Welcome back to my weekly review and recap of “Jane the Virgin.” To catch up on coverage of season one: click here.
We are not okay.
I’m feeling pretty raw right now. For the past couple weeks, we’ve been teased about this shocker of finale for Jane the Virgin’s first season, and now that I’ve watched it… I’m not okay. Not just because I’m very emotionally invested in these characters’ lives, but that shocking twist is almost too cruel for a show that has always been pretty delightful, even when it has its dark moments.
Some of the TYF staffers share their reactions to tonight’s shocking cliffhanger:
Who would ever think a show called “Jane the Virgin” would have some of the biggest twists and a huge cliffhanger of a finale!? Can’t wait for season 2! – Jeremy Rodriguez
WHAT?! WHAT?!?! Ending a season with a gunshot going off and not knowing who it struck? Okay, I can deal. Making a fan favorite character go evil within the final minutes of an episode? That’s okay too, I can see the reasoning creatively. Heck, even go ahead and kill off a character, I’ll use the hiatus to deal. But stealing Jane’s baby?! THIS IS NOT OKAY! – Michael D’Angelo
Cachie Gonzalez’s incoherent reaction tweets (which reflect most of Twitter, to be honest):
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Okay, let’s also look at it this way. Objectively, that ending is daunting, but creative, because really, who was expecting THAT?
Tonight’s finale marked the end of Part 1 of who-knows-how-many-parts to Jane’s journey. After an episode where truths come out (both Rafael and Michael get real about their feelings with Jane) and a couple twists leading up to a bigger one, it has been a hell of an overwhelming couple of days for Jane.
Nearing Jane’s due date, Xiomara is reluctant to leave to Las Vegas with Rogelio to perform at their upcoming show. She doesn’t want to miss Jane giving birth, but Jane insists she goes, saying that the baby is not coming anytime soon. Oh, how she is wrong.
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Once Xiomara and Rogelio jet off, Jane starts getting contractions. At first, it’s a false alarm, and Michael is around to take her to the hospital. Rafael shows up, upset that Michael is there. The two stand-off, which annoys Jane, and she ends up leaving with her grandma.
Rafael stops by Jane’s later to apologize and tell her the truth about his feelings. He’s always loved her, and it was a mistake breaking up with her. The news just upsets Jane even more, and can you blame her? Rafael was SO cruel when he broke up with her; even though he didn’t mean it, the fact that he made that decision for the both of them isn’t so easily forgivable.
Michael also has a little heart-to-heart with Jane, and he gets hurt when she explains how her “familiar” and “safe” he feels to her. He says he rather not be with her if she can’t feel any more passionate about him. Ohhhkay, Michael, you just lost points for pressuring a pregnant woman about her feelings.
All the while, Michael gets a surprise visit from Nadine, his ex-partner who was working for Sin Rostro. She tries to make a deal with Michael and gives him some possibly useful intel. Nadine, who is handcuffed in his home, is pretty much out of options when her information end up being a dud; so when Michael leaves hastily for something Jane-related, he leaves his keys behind. Nadine breaks free. However, by the end, it was all part of the plan devised between Michael and the police captain. They planted a tracker in her phone with hopes that Nadine will eventually lead them to Sin Rostro’s whereabouts.
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Jane goes into labor… for real this time, while on the bus. Thanks to some helpful passengers and Rogelio’s guidance via the Passions of Santos bus ads, Jane makes it to the hospital. All the while, Xiomara hastily tries to book a flight back home; unfortunately, the earliest one available is the next morning. She apologizes to Rogelio that she won’t be able to perform at his show, and he walks angrily away with a huff. She finds him later at the slot machines, where he tells her that he’s offended she would think he’d be mad that she’d miss his show. He’s mad that she didn’t think he would want to drop the show to go see Jane. In fact, he’s already booked his flight (first-class and all), so he can be there for Jane and his grandchild.
Xiomara makes it up to him, by photoshopping Rogelio into a photograph of Xio, Alba and baby Jane to reassure him that he’s officially a part of their family. They get ready to call it a night, but run into some Rogelio fans who buy them some drinks. The next morning, they looked like they had a bit of too much fun. Still, they make their flight in time for the birth.
After hours of labor and painful hour of childbirth, Jane finally meets a man that she will never question her feeling for: Mateo Gloriano Rogelio Solano Villanueva. Everyone expected another Villanueva girl, but in the first of a series of surprises, Jane and Rafael have a little boy. It’s a wonderful sight, seeing the family crowd around Jane and marvel at little Mateo.
Lest we forget that this is Jane the Virgin, and the surprises are not going to end there…
Petra, who Rafael has been manipulating in order to get her share of the hotel under his control, finds out some very interesting news. It looks like the fertility clinic split Rafael’s sperm donation sample in half, and they found the missing half. (The other half made Mateo.) Petra goes to tell Rafael, but overhears Raf speaking with his sister on how he’s trying to get rid of Petra. Uh oh.
In the next round of twists, Petra goes to fertility clinic posing as Mrs. Solano and takes the sample. We all know what she’s going to do with it. It’s what she always meant to do from the very first episode. It looks like she’s going to use his same to impregnate herself with Raf’s baby.
The third big twist comes from Rogelio and Xiomara. We should have seen it coming, especially after the evidence of their wild, drunken night in Las Vegas of all places. Ro and Xio have tied the knot, and they don’t even remember it. Thanks to a DVD they found on them, their nuptials are recorded for them to relive. This is the sweetest and funniest twist of the night. Do you think these two will try out marriage or head straight to divorce court?
Finally, the biggest and worst twist of the night: Sin Rostro steals baby Mateo. Yup, still can’t believe it! You saw our reactions earlier in this post, and it’s WOW. We all had our theories, and I had a feeling Sin Rostro was going to come back into play in some way. However, I just didn’t think she would steal Jane’s baby. We have no idea why Sin Rostro decided to do this, but it has everyone dying for season two to start.
With the ridiculous premise and the whimsical quality of the show, Jane the Virgin gave us a memorable, heartwarming, authentic and exciting first season. There were so many ups-and-downs and crazy, crazy things going on, and these characters who felt so grounded and real have made it such an entertaining journey. It’s hard to believe that all of this has only been Part 1. There’s a lot more left to Jane and company’s story, and I can’t wait for the rest of it.
Until fall, readers and fellow Jane fans. (And God Bless, little Mateo!)
Rating: 9/10
Season 1 Rating: 9.5/10
“It should be noted that…”Jane the Virgin will return to The CW in the fall.
What did you think of the Jane the Virgin season finale?
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