After the 3rd episode, this show now feels like a telenovela. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I couldn’t tell you without being biased. Because frankly, it’s gotten on my nerves.

As I wrote in my pilot review, I don’t like the intense inter-connectivity each character has to each other. Let’s take just one character from the show: Petra. Petra is married to Rafael, who is now the father of Jane’s baby. Petra gives Jane the perception of a good household, but does so deceivingly to keep the baby. Why, you ask? Since the baby was a last ditch effort to keep Rafael from divorcing her before the pre-nup. Oh, and the baby. The whole reason for this mess in the first place is Petra’s fault. She doesn’t get the baby, Jane doesn’t accidentally get pregnant. Guess who else knows about Petra’s deception? Jane’s boyfriend Michael, who also wants Petra to have the baby so the baby doesn’t hold him down career-wise. Petra was also sleeping with Rafael’s best friend Zaz, who was killed in episode 2.

Two sentences into the previous paragraph, I was already begging for it to stop.

Look, I understand having this complexity adds to the fun of the show. It’s about who’s deceiving who, which secret is about which person, and why everyone keeps these secret agendas (everyone but Rafael, ironically, who’s the least deceitful person on this show). I understand how all the lies are keeping everyone safe; but, as our wonderful Abuela said at the beginning of the episode, small lies become “big balls of evil“. And though I’m sure the producers want the finale to become “big balls of evil”, and show everyone’s evil intentions, I’m not so excited about it. Because we know it’s coming, we know how it’ll end:

Jane will find out about Michael’s alliance with Petra and take a break from him, but partially because she made a mistake with Rafael at some point. Jane will keep the baby away from Petra, causing Petra to sue Jane for breaking off the arrangement. Rafael will want a divorce, but since he broke his part of the pre-nup with Jane, Petra is now eligible for money! So she takes the money and sues Jane with said money (still putting Rafael’s hotel in jeopardy). See what’s happening? My head’s hurting, and I’m only halfway through my season prediction. The series? She has the baby and keeps it. At least, that’s how Americans would want it. I mean, people suffered through The Secret Life of an American Teenager, they would not have watched the show if she just gave the baby away.

Also, for those who think Jane and Rafael will get together by season’s end, I wouldn’t say that. I would say they kiss, but that’s all it’ll come to. History says they’ll end up together at the end of the 2nd season, not in the first season. Cheers did it. Friends did it. New Girl, Mindy Project, old, new, etc. It’s the go-to relationship formula, and TV shows rarely skew from it.

But when it’s all said and done, Jane the virgin is still pretty solid. It does a good writing job having everyone patch up secrets all over the place, while not completely overwhelming. While I think the dialogue between Rafael and Jane need to improve significantly for me to feel they should be together, the show itself isn’t lacking in that overall. I have no complaints acting-wise (though Petra has the same face for everything; but it’s CW…we forgive a little to get a lot). If I had a problem, it’s the narrator trying to be funny. He’s only funny when he’s not being funny. Now he’s trying, and it’s annoying. Also, those freeze-frame need to stop too.

And I’m stopping as well. This isn’t a bad show. Far from it. But I just can’t. The show’s desired audience doesn’t included me. And no offense: thank goodness.

But what do you guys think? Do you like the show, or are you not as big of a fan?

Things I Noticed:

• Both Jane and Xo (her mom) speak in English, but Jane’s grandmother only responds in Spanish. Just a bit weird. I’d understand Spanglish, but…
• If I had a favorite component of the show, it’s the music.
• I really feel the co-workers serve no purpose at all in this show. Her friends should have been a bigger part of this show.
• The “virgin” song at church was the most disturbing thing ever.

• Michael: “Wow, you look..” Jane: “..you too.”

  What do you mean “you too”? He looks exactly the same in every scene! He just took his blazer off. Come on!

• I have to admit when I found out Rafael’s sister was having an affair with her father’s new wife, I was beyond shocked. Like soap opera shocked. And when Zaz died, I was also pretty shocked. But shocked doesn’t equal good enough to keep going.
• When you pull the alarm, aren’t you supposed to get ink on your hands…so they know who pulled it?
• I did like the full circle story: firefly doesn’t grant Jane her wish in the beginning, and probably won’t again at the end. Someone should have told her shooting stars, not fireflies, grant wishes.