Another day, another comedy on E4 – but this time, it’s absolutely flippin’ brilliant. Jane the Virgin has been picking up awards left, right and centre, and it’s not hard to see why.
Based on a Spanish soap opera, which are renowned for their drama, Jane the Virgin tells the story of 23-year-old Jane, a good Catholic girl who’s saving herself for marriage, who accidentally ends up pregnant with her gorgeous teenage crush’s baby after an accidental insemination incident at her gynaecologist’s – despite being engaged to her long-term boyfriend Michael. Cue lots of mayhem, laughter and unfortunate situations.
Two episodes in and we’re hooked. Here’s why.
1. It’s from the team behind Ugly Betty
If you didn’t love Ugly Betty, you can leave. Go. Just go. It’s got the same OTT-yet-believable feel to it, despite its genuinely bonkers premise, with lots of goofy laughs and a brilliant cast.
2. Gina Rodriguez is brilliant
In her breakout role, Gina Rodriguez is fantastic as lead Jane. She brings the right combination of smarts, funny and innocent – a bit like America Ferrera’s Betty, but with much better dress sense. Jane as a character is also amazing – she’s not afraid to be herself, she’s driven and determined and she won’t bow to the pressures of society. Pretty ace in 2015.
3. It’s full of lols
In episode one, Jane, who works at a luxury hotel, has to pose as a mermaid while serving champagne. Every bit as ridiculous as it sounds, every bit as funny. Jane’s gran, a good old-fashioned Hispanic abuela, is genius too – her speech to young Jane is great.
4. The drama
Spanish and Latin American telenovelas are renowned for their OTT drama, villainous characters and off-the-wall storylines – and Jane the Virgin has all of this in SPADES. Petra, wife of Jane’s babydaddy Rafael is the CLASSIC villain, with a real evil streak, while Rafael himself and Michael fit the romantic lead perfectly – leading us to think Jane’s going to have to choose between the two. But what will she do?!
5. That voiceover
Anthony Mendez provides a spot-on comedy voiceover in each episode, often accompanied with captions explaining who’s who and what’s going on, and it’s hysterical.
Jane, we cannot get enough of you – roll on episode three next week!
Jane the Virgin is on E4, Wednesdays at 9pm
