Greg Berlanti's
series for the CW have been among the biggest audience getters in the networks,
occasionally even raising the network as high as third in their time slot.
While these DC-based series are intriguing on their own, an interesting side
benefit is that it has allowed for a certain level of experimentation among the
remainder of the series. Last season, the CW showed a remarkable amount of
faith in its programs by renewing every series
that was airing on its 2015-16 bloc. This was particularly good news for a
couple of low-performing shows that are not only among the best programs on the
network, but on the air, period.
One of their
more stealth success has been the delightful Jane the Virgin. A rollicking satire based on a telenovela, its
dallies in the same world that series like Desperate
Housewives played in, but with a much more intriguing twist. For one thing,
the title character Jane Villanueva (the underappreciated Gina Rodriguez) has
been dealing with more twists in her life while determining to keep her
virginity until her wedding night. After nearly a season and a half of dallying
between accidental baby daddy Rafael and former fiancé Michael, she finally
settled on the latter and married him in the season finale. Michael then was
shot in the final minutes after the wedding by his partner, who was finally
revealed to be long-dead Sin Rostro.
The season
premiered with one of the most serious episode the show has dealt with so far,
as Michael hovered between life and death. In all honesty, I really believed
that they might kill him off, even though it would've been a major tonal shift
away from most of the series, especially given how dark the nature of TV is
these days. I think one of the greatest moments of joy came when he finally
came through his surgery, and hopefully the series can get back to lighter
things.
And to a certain
extent, it has. Michael and Jane have once again moved back home, finding that
they had to have Abuela (Jane's grandmother) take care of him, and that they'd
have to wait on sex a little longer. (Hence the subtitle: Jane the 'married'
Virgin'. Everyone is dealing with issues
of their own. Rafael seems to finally have gotten over his feelings for Jane.
Unfortunately, he now has another set of problems to deal with, as his ex-wife Petra
(Yvonne Coll) is trying to reconcile with him. What he doesn't know is that Petra
has actually been paralyzed by Ivanka, Petra 's
twin sister (also played by Coll, in another role that the Emmys will have to
really work hard to ignore) and the Ivanka is trying to blackmail Rafael. Xo.
Jane's mother, is still dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, and has just had a
major fight with her grandmother about having an abortion. (Given TV's and the
series opinions, its unclear if the show will get around to it) And Rogelio
(Jamie Camil, still excellent) has been trying to help his family as well as
launch his Quantum Leap type
telanovela into an American crossover.
It's admittedly
a lot to deal with, but Jane has
never had much trouble finding its bearings no matter how convoluted the
premise gets. Indeed, part of the reason the viewer is never really lost is
because of the delightful narrator (Anthony Mendes) who is more than willing to
remind us of what's going on, and the wonderful subtitles, a combination of
hashtags and reminders that are almost as funny as the action going on.
This is one of
the more delightful series on the air, and the fact that its barely being
recognized by any audience except TV critics and ignored by the Emmys is yet
more proof that the Emmys judges have their heads firmly up their asses. I
sincerely hope that Supergirl gives
this series even the smallest of boosts in audience. They may have little in
common except a great female lead, but that shouldn't stop people from watching
anyway.
My score: 4.25 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment