Why You Should Be Watching Jane The Virgin

Jane The Virgin is a show that’s perhaps underrated, despite the big mark that it’s currently leaving on the television landscape. It’s a show that’s mainly about people from minority backgrounds, focusing on their ordinary, but insanely crazy lives with the show taking inspiration from Spanish telenovelas. Here’s five reasons why you need to catch up on season one of Jane The Virgin right now.

Gina Rodriguez

Star Gina Rodriguez picked up a Golden Globe after just nine episodes had aired over in the US. To say she’s become a breakout star is true; she is the only reason you should be watching this show. Rodriguez plays the role of Jane Gloriana Villanueva, a 24-year-old who had her life perfectly on track. She was going off to grad school and set to marry her boyfriend Detective Michael (Brett Dier). That was until her perfect life turned upside when she became accidentally artificially inseminated with Rafael Solano’s (Justin Baldoni) sperm (by his sister Luisa Alver (Yara Martinez), no less!). Rafael is the rich owner of the Marbella Hotel in Miami; the sperm sample was his last because he is a cancer survivor and it was meant for his wife, Petra (Yael Grobglas). As complicated as her life is, Jane somehow manages to keep a calm poise, making her one of the most admirable characters on television. She’s immediately likeable and relatable from the moment you see her. It’s hard not to admire her and a lot of that is down to Rodriguez, a brilliant actor who knows how to pull out all the emotional, comedic and thrilling stops.

Family matters the most

The core of the show deals with family relationships and what family means for Jane. She lives at home with her mother Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) and grandmother Alba (Ivonne Coll) and the three women share a tightly-knit bond which results in emotional heart-to-hearts in almost every episode. What’s more is a storyline with Jane’s grandmother Alba, who’s an Venezuelan immigrant illegally living in America. Alba’s fears of being deported are ignited whenever the police or law is involved, in case anyone ever finds out. This storyline is done with panache, proving that television is able to represent scenarios, that are sometimes glossed over, to make them reflective of modern society. Xiomara and Alba often provide Jane with the emotional support that she needs, showing that family always come first.

But so does connecting with her father

Jane quickly finds herself forming an unexpected relationship with her long lost father, Rogelio De La Vega (Jaime Camil) who comes into her life for the first time. Rogelio is a self-involved, super-famous international telenovela star who’s so determined to connect with his daughter, that he moved the production of his hit television show to Miami to be closer to her. Jane quickly resents Xiomara when Rogelio first comes into her life, angry at the fact her mother kept her father’s identity secret all these years. Rogelio is one of the show’s best characters, providing the comic relief through his egotistical personality and handsome charm.

There’s also the romance

Jane finds herself torn between her fiancée Michael and her baby daddy Rafael. She has been with Michael for four years but as a devout Catholic, Jane has never had sex, as the title of the show states. Even though Michael was ‘the one’ before she was accidentally inseminated, her grandmother’s strict warning when she was a young girl has always been with her (Alba said her virginity was something she could never get back after losing it) and she has vowed to stick to her grandmother’s promise ever since. But as the show goes on, she learns to follows her heart and dumps Michael for Rafael after feeling ‘the spark’. Rafael, a former playboy changed his outlook on life after surviving cancer and as Jane’s baby will be his only biological child, they both decide to see if a relationship between them would ever work. By doing so, Rafael divorces his wife Petra. Meanwhile, Detective Michael has bigger things on his plate as he’s on the hunt for Sin Rostro, a notorious crime boss who’s been running a plastic surgery ring in Rafael’s hotel, changing the faces of criminals. Rafael is charming and immediately likeable while Michael is the annoying fly that you just can’t get rid of.

And there has to be an enemy

Meet Petra Solano, Rafael’s wife. After divorcing her husband (Rafael realised that he didn’t love her anymore; their relationship was on the rocks anyway) a whole new storyline followed Petra. Her past from her roots in Eastern Europe come back to haunt her in Miami, something she finds herself dealing with in an unexpected way. But Petra is a much more complex character than her glossy exterior suggests. She’s an independent woman able to fend for herself and she’s forced to look after her crazy mother all while being chased by a bad man from her past. Oh, and she’s got it out for Jane for stealing her husband.

Jane The Virgin is a beautiful show. Despite its crazy story lines, and sometimes crazy characters, the show is seriously addictive and with a brilliant actor like Gina Rodriguez at its helm, you can’t go possibly wrong.

Jane The Virgin will return for its second season on E4.