In Chapter 7 of Jane the Virgin, Jane allowed herself be romanced by Rafael, despite a complex situation and her mother’s loud objections.
In Chapter 8, Jane braced herself for the fallout from the big Virgin reveal.
The V Word
Jane and Rafael are gloriously reunited after Rafael’s unsuccessful jaunt to Miami to track down his wayward sister, showering each other with kisses and “I missed yous”. But when Rafael suggests they move the celebration into the bedroom, Jane passes up the perfect opportunity to come clean about her virgin status. Jane is understandably worried about sharing the news with her experienced new boyfriend. It’s nerve-wracking for anyone to announce their virginity, never mind a 23-year old pregnant girl who is dating the father of her medical miracle baby!
Xiomara doesn’t exactly help when she quips that she doesn’t know how a ‘guy like that’ will react. Ouch. The sad thing is that Jane clearly shares her mother’s concern but she’s too hurt by Xo’s lack of support to admit it.
The truth finally comes out during an awkward dinner date when Jane is ambushed by a religious devotee of ‘Jane the Virgin’. Jane the what-now? … chokes out a stupefied Rafael. As Jane explains her unlikely ascension to messiah, she casually drops the ‘I’m not having sex until marriage’ bomb. Poor Rafael attempts to play it cool, but after a string of ‘you mean you never? With Michael? Not even when?’ Jane is less than impressed. She calls it an early night and leaves deflated. When Xo asks how Rafael took the news, Jane is too proud to tell her the truth.
Day in Court
With Luisa MIA, the case of Jane vs. Dr. Alver is going very smoothly for the plaintiff. Jane is on track to receive a default judgment in her favour. Unfortunately Luisa sails into court at the last minute, full of regret after a life changing experience with her shaman and a butt load of hallucinogenic tea. Looks like this civil suit will not be wrapped up in a neat little bow after all.
Power Play
Petra is getting pretty fed up with playing hostess to her accidental hostage. Between her mother’s exorbitant room service spending and her blackmailers demand for nightly lobster dinners, she is desperate to solve her cash flow problem. Luckily for Petra she gets the opportunity to bring in some dough and humiliate Rafael at the same time. Lachlan hires Petra to woo exclusive Miami clientele for the hotel and forces Rafael to answer to her if he wants to keep his job.
You see Rafael’s daddy was non too pleased when Petra and Lachlan informed him that his son had put the hotel in jeopardy by underwriting Luisa’s malpractice insurance. He promptly sacked Rafael and only agreed to re-hire him if he worked for Lachlan. And maybe Rafael could have sucked that up to prove his worth, but there is no way he is bowing to his crazy ex. He walks away from the position in a huff.
The Slutty Set-Up
A jobless Rafael, who has just found out his girlfriend is a virgin, is in the mopiest mood possible when he encounters a charming, sexy stranger at the hotel bar. She offers him a drink, slides into a closer stool … and suddenly he’s waking up beside her in a bed of tousled sheets. The kicker? His sweet, virginal girlfriend Jane is staring at him in horror from behind a tray of mimosas. GULP.
Rafael rushes to explain what happened, but that’s pretty difficult to do when he can’t remember any of it. As far as Jane’s concerned, she told him he wasn’t getting any and he jumped into bed with the first broad who walked by. Things are looking pretty bad for the former playboy when he spots a peculiar coin hanging between the bosom of his mysterious paramour. Yup … Ms One-night-stand is a coin-carrying member of the cult of Jane The Virgin.
When Rafael tells his maybe-lover that he’s dating Jane, she runs off to Jane’s school to confess some pretty big sins. It seems Petra paid her to spike Rafael’s drink and make it look it though they’d spent a wild night together. As an escort it was a cleaner job than most, but she can’t live with the guilt of tricking the miracle virgin.
Can I just give the writers huge HUGE thumbs up for not dragging this plot along for several episodes! When Jane walked in on Rafael I was steeling myself for week after brutal week of tension and heartbreak between my two favourite lovebirds … knowing that somehow it would all be revealed as a hoax. THANK YOU for wrapping this up nice and quick and sparing your viewers the hair pulling and heartburn of a prolonged plot twist.
Still, despite the set-up Jane isn’t ready to resume her romance with Rafael. He may not be a complete douchebag but he’s not exactly her white knight either. He learned she was a virgin and he sulked. He lost his job and he stormed off. If he’s not willing to fight for what he wants, how can Jane put her faith in him?
Sparks Fly
Xiomara tries her very hardest to make things work with sexy Marco. He’s sweet, attentive, stable and not the long-lost father of her only daughter. But … there’s just something missing. Whenever Xo comes into contact with Rogelio it’s like a current surges between them. With Marco there is no danger of electric shock. Damn.
Rogelio is elated when Xo breaks off her new relationship, but she refuses to let him gloat. It’s totally not about him. Even though it completely is. Spark, sizzle, sizzle.
Dearest Xo: If you’re no longer interested in single dad soccer hardbodies, please do a girl a solid and send them my way.
Case Dismissed
With the lawsuit dragging on, Jane’s grandmother Alba is spending even more time than usual praying and worrying. At first Jane is confused, but Xo gently reminds her that Alba has been fearful of courts ever since she came to America as an ‘illegal immigrant’. Riiiiggght. Jane, the ever-adoring granddaughter, decides to drop the case. But not just because of Alba’s fears. She realizes that the lawsuit is based on a medical mistake causing an unwanted pregnancy … but Jane has grown to love her unborn baby. Suing for the money alone seems ugly, something our sweet Jane is not.
When Rafael hears the news, he finally reveals his own big secret about the hotel. Because Rafael underwrote the insurance, Jane had actually been suing him the entire time. He never told her the truth because he didn’t want her to give up a lucrative settlement out of guilt. WOW.
Just as Jane’s grandfather gave up his family fortune to come to America with a bride his relatives disapproved of, Rafael was willing to sacrifice his own financial security for Jane. Awwwww. Is that some shining armour I see?
Odds and Ends
- Xo recorded a demo in a plot that seemed pretty pointless. I think the demo producer was a Spanish celebrity or something? Whatever. It didn’t add anything.
- On the hunt for Sin Rostro, Michael and Nadine turned up a weird dude in a crate instead. Not invested in this plot yet.
- Rose – who reveals herself as potentially the series’ biggest bitch yet (yes, even worse than you Petra) – gets Luisa committed when she threatens to expose their affair.
Best Exchange:
Jane: It’s a website. Do you remember Rogelio’s stepdaughters?
Rafael: Yeah.
Jane: They started it to be making fun of me …and the fact that I’m a virgin …which I am. And now a pregnant virgin. So the website it went viral and now some people believe because I’m a pregnant virgin that I can grant miracles.
Rafael: Wait. What?
Jane: I can’t. Just to be clear.
Photo Courtesy of The CW