Jane the Virgin
The what: Here’s another CW show that I just can’t get enough of. Originally based on a Venezuelan telenovela, Gina Rodriguez plays the title character. Influenced by a devout Catholic grandmother, Jane decides to wait until marriage to have sex, but a mistake at her doctor’s office leaves her artificially inseminated.
In another, very telenovela-esque, turn of events, she is pregnant with her long-time crush, whose sister did the inseminating while drunk and mourning a breakup. It’s a lot to take in at first, but the gimmick quickly takes a backseat to the characters.
The feels: The show could easily slip into a caricature, as it often deals in classic telenovela tropes like evil twins and characters coming back from the dead. Instead, it uses these storylines to couch it’s magical realism and emotional anchoring, making it just enough whimsical, without being too heavy-handed on the poignancy.
The show paints Jane as a well-rounded character with flaws and all. She struggles through a lot of harrowing moments, some of which feel very real. Watching Jane fail and succeed feels authentic enough to keep it grounded, despite the elements of fantasy and melodrama.
The deets: The first four seasons are on Netflix now. Season 5, which will most likely be its final season, will air on The CW in 2019. Cue the sad music.