Ever since the days that the CW was
once the WB, the powers that be at the Emmys have constantly denied it
recognition in any major category. This was galling in the days when only the
major networks would get nominations; it's absolutely moronic in an era when
many of the series nominated aren't even on TV any more. And right now, the cruelest victim of them
all is one of the best shows on any network, Jane the Virgin.
The telenovela satire (which it
acknowledges at least twice an episode) has been growing incredibly powerfully
over the last year. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of TV,
Jane's beloved husband Michael died from complications from the shooting in the
third season premiere. The series has since moved forward three years, and
Jane's baby Mateo is now nearly five years old. Her family situation has been
sort of in a mix the last few months. Her mother Xo has finally married her
father, telenovella star Rogelio (the always hysterical Jaime Camil), but have
been unable to deal with a proper marriage because Rogelio's fist wife (Justina Machado) has shown up very pregnant
with Rogelio's child, and now they are trying to deal with a really complicated
situation, especially now Patty has fallen in love with Rogelio great rival
Esteban.
Things have not gotten any easier
with Jane's baby daddy Rafael. In the third season finale, he was thrown out of
his hotel and disinherited by his sister, Luisa. He has now spent the last
three episodes trying to rebuild his fortune at the expense of everything else.
For starters, he torched his relationship with Jane at the beginning of the
season, which has become awkward since they are living together now. Then, his
relationship with his ex-wife/other baby mama Petra
(Yael Gregorias) fell apart when she told him she was isn't in love with him.
And now, he's trying to having a fake relationship in order to buy his hotel
back, which has the advantage both the other women in his life.
As for Jane (the incredible Gina
Rodriguez), she is trying very hard to remain sane and self-centered, which has
not been helpful by the fact that the first man she ever was love with, Adam, a
comic book artist, has come back into her life and has determined to make her
happy. Which makes even more complicated because Xo and her Abuela didn't
exactly love him the first time, and aren't crazy about him now.
What makes all of this so brilliant
is that this series never takes itself seriously. Realizing that the title has
made no sense for the last year, half the fun now comes when it shows up and is
edited. Narrator Anthony Mendes remains one of the most delightful treasures in
the history of television, and they still find ways to make it remarkable. (In
the season premiere, for example, they introduced Adam with his own narrator, and they spent the episode
sniping at each other. And the series always seems to have throw away dialogue
that will drive into hysterics. For example, in last night's episode, Rogelio
was raging at one of the writers: "You can't introduce a new character
three-fifths of the way through the series, and expect him the audience to love
him!" The narrator then cut in: "Gee. I wonder what Adam's
doing."
Jane
the Virgin is arguably one of the cleverest, charming, and endearing series
on television, and now it has been regulated to Friday nights, considered the
dead zone of broadcast TV. Two of the best series on network television are on
the CW Fridays,(the other, of course, is Crazy
Ex-Girlfriend) and on their best days they get less than a million viewers combined. Jane has done well at the
Golden Globes and the Critic Choice , but the Emmys still refuse to give it the
time of day. And since both shows probably need the awards to survive, this is
particularly cruel. Both series may survive til they reach their natural ends -
this is, after all, a network that has been more than willing to renew both
series despite their low ratings - but I
regret this because both series are among the truly exceptional accomplishments
on any form of medium. Find the time in your DVR or Hula. Watch this show. It should be noted that there's no reason not
to.
My score: 4.5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment