Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez) is a beautiful, smart and funny 23-year-old teaching student who is engaged to Michael Cordera (Brett Dier), a sweet and handsome police detective. Jane seems to have it all together and has crafted the perfect road map for her life, unlike her mother, Xiomara "Zo" Villanueva (Andrea Navedo), who had Jane when she was 16, unmarried, and completely unprepared. When Jane was a young girl, she made a vow to her beloved grandmother or "Abuela" (Ivonne Coll) that she would save her virginity until marriage and Jane has been steadfast. Then the unthinkable happens. Jane goes for a routine pap smear, and because her OB/GYN is on vacation, she is seen by Dr. Luisa Alver (Yara Martinez), who is an emotional mess having caught her wife cheating on her the night before. She mixes up the room numbers and accidentally artificially inseminates Jane, but says nothing since there's an 80% chance it won't take... but it does and now Jane the virgin is pregnant!
After the initial shock, Jane discovers that she was impregnated with the sperm of Rafael Solano (Justin Baldoni), the handsome, rich guy who just bought the Marbella Hotel, where Jane works. To complicate things further, she had a major crush on Rafael some five years before. Rafael is having marital problems with his scheming and greedy wife, Petra (Yael Grobglas, Reign) and as a last ditch effort to save their ailing marriage, she had arranged to be inseminated with the sample that ultimately went to Jane. What's worse is that due to a bout with cancer, that was Rafael's last sample and thus his last hope of fathering a child. Oh, did I mention that Dr. Luisa Alver, who is also a recovering alcoholic, is also Rafael's sister? Drama!
Of course, being a devout Catholic, Jane wouldn't consider abortion and Michael has some difficulty dealing with this new and crazy twist to their perfectly planned life. Plus, Jane and Rafael find themselves falling for each other, which only angers Petra more, since she needs to hold out another year for her pre-nup.
Zo has also lied to Jane about her father's identity her whole life, saying he was a serviceman, but in truth he was Zo's teenage love who encouraged her to get an abortion, Rogelio De La Vega (Jaime Camil), and a few months back Zo was shocked to see Rogelio on her favorite Latin soap opera (telenovela), The Passions of Santos. Before long, Jane has her hands full with more information than she can process, but she is certain of one thing - she wants to be a great mother to this child, despite the chaos of her life.
As Jane's life twists and turns, she struggles with juggling all of the facets of her life, including graduating from college and teaching while being pregnant, secretly wanting to be a romance novelist and working on her first book, and trying to decide which man she is in love with - Michael or Rafael - even though both have won her heart and broken it at times. Through it all, her family is there to support her: Zo, Abuela and now Rogelio. It seems poor Jane's life has turned into one of her telenovelas that she loves so much and it turns out they are much more fun to watch than to live.
Lots more happens in the season, including drama between Zo and Rogelio working out past feelings, Abuela and her illegal immigrant status, Luisa and the fact that her secret lover is her step-mother Rose (Bridget Regan), and Rafael's constant battle to keep the hotel afloat and make his father proud, despite the fact that several murders have recently occurred there and it has been tied to a dangerous and mysterious drug lord named Sin Rostro. Naturally, the season finale ends with a bang and we are left with a terrifying cliffhanger following the joyous birth of Jane's child.
I didn't watch Jane the Virgin: The Complete First Season when it aired on TV because the premise sounded silly, and it is, but it is hilarious! Much like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, I initially wrote these series off until I discovered their brilliant writing and comedy. The characters are fun to watch - some to love and some to hate - but the entire cast is compelling and complex... except for Rogelio. While compelling, he is fairly transparent and has an ego as big as they come, but he is a joy to watch in every single scene. Gina Rodriguez is perfect as Jane and you can't help but fall in love with her, but the rest of the cast is just as wonderful. Even Priscilla Barnes as Magda, Petra's evil mother, is great to watch.
Probably the most important character in the show, aside from Jane herself, is the narrator, voiced by Anthony Mendez. Much like a telenovela, the narrator tells us what is really going on, despite what is happening on the screen. He absolutely makes the experience come alive and is riotously funny. I also love the graphics that are incorporated into the show. Emoticons and texts appear on screen, Jane often daydreams and goes into fantasy sequences, and the whole package just comes together as a fun, modern and adorable experience. There are also two featurettes, one that describes getting the show to television and another that lets the viewer discover the actors behind the characters, which was great fun. Of course, the actor who plays Rogelio De La Vega is a real-life telenovela star! There is also a gag reel included and a smattering of deleted scenes. The gag reel and featurette on the actors show that this cast had just as much fun making the show as I did watching it.
It's not often a series comes along that has just the right blend of comedy, romance, intrigue and drama, but Jane the Virgin: The Complete First Season has it in spades. In short, this show is magic. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
