jane the virgin S3 (2017)

This show is the kind of show that I once thought only materializes in dreams, and I still find myself pleasantly surprised that it exists. It is at once smartly written, heartwarmingly endearing, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is set up as a satire of the melodramatic telenovela but also a champion of the experience of women of color, touching down expertly on topics like racism and immigration, the stigma of single motherhood, abortion and alternate methods of conception, religion, and family. Plus it's a cast of 99% people of color who are probably some of the most charismatic people in the world. This is what progress looks like.

my loves

Season three had us feeling closer than ever to Jane, who spent the season working toward her writing goals, nurturing a family life with a husband and a child AND a baby-daddy, while her parents struggle with their differences and her grandmother trying to woo an old gentleman (which is a delightful and groundbreaking story itself). She became a widow rather early on and yet the story did not melt into a soppy, messy season of mourning but instead pushed the heroine forward while allowing her the occasional opportunity for sadness. The grief she feels for Michael is channeled into the success of her new novel, a present to herself in a boldly Jane-centered way. We feel little pity for her but rather admire her for bravely and realistically letting go of the love that she lost in Michael and seeking happiness and normalcy looking forward. This is done quite mechanistically as well, as the show skips forward three years right after Michael dies. Applauding the writers so hard for how they handled this transition and resisting the temptation to milk the dead spouse narrative.

I just realized it would take eons for me to write a paragraph about every single time this show blew my mind, so I think I'll just make a shortlist! So here it is - my list of times Jane the Virgin blew my mind in season 3:

• Alba has a boyfriend. When since the birth of this nation has any kind of media portrayed a new romance between elderly adults in a way that is serious and not ageist??? I've certainly never seen it before. Amazing.
• Xo proposes to Rogelio! A woman proposes to a man! Don't think I've seen this either. She straight up put a ring on his finger. He was straight up ecastatic and the event was normalized AF.
• Jane is grappling with the hurtful effects of growing up with unhealthy ideas about sex as a result of her grandmother encouraging her to save herself for marriage lest she forever be branded as a crumpled, ruined flower. Yikes. She doesn't regret waiting to have sex until marriage, but now that she is ready to have a fling, she has to face the guilt that she associates with it. She copes by being honest with her grandmother and talking it out with her family. Granted, there is no way this would have been solved this quickly IRL but the show has always done an excellent job of portraying loving, health relationships between a family made up of women who know how to communicate, and this story arc was no exception.
• On that note, I like that basically every problem in the show is solved with honest, open communication and somehow that is still interesting to watch! I guess the show balances its realistic tendencies with the whole murder mystery side story though. Sneaky, sneaky. 
• Jane worked hard and got a book published! It wasn't a big event and she is not super famous, but it's a start and it's rewarding to see our heroine find a slice of personal success.
• Petra finds it hard to bond with her kids. It's not uncommon of that mothers don't bond with their children immediately even though they spent 9 months feeding on her blood and putting 35 pounds on her, so maybe they don't deserve immediate love anyway. Kind of kidding, but yes, motherhood is not a monolith!!!
• Parenting as a separated mother and father doesn't have to be a contentious, dramatic thing. Jane and Rafael can love each other as friends even after being in love and everyone is happy! The heteronormative family unit is a construct so fuck it!
• Sex scenes and sexy scenes in this show are written as a big "fuck you" to the the male gaze. Me gusta.
• Michael died meaning Petra is basically the only white person left on the show. And she is super Czech too. Yay, it's a POC wonderland!
• While writing the list I realized that there are 2 more episodes left of the season and I haven't actually finished the entire thing LOL. Be back in a couple weeks.