Saying Goodbye to Jane the Virgin’s Most Important Relationship

Source: the CW

Jane the Virgin, an under-watched gem of a series, ends its five-season run tonight with an appropriately tidy 100 episodes. There’s a lot to be said about Jane’s many strengths, and in a usual farewell article, I would talk about all of them. I would mention the scene stealing work Yael Grobglas put in year after year, the complicated but always loving relationship between women of three generations, what the show’s existence meant for the Latinx community, how it gave us one of the decade’s most dynamic characters in Rogelio de la Vega, and what a relief its candy-colored palette was in a time when even my favorite comedy takes place in hell. People don’t throw around the word “perfect” very often when it comes to TV shows, but Jane the Virgin was damn near close.

I could also talk extensively about what the show’s meant to me personally, that wannabe writer Jane popped up in my life when I was at that crossroads myself, stuck between my teaching degree and what I actually wanted. I cried when Jane got her massive $500,000 book deal in last week’s episode, not out of jealousy or sadness, but because I was genuinely happy for her, a character whose journey vibrates with aching realism. As a lifelong Catholic, I could also mention that Jane’s take on religion was respectful and nuanced, acknowledging the Church’s many flaws and wrestling with Jane’s existence as a sex-positive feminist who, yes, is also Catholic.

But instead of going long on any of those aspects of the show, I want to talk about its most important and most improbable pairing: Jane and Petra. Because, on a show with one of the most hotly debated love triangles in history, the relationship I found most affecting was completely platonic. In the last few seasons, Jane and Petra’s friendship has become a constant, to the point that it’s easy to forget just how antagonistic it was in the beginning. The two don’t actually meet until the series’ second episode, at Jane’s first ultrasound appointment. It’s actually a pleasant encounter, but only because Petra is trying to manipulate Jane into giving her and Rafael her unborn baby. They spend most of the first two seasons hating each other, until Petra gives birth to Anna and Elsa midway through season two. 

I love the birth episode, because it’s the first hint of what their relationship will become, with Jane softening Petra and Petra making Jane bold. There’s Jane, who can’t help but say yes when Petra asks her to come to her birthing class. There’s Petra, who realizes she’s pissed on Jane’s behalf when another author steals her idea. And of course, there’s Petra giving birth, with Jane treating her with a compassion unlike anything Petra’s experienced before. It’s not all sunshine and roses after the birth episode, but the two settle into an often frustrating, but exceedingly believable friendship, thanks in no small part to Petra’s evolution. When newly engaged Jane and Michael find a dream house that’s further away than Rafael would like, Petra tells him to suck it up. Then, when that house falls through, Petra buys a different one and insists that Jane and Michael never know she’s the owner. It’s Petra’s first purely unselfish move of the series, and she does it for Jane.

Another big turn in their friendship happens when Rafael is in jail and Michael has just passed away. A lot of work happens in the three-year time jump that follows, but the fact that there isn’t an abrupt change but rather a subtle one when the show picks back up again shows how well-earned their friendship is. Their weekly brunches during that time period are when their relationship becomes a given, which lessens the burden of it, allowing them to fight and be honest with each other in a way they weren’t before. In fact, the one time after this where it seems like Jane is really angry and maybe their relationship isn’t a given, Petra immediately panics, barging into Jane’s house with a traditional Czech breakfast after Jane cancels brunch. There’s a defiance to it, Petra’s way of saying “No, I will fight for this friendship.” Prior to her relationship with Jane, Petra had hardly ever seen people as worth fighting for, and that’s one of the biggest changes in her character throughout the series.

Still though, their friendship maintains a one-step-forward-two-steps-back rhythm for much of the show, sustained by a couple of things, one of which is Jane goading Petra into admitting how much she cares about her. One of my favorite instances of this is in “Chapter Seventy-Nine” when Jane tells Petra she loves her and insists she say it back. Petra, embarrassed that this whole exchange is happening in the lobby of the Marbella, begrudgingly says it before giving Jane a tiny kiss on the head and rushing away. It’s adorable and funny, an example of the writers and actors infusing the friendship with such heart that you can’t help but root for it.

Another hallmark of Jane and Petra’s friendship would start with Petra doing something selfish or casually cruel to the point where I would sometimes wonder why Jane was even bothering with her, that this was surely the thing that would do in their tenuous friendship. But then Petra would make some quietly devastating comment that didn’t excuse whatever she’d said or done but did explain it. What’s more, each time there was a sense that she didn’t mean to say whatever it was, but Jane somehow brought it out of her. 

One of my favorite examples of this happened this season, albeit when Jane and Petra’s friendship is in a much more stable place. Jane and Petra are arguing about Anna and Elsa leaving Mateo out, and Petra’s getting defensive when she suddenly yells, “That’s life! You don’t think I ever feel left out?” The scene happens after Michael has just come back from the dead, and Petra realizes that Jane told everyone in her life but her. And that’s what it comes down to: Petra upset that her friend didn’t confide in her. The ensuing conversation is a marvel, one of my favorites of theirs in the entire series. It’s also textbook Jane, taking a moment “straight out of a telenovela” and finding something breathtakingly human in it. 

Jane and Petra’s friendship changes a lot throughout the series, one of its many moving parts. But it’s also one of the most constant relationships on the show, present regardless of who they are dating, married to, or, at some points, both in love with. Because, yes, the fact that Jane and Petra have the relationship they do despite spending a decent chunk of the series in love with the same guy is pretty incredible, and evidence of how Jane eschews stereotypes at every turn. 

The series will partly be remembered for its romantic relationships, as it should be. Michael surprising Jane at their wedding by saying his vows in Spanish, Rafael proposing at her dining room table, whatever exceedingly romantic thing happens in the series finale tonight, are all great moments. But, when I think about Jane, I’ll also remember Petra making soup and dressing up like the tooth fairy to cheer Jane up after Xo’s cancer diagnosis. I’ll remember Jane taking care of Petra after she and J.R. broke up. And I’ll definitely remember the two of them hugging in a pop-up tent, calling each other sisters while their kids played together outside. Jane was billed as an over-the-top telenovela that was sneakily a quiet character study. So it feels right that, despite brimming with romance, Jane the Virgin’s most important relationship was a complicated, messy, ultimately beautiful friendship between two women.

Review: Once Upon a Time 5.19

As a longtime fan of Regina and Zelena’s complicated sibling dynamic, I was looking forward to this one quite a bit. Happily, it exceeded even my high expectations, and I was especially impressed by the flashback scenes.

It was heartbreaking that neither woman remembered what happened there, especially because they were the only truly nice moments that they’d shared their entire lives. The two actresses playing young Zelena and Regina completely sold me on their quick sisterly connection, to the point that I was tearing up when they dragged Zelena away. Regina’s vow that she would find her as soon as she could spoke to that tenacity and protective instinct that she still has, especially when it comes to the ones that she loves. The flashbacks also showed how desperate both girls were for an honest to god family, not one with an abusive father or an inattentive, cruel mother. Regina’s immediate declaration that they should live as a family was bittersweet, as I’m sure Zelena in particular felt so hopeful in that moment, seeing a chance to finally be happy and feel loved, only to have it ripped away from her a second later. That moment, more than Zelena’s entire backstory, explained why she’s so cynical and unwilling to trust others; it felt very much like something her subconscious tucked away, even if Cora prevented both sisters from remembering the specifics. It also explains why Zelena knew immediately that Regina and Cora were playing her in the present; she’s developed a pretty good sense of when people are being disingenuous, almost entirely due to what Cora did to her.

Of course, even though it’s sad that it took this long, those memories were happily the missing piece of the puzzle in Regina and Zelena’s reconciliation, something that they’ve been building to nicely in this arc, but really since we learned that they were sisters a few seasons ago. Bex Mader and Lana Parrilla have always done a great job of expressing the complex history between the two, and the look they exchanged after having their memories restored spoke volumes. Despite the anger and resentment they’ve long felt towards each other, remembering a simpler time when they were two kids thrilled at the prospect of being sisters was enough to remind them how important that bond is. Plus, they now know that their relationship was never fully in their control, manipulated as it was by Cora, which I’m sure makes forgiveness a little easier to accomplish.

As for Cora, there was no doubt in my mind that she would find peace, even if it did feel a bit fast and not completely deserved. Afterall, this arc perfectly emcompasses the theme of the show: hope prevails and no deed is truly unforgivable. It took her a long time, but Cora did show remorse, and she righted what was clearly the biggest wrong of her life. Yes, it happened quickly, especially as she went from poisoning Zelena to revealing what she’d long kept from her daughters, but I can’t help but feel that Cora already knew what she was going to do when Hook rescued her at the beginning of the episode. Earning Regina’s forgiveness in the midseason premiere meant the world to her, and I think she wanted to earn Zelena’s as well, even if she did go about it the wrong way at first.  

After Cora left, Regina and Zelena’s hug was lovely, a physical sign of all that’s been forgiven, but I’m not sure that Regina telling Zelena to go to Hades was a smart move. A great sister moment of trust, sure, but I’m worried that Hades is playing Zelena at this point, even if he did love her in Oz. Basically, while I love that Regina trusts Zelena, I don’t think either of them should trust Hades. Of course, Zelena didn’t end up making it to Lord Death anyway, foiled by Rumple and Peter Pan. I had my suspicions that Zelena’s intentions with that sleeping curse weren’t completely pure, but we’ll have to wait to find out for sure.

Other thoughts on this episode:

In addition to breaking my heart, the flashback scenes gave me major Frozen vibes. And did that storyline further prove that literally every character’s issues can be traced back to Cora?

Now there’s a River of Forgetfulness? How many rivers are there in this place?

I loved the brother parallel with David and James, especially because their storyline had such a different result than Regina and Zelena’s. I completely understood why Charming felt bad about accidentally pushing James into the bay; as he said, they were still brothers. David couldn’t bring himself to outright hate the guy, even though, like Zelena, James resented him for something that really wasn’t his fault. I’m glad Once isn’t a soap, because if spending my high school years watching The Young and the Restless taught me anything, it’s that we’d definitely be in for an extended “twin fakeout” storyline if that were the case.

I’m interested to see how Cruella will react to James’ death. She’s added some fun levity to this arc (“Why is everything always in the woods with you people?”), but hasn’t felt all that necessary otherwise, so this may be where she proves to be important.

I had to laugh a little at Emma and Robin ending up in a life-or-death situation together when they’ve barely spent any time one-on-one, but Emma explaining it by describing Zelena and Hades as “the world’s worst power couple” was pretty spectacular.

Finally, next week’s episode is going to kill us all, isn’t it?

What are your thoughts on this episode and Zelena and Regina’s reconciliation? Let me know in the comments!