After an agonizing wait, Jane the Virgin is finally back! We’ve been on the edge of our seats wondering about Michael’s fate, and in this episode we’ll learn it, as well as seeing how Jane’s romance with Michael began. We also learn that Michael is a cat person, and see Anezka learning to cook (well, sort of…)
Episode 1 of Jane the Virgin season 3 opens, as usual, with a flashback to Jane’s (Jenna Ortega) past. She is attending her first romance novel reading, and indignantly asks the author why the girl’s love interest dies in the end. She insists that the author broke the primary rule of romance novels—they must have a Happily Ever After. After that, Jane decides to always read the ending of the book first, so she can prepare. Unfortunately, there is no way for Jane to read the ending of Michael’s (Brett Dier) and her story…
Livin’ on a Prayer | Now we join Jane (Gina Rodriguez) in the hallway of the Marbella, looking for Michael, who has gone to get ice. We know that he was shot by his partner, Susanna Barnett (Megan Ketch), who was Sin Rostro/Rose (Bridget Reagan) in disguise. But Jane doesn’t know that. Yet. She discovers Michael’s body on the floor by the ice machine, and the Narrator reminds us that he did say that Michael would love her until his dying breath. But Jane discovers that Michael is indeed breathing, and screams for help. We next see Jane, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), Alba (Ivonne Coll), and Rogelio (Jaime Camil) sitting anxiously in a hospital waiting room. All this waiting stresses the Narrator (Anthony Mendez) out, so we turn back the pages.
The Cat’s out of the Bag | It’s the morning after Jane’s 21st birthday bash, when she met Michael. Michael texts Jane to ask her out for dinner, and she agrees. But then, a boy she’s been crushing on for two years seventeen months, Sam (Miles Gaston Villanueva), asks her out, and she says yes, forgetting about Michael. Xiomara advises her to just tell Michael a harmless white lie: she’s come down with a bad cold and has to postpone. Jane takes her advice, and is getting into Sam’s car when Michael pulls up in his cop car. He pulls Sam over for an illegal u-turn, and tells Jane that he was bringing her some soup he had made for her. Busted. That night, Jane eats Michael’s soup and realizes that she really likes him, so she goes to the station to apologize. But she then tells him that she also likes Sam, and wants to explore her relationship with him. Michael is obviously upset, and they part ways. But later that day, Michael returns. He tells Jane that he knows there’s something special between them, and he’s going to fight for it.
Sweating Bullets | Back in the present, a doctor tells Jane that they’re working to stabilize Michael, but he’s still in critical condition. Jane, ever prepared, has a list of questions, but Michael’s mother, Patricia (Molly Hagan), arrives and takes over. She steamrolls Jane’s attempts to help, claiming that since Michael is her son, she knows more about him. Xo is furious at Patricia, but Jane realizes that Patricia is just lashing out in fear for her son. The doctor finally returns with more information. Michael is stable, but the bullet lodged near his spine. They can either operate to remove it now, or wait until he’s more stable. If they wait, there is the risk that the swelling could cause irreparable damage to his spine, but if they operate, there’s a significant risk to him due to his fragile stability. Patricia immediately declares that they can’t operate on Michael, but the decision is up to Jane. Patricia doesn’t want to discuss their options, and leaves to call Michael’s father. Jane knows that Michael is a fighter, and would want the surgery. Patricia returns, saying that Michael’s father said the same thing. Before Michael goes into surgery, Jane tells him that this will not be the end of their story. She talks about the future, and we see flashes of Jane and Michael growing old together.
Chicken Soup for the Soul | Rafael (Justin Baldoni) calls, asking if there’s anything he can do, but Jane just wants him to keep Mateo safe. Rafael is trying to help the police with their investigation into the shooting, and Petra (Yael Grobglas)—I mean, Anezka, confirms his alibi. She talks with her mother, Magda (Priscilla Barnes), on the phone, and they discuss an ominous-sounding plan. First they’ve “frozen the chicken”—paralyzed Petra—then Anezka has to go back every day to “baste the chicken”—give her another dose of paralytic poison. Then there’s a plan for Rafael—”frying the onion rings”—which Anezka is initially against, because she’s in love with Rafael. However, she changes her mind once Rafael tells her that he’s glad they slept together, because he’s realized that he doesn’t love her in that way anymore.
Urine Trouble | Meanwhile, Rogelio spots two young men sneaking some pictures of him in the hospital waiting room, and begs them not to post them. He doesn’t want a repeat of what happened when Mateo was kidnapped and Rogelio inadvertently summoned a mob to the Villanueva house. The two boys say they’ll keep their photos to themselves if Rogelio gives them some urine so they can pass a drug test. He agrees, but Xo finds out. She realizes that Rogelio is terrified of losing his best friend, and wants to do this one thing to help the situation, so she offers to “pee in a damn cup” too. But then she remembers that she just “peed on a damn stick,” and has to admit to Rogelio that she’s pregnant. She’s not going to keep it, though. She didn’t want to have a baby with Rogelio, whom she loves, so of course she doesn’t want to have a baby with Esteban.
Nothing to See Here | The police investigating the shooting ask “Petra” to come review security footage of the hour around the shooting, to look for suspicious activity. Rose had wiped the security camera feeds. Anezka thinks that she’ll be done in plenty of time to “baste the chicken” again, but they have to review the camera footage from 10 different angles. She tries to excuse herself to the bathroom to escape, but ends up getting trapped in a corridor between two automatic-locking doors. Petra knows that the doors lock automatically, but Anezka doesn’t. Whoops. Anezka is able to play it off as distress over her sister’s condition, and Rafael takes over reviewing the footage. Petra is starting to regain movement in her hands, and is almost able to press the nurse call button, but Anezka sticks her again just in time.
Michael comes out of surgery, alive and well. Rogelio gives the two boys his urine, and it turns out that they thought he was Erik Estrada the whole time, and hadn’t actually recognized him. Some of the cops at the hospital, there for Michael, overhear the exchange, and have to take Rogelio in to the station for it. And the cops at the Marbella discover powdered sugar in the hall near where Michael was shot. Rafael realizes that it could only be…Sin Rostro! Lastly, Luisa (Yara Martinez) wakes up in a bed in what appears to be an airplane, with Rose sitting nearby. We discover that the two are actually in a submarine, and Luisa has no idea where she is.
Whew! That was a stressful episode. What did you think? What sort of scheme have Magda and Anezka cooked up? Will Michael still go back to being a cop? Will Rogelio and Xo ever get together?
Jane the Virgin airs Mondays at 9/8c on the CW.