Jane the Virgin Review: Chapter Eighty-Six (Season 5 Episode 5)

Jane the Virgin Season 5 Episode 5, “Chapter Eighty-Six,” invites us to a promising party that unfortunately turns out to be anything but a good time.

With screaming children and couples on the cusp of fighting at every turn, these thrilling plot developments that have fueled our excitement so far this season start to turn sour.

Jane the Virgin has done an excellent job of keeping a strong balance between the highs and lows of such a crazy telenovela concept so far. However, this episode feels unbalanced and thus the fighting, at times, just feels unjust.

We are now five episodes in and for the first time Jane the Virgin feels like it is slowing down.

Seeing as we dived head first into this final season with the whirlwind resurrection of Michael, it is somewhat disappointing to suddenly see this show slam on the breaks with “Chapter Eighty-Six”.

As much as a love triangle can break a show, it has arguably been the best part of Jane the Virgin this season. With a nearly impossible decision of picking Michael or Rafael back at our feet, jumping back into Jane’s crazy world has been a thrilling and excruciating emotional endeavour of the best kind.

However, it’s hard to stay loyal to any sides during this episode when Rafael and Michael are so poorly neglected as characters and used so blatantly as plot devices.

Michael and Rafael, who have been the main focus of Jane’s journey so far are pushed to the sidelines and their appearances feel more strategic than organic.

Rafael has to give us reason to be okay with the new distance between Jane and him, so we are treated to bad guy Raf — who is the worst.

I thought we had moved past this petty version of Rafael and yet here we are seeing him cut Jane off immediately without sympathy and initially use Mateo’s stubbornness as a way to lash out at her.

It’s not until the end of the episode that we see him regain his senses only to fall back into a toxic storyline as he looks to cope with the break up in less progressive ways.

Even Petra is frustrated with the way Rafael is behaving around Jane and I don’t blame her.

I am all for circling back to the beginning but to set back Rafael’s character development like this seems redundant.

Despite the way he initially acted, Rafael starts this episode off still feeling like the right choice for Jane’s future. And instead, he is used as a blatant plot device to force Jane into exploring more Michael centric storylines.

This love triangle is only as fun as it is fair and seeing Rafael fall back into his old ways for the sake of being an antagonist is not fair to his story. 

Michael’s few moments with Jane are, of course, adorable.

He takes longer to laugh at Jane’s jokes and he talks slower, but Michael is back to being our loveable goofball nonetheless. The man is easily swoon-worthy with his birthday gift to Jane, a copy of her book with personal and romantic notes written by him on every page.

We may not celebrate Jane’s birthday properly but we can certainly celebrate the fact that Michael is back and is still a shining personality in any bleak situation.

However, Michael’s cute gestures are overshadowed by the fact that he is clearly being framed as the good guy of “Chapter Eighty-Six”.

Yes, Michael is a good guy — arguably the best guy — but when his good nature comes at the cost of Rafael’s character it doesn’t feel like a natural extension of his love for Jane but the show’s prominent aggression to have a front runner in this love triangle.

So yes, Mateo’s bratty behaviour is rather irritating to watch — like getting on my last nerve, I will change this channel irritating at times.

I get that Mateo is still a kid, something we might forget given his lack of screen time, and he has always been somewhat of a troubled one at that, but not everyone likes to see their worst parenting nightmare play out on tv.

Although not everyone has to try and explain to a gas station full of people why their kid looks like they were played by two different child actors either — good one Jane the Virgin!

Regardless, not all is bad about this hiccup in Jane’s relationship with her son. Mateo sees how upset he is making his mother and decides to comfort her instead. It is a sweet moment that puts us back on track for a wholesome finish to this messy chapter.

Not even Petra and JR are immune to the toxic relationship drama that plagues this episode but they more than makeup for it with a heartfelt scene that frames these two lovers as a lasting couple we can count on going forward.

I mean I don’t blame JR for having trust issues with Petra — she has lied a lot!

Thankfully Petra isn’t about to let their ship sink and just when it looks like the two will go their separate ways she puts her foot down stating that if JR doesn’t feel safe than she will have to work harder.

Petra displays a level of maturity with JR in a matter of minutes that we have yet to even see from Jane and Rafael in their relationship. I can’t applaud her enough for keeping her girl on lock.

Petra is also nailing this sister thing with Jane and has easily become the shining star of this season so far.

The Rogelio and Baby storyline is a nice surprise that keeps us occupied between couple squabbles, but doesn’t bring much more to the table storyline wise. Although we do get to see a rare and wonderful appearance from Baby and the fabulous Justina Machado’s Darci (R.I.P. One Day at a Time), so it’s worth the trouble.

And thankfully, things do get better by the end of the episode for Jane.

She makes amends with Rafael as co-parents and realizes her lingering feelings for Michael need to be explored. Sure, all of this feels like time that needs to be filled in order for Jane to end back up with Rafael. Nonetheless, I’m just happy to see Jane move forward with a plan.

But really we are just biding time and playing out scenarios with Michael so the Jane and Rafael reunion can mean all the more in the final episodes.

Jane the Virgin does stumble with “Chapter Eighty-Six” but in their defence, the first four episodes are so wonderfully wild and unpredictable there was bound to be a misstep at some point. To be five episodes in before we get one is a good sign this final season is doing something right.

Despite the souring festivities, Jane still manages to find enough lemons to make some lemonade out of her crazy birthday and that’s worth something.

What did you think of this episode of Jane the Virgin? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Jane the Virgin airs Wednesday at 9/8c on The CW.

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