These highs and lows never feel unearned or simple, and experiencing them is really worth your time.

But be warned: while at times one of the laugh-out-loud funniest shows I’ve ever watched, it has also been one of the most emotional. That may sound like an overwhelmingly plot-y premise for someone new to the genre, but I promise, the depth of character development (and the helpful notes from the narrator) keeps you moving through the story with ease. But alas, as he often reminds and warns us, the dramatic twists of a telenovela do not promise happy endings for everyone.įor those that have not seen an episode of the show, it centers on Jane Gloriana Villanueva, an aspiring writer living with her mother and grandmother in Miami whose life is thrown into chaos when she becomes accidentally artificially inseminated with the child of her boss, the owner of a luxury hotel. It populates a labyrinthine and often outrageous plot with characters so warm and lovable you can’t help but gasp along with the overzealous narrator, who, like the audience, really just wants a happy ending for his beloved cast. It manages to be an earnest and sincere telenovela itself, while also being about telenovelas, educating the viewers and at times mocking with gentle adoration and self-awareness toward the conventions of this genre. Jane the Virgin navigates a tricky balance, and in doing so accomplishes one of my favorite things to encounter in fiction when done deftly and intelligently. The shows I’ve been watching are no exception, and one of my absolute favorites has become the CW’s Jane the Virgin, a show that has guided me through yet another new genre: the telenovela. As regular readers of this blog have gathered by now, a lot of the storytelling I’ve gravitated toward since leaving college syllabi behind has been new, uncharted, unexpected.

Snow falling by jane villanueva