- Mothers don't always have to be strong
- — Xiomara to Jane
Chapter Twenty-Three is the premiere of Season 2 of Jane the Virgin.
Synopsis[]
FINDING MATEO – After Jane (Gina Rodriguez) discovers Mateo’s abduction, chaos ensues, especially when they all learn that Sin Rostro is involved and demanding a ransom. Trying to help, Rogelio (Jaime Camil) tweets about Mateo’s kidnapping making the Villanueva family targets of the paparazzi. Despite everything that has happened, Jane must also focus on motherhood and turns to Xo (Andrea Navedo) and Alba (Ivonne Coll) for help, leaving Rafael (Justin Baldoni) feeling left out. Meanwhile, Petra (Yael Grobglas) is conflicted with what to do with Rafael’s remaining sperm sample.
Recap[]
The ride began with a quick flashback (love those!) to little Jane getting schooled in a little Telenovela 101: Sometimes a girl has to be fearless in order to get her happy ending. With that lesson in mind, we’re taken to the present, just nine minutes after baby Mateo was kidnapped. Jane is glowing after giving birth and has absolutely no idea that her baby’s been taken until a nurse informs her and Rafael that Mateo needs a hearing test. This is when Jane realizes that the rogue nurse who took Mateo was part of some hellish plan, prompting her to go into protective mommy mode with a remarkable amount of calm. (Honestly, would you keep your cool like she did if you were in her situation?! Um, no.)
Returning fans, you should know what comes next: Jane calls Michael. Her ex-fiancé is the male equivalent of Old Faithful, predictable and loyal, almost to a fault. Jane’s trying her best to stay calm but then she starts crying (which means I almost started crying because Gina’s acting is just that good), and then we learn why Rose staged the kidnapping. She wants to trade Mateo for a dragonfly pin, which she lost during a makeout session with Luisa last season. For the record, Rose isn’t at a lack for stylish accessories: She wants the pin back because it’s embedded with a microchip that contains the files on her face-changing clients.
This is news that Jane’s not gonna take sitting down, so she runs out with baby daddy Rafael and Michael to make the swap. Well, for the record, Jane doesn’t really run — it’s more like a slow-paced waddle, since girlfriend just gave birth. There’s some twists and turns that stall the swap a bit (Luisa’s girlfriend, Juicy, throws out the pin in a jealous rage which creates a frenzied search for the pin poolside; Michael’s ex-partner Nadine is at the scene where the baby trade takes place and she delivers a spiel about how Sin Rostro is really, really dangerous), but luckily, Mateo ends up in his mommy’s arms and right back on his feeding schedule. Thank goodness for happily ever after, right?
This is where Jane’s post-pregnancy story line gets infused with a dose of the absurdist humor that worked so well last season. A huge crowd of TV reporters and groupies have gathered at la casa Villanueva, and it turns out Rogelio’s love of social media is to blame for the chaos. He was tweeting a play-by-play account of Mateo’s saga, and it seems like all the nuns in Miami-Dade have shown up to praise Jane as some sort of Immaculata. The whole situation — with returning characters like Slutty Crystal and Rogelio’s ex-stepdaughters — makes Jane stress out like whoa, which affects her milk supply. Rafael isn’t helping the situation at all, since he’s absolutely clueless about the actual purpose of breasts beyond their ornamental appeal. Could it be anymore obvious that he flaked out on those parenting classes last season? Methinks not. The matter of proving himself as a parent causes Rafael some stress, which is why when Jane is at lactation class, he takes the opportunity to ask Michael for some advice.
NEXT: Petra gets busy with a turkey baster
This is when Michael experiences a bit of an existential crisis. Does he give Rafael a) Good advice b) Bad advice or c) No advice, making Rafael figure it out for himself? But like I said earlier, Michael is a good guy through and through, and he recommends Rafael read a book.
While Jane is preoccupied on lactating and the boys are fixated on Jane, it’s time to turn to Petra. Throughout the evening some flashbacks have revealed that five years ago Petra was pregnant. Turns out she and Rafael had expected a baby boy, a fact that creates an odd parallel between her old life and Jane’s present one. It helps feed a desperation within her to get Rafael back, and the solution that presents itself is to get pregnant with Rafael’s semen sample. Since Rafael is conveniently distracted with new dad problems and everyone is similarly in the dark, Petra is free to commence Operation Get Preggers. That is, until Rafael’s vest-loving assistant Scott figures out what’s going on and temporarily thwarts things by hiding the sample among the gifts in Mateo’s nursery at the hotel. Still, nothing can stop Petra and with some nudging from Luisa and the help of a turkey baster, it looks like she got the job done. All that stands in her way is Scott, who seems as though he’ll hold her little secret over her for the foreseeable future. You can hardly blame the guy — he learned how to blackmail with the best of them!
As Petra is preparing to put a bun in the oven, Jane is still struggling with making milk for Mateo. She’s clearly unsettled and sleep deprived when she tearfully confesses her deepest fear to Xo: Where are her maternal instincts? They didn’t kick in when she was face-to-face with Mateo’s kidnapper, and they seem to have failed her again when it comes to breastfeeding successfully. Then comes one of those moments that Jane writers get right every time: mother-daughter time. Xo and Jane bond over the true meaning of motherhood. After a brief pause to feel all the feels, Rafael, fresh off some required reading, strolls in with intel about “cluster feeding,” which seems to help shed light on why Jane’s milk hasn’t come in. He’s looking particularly triumphant, and Jane appreciates the steps he’s taking to be there for their son, which is why she agrees that he can stay at the house round the clock to encourage plenty of traditional father-son bonding time.
And that’s not all: Jane gathers the courage to face the growing crowd outside and tells one of the nuns a tall tale about having sex. “A lot. In cars even. I just didn’t want my grandma to know.” And just then, Jane starts leaking — her milk has come in. Talk about miracles!
One miracle leads to another — baby Mateo gains some much-needed weight — and Xo is so relieved at the news that she decides to get something off her chest. With a deep breath, Xo tells abuela and Jane about her Vegas wedding to Rogelio. “It was obviously a mistake,” says Xo, although she doesn’t seem entirely convinced herself. “We’re getting it annulled.”
NEXT: Who’s the mystery person?
Next we see Michael, he’s parked outside the Villanueva house to make sure the area is groupie-free. Jane hasn’t rewarded his actions with any indication of where things are headed romantically — that is, until now. “Rafael is staying over, but just as the baby’s father,” she says casually. Does this mean Michael has a chance now?
It’s almost like Rafael knew that his baby momma and Michael were having a moment outside, because when Jane heads back to her bedroom, she finds Rafael cuddling Mateo shirtless. Swoon. What is it about a hot man holding a baby? The whole dynamic is admittedly weird, but it’s also “regular weird… which is really good,” says Jane. Ugh. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
But of course, we’re not done yet. Cue a mysterious figure, whose back is to the camera. Whoever this person is, she has it out for Jane: She’s heard saying, “Let’s go after her. Now.” Wait, what?Starring[]
|
|
Quotes[]
- Rafael – Do the police even do that, do they make trades
- Michael – It doesn't matter, this can't be official
- ―Recovering Mateo
- I trust him. Please
- — Jane to Rafael, about Michael
- Okay, first of all, she's not a psychopath – she's a sociopath
- — Luisa to Jordan
- Aw! He's a mensch too!
- — The Narrator about Rafael
- It's really over. And I don't want it to be
- — Petra about Rafael
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode of season 2.
- Mateo was kidnapped by Rose, AKA, Sin Rostro.
- Xo tells Alba and Jane that she married Rogelio in Vegas.
- The actor who plays Rafael, Justin Baldoni, had his actual wife and daughter to a cameo on the show. Emily, Justin’s wife, was the mother who gave advice to Jane during lactation class, the woman was also holding their daughter, Maiya.
- Valeria and Victoria return in this episode.
- Michael winds up the go-to-guy for helping men be a part of the Villanueva family unit, helping out both Rafael and Rogelio.
- Jane and Rafael get Mateo back.
- This episode takes place between May 12th and May 16th.
- Jane invites Rafael to live at the Villanueva house for a few weeks so he can be around Mateo.
- Rogelio's preferred abuelo name is Papa.
- Mateo was gone 142 minutes, or 2.3 hours.
- Luisa's girlfriend, Jordan, breaks up with her.
- The lactation class is called Milky Mommy Nursing Circle.
- Monks are chanting for Mateo – The Supposed Second Coming.
- Petra inseminates herself with Rafael's sample.
- FLASHBACKS
- To the Villanueva women watching a telenovela called Los Milagros de Mariana when Jane was 11.
- To when, 5 years prior, Petra and Rafael found out they were having a boy.
- PARALLELS
- Luisa inadvertently ensures that Petra is inseminated, mirroring the Pilot.
'Secrets'[]
- The pin that Luisa took from Rose in Chapter Ten is a flash containing the names of all Sin Rostro associates.
- Some crazy Swiss lady is after 'her' – guesstimation points to Jane, as the Swiss lady is looking at an article about Mateo's safe return.
- Scott knows about Rafael's sample.
Locations[]
- Miami
- Lactation Emporium
- Switzerland
Music[]
- secret river | CTZNSHP
- michael at the bar
- coyita | GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA
- they get mateo back
Photos[]
Notes and references[]
| EPISODES | |
| 1 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 |
| 2 | 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 |
| 3 | 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 |
| 4 | 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 |
| 5 | 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 |