser service mutter is just Crim Lord seriously I don't even think they specify mutter runs drugs what crime is this Crim Lord doing besides conspiracy to sabotage my interest in the show not that we need a new Crim Lord with a Twist reveal identity anyways sin Ro still running around town with a fresh new phase although it's not terribly difficult to deduce which new character it is Jane's academic adviser unlikely but that would be a hell of a reveal Petra's identical twin sister anesca H probably not especially since anesa is working on a diabolical plan of her own to drug Petra into a coma than steal her life so posing as the sister first would just be needlessly convoluted what about Michael's new partner Susanna you know the one who has access to all the rro case files in her new position and is aggressively trying to take down sin Roo's biggest rival mutter and who Sparks up a whirlwind romance with sin Roo's X Louisa yeah even with the big misdirect where a body double of sin roostro gets 86 it's hard to be surprised when Susanna's mask comes off well except for the fact that her mask literally comes off I get the desire to keep the same actress in the role but it wasn't surgery she's been wearing a freaking Mission Impossible style mask for an entire year even for this show that's insane h h and on the subject of body doubles even Petra's evil twin coming to town to steal her life is essentially a redo of what went down with the zazo brothers last year the worst part of all this rehashing is that the endlessly spiraling interconnectivity of the plot lines from the Show's first season is now absent the mut investigation Petra's pregnancy and eventual body swapping and the Jane Michael Raphael love triangle are all in their own little worlds and rarely the twain shall meet compare this to even the most distant characters of the first season R Helio and Petra who still unknowingly got involved in each other's plots when a Prison Break episode of Rio's show was unwittingly providing Petra's hostage instructions on how to escape his predicament that was a pretty hilarious bit of contrived television programming Providence if you actually got the baby enough no I've dealing with show I am watching show I am watching this show okay jeez [Music] relax on the subject of Rio's show even his reliably show stealing wacky Antics take a while to find their footing in season 2 it can be frustrating the miniature story arcs are so exciting and humorous in premise but the execution doesn't mind the comedic conceits for all their worth rohelia is revealed to have formerly turned to Scientology great in concept but in execution mostly functions as a blackmail plot device that ultimately comedically pays off with a lazy masturbation joke and by that I mean the joke is lazy not the masturbation itself for all we know it was quite vigorous then he begins work on a telen Nolla remake of Madmen named umbr Loos which should be a comedic Gold Mine sadly despite some surface level funny over-the toop moments it is really surface level either the writers were scared that too much of the audience weren't familiar with madmen and would only get highlevel references to the series that had entered the pop culture Consciousness or Worse none of the writers knew much about Madmen so they just freed ber and seltzer dead show them your done Draper cigarettes fortunately third times's the charm and Ro Helio un at abduction at the hands of a crazed fan that's all an odd to misery has some fun moments and entering the second half of season 2 The Writers tone down the zaniness of Rio's zany plots the later reelio story lines of the season are all very conventional sitcom story templates overbearing guy hijacks a bachelor party to make it suit his tastes pampered rich guy has to work a real job for a day jealous guy has to contend with his ex sleeping with his rival dumb guy asks his smart relative to feed him smart lines at a social event to impress people but despite the boilerplate premises these episodes are enjoyable to watch because they effectively utilize the heart and personality of reelio free trade with Cuba is essential just look at the great success of the Nazi Alliance continuing to bring back the heart and personality of the series may have been a bit down on season 2 as a whole but the Romantic light-hearted levity of the show is rejuvenated with Jane and Michael's engagement taking us into the season finale it's a Neapolitan style wedding episode the first third of the episode is your classic race to be on time to the ceremony Antics can you please stop running your makeup W me let me carry you no way then your makeup will melt you're right we play when we get there the middle of the episode is the ceremony and reception themselves a beautiful and playful Capper to the long-simmering family friend and romance relationships of the series as a whole it's touching at times it's silly at times but it's consistently relentlessly proud of the characters we've come to love but what would Jane the Virgin be without its obligatory big twists and the Final Act is a salvo of Cliffhangers to leave audiences anxiously awaiting next season's Premiere zaro realizes she accidentally got pregnant after hooking up with Rio's professional rival eson doubly troubling since Rio and zo split up over him wanting and her not wanting any more kids Raphael's half brother turns in mutter and makes off with a hidden fortune and we're now officially two for two on hotels with secret tunnels and con artist brothers that the writers kind of forget exist between Seasons Petra is petrified by anesa who drugs Petra and swaps places with her and the big one Michael discovers suzanna's identity and she kicks a bullet in his chest in return just as Michael was on his way to consummate his marriage will Michael Will Survive well yes then no then eventually yes again it's all uncertain going into season 3 but what is certain is that Jane is going to have to stay a virgin a little while longer tomorrow morning I'll wake up in my bed alone unless I hire a prostitute just for the night kind of like a wedding present okay so Michael survives The Gunshot initially but let's cut to the chase halfway through the season complications from his injury will suddenly kill him and Jane the Virgin immediately follows up his demise with a three-year time skip Michael will eventually return in the show's final season with amnesia but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it there's enough to unpack with Michael's death already there are more takes on Michael's death than there are stars in the sky like there have to be at least dozens given the precipitous ratings hit the series was met with in The Following Season dropping over a third of its us viewership after 3 years of remarkably steady numbers it's safe to say a lot of people saw Michael die and just said I'm out that could be because of more nuanced reasons like feeling the second half season 3 was mishandled or more straightforward reasons like Michael being a relatively uncomplicated Everyman who was potentially your eyes in character or just him being the guy you wanted Jane to end up with in the end on the flip side of that coin proponents of the decision can point to the occasional foreshadowing of Michael's death courtesy of the narrator the conventions of telen noas which also indulge in such dramatic character deaths and I've even seen people say hey this is Jay and Raphael's Love Story it was always going to end with them getting married and if you were team Michael you just didn't get it and watch the show wrong you're dead and I'm not so I win you can suck it hell many critics who raved about the decision at the time realized with hindsight when the series wrapped that killing off Michael was more Sizzle than stake either because they felt the following time Skip and half season succeeding it didn't capitalize on the emotional and character opportunities or felt his eventual return retroactively cheap into the elements that did work anything can work you just have to make it work and the death of Michael Cordo turns this whole production into a real mixed bag of small impactful character scenes and Big Hollow feeling Cliffhangers all well paradoxically lending season 3 an underlying sense of direction leading up to the death but then sending the writer scrambling to find a direction after the deed is done first The Good the first half of season 3 is more solid than season 2 like literally more solid it has a solid foundation of the new status quo Jane and Michael struggling to pay the bills following Michael's injury related demotion and subsequent quitting the force not to mention Jane discovering the Temptations of the flesh zo's decision to terminate her unwanted pregnancy played refreshingly not melodramatically compared to the usual implement a of that subject matter in television roio scouring the Magic City for a woman to bear his child while still pining for Zo Raphael getting tangled up in a stolen art coverup to protect his late father's name and anca's attempts to keep Petra locked into locked in syndrome since there's a three-year time skip on the horizon every character is on an unspoken deadline to get to a tidy resolution before their plot lines get lost to the sands of time which means not only do all the characters have a sense of direction they also have a status quo a status quo which can be meaningfully disrupted by twists and Cliffhangers compare this to season season 2 where the plot lines relationships and motivations were all shifting so frequently and everyone had all these convoluted hidden agendas creating an effect where the season basically had no status quo as a consequence with every big Cliffhanger it was hard to take the show at its word whatever crisis the writers are setting up this episode even odds it'll be resolved in next week's installment and never come up again like Raphael and his half brother have scheme on top of scheme and betrayals and secret alliances but it's just back to back reveals with no sense of where it's all headed Rio goes through so many promotions and co-stars and new shows that when one of his gets cancelled it's hard to feel the waight oh no Petra is being forced to marry Milos was only part of a spousal privilege Ploy so he could hide grenades in the Marbella and it's only an hour or two before Milos is arrested off screen and the grenades are disposed of all right give them back come on everybody give them back hey hey who pulled the pin on this one but then we get to the second half of the season 3 years in the future and sure there's certainly a new status quo and new directions the characters are heading in but after a shocking twist that should be breathing new life into the series the first episode of the time skip retool left me immensely bored and wondering that old screenwriter gut check question why is this story Happening Now obviously at the start of the series Jane got accidentally artificially inseminated Louisa was reigniting her love affair with Rose roio had come to Miami and was about to reconnect with zo and discover he had a child all kinds of stuff was kicking off but now in our pseudo repilot what's the inciting incident Jane's stuck in a nightmare publishing gig but also continuing to work on getting her novel published so eh swings and roundabouts Petra's running the Marbella which has new competition from the neighboring fairwork Petra and fairwick owner Chuck are business rivals in the streets lovers in the sheets so that's more or less business as usual and both our leading ladies have a healthy platonic relationship with the father of their children Raphael who has become a more level-headed individual following his 9-month stint Behind Bars not like he just got released and that's where we're starting up Oceans 11 style he's been out for a couple years by now even Louisa and Rose are back together familial murdering be damned with rose no longer cooking up evil schemes and simply lying low it's neither a grim opening that sees characters at their lowest point so we can root for them to crawl their way back from the brink of Despair Al say the second season of party down nor is it opening on everyone finally back in a comfortable happy place where some new events can majorly upend their lives in an exciting way it gives the distinct impression that the writers were terrified of being too D with their light-hearted Breezy show and so they overcorrected by sidelining the Heartbreak of the characters which is a shame because when the character's grief over Michael's death does come up it's remarkably impactful Michael was my best friend I really loved him and I still think about him every single day at the end of our first time skip episode we finally get what seems to be the new inciting incident Marbell Lounge manager Scott turning up dead on the beach who croaked the vest man is ostensibly the new murder mystery the show is running with but in practice it's not really a mystery plot with gradual Revelations secret motivations so on and so on basically it boils down to character after character getting falsely accused of Scott's murder in one episode then clearing their name in the next and the big reveal of who actually did it and a associate of Rose who appeared in all of three scenes dis played as one big joke the real eileene must have killed him which is true for the record come on ien oh I've got that one that's terrible that's terrible okay quickly oh God oh God beyond the murder investigation it's also tough to get terribly invested in the Romantic pairings that make up the rest of the season since everyone is dating some new obvious cope partner while they bide their time waiting to return to their exes zo will inevitably marry Ro Helio in the season finale but for now is dating lawyer Bruce perhaps the most beige forgettable love interest in the series even more so than Rafael's new girlfriend Abby Whitman who at least has the character trait of being so forgettable that the narrator keeps forgetting to include her I think you're being completely reasonable oh my bad I actually forgot she was there huh she's really funny well let's hope so Petra's dating Chuck and I mean what even is this character like on paper I get it Petra is a refined High Society lady Chuck is prototypical Florida man Beauty and the Beast Lady and the [ __ ] Romeo and Juliet capulets and romulans he also owns the Rival hotel to the Marbella so it's like an enemies to lovers thing except the enemies to lovers happened prior to the time skip so they're just lovers and the writers say trust us they were once enemies Oh goodie how romantically engaging for us he's an obstacle to Petra and Raphael getting back together even as both ReDiscover their feelings for each other and of course he's one of the red herrings in the investigation into Scott's death he's a rival he's a redneck sleev he's a scary individual these are all things that other characters just tell us Chuck is but that are rarely developed by like Chuck actually doing things he's here to serve a number of uninspired narrative purposes and once he has fulfilled his final Duty as a false lead in the who done it the character all but disappears from the series in a poof of magic third times the charm at least and Jane's little fling in the back half of season 3 is a fun little ride for both the audience and presumably her see the writers were in a bind following Michael's demise because regardless of the time Skip it's only been a few episodes for the audience if they set up Jane and rapael next they're certain to be accused by Michael shippers of killing the love triangle hypotenuse just to facilitate team Raphael's Kel desires but if they set Jane up with a new sincere love interest it'll be a hell of an uphill battle to prevent heartbroken audiences from instinctively hating his guts you can't just introduce an love interest three FS of the way through the series and expect the audience to root for him so the writers went a clever third way to soften the blow of more inevitably serious relationships down the line by pairing Jane off with a gormless buffoon who is routinely disrespected by the characters and will ultimately become adversarial Jane had the whole Whirlwind stuff of fairy tales romance with Michael and 3 years later getting back in the dating scene all she's really in the market for now is a sex idiot she finds one in ra Helio's new Airhead co-star Fabian who may be sweet and a grade A pork machine but is also an overly schaly embarrassing dork Jane and Rio's Antics will eventually break his heart revealing a bitter side to him that he directs toward father and daughter it's so much fun in season 3 when Jane and reelio stories come together or when Raphael and petas come together for that matter really makes you wonder why the writers were so committed to keeping everyone in their own little worlds for such a significant chunk of the season when the cast all playing off each other has always been the lifeblood of the series my dad is not going to fight you oh we're fighting crunch in the parking lot speaking of reelio I never really got into what he's been up to after the time skip reelio had planned to have a baby platonically with a Matchmaker named Darcy eventually developing real feelings for her as they worked out the logistics of the conception Flash Forward 3 years and the couple decided to birth a reality show about their romance rather than a child though the production has driven the two to despise one another while simultaneously being forced to act lydy for the cameras this reality TV show had the unfortunate effect of distancing rahelio and zo after rahelio made zo Twitter's Public Enemy Number One for a summer by giving her that most dreaded of reality TV Fates the bad edit that was perfect we'll make it seem like she lost it because of you and Darcy come on she just spilled coffee on herself America doesn't know that looking to mend his relationship with his former love and mother of his child Ro Helio breaks his contract to escape the series with Darcy and begin atoning for the mistakes he has made kicking off a ro V Hollywood legal battle in the process so hey roio trapped in an undesirable profession and emotional low Point taking a stand after 3 years to reclaim the love of his life and his independence as an actor to my point earlier this is a post times skip occasion for story well done reelio you get an A+ granted we're grading on a curve this semester I would go it's your M just go go now I previously mentioned that the writer's Hearts didn't seem to be into the baby elements when compared to the pregnancy elements of season 1 and the final function of the time skip was to throw the baby out with the Michael water now they have moved into the more creatively expansive world of preschoolers with most of the comedy and drama Min from Petra and Jane's clashing parental Styles as well as Petra's progyny presenting precocious and perfectly well malicious Matteo monotonously misbehaves although it does beg the question if the writers are kind of over this whole baby thing why reveal reelio knocked up Darcy in the Al she looks uh pretty far along guys I think you're going to be stuck doing baby plots again again oh I need your advice why it's your dad's that unexpected pregnancy reveal occurs inopportunely as reelio and zo's wedding approaches and the final turbulent days leading up to their Union take us into the finale after a search across the Sunshine State Jane is able to track down a missing letter from Michael penned in advance of their wedding and allowing her to finally get closure she also finds the letter in the possession of her first love Adam who happened to discover it in Michael's old apartment after coincidentally moving in after him so as much as it is a Sentimental final farewell to the character for the audience it also functions as a Baton Pass from lover to lover for Jane everybody say hi to the new guy we'll get to the fngg Adam in a moment zo and reelio get married and Raphael lures Rose into a trap by flushing her disguised self and Louisa out of hiding by falsely telling Louisa that his cancer has returned but while Jane the virgin's big bad has just been defeated a new adversarial Duo rising up to take her Place Louisa now forced into a prison pen pal relationship with her criminal girlfriend after being manipulated by Rafael's cancer Ploy and anesa embittered with her sister for conniving to sabotage Anka's relationship with the late Lounge manager Scott with both deciding to stick it to their siblings by seizing control of the Marbella with the knowledge that Raphael is adopted Louisa uses the exact wording in her father's will to deny Raphael his inheritance and that's season 3 after a reliably endearing first half that saw Jane the Virgin at long last become Jane the deflowered the series certainly took a big swing with Michael's death only to overcorrect into blly an essential Fair out of a questionable desire to seemingly offset the intense drama they conjured up for their dramedy series Louisa may have the whole Marbella in her hands but her new ally anesca isn't exactly a reliable partner and anesa starts cooking up plans of her own heading into season 4 things are going to get mental Louisa is now running the show positively incensed at Raphael for deceiving her with a fake cancer scare and a ploy to smoke out you know his father's murderer correctly assuming you were Sheltering her I might add but it isn't long until that haunting sin rros sinful slam piece pass comes back to bite Louisa Carl one of rose's agents comes to town to demand Louisa burn down the Marbella for the insurance money so they can use the cash to put into motion a plan to Spring Her Lover from the husa but after nearly fumigating the building with fire Louisa comes to the disturbing realization that she has lost her mind and Carl is a figment of Her Imagination except he's not anesa and Magda hatched a plan and here's the rundown hire an actor opposes Louisa's hallucinated Rose henchman Carl then delude Louisa into believing she's insane and nearly burned a building down over a delusion so Louisa will check into a mental Asylum and defer control of the Marbella to anasa it is what's the best way to describe it the most [ __ ] nuts plan ever although in practice it isn't terribly entertaining to watch unfold which is an inevitable curse in any con scheme where the writers make the mark a total Ru I take back what I said about Louisa during season 1 anesa is able to convince her the plot was hatched by Raphael all along and Louisa just takes her word for it Louisa having total command of the stakes the plot while also being a complete sucker who perpetually Falls for every villain scheme is starting to get frustrating anyways machinations to get control them rebella we're in our fourth season by now you know the drill people faking their deaths anesca posing as Petra Petra posing as anesca all culminating in a mid-season finale where an ambiguous altercation leads to anesca somehow falling to her death and I promise you friends this time she really is dead Ned Stone are dead oh whoa whoa spoilers guy don't you know that alluding to a well-known and widely discussed plot twist from an episode of Television that aired a decade ago is just beyond the pale for Old Time sake Fringe season 4 is an alternate timeline Hannibal Escapes in the finale and the killer in the first season of True detectiv is not content to let her Offspring and granddaughter have all the dating fun Alba has been caught up in a sweet little relationship with her cooworker Jorge though early in the season she rejects his proposal to get married when she gets caught up in her own head and by by the time she realizes her mistake orge has already moved on right back into the breach he bud orge and I share this philosophy the best latina is the next one on the subject of broken engagements let me introduce Adam Jane's First Love straight out of high school she and Adam fell for each other and fell hard resulting in the two getting engaged only a few months after meeting much to the nervous disapproval of their families at Al benzo's secret urging Adam called off the engagement and moved to New York leaving the couple estranged now 8 years later the two figure they've matured enough to give their romance another shot the series does well to endear audiences to Adam in the season premiere despite most audiences being like psychologically primed to knee-jerk reject him utilizing a female Latin lover narrator to provide insights into his thoughts and history while verbally sparring with our Latin lover narrator all the while wait why are you being so quiet you always have something to say well the stars are definitely aligning but oh come on beyond that not a whole lot to the Adam story line he does does even get tied up in a love triangle with Raphael as you'd probably expect since Raphael is tied up in a scheme to seduce a wealthy Dowager so she'll buy the Marbella away from Louisa when it comes to the fourth season of Jane the Virgin generally seems to be the odd man out of the five in terms of Pop Culture discourse the first season was a star making turn for Gina Rodriguez the second season was riding high on her Golden Globe win season 3 everyone was a buzz with discussions on Michael's death and naturally the final season everyone was a buzz with discussions on Michael's return in addition to being the shortest of the five season 4 also seemed to have the least capacity to capture the the TV culture Zeitgeist though one of the main points of critical praise the season received is partially due to Adam himself Adam tells Jane by the way I'm by leading to conversations on misguided assumptions about bisexuality the dichotomy between how B men are treated by Society compared to by women and serving as a feather in Jane the virgin's cap as they were on The Cutting Edge of representation by incorporating a by male character into their show not that chapter 69 is just sitting down to watch a 45-minute think piece the central running gag of Jane interpreting every interaction Adam has with a man as secretly simmering with sexual tension and her later efforts to flirt with any bisexual leanings she may not have awakened yet by making every casual interaction she has with a woman needlessly sexual it's an amusing bet still it isn't long before Adam is put in a career versus relationship bind and leaves for California to pursue the job leaving Jane caught off guard because Adam had just made a commitment to stay and leaving me caught off guard because it can't be that's already it for Adam after all the fuss you made that we were getting a new love interest surely this is just another speed bump in their love and he'll be back right well no just as quickly as he appeared he's gone and it's pretty clear that Adam was just wheel spinning before the writers decided to finally pull the trigger on Jane and Raphael getting together one big final time what are you doing this is how we end things well we still have stuff to do and he's part of our story now let me guess more Blondie signing papers yes and thank you for that transition Adam is in the only one getting by after being charged with Ana's death Petra begins to develop romantic feelings for her attorney Jane Ramos when a blackmailer attempts to force Jr to throw the case Jane and her client set off on a quest to deduce the identity of the blackmailer and save Petra's skin with JR using the cover story that she's a black widow seducing Petra to hide what they're really up to so the two have the whole Chuck thing going on secret missions under the cover that were out in the town sparking up a relationship all the feelings grow more and more real I mean it's not the most out of left field lesbian Awakening in television history that dubious honor goes to Colleen doni pairing off the show's fem tal with a new second fem tal is a decent novel idea that keeps the whole thing from feeling like the writers are pandering to a demographic who wants to see two hot girls make out I'm of course referring to straight men oh so they're not like [ __ ] lesbians his his only like like um knowledge of of a lesbian was like something from like a porn all right I'll wrap up the segment before I try to get too cute with more jokes and put my foot in my mouth slip maker is an all-inclusive Channel I watch the LW okay I watch Queer as that's not what it's called after a few years of baby drama and grieving it does put a spark back in the second half of the Season that Jane the Virgin is returning to its ridiculously horny Roots all off season one Jane and Raphael are not just together again but boning this time Petra is pining all with the backdrop of a fake going real coverup relationship to Caper with and even Alba has herself a funny little late blooming Spring Awakening after a visit to a sex shop unfortunately not everyone is having fun humping in the Sunshine State as tragedy strikes the villain wos when zo is diagnosed with breast cancer the insights into all the characters through their anxiety as they await the diagnosis and their immediate instincts in the wake of bad news are well realized and emotionally engaging and the moments of hard defined comedic levity in the midst of the sadness are endearing this is likely because many of the production team noted in interviews that they had friends and family who struggled with cancer most notably Jane the Virgin producer Valentina Gara also had a battle with breast cancer these personal experiences do well to imbue the heavy material with a sense of humanity and personal investment along with a clear desire to portray the disease in a genuine non hollywoodized light however that's also a double-edged sword to my point earlier about Jane the virgin's first season effortlessly linking Bonkers plot points to impactful heartfelt character moments the well-meaning effort to keep the cancer story grounded does lead to the drama and the silliness that used to be Jane's delicious chocolate and peanut butter specialty further existing in entirely isolated worlds I lied before the biopsy came back positive I have breast cancer sticking to Jane the Virgin tradition the Finelli needs a big Cliffhanger and a big wedding despite Raphael making plans to propose to Jane the honor of season 4's holy matrimony actually goes last minute to Alba who marries Jorge after gaining her citizenship as a green card arrangement though with a fire in her heart still raging for Jorge Alba hopes one day their platonic nationality necessity nuptuals will evolve Back Into Love meanwhile Raphael's engagement plans are dashed last minute when Rose SED mystically reveals that Michael is still alive Jane walks into Raphael's apartment to find her lover standing beside her Undead husband and that's season 4 of Jane the Virgin in keeping with the holding pattern feeling of the truncated fourth season even the finale doesn't feel like a climax of plot threads that have been building up all season instead content to primarily revolve around the 11th Hour reveal that Michael is back hell even Petra and other Jan's blackmailer easily the most plot dense final payoff of season 4 isn't technically revealed until the season 5 premiere ah but come on who do you think you're fooling it's obviously either Petra's mother or Milos flip a coin let's head into the show's final season where it heads Milos is the black mailer but also Jane's seemingly miraculous reunion with her husband starts to come up Tales Michael is that you so Michael is back or rather Michael's person suit Michael's Resurrection came at a cost and he has lost all his memories of his previous life now going by Jason and working as rancher in Montana with a no fun noons Gruff Cowboy demeanor to match wow bringing back a well-liked character who was written not the series as someone unrecognizably different in a hackneyed Amnesia storyline straight out of a tel Nolla right wrong straight out of a late season CW Show but how did Mr cord's mind wind up so spotless and eternally sunshiny that would be courtesy of Rose who suspected detective Michael was onto her latest false identity and took drastic action to get him off her Trail I promised you that I wouldn't kill anymore so so I faked his death with a paralytic and I hired some fake ent's and and I gave him Amnesia which was way harder by the way Jesus she's like a Dishonored protagonist Michael's return does do a good job of jump starting the final season of Jane the Virgin even if the Amnesia element does undermine some of the drama Jane's centerpiece scene in the premiere where Gina Rodriguez goes in a 7-minute monologue ranting to her family about all the inconveniences and emotional complications of this new development bouncing between sad manic amused and Furious is a Wonder to behold especially because the show was willing to devote so much time to let the moment breathe in a series that is typically hyper structured with narration cutaways and transitions Michael may not remember his former well legally current wife but it isn't long before Jason Takes a shine to her despite their now clashing personalities he announces his intentions to woo his own Widow and it's hard to tell whose skin it gets under more Jane or The Perennial romantic runner up to Michael Cordo Raphael dude she's my wife she is not your wife legally she is rafhael understood exactly how Mato and the twins [Music] felt but of course Raphael was an adult fortunately it isn't too far into the season before undeadwood over here regains his memories and the real dramatic complications can begin with the real Michael returning or at least that's when these complications should begin in practice there isn't as much drama as you'd expect from Michael's return partially that's because there isn't really even a love triangle again soon as Michael regains his memories Raphael just rows his hands in the air and says Jane always picks Michael over me so screw it I'm out the other reason is because there's so much organic occasion for conflict but the main conflicts are all instead born from none of the three being particularly thoughtful of the other's positions Michael initially respectfully tries to leave town so his presence doesn't disrupt Jane's life once he sees a window dude is right back in there Raphael Slams on the big red relationship eject button at the first sign of trouble when you'd imagine he'd have more compassion for the confused feelings of the woman he claims to love after her husband impossibly came back to life and Jane is probably the most empathetic of the trio doing her best to express her emotions up front rather than hide them but rafhael made it abundantly clear he needed a promise of commitment now so she really shouldn't feel too caught off guard when her prolonged indecisiveness causes a rift between the two and after finishing the series it's kind of hard to not see Michael's return as the writer setting the tables for the finale prepping the audience to like how everything ends for the Raphael fans you no longer have to wonder if he was a consolation prize after Jane lost her one true love Michael came back and Jane definitively chose Raphael for the Michael fans you don't have to feel like he was just killed off to make way for Raphael Michael gets to survive he gets his memories back and he has a new life in Montana for a new happily ever after and for the rose fans here's a heinous manipulative thing that derailed everyone's lives so we can spectacularly kill her in the penultimate episode of the series Without You Still rooting for her to get back together with Louisa because she's hot that is so romantic diabolical on the cusp of running away with Michael to Montana Jane the yellow Stone has a last minute change of heart in a fairly impactful rug pole scene where she realizes she really truly once and for all cuz there's only a few hours of show left loves Raphael and leaves Michael to his new life Raphael is less than receptive of her final decision burnt out on the will they won't they drama that so constantly left him an emotional mess the two devote their energy instead to co-parenting Mato though that task also causes problems between the pair when their son is diagnosed with ADHD and they each have differing plans to address the neurodevelopmental disorder Jan and Raphael handled their disagreements very maturely go screw yourself are you kidding me right now you cannot talk to me like that I'm not talking to you I'm talking to the guy in front of me driving like a complete ass maybe if you weren't driving like a maniac see a sucker was that to someone else nope well that verbal altercation is amusingly played for Laughs a lot of the interpersonal drama has the cast at each other's throats for frustrating bad sitcom reasons a far cry from the organic relationship hiccups that I praised in the early years Zara attacks re Helio's co-star the perpetual injured Brook Shields because their scripted kiss looked too steamy Ro Helio causes problems on set because he resents his co-star for making more than him and misunderstands the discourse between equal pay Jane Ramos is furious with Petra because Petra used her connections to help Jane on the job hunt Jane suspects Raphael of doing drugs around their children just because Raphael and Petra are both needlessly KY about Raphael taking anti-depressants even if those conflicts later reveal the character was simply venting over another more serious emotional issue come on guys this show distinguished Itself by demonstrating that all's characters are more emotionally mature than this why don't we all just take five oh which means I only get two and a half [Music] right fortunately seemingly suspecting the series is ending temper cool and Raphael and Jane get engaged taking us into the end game happily Jane the Virgin really Nails its ending first with a final showdown with the recently escaped Rose whom Louisa has been working with a cops to thwart with huge twists and turns all leading up to our epic confrontation with both our lives hanging in the balance huh if Louisa doesn't show up you're going to have plenty of room on your side of the wedding aisle I criticized I zombie for its subversively underwhelming final villain showdown in that retrospective and I noticed a lot of commenters disagreed and actually appreciated that sort of payoff much like Ro Helio DEA I have a flare for the more dramatic a mustache twirling villain manically threatening the main character in her family a pulpy hostage Showdown on rooftop all climaxing with the villain being shoved off a roof impaled on a spike and emulated yeah that's how you take out a bad guy OMG I hope that killed [Music] her well that definitely de with rose defeated all that's left to do is get Jane and Raphael hitched but not before chapter 99 a loving behind the scenes look at the creation of the show first time I've ever seen one of those behind the- scenes things considered an actual episode but but it's sweet enough the cast look back on reading the script and falling in love with the characters they would eventually portray the big twists and turns the celebrity guest stars they got to work with and being at the Forefront of racial gender and sexual orientation representation on new 10's network television that they have portrayed a Latino strong extremely handsome men in a in a normal way you know full of feelings a huge chunk of the retrospective also revolves around the pilot which I guess I should have praised earlier I joked in a recent video about this channel becoming the bitching about Pilots variety hour but Jane the Virgin is tantalizingly tight okay poor choice of awards Jane the virgin's pilot is tantalizingly tight engaging and perfectly in line with the characterizations we would later see in the series I particularly enjoyed this behind the-scenes discussion of how the villain wave of homes porch became known as the porch of Tears because of the character s out there they just knew it was going to be a crying scene hilariously and sentimentally carried on into the finale with Jane and zo both leaving the nest the trios sit and quietly cry at the sunrise for a minute and no words need to be exchanged we know these characters we've seen their struggles and are happy for their happy ending we love these actresses and hate to see them leave our screens shedding a tear goes without [Music] saying on to that happy ending Jane and Raphael are married and I know every season ends in a wedding in one way or another but this is the one that most connected with me since since they finally let all the characters breathe relish their victories and drink in the experience Rio's remake of his star making Tel Nolla series becomes a massive hit Jane's novel sells for a hundred trillion mlion dollars and we learned that Mato would go onto an illustrious voice acting career starring in such Productions is that remarkably surprisingly good sequel to Puss and Boots as well as Jane the Virgin using your big boy voice I practice a great glamour she said I would be great at voice over work and for the record I am and that's Jane the Virgin there were plans to develop a spin-off titled Jane the Nolla also on the CW Gina Rodriguez would serve as the narrator with showrunner Jenny SNY man continuing on as well with a series functioning as an anthology where each season is an in Universe adaptation of one of Jane's books alas the pilot was not picked up while Rodriguez's narration was praised the general critical consensus of Jane Nel's pilot was underwhelming I tried to track down the pilot myself for this video but wasn't aable to despite my intensive efforts so you Googled it no I didn't just Google it I this thing right called the internet archive so you Googled it I Googled internet archive yes and I found it there well I certainly had my issues with the intermittent plotting problems and I'm firmly in the camp that Michael's death was a good creative choice that wound up flubbed by poor follow through I do still have a soft spot for the show possibly simply because those last few episodes are like a Menin black neuralizer that makes you remember the experience as a whole more fondly I mean Jane the Virgin really does stick The Landing beyond that even with my occasional narrative misgivings the characters were consistently spectacular the cast was consistently spectacular and that first season is really something special all right that's 2/3 of the CW Triple Threat done but if I ever do crazy ex-girlfriend the only appropriate way would be a literal Musical review subscribe to the channel so you know when the casting call comes out I told you before you can pull the plug actually you need to put that in writing I did put it in writing a text with a plug emoji and a thumbs up doesn't count [Music] [Applause] day