I Got Thoughts on Jane the Virgin: Chapter Fifty-One

-This week in titles: Jane The Guilty Catholic after Alba brings up her lapsed church-going and how she's responsible for Mateo's spiritual upbringing

-For the winter finale, "Jane" pays tribute to master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock as an assignment for Jane's writers group allows them to explore and play with his rules for "bomb under the table" suspense. This helps reinvigorate the crime plot this week as Rafael and Michael's investigation into Elena's secret bank account connected to an Italian convent benefits greatly from some Hitchcockian flair. The camerawork becomes more dynamic, the music more exciting, the lighting darker (particularly during the climatic trip to the convent and Rafael's final conversation with Jane) and the narration more intense. The writers also work in several delightful visual references to classic Hitchcock films like Vertigo and To Catch A Thief throughout the episode, which enhance the story without distracting from it. It makes for a very exciting winter finale that makes the wait for next year that much more difficult.

-The crime stuff is more engaging than usual this week but again it's the smaller, more personal stories that resonant most so we'll talk about that first. Jane's faith is brought to the forefront this week as she resolves to start attending church more (with Mateo in tow) when she realizes she hasn't been since before she got married. Rafael is less onboard with Mateo going to church so young however and in keeping with the new Jane/Rafael dynamic, puts up a fight about it. Faith is one of those big differences between Jane and Rafael that doesn't get touched on a lot so it's nice to see it brought up here even if it ultimately isn't explored that much.

-As someone who has a fair amount of church friends with children about Mateo's age, I can confirm that scene of him fidgeting and acting up in church is accurate with what often happens with my friend's kids. I find it cute though (mainly because I don't have to do anything but revel in the cuteness).

-Of course Jane suddenly becoming concerned about Mateo going to church is a cover for her real concern: why SHE hasn't been going to church lately. When talking to the nun she thinks is Mother Superior though she realizes that she's been angry with God ever since Michael was shot. Jane's faith is important to her and important to the character so watching her be so open about the doubt she's experienced is quite affecting. it's also good to see that the aftereffects of Michael's shooting are still being felt weeks after it happened. Something that big doesn't just go away and "Jane"'s commitment to exploring the aftermath thoroughly and honestly is refreshing. Jane deciding to work on her own relationship with God before working on Mateo's relationship with God is an easy way to curb the Jane/Rafael conflict about church for now but it also feels like the honest, mature thing for Jane to do.

-Michael's recovery also gets an interesting wrinkle as we learn that he failed his physical and can't go back into the field. Suddenly Michael being able to officially resume his detective work isn't as much of a given as it seemed even last episode. It's something that again keeps Rose shooting him from being something that's easily brushed off and promises to send Michael's arc in a new direction when the show returns from hiatus.

-Catalina is still around and Jane is getting tired of her. Suddenly the stories of her many exploits go from feeling exciting and glamorous to annoying and tiresome. It's impressive how "Jane" changes the context of how we see Catalina's behavior without changing Catalina herself.

-Jane gets suspicious of Catalina (Who goes from crashing at Jane's to crashing at the Marbella once Jane politely asks her to leave) from doing a little digging into one of the organizations she's supposedly involved with and noticing a lot of cash and jewels. Catalina has innocent explanations for all of this but it all turns out to be lies when we learn that she has a secret French lover who she stole the jewels from. I wasn't that interested in Catalina being shady last week but now I'm intrigued.

-Rogelio's quest to start a family and have a baby leads him to Darci Factor, The High-Roller Love Dealer (TM). This story mainly seems there to bring in the likes of Denise Richards, Carmen Electra, and Brooke Burke for cameos but takes an interesting turn when Darci and Rogelio decide to have a baby together.

-Darci is played by Justina Machado, AKA Vanessa Diaz from Six Feet Under (Which on an unrelated note, I watched for the first time earlier this year. Highly recommended.). She brings a lot of life and charm to Darci and is able to match the energy and ridiculousness of Jaime Camil perfectly (with a lot of chemistry there to boot) so I'm glad that she seems to be sticking around for a bit. Pairing Rogelio up with someone who's almost as bombastic and narcissistic as he is is also a good idea that I'm surprised hasn't been tried earlier.

-On a minor Rogelio note the show is going all in on it's product integration of Honey Bunches of Oats while also making fun of it and it's beautiful.

-Xo and Alba are mostly on the sidelines this week but Jane does learn from Rogelio about Xo's rekindled romance with Bruce that leads to the revelation that Xo did know he was married the first time she got involved with him. With that reveal adding to Jane's already present dislike of the guy, it's safe to say there's going to be a fair amount of Jane/Xo tension in the next couple episodes.

-I actually didn't think we'd be hearing about the cash discrepancies Rafael covered up for his late father again so I was pleasantly surprised when it came back tonight as we learned the reason for them: it turns out the late Mr. Solano trafficked in stolen paintings and had bribed the Italian convent Elena was connected to to steal some for him.

-While Rafael revealing the truth about what he's done but asking Michael not to say anything looked like it could create new tension between them, his decision to turn himself in at the end to hopefully break the cycle of the Solano's criminal activities for Mateo quickly solved that tension. It was good to see that Jane calling him out on his lack of morals combined with that other revelation (Which I'll talk about in a minute) had sunk in for him.

-I mentioned it briefly above but the whole scene with Jane and Rafael trying to find information at the convent was masterful and a great demonstration of Hitchcock's rules for creating suspense in action as it managed to build suspense, even as it took us step by step through what it was doing. The kicker of waiting until after the commercial to actually complete the "resolve the tension" step was also clever.

-In keeping with the "bomb under the table" method of suspense of letting the audience know things the characters don't, The Narrator shows us an envelope that he promises will change everything near the beginning of the episode. That turns out to be no exaggeration as the envelope contains Rafael's birth certificate which reveals that he isn't a Solano. His mother lost a baby around the time he was born in Italy and bribed the nuns to bring him over as a replacement.

-The reveal of Rafael not actually being a Solano is a great twist for a few reasons. It's a reveal that fits into the heightened Telenovella world of "Jane" perfectly and doesn't feel like a huge retcon. It also turns what could've been another dull crime story into a big personal character story for Rafael, which is very welcome. We've seen how Rafael's negative relationships with his parents and his struggling with their dark legacies has impacted and twisted him throughout the series so this twist is a smart way to bring that all back to the forefront in a way that the death of the mother he didn't really know wouldn't. It also parallels nicely with Jane exploring her family roots this season as Rafael now has the chance to find his real family. This opens up a lot of new avenues of story possibilities and I'm excited to see where this all goes.

-A few choice hashtags this week but my favourite was #nunsontherun , which later got followed with #nunsontherun-back

-Jane returns January 23rd. Ugh, that's such a long ways away.

I Got Thoughts On Jane The Virgin: Chapter Fifty

-This week in titles, "The Virgin" part of "Jane"'s title gets a bomb dropped on it, cleverly setting up a "bombing and bomb dropping" motif for the episode.

-After a brief video chat followed by unexpectedly showing up on Jane's doorstep last week, Jane's cousin Catalina gets a lot of focus this week. Sofia Pernas is a great fit into the world of the show and she makes Catalina feel as cool, sexy, and interesting as the show tells us she is, while making the reveal that she's probably up to no good (Which we all saw coming, but whatever) feel believable.

-The opening flashback does a pretty good job explaining why Jane isn't more wary about her cousin showing up unannounced by explaining how she always wanted a sister. It still seems like something she should be somewhat concerned about though. At least Michael is a bit wary.

-OK, so it's a bit of a stretch that Jane who was artificially inseminated and been caught up in a whirlwind of telenovella-style drama ever since would worry that her life is boring. I can see how the incredibly organized, incredibly romantic Jane would be jealous of Catalina's more care-free and spontaneous approach to life though and get caught up in that.

-Michael being concerned that Jane thinking her life was boring would lead to hear thinking he was boring was a lot more believable conflict. The resolution of him singing "Locked Out of Heaven" at the bar they were at and getting Jane to join in seemed a little weird though since he had just stormed off in a huff the previous scene. The number was cute though.

-Jane's efforts to be a bit more spontaneous lead her to go for an interview for a publisher's assistant job that her adviser recommended her for only to immediately almost blow her chance by deleting her potential boss' file after pretending she had knowledge of a computer program she didn't know. Catalina helps her figure out how to recover from that though by getting in with the other assistants, so that should help Jane's chances a good deal.

-Rafael and Catalina hooking up is definitely an interesting development. Also interesting is the choice to have Jane initially refuse to give Rafael permission to date Catalina. Even though that will probably turn out to have been the right choice in the end, Jane's doing it for the wrong reasons here and it's nice to see her flawed, human side come out more.

-Catalina even charms Alba before revealing that the whole family believes Alba stole Mateo from Cecilia (The truth was Alba never knew her sister's feelings). It was good to see the Jane/Alba tension hadn't completed evaporated from last episode and though they reconciled more fully this week, it felt earned here in a way that it wouldn't have last week.

-Is Catalina evil? I have my doubts. "Jane" doesn't have a lot of complete villains and I want to believe that Alba's family is more complex than how Alba paints them. I guess time will tell.

-Xo's plans to open a dance studio are sure moving along quickly with Rogelio stepping in to help speed things up. Also, after having him mentioned a couple times in the beginning of the series, it was nice to finally meet Bruce, Xo's no-good ex who she just can't resist. It was no surprise that she winds up involved with him again, especially now that he's apparently divorced but her keeping it from everyone is a nice wrinkle.

-The flashback to Xo and Ro's high school days as we see teenage Rogelio try and fail to convince teenage Xo that he joined her dance troupe for reasons beyond meeting girls was wonderful. Their efforts to recreate it in the present was equally wonderful and the reveal that Rogelio had actually joined the dance troupe to meet Xo was a nice one.

-I like when shows do product placement while poking fun at how they're doing product placement so I thought Rogelio's storyline where he has to integrate HBO (Honey Bunches of Oats) into his show so he can go full frontal in his movie was just terrific. Especially with the attempts to turn a key episode about the Cuban Missle Crisis into an episode set at HBO Creator Vernon J. Herzing's house.

-Of course Rogelio's storyline is really about him coming to realize he still loves Xo only to walk away when he sees her kissing Bruce (A move he criticizes when the writers on his Telenovella intend to have his character do it earlier) because he realizes how guilty he feels for not being part of Jane's life sooner and how much he does want those kids that Xo doesn't want. It seems like Rogelio is really going to be focused on trying to find someone to have kids with now, which should be promising.

-It's a bit disappointing to see the status quo of Rafael and Petra as equal partners in the hotel back again after Petra's major power play last week but the reveal that Scott's sexual harassment lawsuit was a set-up by Rafael was clever (To me anyways. I should have seen it coming but I somehow didn't.) and hopefully is setting up for more of a back and forth power struggle between the two before the inevitable reconciliation.

-I have to say I've never been a huge fan of Scott, but he's really come into his own this season. I like the idea that he's an oily schemer who collects favours and knows everyone's secrets. It makes him an interesting wildcard to shake up stories. Having him learn the truth about his relationship with "Petra" was a smart decision too.

-What did Scott whisper into Petra's ear anyways? The thing that makes the most sense is that he simply told her he knew Anezka had been impersonating her but wouldn't that give away that Rafael had given him that information? Maybe Petra has another secret waiting to be revealed, but I can't imagine what would be so bad as to get her to give in to Rafael like she did.

-Also what happened to Magda and Dot-Marie Jones' enforcer character? That feels like something that should be addressed at some point in the near-future.

-Faith M. Whiskers III! Finally! I've been waiting weeks for that cat!

-Petra telling Scott they are never, ever getting back together was a cute joke made better by the reveal that that was apparently Scott and Anezka Petra's song.

-A solid if unremarkable episode of "Jane" this week. Next week is the mid-season finale though so I'm hoping things will be taken up a notch.

I Got Thoughts On Timeless: Stranded

-Stranded doesn't waste any time getting to the action this week starting off in 1754, establishing the setting (The French/Indian War) and how miserable the team has been on this mission while they search for Flynn before one of Flynn's men damages the Life Boat and strands them there. It's a smart move that throws the audience offguard and helps get us to the meat of the episode quicker.

-The terrible conditions of 1754 combined with the fallout from the revelations from last week (And Wyatt's offscreen discovery of Lucy's deal to save her sister when she won't let him save his wife) lead to a lot of sniping and infighting from our team for the first 15 minutes or so, which isn't the most fun thing to watch but feels realistic. Also it helps that they explain why Wyatt is taking this so hard by emphasizing the team aspect of his Delta Force background as why it's important for him to trust who he works with.

-Hey, Wyatt killing people actually has tangible consequences this time out as his killing of a French soldier who's an officer's son makes their efforts to get the supplies they need from Fort Duquesne significantly more difficult. It's a clever way to take what other shows might treat as a throwaway kill and give it narrative weight.

-While I never came close to thinking that the show was going to kill off the team or strand them in 1754 for the remainder of the show, the scene after they're captured and tied up by Shawnee Natives where they face the idea of never going back home and their various regrets was an effective one and by the end of it, their reconciliation felt completely believable. Also Rufus' first desire when confronted with the idea of never going home again is to eat a Chocodile which felt very believable and very Rufus. Plus Lucy and Wyatt gifting him with a box of Chocodiles at the end was very sweet.

-I'm not familiar with Nonhelema but this episode made me want to learn more about her because she made a strong impression in her big scene. You could see why Lucy was so starstruck when she realized who she was.

-There was a lot of cloying speeches this episode meant to pull at the heartstrings a bit, but Rufus refusing to take the freedom Nonhelema offered if it meant his friends would die and pleading for their lives was the most effective one.

-Oh, Right It's 1754 Part 1: Everyone not on the team assumes Rufus is a slave and that earns him his freedom when the Shawnee mark Lucy and Wyatt for death. That assumption helps Nonhelema respect Rufus more when she sees him putting himself on the line for them.

-Oh Right, It's 1754 Part 2: Lucy getting around Wyatt's lack of French speaking by pretending he's injured and can't speak hitting a major snag when a doctor doesn't trust her treatment of him because she's a woman and then decides mercury and bloodletting is the best course of treatment for what ails Wyatt (Too much blood).

-Wyatt hoping the capacitor Rufus needed was a flux capacitor was cute.

-We actually get to spend time with Mason, Agent Christopher and Jiya this week as they try to figure out what happened to the team back in the present and complete protocol, which involves them digging up a note in a polypropylene bottle that Rufus buries three feet in front of the life boat. This was much-needed as those three have been barely developed or given much to do at all despite series regular status. Also I'm hoping this means the show is going to start doing more subplots with these characters while our heroes are busy tromping around the past.

-Agent Christopher remains fairly underdeveloped beyond establishing that she does like the team and wants to get them back too but now that she's suspicious of Mason, it's safe to bet that she's going to become a bigger part of the story in the weeks to come. Or learn too much and get killed by Rittenhouse to show us how serious a threat they are. Ugh, that better not be where this is going.

-Rufus' interest in Jiya was a small part of the pilot before basically getting waved off in the second episode but it returned here in a way that felt natural as both Rufus and Jiya got to express how they feel about the other and their frustrations with how things have been going since their date. Their relationship was built up well enough that when they kissed at the end of the episode, I felt invested in where this was going.

-Jiya got more to do than just worry about Rufus though. When a crack in the tube leaves the 262-year-old note destroyed beyond the words death and Millennium, it's Jiya who figures out that Rufus was making a Star Wars analogy (Of course he did) to explain to them what they were going to have to do to get the Lifeboat back home once it took off, as the navigation system was busted.

-Mason's relationship with Rufus got some much-needed context as well as he told Jiya about the first time they met and how he sees Rufus as a "genius with a sense of responsibility". This is also the first time in 7 episodes that I actually believe that Mason cares about Rufus.

-Rittenhouse Guy/Lucy's Father Benjamin Cahill briefly pops up to threaten Mason, remind us he exist and establish that Mason has noticed his interest in Lucy. It also turns out that putting Lucy on the team, despite others being more qualified was her dad's idea, which answers a question I never thought about but am glad to have answered because it shows the creative team has put thought into the story they're telling.

-It was nice seeing our heroes actually out grabbing a drink at the end of their ordeal. They definitely earned it. Having Lucy come clean that she is worried about writing that journal today and working with Flynn was a good character moment and Wyatt's rousing speech about free will and history being a series of choices was a nice note to end on instead of some tease about the larger Myth arc.

-Does Lucy's fiance still exist? Are we going to get back to him at some point?

-I actually really enjoyed this episode a lot. Timeless is on a nice little roll right now.

-Next Week: Moon Landing!

I Got Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Why Is Josh's Ex-Girlfriend Eating Carbs

-After an emotionally fraught couple of episodes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend goes a bit lighter this week as it sets up the next phase of the season.

-If there's a benefit to Santino Fontana leaving the show beyond not having to worry about Rebecca driving Greg to relapse, it's that the show can increase it's focus on other members of the ensemble who are typically pushed off to the side. Case in point: after sitting out the first three episodes of the season and almost all of the fourth one, Valencia made her triumphant return this week as Gabrielle Ruiz finally got to make use of the Series Regular status given to her before the start of this season.

-Valencia was a tricky character in season 1. Although she was granted some depth and nuance from time to time, especially in the later parts of the season, her (justified) hostility towards Rebecca and her abrasive, superior, and controlling personality made her come off as a one-dimensional shrew a lot of the time. She became one of those significant others who you couldn't understand why the love interest was dating them. Now that she and Rebecca are both broken up with Josh however, we have a chance to actually get to know Valencia as a person and finally get the Rebecca/Valencia friendship the show feinted towards doing towards the end of last season, which if the end of this episode is any indication will bring some fresh energy into the show.

-Of course Valencia started off the episode basically the same as she was in season 1 though it became quickly apparent that she was just putting up a front to avoid confronting her feelings about Josh even before the drug-induced dream ballet brought that to the forefront. So Rebecca kidnapping Valencia and bringing her to Electric Mesa (San Gabriel Valley's version of Burning Man) was the only logical way to get both of them to that location.

-The Triceratops-fueled Dream Ballet sequence was definitely the musical highlight of the episode this week (Though Thought Bubbles was a strong number). From the spot on musical choices for the two performances (I'm The Villain In My Own Story and One Indescribable Instant for Valencia, and I'm Just A Girl In Love and I'm A Good Person for Rebecca) to the clear differences in Rebecca and Valencia's Ballet abilities (Valencia is characteristically graceful. Rebecca not so much) and how both told the emotional journeys of the two and their relationships with Josh in clear fashion even before they explained what those journeys were afterwards.

-The joke about Rebecca's keys being kept in her underwear was all right but the strong implication that they were actually in, um, a slightly different place was hysterical.

-It was incredibly satisfying and cathartic to see Rebecca finally pissed at Josh for all the ways he's taken advantage of her this season.

-Also satisfying and cathartic? Rebecca and Valencia standing up for each other when confronting Josh and having that turning into the two finally bonding and building each other up. Was it totally earned? Probably not, but it was so satisfying I don't mind. Rebecca and Valencia becoming friends is much more interesting than them being at each others throats, even if it probably isn't going to last forever (Josh will probably get between the two eventually),

-Also satisfying and cathartic but in a weird way? Rebecca and Valencia peeing all over Josh's sound equipment. Honestly did not see that one coming.

-Having Valencia start off ever-so-slightly heavier in this episode and slowly get back to where she was as she got over Josh and regained her confidence was such a subtle neat visual touch that I almost wish the show hadn't kept commenting on it, but then we wouldn't have had Valencia being so confident that she stopped fixating on her appearance and that was the best part of that small story thread.

-Valencia and Heather make for a great combination. Having them both around to play off of Rebecca should be fun.

-Paula makes a new friend too this week! Parvesh Cheena makes a strong first impression as Sunil, a fellow older student at law school who quickly bonds with Paula in a way that feels natural and believable. When he responds to Paula accidentally blurting out that she had an abortion by casually admitting that his wife recently killed herself, it instantly endears you to the guy.

-What Sunil's introduction does is really highlight the imbalance of Paula and Rebecca's friendship (He sees Rebecca's selfcenteredness ever so briefly and assumes she's Paula's daughter because his much younger daughters are the same way). Watching the two interact and team up to steal a jerk student's note-taking app, it really feels like a friendship of equals where the pair is helping and enabling each other. That's something that Paula and Rebecca's friendship has barely ever felt like, even in the best of times, which the show kindly doesn't spell out for us.

-The divide between Rebecca and Paula is widening and you don't even realize it until the end where they're both at the same place with different people and worlds apart. Their friendship is still formally going but from the way they both interact and look at each other afterwards, it seems like it's ended and it's devastating.

-We get some insight into Josh this week as we learn something that explains a lot about him: he can't bare to be alone. Thought Bubbles, our only real song this week, captures this perfectly. Josh is someone who doesn't want to have to confront anything real or unpleasant so he runs from it by throwing himself into relationships or things to keep busy. When he's alone though he can't keep those dark thoughts out of his head but rather than deal with them like an adult, he keeps pushing them away. Until Josh can finally handle being alone, he's never going to be able to grow up and be the mature, responsible adult he wants to be.

-Josh's manager Alex was a delight this week. As I've said a couple times before, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is really good at making the smallest characters have something vital to contribute to the scene. Sherpa Alan also qualifies.

-The good thing about Josh being unable to be alone? Guest star Brittany Snow as Josh's new love interest! Brittany Snow is terrific and needs to be in more things so I hope she's around for a while.

-Daryl got his first significant storyline of the season as he goes with White Josh to Electric Mesa and realizes that White Josh has a certain type: older men. This allows for an excellent exploration of Daryl and White Josh's relationship as Daryl starts to feel insecure and replaceable. It turns out White Josh has similar insecurities though and when they're finally open with each other, they exchange "I Love Yous" for the first time.

-Rebecca actually gave Daryl good relationship advice! Rebecca isn't always the best friend to the people in her life but she definitely has her moments.

-The real sweet thing about the story though is how Daryl finally introduces Josh to his daughter Madison and the three wind up all holding hands as they leave to get Madison a stuffed Pegasus in addition to her new stuffed snail. I definitely choked up there. Daryl and White Josh forever!

-Season 1 would often segue to the theme song by having someone wonder why Rebecca was there which made the expositional theme song sort of a stealth punchline. Season 2's theme is different and can't be cued up as easily so when it got set up tonight with Rebecca remarking she must be crazy, I cheered a little.

-Rebecca apparently has a fetish about being choked by red liquorice. I expect this to pay off at some point.

-I'm hoping Rebecca having to give Heather and Valencia five dollars every time she mentions Josh becomes a recurring joke throughout the season.

-Solid episode this week. Next week: Girl power and more Rebecca/Paul drama! My heart is aching already.

I Got Thoughts On Timeless: The Watergate Tapes

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of my thoughts on episodes of television for shows where a proper recap is insufficient for expressing all the things I want to express.

-After an ugly and emotionally fraught 2016 Presidential Election cycle, I was actually looking forward for a trip back to the simpler days of the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Tapes was less about Richard Nixon's America however (Though we did meet Deepthroat and the BLA) and more about finally fleshing out Garcia Flynn and Rittenhouse, while revealing Rufus and Lucy's own deceptions. We were definitely due for a mythology episode of Timeless and I'm mostly glad with all the developments in this one but it does feel like a bit of a waste of such an interesting backdrop. Oh well.

-I'm always a fan of when TV uses real history as part of it's mythology so the idea that the missing 18 and a half minutes of the Nixon Tapes are Nixon freaking out about Rittenhouse and how dangerous Rittenhouse is is delightful for me. It also helps make me much more interested in Rittenhouse than I've been up to this point.

-So Rittenhouse is some kind of secret organization that dates back to 1778 and its history and development is intertwined with that of America. That's something. We still don't know a lot about what it is exactly that they do or why they do it, which keeps the threat of Rittenhouse vague and ill-defined, but it's definitely more defined than it was previously so it's progress. We also learn that they keep no records, that people are born into the organization rather than join it, that they'll go to incredible lengths to keep their secrets and that Lucy is much more tied to the organization than we realized. That last one is crucial because huge mysterious threats on shows like these always work better if the characters have a personal connection to it.

-I actually forgot that Lucy and Wyatt weren't aware of the existence of Rittenhouse as anything more than the crazy ramblings of Flynn. I also forgot that Lucy had never told Wyatt or Rufus about the journals Flynn has that allegedly come from Future Lucy. By the end of the episode everyone's on the same page as we are though so that's positive. I appreciate Timeless not dragging out the characters secrets for longer than a few episodes. It keeps the story moving that much quicker.

-Flynn and Wyatt were the two weakest links of Timeless back when it started. Since then, Wyatt has really come into his own and become a much more compelling character while Flynn has remained more or less the same. Claims of doing all this in favor of a greater good do not make a character compelling. That changes this week though when Wyatt becomes Flynn's captive and we learn the truth about why he's doing what he's doing. Now Flynn is much more fleshed out and actually feels like a complicated antagonist, which is much better than us just being told he's a complicated antagonist.

-So what's the deal with Flynn? Turns out he took on some routine surveillance for the NSA a couple years ago, discovered large amounts of money being funnelled to Connor Mason as he worked on his time travel project and connected it to Rittenhouse. When he flagged it to his contact at the NSA, a few nights later Rittenhouse killed his wife and child and when they failed to kill him, framed him for the murders. So now he's trying to destroy Rittenhouse in an attempt to save his family and if that means taking out America in the process than so be it. It's a strong backstory for the character that also makes him an intriguing mirror of Wyatt, who is also hoping to save someone he lost through their adventures. Garcia Flynn is still a villain but now he's a more tragic one and that's going to be important for the future sustainability of the show.

-Lucy hiding the existence of the future journal and her occasional chats with Flynn seems like a small thing as far as secrets go, but the journal is used for much greater effect when it turns out to contain details about the death of Wyatt's wife and Future Lucy's opinion that Wyatt needs to "get over it", which is a much better justification for driving a wedge between Wyatt and Lucy.

-OK so the "dead wife" as motivator for Wyatt (And now Flynn) is still an annoying cliche and I'm not a fan of it. That being said the scene where Flynn reads Wyatt the stuff in the journal about his wife, revealing to us how it happened was very effective. Her turning up dead after a drunken Wyatt left her on the side of the road following a big fight gives us valuable context into why Wyatt wants to go back and save her so bad. It's good character development even if it's relying on a dumb cliche.

-So how long until we learn that Rittenhouse was behind the death of Wyatt's wife? I'm thinking episode 13 (Which would've been the finale if not for a full-season order) tops. You don't establish a conspiracy board without it paying off at some point.

-Seriously Wyatt is such a better character now. When he talks at the end about not being able to trust Lucy or Rufus, my heart actually broke just a little.

-Now that all three of our heroes and Flynn are interesting, fleshed-out characters, can we start fleshing out Connor Mason, the NSA agent and that other girl at the lab please? They're regulars but they never seem to get much to do, particularly the ones whose names I can't even remember.

-The Doc being a person and not a document was a good twist. It also reinforces how ruthless Rittenhouse is as they were actively trying to destroy her for sending her family away and trying to escape. I'm curious to see if she'll show up in the present day timeline at some point. I hope so. She made quite an impression with her brief screentime.

-Lucy and Wyatt finding out that Rufus has been spying on them for Rittenhouse was a surprise. I figured we were a few more episodes away from that reveal but it's all out in the open now. Whatever trust was between the three of them has definitely been severed. Hopefully we'll get to see the fallout from that get explored in the next couple weeks. It would ring false if they were all back to being friends again in a week's time.

-It was good to actually meet Rufus' mom this week and learn some details about his family. It helps enforce why we should care about Rittenhouse threatening them.

-The juiciest revelation we got is that John Getz's threatening Rittenhouse guy is named Benjamin Cahill. Also, he's Lucy's real father. Again as I said above, that makes Rittenhouse more intriguing by giving Lucy a personal connection to it even if she isn't aware the connection exists right now. My main question is does Cahill know the historian he's spying on is his daughter? His phone call at the end leaves that ambiguous.

-It seemed weird that Rufus didn't seem to know much about Watergate or Deep Throat, but his ignorance on the situation did lead for some funny moments, particularly his joke about knowing the porn version of Deep Throat.

-Solid episode this week, even though I would've preferred more Watergate stuff. Next week has them in the 1750's and tackling the "stranded in time" trope, which could be very cool.

I Got Thoughts On Jane The Virgin: Chapter 49

I Got Thoughts is a point-form collection of thoughts on episodes of television for shows where a proper recap is insufficient for expressing all the things I want to express.

-So it looks like "Jane" is going to be replacing "The Virgin" part of the title card with something new every week to reflect her situation. Fun fun! This week we get Jane The Happy Mom due to her joy about Michael and Rafael going on a "man date".

-The recaps on Jane The Virgin can get fairly long so the part towards the end where the narrator tries to remember what else is going on before landing on Jane and Michael moving which means there might be boxes in scenes was a good meta-joke about their need to explain everything.

-I always knew Yael Grobglas was extremely talented, but I'm not sure I realized how talented she was until real Petra returned tonight incredibly distinct from Anezka pretending to be Petra. There's a certain power to Petra that Anezka doesn't have but it wasn't obvious until Petra got back in action.

-I wasn't expecting Petra to become unfrozen halfway in the episode and I certainly wasn't expecting her to cover for her sister and go through with the plan to sell the hotel shares (Until a speech from Scott convinced her to go against her mother's plan and try to get Rafael completely out of the hotel with her having total ownership instead). I'm a bit torn on the return of Petra as an antagonistic force because I enjoyed her slowly becoming a decent person last season but it does make a lot of sense. After Petra's struggles with postpartum depression, bonding with her children and worrying she was a bad mother last season, I can see how her hearing Rafael's comment to Anezka Petra about worrying for a minute that she didn't have the "mom gene" would set her off. Couple that with her being trapped for three months as everyone around her failed to notice what had happened and I can see why she regressed. I'm not totally on board with the regression yet but I'm willing to give it a chance and see how this plays out. Scheming Petra is a lot of fun to watch, I must admit.

-Also not sure how I feel about Petra branding Anezka. She definitely deserves punishment for what she did, especially if Petra isn't turning her in to the police but branding seems extreme.

-I do know how I feel about Xo's "Beauty School Dropout" fantasy that convinces her to open her own dance studio though. It was delightful! "Jane" does a lot of musical performances but full-blown musical production numbers are rare. So this was a treat, especially with how it utilized Gina Rodriguez, Jaime Camil, and Ivonne Coll's wonderful voices.

-It's also nice that the show remembered Xo teaches dance lessons, because opening a dance studio seems like the perfect career option for her. That should be a fun story to watch play out.

-49 episodes in and Jane finally has her first significant conflict with Alba. They've had conflict before but Alba's anger with Jane after the most indirect conflict with her family leads to an out of the blue phone call from her long-estranged sister was genuinely shocking. After two seasons of Xo/Jane or Xo/Alba conflict though, it was a bit refreshing to have an Alba/Jane conflict with Xo being the peacemaker for once.

-Also the show did a really good job of setting the conflict between Jane and Alba so that you could see both sides of the argument. Jane grew up with a loving family, but a very small one and the letters from Cecilia reveal a huge tapestry of uncles, aunts, and cousins that Jane never imagined was there. One of the first things we learn about Jane is how passionate she is about family and that's been consistent throughout the show. How can she resist reaching out? On the other hand, Alba's mother died not talking to her because of what Cecilia did. Her entire family turned on her and to expect Alba to suddenly let them back into her life after all the pain they've caused her isn't fair. Jane crossed a line she promised not to cross and Alba is absolutely right to be angry about it, which the show acknowledges.

-The flashback to young Jane convincing Alba to let her go to Disney World for a day was good at how it reflected the Jane/Alba relationship up until now. Jane has always wanted her grandmother's approval and Alba has always been willing to concede to Jane. The thing is now that Jane is an adult, that kind of relationship isn't sustainable anymore. Jane has to be able to make her own decisions whether or not Alba approves and Alba has to accept that. So Jane is going to continue trying to connect with Alba's family, which is exciting. It's a bit similar to how the whole Xo/Alba abortion conflict played out a couple weeks ago but it feels fresh because it's an entirely different relationship under strain this time and it's about something that's not easily brushed away.

-Of course right after Jane decides to let some of Alba's family into her life her cousin Catalina unexpectedly shows up on her doorstep. That should be fun.

-Also Jane's Facebook chat with Catalina made me remember how much I like the way social media is naturally incorporated into the world of the show.

-The "man date" between Michael and Rafael at the gym was awkward in all the best ways. Rafael and Michael are two very different guys with a very complicated history and though I'm as excited as Jane is at the prospect of the two becoming friends, it's not something that will come easily to them or happen overnight and the "Jane" writers know that.

-They did make some big steps tonight as Michael's freakout after thinking Rafael was sleeping with a married woman brought up one of the plot points from the start of the show that doesn't get acknowledged much anymore: Jane was Michael's fiancee and Rafael pursued her despite knowing that. Nothing actually happened between Jane and Rafael until her and Michael broke up but he still came between them and that's not something Michael can just drop without an honest apology (which he does get).

-Another early plot point that got revisited tonight: Rafael having cancer, which was used to explain why he tries to hard to be in control of his body now. Was this whole storyline an excuse to have Justin Baldoni show off his admittedly terrific physique? Probably but I don't care. Rafael and Michael are on the road to becoming friends now. Yay!

-Rogelio tricking Michael and Rafael into getting into his car for a "Man to Man to Man to Man" (Mateo was there too) talk was hilarious. Also I'm on board with Rogelio constantly pointing out how handsome Rafael is as a running joke.

-Rogelio was kind of an afterthought this week but the idea that he has to do his network a favor now in order for them to allow him to do a full-frontal scene in an American movie could be interesting.

-Apparently Mudder's "Angels Guard The Son" message was code for a bank account number (Which rich guys Rogelio and Rafael immediately picked up on). Which is anticlimatic if that's all it is but this is Jane The Virgin. There's always more to it.

-Jane stealing the narrator's "It feels like straight out of a telenovella" catchphrase was cute.

-Scott actually got a fair bit of depth this week, which was surprising. Also the show's definitely setting up for a Scott/Anezka/Petra love triangle in the near future, right?

-Strong episode this week. What else is new?

All-Time Faves: Booze Cruise Gave The Office Something To Believe In

All-Time Faves is a new feature I'll be doing on occasion where I talk about some of my favourite episodes of television and what makes them special. To kick it off we'll be looking at my all-time favourite episode of my all-time favourite show: Booze Cruise, the 11th episode of the 2nd season of The Office, which originally aired January 5th 2006.

"Never, ever, ever give up"

There are many episodes of The Office that serve as good entry points for the show for someone who has never seen an episode. The Pilot is a pale imitation of the British originals pilot and nowhere close to what the show would become but it introduces the main characters well enough and if you haven't seen the British version, it plays better. The season 2 premiere, The Dundies is a better entry point. The writers have figured out the tone that works best for writing Michael and for the show, and it's packed full of great little jokes and character beats plus the first "kiss" for Jim and Pam. My first episode back in the day was the episode that follows this one, The Injury. It's hands-down one of the funniest episodes the show ever did and it gave me a good sense of what the characters and comedy of the show were like, instantly making me want to see more. However if you were to ask me what episode of The Office to start with, I would point you to Booze Cruise each and every time.

Written by Greg Daniels who developed the show for American Television, and directed by Ken Kwapis who directed several crucial installments of the show, including both the first and last episodes, and Casino Night, Booze Cruise is my absolute favourite episode of The Office. It features an incredibly funny first half with classic joke after classic joke before seamlessly seguing into a second half that's heartbreaking and introspective, but still hilarious, a perfect blend of everything The Office was so good at in its prime. It has not one but two of the very best scenes the show ever did. It's a key turning point in the Jim/Pam relationship, but also a turning point in the Jim/Michael relationship. Also, unlike some of the other best episodes of the show, it requires no previous knowledge of The Office to be impactful, which is why I recommend it as a starting point. Casino Night (my second-favourite episode) is incredible television and arguably better than Booze Cruise, but it's also the culmination of the season that preceded it, full of callbacks and pay-offs to character relationships that are going to mean nothing to you if you haven't seen at least part of the season up to this point, particularly Booze Cruise, which sets up the emotional through line for the back half of the season. By the end of Booze Cruise, you have a good idea of who Michael, Jim, Pam, and Dwight are, a good grasp of the actual office dynamics, a clear understanding of Jim's feelings towards Pam, and most crucially a reason to believe in their love story beyond "the show wants us to".

The trick Booze Cruise pulls though is that if you were to go into it having heard nothing about it, you'd have no idea how important it was. The first half is standard Office, largely focused on Michael's antics with the rest of the Dunder Mifflin team reluctantly along for the ride. This time, Michael has planned a top secret "first quarter camaraderie event", which turns out to be a January booze cruise (When it's cheaper) along Lake Wallenpaupack. It's not just another party though. Michael has also planned what he hopes will be an inspirational presentation on leadership (which is entirely based on the word ship being part of the word leadership as it's "derivation"). That desire to be an inspiring boss who is going to turn lives around with what he has to say is what becomes Michael's motivation for the episode and what keeps his antics from feeling too grating. Michael's intentions to inspire though bump up with the intentions of Captain Jack, the ship's captain and "party captain" who takes both of his jobs very seriously. Portrayed by Rob Riggle in one of his best performances, Captain Jack is one of the best one-time guest characters The Office ever had, a reasonable guy with the right amount of "loudmouth alpha dog" typically found in a Rob Riggle character who just wants to do his job and have a good time, and who becomes increasingly firm on shutting down Michael's presentation when it interferes with his schedule. He's given enough personality to feel like more of a character than the plot device he could've been reduced to and that makes his pseudo-power struggle with Michael all the funnier and an episode solely based on that power struggle would still have been one of the better episodes of The Office. Just when you think you know where the episode is going however, Pam steps away from her fiance and the snorkel shot crowd for a minute to talk to Jim.

The best 30 seconds The Office ever did contains no jokes and barely any dialogue. It's so strong I had forgotten it happens at the episode's mid-point instead of near the end. It starts when Pam jokingly asks Jim what it's like to date a cheerleader. Jim chuckles and starts to answer but then just doesn't. He simply stares at Pam as if he wants to tell her what he really wants while she waits for him to say something, anything. For 27 whole seconds neither of them say nothing at all, but those 27 seconds tell us everything. Greg Daniels has said as he watched the scene in the edit bay he was yelling for Jim to kiss Pam and you can't blame him. The episode has stealthily reminded us that Pam's engagement has no end in sight and that Roy just isn't a good fit for her. You get the sense that if Jim were to kiss Pam then that would be it and Pam would break it off with Roy while Jim broke it off with Katie and they would get together at last. Except Jim isn't ready to let Pam know what has been clear from the start so he doesn't kiss her because he can't do it now. He just can't. So Pam breaks the silence, makes an excuse and leaves. The moment has passed. It's a beautiful sequence from beginning to end with some of the best acting John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer ever did, but it's also a lot more than that.

It was always easy to root for Jim and Pam. Krasinski and Fischer had terrific chemistry from the beginning and the source material of the British original gave it a real and relatable hook: the struggles of being in love with someone who loves someone else. The best Will They/Won't They romances need a big obstacle to make the question an actual question and Pam's engagement was a big one. The thing is, as easy as it was to root for Jim and Pam, it was easy to get the sense that you just wanted them to get together because that's how shows like this works and that's what The Office wanted you to do. The attractive people with strong chemistry get together because why not? Yeah you were invested, but you had to be invested. What makes the 27 seconds of silence on Booze Cruise so powerful is that it sells you on the idea of a powerful emotional bond between Jim and Pam that transcends television conventions and writing. You believe Jim is in love with this girl not because he's the romantic lead of a television sitcom, but because he deeply, truly loves her and when you believe that, you believe in love. Suddenly rooting for Jim and Pam isn't an obligation but something you actually truly want to see in your heart of hearts. And that honest investment is crucial to the success of the back half of the season, which I know from experience. When I originally watched the 2nd season of The Office, it was on DVDs I rented one disc at a time from the video store that I viewed in the odd order of discs 3-4-1-2. So Booze Cruise was actually the last episode of the second season that I watched, and once I rewatched the second half of the season (which I believe I did immediately), all the Jim/Pam moments that I liked before became that much more powerful. The Casino Night confession, rejection, and kiss became that much more powerful because it actually felt like it meant something. Those 27 seconds are some of the most meaningful seconds The Office ever did and they become amplified by the heartbreak that happens next.

Up to this point, Pam's engagement had been nothing but a plot device, a contrivance to keep Pam unavailable and Jim pining, letting the pair have sweet moments while also giving them a good reason to never do anything about their feelings. It was a reliable story engine but there was no stakes to it, no investment in the idea of Pam actually marrying Roy beyond occasional lip service to the idea and no reason to assume that this would change anytime soon. Even after those 27 seconds, shortly followed by Jim's private assertion to the camera (and to us viewers) that if the office was on fire he would save the receptionist (the closest he's ever come to verbalizing his feelings), it feels like we're about to go back to business as usual. So when a very drunk Roy is inspired by Captain Jack's story of marrying his first wife the day after he got back from Desert Storm and finally decides to set a date for the wedding, it's a bigger shock than it should be. Suddenly Pam's engagement isn't something that can easily be cast off, but a very real thing that feels urgent and can't be ignored anymore. We had a reason to believe in Jim and Pam's love and now suddenly we don't. That moment between them happened two minutes earlier but now it feels like an eternity ago. Tellingly, Jim and Pam don't interact for the remainder of the episode and Pam doesn't even look at him, caught up in the rekindled passion of her engagement. Jim doesn't say much but just like before, his face tells us everything. This is the worst night of his life.

If Booze Cruise has a false note it's the episode's treatment of Jim's girlfriend Katie, who is played by Amy Adams of all people. Katie was introduced in the season 1 finale Hot Girl as pretty much that, a hot girl for Jim to date so we knew he had a love life outside of pining for Pam. She was never going to stick around the show for long (Adams was weeks way from her first-ever Oscar nomination for Junebug when this aired) so the show never bothered to define her or make her more than "Jim's temporary girlfriend". It's not the worst thing in the world, but Adams brought so much personality and life to what little she was given that it feels like a waste when a heartbroken Jim callously breaks up with her. Hindsight also definitely plays a part in why the Katie break-up feels so off. The Office definitely wasn't the first or the last show to have a disposable love interest, but the fact that Amy Adams became such a high-profile actress winds up drawing a lot more attention to how superfluous Katie is than it would with someone lesser-known in the role. It's a small blip and doesn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the episode (It is my favourite after all), but it always manages to take me out of the episode for a moment. Just a moment though.

Because the Jim/Pam/Roy triangle becomes such a huge part of the episode, it's easy to forget how funny Booze Cruise is. It starts with a classic Jim prank on Dwight where he puts all of his stuff in vending machines and doesn't let up from there. Jim and Pam feigning ignorance about the movie Titanic ("I think you're thinking of The Hunt For Red October" is one of my all-time favourite lines). One of Steve Carrell's best line deliveries as he responds to Daryl's suggestion that if the office was a ship the sales department would be the sails with an incredibly ignorant and condescending "Yes Daryl, The sales department makes sales". Captain Jack letting Dwight "steer" the ship and Dwight having no clue it's a fake wheel. Michael tearing up the dance floor. Even the bittersweetness of Pam and Roy setting a date gets a comic boost from Michael's power struggle with Captain Jack leading him to suggest that he give Pam away at her wedding. There is a lot of comic brilliance in this episode which helps keep it from getting bogged down in the melancholy, emotional moments while also making those moments more potent. The comedy does tone down once Jim and Pam have their moment and Pam reaffirms her engagement but it never goes away totally and it comes back in full force when Captain Jack sneaks off for a quickie with Meredith and Michael takes control.

The mundane setting of Dunder Mifflin means that big-scale comic set pieces were rare in The Office, particularly the early days (After Dwight's insane fire drill in season 5's Superbowl episode, they became more frequent). So when a frustrated and seasick Michael decides to finally kick off his presentation by announcing that the ship is sinking, the chaos of the moment was still a relative novelty. Even after seeing this episode dozens of times, the scene still never fails to be funny because of how well-constructed it is. We know what's going on and the annoyed employees of Dunder Mifflin know what's going on, but as Captain Jack reminded us at the beginning of the cruise, the Dunder Mifflin employees are not the only people on the boat, and once Michael tells people that "Captain Jack is gone", those poor confused souls stop listening and start panicking. It's a brilliant scene that builds and builds, getting more absurd until someone literally jumps overboard, paying off a joke quietly set up earlier when Captain Jack explained where the life preservers and emergency exits (anywhere over the side) were. Michael had good intentions with what he wanted to accomplish, but he let jealousy and poor judgement get the best of those intentions until they turned to cringe-worthy chaos the way they often do. So it's no surprise that Michael ultimately winds up in the brig, complaining that the boat wasn't as "corporate friendly as advertised" and unaware that he's done anything wrong.

If Booze Cruise were to end on a dark note with Michael's best intentions falling apart spectacularly and Jim miserable, it would still be one of the best episodes the show has ever done but it would probably not be my all-time favourite. It's a great, great episode but the thing that pushes it over the top is the ending. Trying to get away from the girl he loves and the girl he broke up with, Jim goes to the front of the ship where he finds Michael. They talk a bit about what a terrible night it's been and when Michael points out that at least Jim's friend got engaged (She was always engaged but Roy claimed the first one didn't count), Jim admits how he really feels to an extent. He says he used to have a big thing for Pam, much to the surprise of Michael who never would've put Jim and Pam together. This episode really is a tour de force for John Krasinski as he delivers yet another all-time great Jim performances just minutes after the last one. Before this episode Jim has never said a word about how he feels about Pam and now he's done it twice, and he's told Michael of all people, even if he tries to play it as in the past. We have never seen Jim so vulnerable before. This is big but it's nothing compared to what Michael says. "Well, if you like her so much, don't give up". It's a line Steve Carrell delivers with a shrug, said as casually as if they were discussing the weather and it throws Jim off. "She's engaged", he says but Michael shrugs that off too. "BFD. Engaged ain't married". Then the casualness is gone and suddenly Michael sounds like the inspirational speaker he's been trying to be all night. "Never, ever, ever give up" he says, and you can watch every one of those words slowly sink into Jim's face.

The thing about inspiration is that it's not something that can be planned or manufactured, it has to come from the heart. Michael wasn't trying to inspire Jim or prove what a great boss or friend he was. He simply reached out as a human being talking to another human being and tried to say something encouraging. He had given up on trying to inspire only to do it without even realizing what he had done and in that moment, we have our reason to believe in Jim and Pam back again because we have been given hope. With those words, the dark night suddenly turns into a hopeful one and a new friendship is forged between Jim and Michael that will persist until Michael finally left to get his own happy ending, his words paying off for him at last. As for Jim and Pam, Jim doesn't give up. He tries to distance himself from Pam but he still puts it all on the line on Casino Night. When he fails, he tries to. He moves away and he moves on but he doesn't really give up. Eventually he gets his chance. Eventually Jim and Pam date and marry and have children together like we all knew they would and it all comes back to that moment on the boat where he decided to not give up.

"Never, ever, ever give up". From the moment I saw Booze Cruise almost a decade ago that line hit hard and in the years since, it has stuck with me. The world can be a hard place and it's not easy to get the things you want most in life. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of effort and a lot of hope. The Office was not a hopeful show in the beginning. It was about compromise, wasting your potential away, giving up on your dreams, the drudgery of daily existence and the small things you did to try and make it better. It hid all this with a laugh and a smile and never explored it the way the British version did (And even the British version had a happy ending) but it was always under the surface. Even in the later seasons when the show became about finding happiness and family and beauty in the unlikeliest of places, that early darkness never truly went away. Booze Cruise is the most hopeful that The Office has been up to this point and it's remarkable because it suggests that even in your lowest moments, there's a light at the end of the tunnel if you're willing to find the strength to fight for it, to never, ever, ever give up. It's a powerful sentiment and one that we all need reminding of from time to time, especially in trying times like these where fear seems to have overrun everything. "Never, ever, ever give up". Things will get better, but they won't if you give up. You need to have hope. That's why Booze Cruise is my favourite episode of The Office and why it's the one I show to people trying to start watching the show. There's a lot to love about the episode, but in the end it all comes down to a pure and earnest hope that elevates everything else and makes it all better. The Office was great at being cringe-worthy and cynical, but when it looked through all that darkness and cringe to find a bit of honest hope, that's when it became special.