Jane the Virgin Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Chapter Ninety
Lizzy Buczak
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At the start of Jane the Virgin Season 5 Episode 9, it felt as if the writers were gearing up for the beginning of the end.
Many of the stories were being neatly wrapped up in a bow.
Michael's presence enveloped much of the first half of the season but now, Jane closed the chapter on her back-from-the-dead husband.
While her relationship with Rafael remains uncertain, it's comforting to know that they'll always be connected because they're family.
Jane kicked off Jane the Virgin Season 1 without a father but now, she's wearing matching suits with her dad, writing his telenovela script and even embracing the wacky things he does out of love.
Xo's health is on the mend, JR and Petra's rocky relationship is smoothing out the edges, and Alba's love for Jorge lead them down the aisle and right into the bedroom. Talk about a happily ever after.
Related: Jane the Virgin Season 5 Episode 6 Review: Chapter Eighty-Seven
By all means, it seems closure is on the horizon.
Until those final few scenes involving Rafael, Luisa, and Mateo.
We know there are still ten episodes left in the season, which in TV show terms means there's room for a few last minute twists, turns, and unexpected deaths.
The show has always been a good mix of high stake dramatic moments with pure family fun, and this episode followed the formula from beginning to end.
While the Villaneuva women were celebrating Alba's wedding and huddling up for an emotional chit chat in the church rather than the porch swing set, it was inevitable that Rose's diabolical plan was going to bulldoze every shred of happiness and progress.
Rafael wanted to believe that Luisa had changed mainly because he's seen change happen within himself.
And, to be fair, Luisa has changed.
Despite Jane's comment about Luisa wilting at the slightest smile from Rose, Luisa held her ground when she visited her ex-girlfriend in prison.
She hasn't had any contact with her and yet, Rose has still managed to infiltrate her life to enact what might be her final master plan using Bobby, Luisa's "friendly" next door neighbor.
Luisa has earned the right to meet Rafael's children, especially since she's responsible for bringing Mateo into this world, even if by carelessness.
But Luisa didn't get the idea to meet the kiddos on her own, and if she was more aware, she'd realize that she was being played once again.
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Rose has always used and abused Luisa's kindness and naivety.
It doesn't seem like Mateo is the target again -- thank god. One kidnapping was more than enough.
But it does seem like Rose and Bobby have it out for Rafael.
Is she trying to frame him?
Are you my Aunt Luisa, the one who made me get born?
Mateo
Why else would they need to get into his apartment?
Is she trying to kill him?
The showrunner, Jennie Snyder Urman, did tease a few deaths before Jane the Virgin Season 5 wraps up.
Could Rafael be one of them?
Luisa isn't knowingly working with Rose, but trying to drag Raf and Mateo out to the beach doesn't paint her in a good light after that phone call Rafael just received.
And why can't Rose let Luisa go? Why would she dump all that money into Luisa's account?
If I had to guess, Luisa is going to bite the dust by the end of the season.
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Hopefully, the latter of the season explains the necessity behind Rose's schemes once and for all.
It's commendable that the series has stuck to one overarching big bad, but sometimes, Rose's telenovela twists take away from the magic of an episode that was doing just fine on its own.
And thank you, guys, for letting me stay the night. I am super happy for Abuela, but I did not want to hear that, and I think I started too.
Jane
Over the years, we haven't fallen in love with Jane the Virgin because of its focus on impossible twists and nefarious villains, we've fallen in love with it because of the Villaneuva women, their bond, and the lessons they not only teach each other but all of us.
And there was no shortage of those moments.
Understandably, Jane was peeved to find out Rogelio bribed the publishing company for "Snow Falling."
He undermined her as a writer and made her question her skills. As a writer who struggles with confidence in my pieces, I understand the gravity of questioning rather or not you succeeded on your own merit.
I don't necessarily think Jane should have forgiven Rogelio in one fell swoop, but admittedly, the gesture is very Rogelio-esque.
His specialty is making gestures that are guided by good intentions and which fall apart shortly after execution.
Rogelio's misguided need to help makes him who he is -- the father Jane has always wanted -- is why we love him as a character.
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Despite Jane's anger, Alba's advice to her about not wasting a great opportunity was sound.
Jane may think writing her father's pilot will make people think she's only succeeding because of him, but in the real world you only advance with connections.
Why not use them?
Especially because Rogelio would never allow anything, even helping out his daughter, to sabotage his career.
And River Fields wouldn't have signed the contract had Jane's work on "This Is Mars" not been (inter)stellar.
Some of the best and funniest moments of the series have come from Jane and Rogelio working closely together.
Because of his workplace antics and generally colorful character, his emotional relationship with Jane gets explored less than with Alba and Xiomara.
But boy, was it worth it.
Hopefully, this is just the start of something bigger we see as they work together in a greater capacity.
Jane and Rogelio's exploration of the father-dynamic also underlines how far parents are willing to go for their children.
Rogelio did something bad because he wanted to help Jane.
Similarly, Xiomara was obsessing over the wedding and stressing Alba out because she wanted to do something nice for her mother for a change.
Alba has been her rock for years and helped her get through the cancer recovery stages, so Xo wanted to make things perfect for her mother's big day.
Just like a parent's love for their children sometimes blinds them, a child's love for their parent can be just as blinding.
There's been plenty of emphasis on telenovelas with the episode even breaking down what makes a good telenovela.
Related: Jane the Virgin Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Chapter Eighty-Eight
I'm wondering if the writers are possibly teasing that this whole time, Jane's life, has been one big telenovela.
After reconciling with her father, Jane felt inspired to write another novella, this time based on her budding relationship with her father.
Could she be writing the very telenovela we're watching?
"Snow Falling" could have focused on her love story with Michael, we knew she wrote a book about her relationship with Xo while she was going through treatment, and now, Jane's writing about her father.
As with most final seasons, Jane is looking to the past to move forward.
Jane gifting Alba the purity flower was a nice little nod to Jane the Virgin Season One and the original premise of the show -- a pregnant virgin with a staunch Catholic upbringing who valued her faith as much as she valued her promise to her grandmother to save herself until marriage.
Hilariously, Alba was given a taste of her own medicine and quickly realized that it wasn't as easy as she made it out to be to Jane all those years.
Alba never swayed from the belief that pre-marital sex was a sin, but she found it hard to keep the promise as Jane had on many occasions with both Michael and Rafael.
Your love story may not traverse planets, but it sends our hearts to the moon.
Rogelio
Alba didn't get married just to have sex -- she wanted to ensure she and Jorge could enjoy each other for all the time they had left -- but it sure played a role in her decision to speed up the process.
And they wasted absolutely no time after the wedding.
You go, Alba! Get that #Jorgasm.
One of Jane's greatest successes is redefining the idea that older generations can enjoy sex whether it comes from their partners or sex toys.
Urman teased there'd be a wedding in the final season, and Alba and Jorge check that box off.
But is that the only wedding? I highly doubt it by the way Rafael was glancing at Jane.
Jane said she accepted that her relationship with Rafael might never get repaired, but her heart still glows for him.
Despite telling Jane that she was misreading the signs, I think Rafael was dishing out mixed signals.
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There's a difference between being kind to your baby mama and being outright smitten.
Those longing gazes unearthed something buried inside Raf's soul!
Even the proximity with which they were standing was too close for two people who were done with each other.
It seems that with ten episodes left there are bold and swift moves happening in the name of love.
Mimicking Jane and Rogelio's is Petra and JR's storyline.
Rogelio is trying to make up for being absent in Jane's life by using his star power to get her ahead while Petra is trying to make up for her childhood by spoiling her twins.
But JR is right -- they are entitled little brats.
It wasn't JR's place to explode on the girls, but Petra knows how her twins' act and should have known that JR wouldn't be equipped to handle any tantrums.
By the end of it, they worked it out and even had an open and honest conversation about parenting goals and their relationship.
However, I don't think JR should stay in this relationship.
I liked JR and Petra at the beginning, but their inability to remain on good terms for more than an episode has become as frustrating as it is exhausting.
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Clearly, these two don't work, and they don't see eye-to-eye.
JR blatantly admitted that she never wanted to have children because of her childhood and would rather focus on her career, a career Petra jeopardized.
Maybe she's too infatuated with Petra now, but I don't see how this ends with anything other than resentment on JR's part.
Hearing that your loved one is at "rock bottom" while in a relationship with you isn't reassuring.
And Petra seems to be oblivious to all the hurt only telling JR to "help her" make the girls less spoiled.
I think these two should just quit while they're ahead. JR needs to take that job in Houston.
Petra: Why didn't you tell me JR yelled at my girls?
Jane: I didn't think it was my place to get in the middle of someone else's business.
Petra: Since when? That's like your calling card. 1-800-NOSY.
Jane: Excuse me?
Petra: Like, the one time you could've actually been useful, you decide to stop meddling.
I also cannot shake the feeling that whenever she's on the screen, I think she's up to something shady.
Wouldn't it be wild if she was secretly working with Rose?
If watch Jane the Virgin online, you noticed, as I mentioned before, that there were plenty of callbacks to what made Jane the Virgin Season One so special and Gina Rodriguez a household name.
The flower interrupting Alba's makeout session mirrored the one time Jane and Michael had to stop themselves from getting carried away while the "go have sex" musical number mirrored Jane's own wedding experience.
I can't say I'm ready to say goodbye, but I'm soaking in all the nostalgia and enjoying the final ride.
What did you think of the episode?
Is Raf going to die? Will he blame Luisa for working with Rose?
Will JR and Petra break up?
Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..
