Jane The Virgin Chapter One (Pilot)

Jane The Virgin Chapter One (Pilot)
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October 7, 2014 / 12:00 AM
/ KBCW 44 San Francisco

Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez) is a driven young woman studying to become a teacher, nursing a dream to be a writer, and supporting herself with a job at a hot new Miami hotel. All the years of watching telenovelas with the two women who raised her – her sexy, young-at-heart mother, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) and her still-devout grandmother, Alba (Ivonne Coll) – have given Jane a slightly unrealistic view of romance, but her wonderful fiancé, Michael (Brett Dier), is supportive and even understands her decision to "save herself" until marriage.
All of Jane's meticulous life plans are turned upside down, however, when she sees her doctor for a routine check-up and is accidentally artificially inseminated with a specimen meant for someone else.
Now, Jane is faced with the most important decisions of her life – a life that has suddenly become as dramatic, complicated and unpredictable as the telenovelas she has always loved.
Justin Baldoni, Jaime Camil and Yael Grobglas also star. Brad Siberling directed the episode written by Jennie Snyder Urman.

First published on October 7, 2014 / 12:00 AM

© 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

©2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.
Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.
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It’s always interesting to revisit a show’s pilot after a significant chunk of episodes have aired. What changed? What stayed the same? Did any cast members get replaced? Any plotlines get dropped? In some instances, shows are majorly rehauled after the pilot, morphing into something different as the writers explore new storytelling avenues. That’s not the case with Jane The Virgin , which comes bursting out the gate with an immensely confident and powerful pilot that has served as the blueprint for all future episodes.
By now, we should all know what happened: Jane Gloriana Villanueva was accidentally artificially inseminated during a routine trip to the gynecologist, an event that makes her life the stuff of telenovelas. That’s the major driving force of the series, but it’s just one of many plotlines introduced in “Chapter One.” In addition to the inciting pregnancy, there’s Petra scheming against her husband (assisted by Magda and the late Roman Zazo), Xiomara keeping Rogelio’s identity a secret, Luisa’s alcoholism and relationship with Rose (who’s identity as Luisa’s stepmother is kept secret), and Michael’s hidden criminal past with his brother Billy. It’s a lot for one episode to cover, but writer/showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman fits it all into one jam-packed script that moves at the brisk pace that has become this show’s standard speed.
This may be an ensemble-based dramedy, but it’s still primarily Jane’s story, and what makes this pilot so successful is its dedication to showing multiple facets of the central character and her personal relationships. This first episode focuses on Jane’s relationships with Alba, Xo, Michael, and Rafael, using the two women to establish the show’s emphasis on the intergenerational family dynamic and the two men to build the love triangle that will be the series’ main source of romance.
The soap opera elements of this pilot aren’t anything new for the CW, but it’s the things surrounding the soapiness that make this show stand out in the network’s slate of shows. To start, it features a predominantly Latino cast, and the script highlights that aspect of the characters by starting with a scene performed mostly in Spanish. That first scene also emphasizes the show’s focus on sexuality, beginning with a stern speech from Abuela Alba explaining how virginity is like a perfect, pure flower that, when crushed, can never be restored to its former glory. Xo doesn’t want her mother teaching her daughter this “lame” stuff, and that balance of prudence and promiscuity in the Villanueva household has given this show a well-rounded view of sexuality.
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Jane is caught in a very difficult position after her accidental pregnancy: does she keep the child, give it to Rafael and Petra, or have an abortion? Of these three, the abortion is one that creates the most tension in the Villanueva household; Xo wants Jane to know that if she wants to have an abortion, that’s totally O.K., but Alba wants her granddaughter to at least go through with the pregnancy. Xo’s mindset comes from a place of sympathy for her daughter’s situation; she understands that having the choice of an abortion helps , even if it’s not a choice that Jane is interested in pursuing. Imagine how stressed Jane would be if she went through this situation and found out she had to have the child no matter what? At least with the abortion Jane has the choice to go back to the life she had planned before, even though there’s no telling how that procedure would personally impact Jane in the future.
Alba has slightly different motivations for wanting Jane to keep her child, using this freak occurrence to make up for a mistake that has shamed her for her granddaughter’s entire life. Alba told Xo to get an abortion, and that decision has been her greatest regret. She’s come to love Jane more than almost anything else (she’s second only to God), and she thinks that this baby will be the best thing in Jane’s life if she holds on to it. Ivonne Coll is phenomenal in the scene between Alba and Jane, and the pain she brings to Alba’s words make them all the more convincing for Jane. Unfortunately, that conversation is immediately followed by Michael showing up at Jane’s door, begging her not to have the child for the sake of their relationship. There are consequences no matter what Jane chooses, but having the abortion would dramatically impact Rafael’s life, and the compassionate Jane can’t abort the child that is Rafael’s last chance to have biological offspring.
None of the characters have changed much in the eight episodes since the pilot, but they’ve gained new dimensions that have made them more complex and intriguing. The show’s writers are able to delve deep into the cast because they are blessed with an outstanding group of actors that deliver layered performances from the very start, capturing the grounded human side of this exaggerated telenovela-inspired plot. There’s a reason why Gina Rodriguez is the breakout star of this TV season, and her performance in “Chapter One” captures a huge array of emotions that make Jane a real person trapped in an absurd situation.
Jane may be a virgin, but that choice tests her willpower and it takes real strength for her to overcome temptation. You can sense that Jane wants to go further with Michael based on her impassioned groan when she forces herself to stop making out with her boyfriend, and that struggle to keep a lid on her passion makes her more endearing. This show does exceptional work defining character motivations, and Jane’s conversation with Rafael at the hotel spotlights that strength as she opens up about her fear of raising this child. Jane knows that her mother loves her, but she feels like she derailed her mother’s life, and she doesn’t want her own daughter to ever feel that guilt. Xo isn’t at the hotel, but Rodriguez’s performance in this scene strengthens Jane’s relationship with her mother by making the audience feel the history between the two women. There’s a lot of love to their relationship, but also a lot of pain, and both Rodriguez and Andrea Navedo make this clear in Jane and Xo’s interactions.
Director Brad Silberling comes from a film background, and while he brings a certain amount of cinematic flair to this episode, he doesn’t go too far, making it easier for future directors on the series to recreate the look of the pilot with a smaller budget. The transitions are some of the visual highlights of this episode, particularly the shot that introduces the show’s hotel setting. As the Villanueva watch The Passions Of Santos , the camera moves into the television, then sweeps across the sunset-lit water as it shifts to the hotel, 8.2 miles from Jane’s house, but a world away.
That one shot smoothly navigates the show’s three different levels of reality, moving from the grounded environment of the Villanueva household to the heightened world of the telenovela before settling into the hotel location that occupies the tonal middle ground between the other two worlds. The coloring reflects these different planes of reality, with the Villanueva home dressed in subdued shades while the telenovela is bathed in the vivid warm hues of a romantic sunset. The hotel is colored with fresh pastels, giving the environment a beachside vibe that isn’t quite as dramatic as the telenovela, but also not the plain domestic setting that the Villanueva women occupy.
Jane The Virgin features one of the most evocative scores of any show currently on TV, and that’s because all the music by Kevin Kiner is built on themes composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, who won back-to-back Oscars for his work on Brokeback Mountain and Babel . From the very opening moments, the music plays a huge part in the storytelling, setting a wistful tone for 10-year-old Jane’s virginity lecture with the combination of guitar and woodwinds before transitioning to aggressive percussion when the action jumps to present-day Jane and Michael making out in her bed. When Jane finds out that she’s pregnant, there’s an extended guitar riff, signifying her trip down the telenovela rabbit hole through sensual music, and that bleeding of telenovela elements into Jane’s life is further accentuated by the use of Juanes’ “Una Flor,” the theme song for The Passions Of Santos that is repeated throughout the episode.
It’s rare for a show to debut as fully formed as Jane The Virgin . From the direction to the music, design, acting, and writing, every element of “Chapter One” works to pull the audience deep into this world in 42 short minutes. This show has a ridiculous concept, but the pilot understands that and works hard to define the reality of Jane’s situation without losing sight of the outrageous telenovela elements that are such an important part of the series’ personality. It’s a delicate balance that the show maintains remarkably well moving forward, and the continued success of the series is thanks to the strong foundation laid in this first episode.

Jane the Virgin- Chapter One: Pilot (1×01)
Jane The Virgin Jane the Virgin- Chapter One: Pilot (1×01)
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The CW’s new show Jane the Virgin is shaping up to be one of the best shows of the fall. I’m hooked on this corny–but not too corny–wacky and lovable story about Jane Villanueva, a girl who was artificially inseminated.
I’ve never been one for telenovelas but Jane’s story didn’t feel like one too me. The additions of Spanish culture and her telenovelas speaking to her were a bit much, but they were necessary to set the tone. Jane grew up in a very catholic house, clinging onto her virginity like it was a white flower, that would be destroyed forever if she had sex. Her grandmother literally scared her when she was little into thinking that. I’m guessing it has something to do with her mother and her whore-y ways. Jane’s mother had her when she was 16, but she’s never met her father. No one knows who he is, or so the mom wants us to think. Watching these two interact is super interesting because their complete opposites. Jane is in love with her boyfriend of two-years, wants to be a teacher, super-conservative and wants to be a teacher. Her mother on the other hand, is sleeping around with different men, wearing super short skirts, talking about fake boobs and her career is impersonating Paulina Rubio, her obsession. Polar opposites.
Multiple parts play a role towards the main story in the premiere. Jane works at a hotel. The owner is Rafael, a man she used to have a crush on when she worked at the yacht club. Rafael is a cancer survivor stuck in a love-less marriage with Petra. Petra is conniving and will do anything to keep her husband and his money, while she sleeps with his best friend. She’s the equivalent of a villain in a show focused on the “real-world.” The doctor, Luisa, is Rafael’s sister. The day before Jane’s annual gynecologist visit, Luisa walks in on her wife, cheating on her with her assistant. The next day at work she’s a hot mess. She has two patients–one pap smear and one insemination. With her head in the clouds, she accidentally inseminates Jane with the sperm. When she walks into the other room she finds her next patient Petra, who is there for her insemination. She’s doing everything possible to keep Rafael. That’s when Luisa realizes her horrible mistake. Panicked, she calls her ex-girlfriend, who was once a lawyer and accidentally tells her she caught her wife cheating. She’s just making mistake after mistake.
Two weeks later, Jane is on the bus with her mother when she begins feeling nauseas. Still, raised as a devout Catholic, she decides to stand up when two nuns board. The minute she get up, she faints and ends up in the hospital. The doctor proudly tells her that the reason for her fainting and nausea is because she’s pregnant. Jane and her mother burst out laughing. Of course this isn’t possible. Jane’s a virgin. The doctor doesn’t believe her, thinking she’s just another teen lying about her virginity to her mother. Pregnancy test after pregnancy test comes back positive. She can’t figure out why, so she makes an appointment to see Dr. Luisa.
Luisa finally told her brother and Petra the truth. Petra wasn’t pregnant because she was never inseminated. The only pre-cancer sperm went to another girl, accidentally. Their reaction isn’t as bad as Jane and her mothers. The two freak out once their told the news. Can you imagine? Jane has tried so hard to lead this perfect life and do everything by the book. She never even had sex and now she’s pregnant with a strangers baby at such a young age. Jane’s mom brings her pills, in case she chooses to abort the pregnancy. It’s always good to have options. She wonders if her mom ever really wanted her. Would she have kept her if grandma didn’t tell her to? All her mother has to say is that she’s happy that she’s here. When Abula finds out that Jane is pregnant, she flips out thinking Jane lied to her about her virginity. When she finally calms down and realized she was accidentally inseminated, she tells Jane that when her mother came home pregnant, she told her to have an abortion. Her mother was the one who said she was going to keep the baby and she’s so happy she did.
So, Jane has a decision to make. Does she keep the baby– her baby? Or does she have an abortion. She knows she doesn’t want to lose this child. Her loving boyfriend, who picked the day she found out she’s pregnant to propose without knowing, begs her not to keep the baby. He wants to be with her, but he doesn’t want to help her raise a child that isn’t his. Makes sense. She goes to meet the father, and is surprised to find out it’s her old crush. Rafael remembers her from the time they spent one day talking at the restaurant, before he kissed her and never called again. He tells her that he and Petra would take the child from her, but Jane isn’t sure she could live knowing her child is out there in the world without her. She tells him that she probably wont keep the baby.
Well, her decision is swayed when Petra blackmails Luisa into telling her about Rafael’s cancer. The fact that this was his only chance to have a kid has a huge impact on her decision. Petra only does this because the child is her last chance at keeping Rafael, who told her he wants a divorce shortly after meeting with Jane.
Jane finally goes to Michaels work, and proposes to him. She feels bad his initial engagement failed because of her heightened emotions after finding out about the accidental pregnancy. It’s a cute twist–to see a woman try, and fail, to get down on one knee and still keep the guy. But before the seal the deal, Michael agrees to let Jane carry this baby for Rafael and Petra, who Jane believes is a happy couple who needs a child really badly. It’s a little different than her being just a carrier because this child is literally hers and Rafael’s. And that’s something that we need to remember. I’m sure it will play a very important part in episodes to come. I bet Jane and Rafael will fall in love. It’ll be super messy for Michael though, which I’m not excited about because I like him. They seem good together. And he waited 2-years to have sex with her, which is so rare in this day and age. Right after the proposal, the narrator said something about Jane being with the man she thought she knew… but would soon realize she didn’t. What is that all about? What is Michael hiding? At the engagement party, his brother crashed and said he’s a ticking bomb that could go off at any second. If he did, he would expose who Michael really is.
Meanwhile, Rafael is caught off-guard when Petra tells him that Jane has agreed to give them the baby, as long as it goes to a loving family. He admitted he’s wanted a child. The question is, will he stay with Petra and sacrifice his happiness for a child?
And in other news, Xiomara, Jane’s mother totally knows who Jane’s father is. Something tells me, she didn’t accidentally have Jane– she tricked Rogelio into a baby, but than didn’t tell him. Now he’s a huge telenovela star, which explains why he’s made such an impact on Jane’s life, even though she doesn’t know its her dad. Will he want to be involved in her life? How will that storyline play out? Will the parents fall in love again?
Overall, a very good season premiere that’s got me hooked. 8/10 for this telenovela inspired, light-hearted drama.
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Lizzy Buczak is the founder of CraveYouTV. What started off as a silly blog in her sophomore year at Columbia College Chicago turned her passion for watching TV into an opportunity! She has been in charge of CraveYou since 2011, writing reviews and news content for a wide variety of shows. Lizzy is a Music Business and Journalism major who has written for RADIO.COM, TV Fanatic, Time Out Chicago, Innerview, Pop’stache and Family Time.
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Jane The Virgin Chapter One (Pilot)

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