Jane the Virgin Recap: Season 5, Episode 13, “Chapter Ninety-Four”
Well my friends, they did it. One week after their reunion, Jane and Rafael got married. Sure, it was an unofficial wedding in their living room with Mateo as their officiant and stuffed animals as their witnesses, but really — what even is “official” these days? Being a family is what counts most.
But before we get into this so-called wedding, we have to talk about the proposal! Jane and Rafael have decided to pick up their relationship directly where they left off, with Jane moving in to Raf’s apartment and Rafael proposing to his soon-to-be fiancée, except there’s a hitch in the plan…Rafael has hidden the ring!
Meanwhile, Jorge suggests a family game night. He found an old Lotería set in the back of the closet. The only problem is that Xiomara and Alba swore of Lotería decades ago, before Jane was born, after a teenage Xo called her own mother a cheater and flipped over their dining room table. Eek! But the two agree to put their history aside, for now.
Rafael’s never played before, so he offers to be the caller. The first clue? “Don’t be swayed by the song of siren.” That’s for the mermaid card. Then, “He who nears a good tree, is blanketed by good shade.” That’s the tree. Finally, “Something that has no end that you wear on your hand.” The ring.
Jane absent-mindedly sucks her teeth over not having the ring on her board, unaware of her surroundings. Xo and Alba make eyes at each other. Rogelio can’t hold back his smile. Jane turns around — still not picking up the clues — and there Rafael is, ring box and ring in hand.
The mermaid, that’s the first night Jane and Rafael first met at the Marbella, Jane was in a mermaid costume as a part of her waitressing duties. The tree blanketed them in soft white petals the night of their first kiss. The ring in his hand right now. This is it. She sobs as she puts it all together.
“Jane will you marry me?” It’s quiet, this proposal in Abuela’s house, on game night with her family. Simple. The complete opposite of last week’s over the top musical number, but no less romantic and heartfelt. Sometimes in the quiet you’ll find the biggest bang.
Everyone’s seemingly excited about the upcoming nuptials, except Mateo. He doesn’t have faith in his parents’ relationship. They’ve broken up (and broken his little bitty heart) before. When Mateo asks if the wedding can be held in three weeks, just ahead of his Karate belt test, Rafael jumps at the opportunity.
You see, Mateo isn’t the only one struggling to have faith in Jane and Rafael’s union. Raf is still harboring lingering uncertainty because of Michael. Sure a husband coming back from the dead was a once-in-a-lifetime circumstance, but in Rafael’s mind Jane wasn’t brave enough to choose him once, what if she does it again? Jane keeps agreeing to the shortened schedule even though her heart isn’t in it because she feels guilty, she knows that her previous actions are the reason Rafael feels this way.
Rafael and Jane aren’t the only two feeling the burden of insecurity this week. Xiomara has decided that in her brave new post-cancer life, she wants to become a nurse. That is until she looks at all the education requirements. The Villanuevas come together to help Xo regain her confidence and in doing so Xiomara learns a long-held family secret. It turns out, it was never Alba who cheated at Lotería all those years ago. It was her father.
Back then, the family was playing with the stakes of Xiomara staying in high school to complete her diploma or getting a GED certificate and joining a Disney Cruise as a teapot dancer in Beauty and the Beast. Her parents wanted her to stay in school. So, her dad cheated. Alba knew that Xiomara was incredibly close to her father, and her relationship with her daughter was already complicated, so she took the hit. She figured the betrayal would hurt less coming from her. Now that Xiomara knows the truth, she’s hurt anyway. The pain doesn’t sting less with the passage of decades. Still, she decides to go back to school for her nursing degree — and Alba will be there to support her, every step of the way.
And speaking of high stakes Lotería, the narrator does a delightful comedic bit where each card represents a different player in Petra’s subplot this week. Essentially, Petra double crossed Milos who thought he was double crossing her. Now Petra’s finally going to own the Marbella – in full this time. As Jane the Virgin wraps up its final episodes, having complete agency in her career very well might be Petra’s happy ending. I couldn’t be more excited for her.
Petra also makes time for a last-minute dash to Rafael’s apartment (in a horrific puffy mint green Maid of Honor dress — it’s a long story, don’t ask, just marvel in the atrocity). She helps Jane and Rafael finally have the conversation they’ve been putting off the whole episode. They have to be honest with each other if their marriage is going to work, and honestly neither of them want a rushed ceremony that they run into out of fear. They want to take the time to get it right. So they will, and instead get married in a few months.
Until then? A “fake wedding” promise ceremony in their living room with their son will have to do. It’s more than enough for me.
