-This weeks title: Jane The Person Who Really Hates Bruce (Those last three words practically hit the screen). Jane The Meddler also would've fit because this episode was all about meddling.
-It's surprising it's taken this long to get to an episode about Jane's constant inserting of herself into the problems of everyone around her. This has been one of her most persistent character traits throughout the shows run and Chapter Fifty-Two finally takes her to task for it, showing how harmful it can be, but also showing that if her heart in in the right place then her meddling can be helpful and even necessary, as long as it's with the right person.
-One thing that's clear is that it's high time for Jane to stop meddling with her mother's life and let Xo deal with her own decisions. This is the main thrust of the episode as Jane tries to deal with the fact that Xo is back to dating Bruce, the man who broke her heart over and over again. Jane wants to be OK with it, but despite the constant reminders of Michael's "Let It Bee" sock puppet, she can't keep herself from interfering. Jane spent most of her life having to take care of her mother and be the adult. Now Jane has her own family and Xo is finally becoming capable of taking care of herself and is more than able to decide for herself if she can handle being back with Bruce but Jane still can't break the habit of taking care of Xo. The relationship with Bruce might end poorly, but it's not up to Jane to keep it from going forward. Even when Jane uses her meddling powers for good at the end and is able to convince Bruce's daughter Tess to give the relationship a chance, Xo rightfully points out that Jane shouldn't have been the one who did that (No matter what other sock puppet Bette Meddler said). Jane stood up for her mother, but didn't give Xo the chance to do that for herself and the show doesn't let her off the hook for that.
-Tess makes for a nice counterpoint to Jane, as the show continues to remind us that Xo's situation with Bruce was complicated and destructive for everyone involved, not just her. Jane may have had to watch Beaches with Xo, every time Bruce broke her heart, but Xo was the other woman in Bruce's marriage and the catalyst for Bruce ultimately deciding to end the marriage. Of course Tess is going to hate Xo even more than Jane hates Bruce. She's a 16-Year-Old kid who had her family torn apart because of this woman. This makes Tess much more interesting than if her meanness and negativity towards Xo was unjustified and it'll be interesting to see how Xo interacts with Tess.
-Where Jane's meddling is much more welcome is with Michael, who quits his job after deciding he just can't spend the rest of his career on desk duty. Michael was born to be a cop and now that he can't, he's feeling adrift. This leads him to consider trying to become a stand-up comic. Of course, while Brett Dier is a pretty solid impressionist, it's clear that Michael isn't really cut out to be a stand-up. Jane lets him go through with it though, because she's trying not to meddle, even though telling your husband not to get up on a stage full of people with a set full of goofy impressions of fictional characters pretending to be other fictional characters is probably a good choice.
-Michael's stand-up set was the big comedic setpiece of the episode and it was handled nicely. Michael doesn't bomb but he doesn't blow anyone away either. He does his jokes and they're pretty amusing (I particularly enjoyed Spongebob as the Somali pirate in Captain Phillips and Dame Judy Dench as Scarface), and his family loves them so it doesn't matter what the others in the crowd think. He's a bit embarrassed afterwards but not terribly so and it ultimately leads to his decision to become a lawyer, which could be much more interesting.
-Jane also isn't the only one who meddles as Xo finds herself struggling to support Rogelio's decision to have a child with Darci Factor. It's a good parallel to Jane's storyline that the show doesn't really hit on the head. Xo doesn't agree with Rogelio's decision and thinks it's weird, but is able to come to support it in the end once she and Darci talk and she understands that this arrangement might actually go well for everyone.
-Justina Machado continues to be terrific as Darci and I hope this arrangement with Rogelio does work out and she sticks around for a good long while. She and Jaime Camill have excellent chemistry and their characters complement each other perfectly. She's just as over-the-top and self-obsessed as Rogelio, but she's also a straight shooter with no time for nonsense. She's a perfect fit for the world of "Jane" and her storyline with Rogelio is just the right boost of levity for the show.
-Of course, it turns out Rogelio is going to have a harder time than Darci keeping emotions out of it. The show's been setting up his big full-frontal scene for a while now and the pay-off of him realizing he's attracted to Darci coming at the most inconvenient time (When she's watching him shoot his big scene and he gets a hard-on during filming) is comedy gold. And they say you can't tell a good boner joke anymore.
-I had been a bit disappointed at how easily Rafael wrestled control of the Marbella back from Petra so I was glad to see that it was only the beginning. Rafael's mostly a good guy but he can make a lot of questionable decisions and trying to exploit Petra's recent trauma to make her feel like she's paranoid about his colluding with Scott was a real low blow from him (Which the show pointed out). It feels like Petra's motivation for being mad at Rafael is constantly shifting based on what the plot needs it to be, but it makes sense why this particular betrayal would sting the most. After all she's been through, Petra is having a hard time trusting anyone or anything right now and Rafael made her question her own judgement and lose faith in herself instead of being honest.
-What Rafael did is cruel, but it also makes sense given all he's going through right now. Confronting the fact that his parents aren't his real parents and his whole identity is a lie is heavy stuff. Making matters worse is the fact that suddenly, all those times his father was dismissive and unsupportive of him take on a brutal new light. No wonder he's making people question themselves, he's going through the exact same thing. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it keeps him from coming off as totally unlikeable here.
-The narrator's concerns that Rafael might not be rich anymore are played off as a joke when they first surface but turn out to be foreshadowing an amendment to Emilio's will that states only his biological children are entitled to his estate. It's a brutal little twist that sets up quite the dilemma for Rafael, especially since Petra planted cameras everywhere and is also in possession of this information. Could Rafael lose everything? Probably for a few episodes at least. I'm sure the prospect of a penniless Rafael is just too rife with storytelling possibilities for the writers to pass up. It'll be interesting to see where things go from here.
-I'm starting to get a bit tired with how the writers are dragging out the "Is Catalina Shady" storyline. The french guy turns out to be her husband Arnaud who she's divorcing because she rushed into the marriage, and who she tells Rafael about at a trying-not-to-meddle Jane's advice. Except Jane sees her kissing Arnaud later except it was maybe just a friendly kiss? Ultimately Rafael keeps dating her and Jane vows to stay out of it (Good decision Jane) but it still seems like there's something sketchy going on with her and I wish the writers would just tell us already.
-So with the narrator's ominous proclamation about Michael not fulfilling his new dream of opening a law firm, the writers are now actively trolling us. The show really wants us to believe that Michael is going to die at some point, but it feels unlikely it would happen so soon after they almost killed him off at the start of the season. Maybe law school doesn't work out or he goes back on the force? Probably the latter because I also don't think he'll be gone from the police force forever.
-If you want to see more of Justina Machado (and you should), definitely check out the Netflix remake of One Day At A Time that came out a couple weeks back. She's terrific in it. Rita Moreno (who plays Rogelio's mom on "Jane") is also on the show as Machado's character's mom, meaning her two children (from two different shows) are now planning to have a baby. Which is kind of weird, but whatevs.
-"I'm with her." "I was too... along with the rest of the popular vote". Best out of nowhere joke of the episode by far, although I also really loved the shout-out to The Americans.
No comments:
Post a Comment