Now That Jane The Virgin Has Made Petra Plausible, Can It Take Away Some Of Her Pain?

Think, for a second, about what a prickly drag Petra was in the first season of Jane The Virgin. If you can't, let me point you to this post about the seventh episode of the series, in which it seemed unimaginable that she'd ever do anything interesting or important ever again. That Petra is almost unrecognizable compared to the one we know now, and not only do I care very much about this one; I'm about as concerned about her as one can be about a fictional TV character.

I've been pretty worried about Petra for a while, actually. That whole business where she not only hid the existence of the extra sperm sample from Rafael but also inseminated herself with it (successfully, somehow) was, of course, pure unadulterated novela nonsense...except for the part where it could actually be traced back to somewhat plausible human motives. The more Petra's been fleshed out since we first met her a year and a half ago, the more we've been able to understand the path her life has taken -- specifically, that she was raised, in the Communist Eastern bloc, by an amoral opportunist, and trained to use her good looks and charm as a long-con grifter. She was on track to lock down marriage to one rich boob when another even richer, boob-ier one came along and presented himself as an even more appealing mark. That she actually fell in love with that one -- Rafael -- wasn't part of the plan. The body she'd always been able to count on for her seduction plans failed her when she needed it to do something selfless for the man who had become her true life partner, and the two were unable, during their marriage, to see a pregnancy through to term. Could a daughter of Magda's ever believe that she could keep Rafael as a husband without giving him everything he wanted from her? No wonder Petra turned artificial insemination into a financial transaction while also looking ahead to her next marital prospect.

But as we saw during Petra's pregnancy with the twins, Petra and Rafael were a real couple once; parenthood was something they really wanted to do together. Of course, her decision to try to become pregnant with Rafael's latest offspring was calculated...but her calculation was that having children with the man she loves would make him love her back, again. However, as this week's episode also suggests, the loving entrapment was only part of the motivation behind Petra's scheme. The more Petra's been exposed to Jane, the more she appreciates what Jane has that Petra's missed out on her whole life: Petra wants a family. She hasn't been honest with their father about her children and how they came to be. She hasn't thought through whether she's equipped to raise children. She hasn't thought through whether she would actually like being a mother. But she's decided the answer to the love she's lacked is to create people who will love her for sure. In all those respects, Petra is no more a supervillain than half the tragic stars of 16 And Pregnant.

Unfortunately, now the babies are here and Petra's struggling. Petra might have hoped her money, and the luxury baby furniture and European night nurses it could buy her, would insulate her from trouble, but postpartum depression doesn't care how much money you have, as she might have learned from Nashville's Juliette Barnes (and Hayden Panettiere, who plays her). Jane -- not just the only other newish mother Petra knows but her only friend -- didn't have the easiest time during Mateo's infancy either, because no one does and from what I hear those first few months are total hell. But Jane had resources more valuable than Petra's money. Of course, Jane had the support of her loving mother and grandmother, who lived on site with her and her baby. Jane was also, maybe even more importantly, equipped with the emotional self-awareness required to let her ask for their help, and as we keep being reminded, that's something Petra is constitutionally unable to do. Petra was raised by a criminal to be a criminal: of course it doesn't come naturally to her to make herself vulnerable.

Jane, however, is the best kind of friend someone like Petra can have: someone who won't let herself be pushed away. (As was explored in the last episode, Jane's need to be liked can have toxic consequences, but in this instance, it's beneficial to Petra -- and, by extension, to everyone in her life.) Jane, seeing Petra wandering around the Marbella in the middle of the night seeming dazed and comparing notes with Rafael, approaches Petra about visiting her new moms' group, ostensibly to compare notes with her peers and assure herself that what she's going through is normal. But what Jane doesn't appreciate until Petra actually opens up is that Petra's experience actually isn't normal: she's not deriving any pleasure from motherhood; she's having dark thoughts about whether her twins would be better off being raised by someone other than herself. Jane lets Petra flee the group, but she also gets her the contact information for a doctor who specializes in postpartum depression and tries to trick Petra into seeing him by mentioning how exclusive and expensive he is. Petra may not exactly enjoy the experience of exposing her scariest secrets to Jane...

...but at least some part of Petra likes being seen by her.

Somewhere in the middle of buying a perfect little two-bedroom house so that Jane and Mike can rent it at a rent that they can afford -- oblivious that she's their landlady -- and stay close to all their family instead of moving to the suburbs, Petra calls the doctor's office about a consultation, which is when she's asked about a history of postpartum depression in her family. This takes her to the loathsome Magda, in prison. Magda's reaction to the news that Petra's given birth to Magda's granddaughters is a sarcastic "Voop-de-doo." When Petra bravely pushes through to ask whether Magda was depressed after she had Petra, Magda wearily reminds her of the political situation she was born into: "I had baby girl. In Czechoslovakia. In 1985. Of course I was depressed. You were depressed. The neighbour who delivered you was depressed. We were all depressed." But that's not the end of Magda's advice: "Plus, I was not built to be mother. And neither are you. You want my honest opinion? The best thing you could do for those girls is to give them away." This is Magda's gift? Nothing off the registry, then.

If I thought Magda was The Pierce of Jane The Virgin last fall, it's even more obvious now. Sending her to prison was enough for a while -- as long as Petra wasn't going to visit her, anyway. But now Magda -- either out of spite at the daughter who didn't do more to keep her on the outside, or because she really does think it's best for her grandchildren -- is confirming all Petra's worst fears about herself. Those of us who've been watching Petra know the strides she's made as a person; hell, we know she's fit to be Jane's friend, which is tantamount to sainthood. But Magda still sees the grifter she raised, and her poison sends Petra straight from here...

...to here.

The pleasures of seeing Petra turn into a real person are about to be obliterated by the horror of what's happening to her. I'm sorry I ever said Petra could lift out of this show! I meant it then but I don't anymore! Jane! Don't get so wrapped up in wedding planning that you don't notice your hardest, softest, maybe-est friend needs you!