- I'm not a second class citizen. But I'm not a second choice either
- — Petra to Rafael
Chapter Thirty-Five is the 13th episode of Season 2 of Jane the Virgin.
Synopsis[]
COUPLES – Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Michael (Brett Dier) are back together - almost! Jane attempts to get Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and Michael to reconcile, but it doesn't go well. While Rafael is sulking over losing Jane, he is ignoring Petra (Yael Grobglas) and her pregnancy needs. Xo (Andrea Navedo) and Rogelio (Jaime Camil) have broken up over the baby issue, but they are still acting like a couple, something Jane sees as a problem. Rogelio hires a new assistant, Paola (guest star Ana De la Reguera), who appears too good to be true.
Recap[]
But let’s bask in their sweet reunion a little longer before Rafael enters the picture. After exchanging I love you‘s, Jane and Michael stay up all night catching up and making googly eyes at each other (when they aren’t making out on the back porch, of course). The montage of these moments is a reminder of how undeniably compatible these two are, and a welcome development in Jane’s love life. That professor, no matter how hot he is, was never going to last anyway.
But all good nights must end, and theirs is no exception. Jane points out that Michael and Rafael need to make up before they move forward officially, something Michael is in complete agreement with. Despite the great entertainment Michael and Rafael’s tumultuous relationship has brought to the show, its time for it to end — or to at least take a break.
While Jane is simultaneously glowing about her revived relationship and stressing about whether or not it will actually work, Xo is nursing a broken heart and trying to hide it. You see, she and Rogelio decided they would consciously uncouple. Translation for those who don’t keep up with Goop: “Conscious uncoupling” is the euphemism Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin famously used to describe their divorce. According to Rogelio and Xo’s definition, it involves skipping past all the “negativity” usually associated with breakups and going straight to the post-romance friendship. Because that sounds easy.
It’s not. Xo and Rogelio continue acting like a couple, even having some spontaneous sex. Xo’s doing it because she loves him, and as she explains to Jane, breakups are complicated. Rogelio’s doing it because he’s holding out hope that Xo will change her mind about wanting to have kids, he tells Jane in a heartbreaking moment. Could it happen? Sure. But the likelihood is small, and waiting for something that might never happen is a miserable way to live.
Jane reveals what Rogelio told her to Xo in an attempt to help them move forward in their breakup. It works. Xo and Rogelio have a second breakup of sorts and decide that they have to take a step back so they can truly get over each other. It’s rational and smart and the right thing to do. It’s also sad — especially after Rogelio previously told Jane that the true love he shared with Xo was rare and special.
This brings us back to Jane and Michael, a pair Rogelio is overjoyed about potentially seeing back together. After some pushing, Jane gets Rafael to go to lunch with them. Michael sincerely apologizes for everything — including that time he punched Rafael — and it seems like things might be okay. Then Rafael tells Michael he doesn’t like or trust him, and things escalate from there. Boys, right?
NEXT: Michael makes a charming offer
Rafael claims his resistance to Jane and Michael getting back together is a product of Michael’s dangerous line of work. He doesn’t want to risk anything happening to Mateo, and that’s a respectable and reasonable concern. Jane relays this information to Michael, who romantically offers to quit his job. She’s more important than work, he says, and he’s not going to lose her ever again. This is unbelievably sweet…and a bit misguided.
But hopefully he won’t actually have to do it because just the fact that he offered is enough to help Jane in her quest to get Rafael to approve: She tells him about it and points out that Rafael’s still not satisfied because that wasn’t the real reason Rafael wanted Michael out. The real reason was because Rafael is jealous, something he admits when he tearfully says, “I don’t want to be replaced.” He wants Jane, yes, but he also just wants to be a dad — a good dad who’s there and depended on. It’s easy to see why Michael returning to Jane’s life would make him feel threatened in that way.
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Along with this admission comes Rafael’s declaration that he’ll try to be okay with Michael, which is enough for Jane and her new-old beau to celebrate by making out in a public place. Once teenage loves, always teenage loves. Rafael’s ready to make out, too, so he heads to Petra and tries to make something happen with her by saying that he wants to be there for her and the twins. Right as it looks like they’re about to kiss, she stops him, realizing that he’s just there because Jane rejected him. Petra might be a bit evil, but she’s completely right when she denies him by insisting she’s not about to be second choice. And with that, he’s down at the bar drunkenly flirting with a random woman.
His sister, Luisa, has been getting intimate with alcohol, too. Jane caught her stealing from the hotel’s bar and had a sisterly talk with her about getting better. At the end of the talk, Jane left a wasted Luisa in Susanna’s care. By the end of the night, Susanna was urging Luisa to check into rehab — and adding that she’ll be there to take care of her when her time there is over. It’s still so soon for Luisa to already be starting up another new romance, but Susanna’s affection for her is still heartwarming. That is, if it’s actual affection? (If there’s anything that Jane has taught me, it’s that no one roaming the halls of the Marbella is to be trusted.)
That leads us back to Rogelio, who is mad at Jane after she chose to stay home and comfort her crying mother instead of attending his premiere. He takes this as a sign that Jane likes her mom more than she likes him, and that is just something that Rogelio’s fragile, fragile ego cannot handle, so he says he needs to spend some time away from her. Bad timing, though: He arrives home that evening to find his new assistant, Paola, waiting on his couch with news that she’s installed a new deadbolt, bars on all the windows, and a security system so he can’t get out. Yes, that’s right, so he can’t get out. Remember Lola, that incarcerated woman Rogelio was pen pals with? Well, she’s out of prison now, and she’s going by Paola — and she definitely considers Rogelio more than just a pen pal. Let’s hope that Jane doesn’t take Rogelio’s request for space too seriously?Starring[]
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Quotes[]
- The Narrator – And that's when he heard the scariest words of all:
- Lola – I've never met J.Lo
- ―Lola reveals her identity
- I don't love anybody else
- — Jane to Rafael, about Michael
Trivia[]
- Jane and Michael were out of each other's lives for 216 days.
- Jane and Michael officially get back together.
- Luisa falls off the wagon due to Rose's death and Susanna tells Luisa to go back to rehab.
- Jane starts working at The Marbella again.
- Rafael tries to lick his wounds with Petra, but she rejects him saying she's not a second choice.
- Michael offers to quit his job to make things with Rafael better.
- Rafael tells Jane he'll try to make it work with Michael in their lives.
- Rafael tells Petra he missed the 24-7 baby care with Mateo because they didn't live together.
- Rogelio tells Jane he needs a break from her and that he feels she chooses Xo over him.
- Rafael goes home with some random woman he meets at the Marbella bar.
- PARALLELS
- A lot between Rogelio and Rafael, in relation to the Villanueva women.
- CONTINUITY
- The Narrator says that Jane is 24 years, 8 months and 17 days old. Since it is February 22, this would make Jane's birthday June 5, which clashes with most of the Narrator's information about her birthday, which usually puts it in April.
'Secrets'[]
- Paola is really Lola, Rogelio's prison pen-pal in 2006.
Locations[]
- Miami
- The Marbella
- Public swimming pool
Photos[]
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| 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 |
| 2 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 |
| 3 | 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 |
| 4 | 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 |
| 5 | 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 |