Not only do I lose You're The Worst this year, but Jane the Virgin as well! What comedies am I going to have to look forward to next year???

(The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, hopefully!)


Jane the Virgin started it's fifth and final season last night, and it has all the sentimental, wide-eyed optimism I love, packaged in all the dramatic tropes of a telenovela. The show has almost always been very adept at grounding its characters in realism even when the plotlines continue to become increasingly unbelievable. Immaculate conception via accidental artificial insemination! Characters dying - no wait, just kidding, that was their secret twin! Long-lost parents and children being reunited! Love triangles and near-death experiences! Evil masterminds and scorned lovers! And I think I'm only scratching the surface of the many ridiculous storylines that this show explores.

And I mean, who am I kidding? This isn't my first rodeo with an amnesia storyline. (I'm looking at you, Hana Yori Dango.)

At it's center is Jane Gloriana ViIlanueva -  a relatabIe "every woman" with a life-plan, a loving family, a roster of mostly likable romantic interests, and a mind-boggling number of really strange life events that she has to cope with (see: telenovela plotlines above). Jane asked for exactly none of this but has learned to roll with the punches when it comes to her crazy life. Her close relationship with her mother and grandmother is always a particular highlight and these three generations of women have really been the heart of it all, and through them the writers are also able to shed light on many of the awful things that are being endured - even now - by families that are trying to achieve citizenship in the US. Rogelio - Jane's long-lost father who also happens to be a telenovela star - is always delightfully hammy, and Petra - Jane's perpetual frenemy-ish foil (it's complicated) - just gets better with every season. While I won't exactly miss the zany antics themselves, I will miss the warm, fuzzy feelings that this show inspires in me and I fully intend to enjoy its final season in all its over-the-top glory!