S2E18 "Chapter Forty"
The episode begins showing Jane's history with salsa, where she discovered she loved watching it, but hated dancing it. In the present, a character she is writing dances the salsa. Also, Jane and Xo are not getting along, and this is very bad for Michael and Alba, who are stuck in the middle of this. Michael offers to take care of Mateo when Xo was supposed to. Rafael prepares to make an investment that will really help the Marbella, and when he tells Jane about it, she tells him that Michael is watching Mateo, which Rafael isn't happy about. Mateo says his first word "dada", but he says it to Michael.
Rafael tells Jane that he wants more time with Mateo because he wants to be the male most present in Mateo's life. Rogelio went back to an old writer to get an episode written using the Villanueva house set he had built. There is a very funny moment in a scene where Rogelio helps Jane prepare for her wedding, and he meets her advisor. Petra and her new twin go to their mother, which is hilarious. She had chosen Petra because she was more beautiful, and the other one was always shaking, as it turned out she has epilepsy. Jane becomes worried when she discovers that her advisor decides whether she comes back to the grad program or not, as she just got angry at her.
Jane discovers that her being invited back into the program depends on her next rewrite. Jane works on writing, and her character is hilarious. Rogelio tries to fix the relationship between Jane and Xo, but that doesn't work. Petra's sister keeps screwing things up when she slaps the person that Petra and Rafael were working on making the deal with. Due to the slap, Rafael has to help take care of the situation, and Jane has to meet with her advisor. Due to her stubbornness, Jane gets one of her friends to watch Mateo, but she has trouble, and Jane becomes overwhelmed. Gina Rodriguez has a great performance in this scene. Rogelio tries to help Jane and Xo through an episode of his show.
Rogelio's crazy plan actually works. Through this, Jane has a wonderful idea, she needs to figure out what her character's mother is like. Rafael decides to continue with the plan to help the Marbella. Jane writes her new plan of what she wants to do with the novel, and submits it. Jane and Michael talk about his role with Mateo, and he says that he wants to be more than just a babysitter to Mateo. There is a hilarious moment where Jane tells Michael he will get his own calendar color, and he says that isn't as sexy to him as it is to her. Rogelio discovers he is attracted to the writer, and they make out. Jane is accepted into the program, and it feels like the way it was resolved has happened many times before. Also, someone is spying on Michael, which also feels like an old story.
There were some good parts to this episode, but it lacked a lot of the usual humor, as well as some heart, and the end felt unoriginal. Overall, it was an alright episode.
What did you think of "Chapter Forty"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!