Okay, so after days of "Jane has it all together... but... will a secret from her past tear her future apart? Do you really want to pretend nothing ever happened? I remember. You're confused. No. How could you do that to me?" over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... it finally premiered. And it was completely worth the sanity-depriving commercial.
The episode deals with Jane's struggle with her past as she uncovers a secret that maybe should've stayed secret. But as tensions rise the truth becomes evident and Jane learns who she can trust... and who she should've never let into her life in the first place.
Hey, that's pretty cool sounding, like it could be on the back of a book advertising the episode. But I'm not advertising it. I'm reviewing it. So let's take down the aura of mystery (although it was a lot of fun to maintain) and get down to the review-y stuff.
Okay, Paula Brancati is ah-mazing. (Ugh, Mango's rubbing off on me, why did I just say "ah-mazing"?) She's just crazy talented. You just believe everything she does. When she cries, you want to cry. When she smiles, you want to smile. It's this outrageous awesome energy that just picks you up and carries you away, holding you in it's grasp until the credits end and captivating your imagination for hours afterwards. So the acting in an episode all about her character? Amazing. Or ah-mazing as I said before.
The episode is actually confusing towards the beginning which helps it capture the viewers attention and helps you relate to Jane as she struggles to understand her painful past. You're left guessing the whole time until the truth is revealed.
And if you look back to our "Spotlight On: JANE" post, you'll see she had a past of child molestation. This is the episode where this is discovered. Through a series of flashbacks, the truth becomes apparent and Jane addresses a side of her past she didn't even know existed.
Jane's father comes to visit and because she's angry because he left her as a child, Jane greets him with hostility. But she appears to be the only one upset by his actions and winds up with her brother Lucas angry at her, accusing her of always wanting the spotlight. Her mother urges her to get along with him, but she can't, though she can't figure out why. It isn't until Lucas makes a comment about her "stupid backwards pajamas" that she pieces the puzzle together and realizes the truth about her past. At the end of the episode, Jane stands up to Carlo with the help of Lucas and then after a touching hugging crying moment with her mother, the family attends counselling (excluding Carlo who had been told to leave and never come back).
Although this is the second time a character deals with some form of sexual abuse, it is done in an interesting and unique way, realistically portraying the situations many teenagers deal with and, according to the Degrassi commercial, "going there."
So in conclusion, if you're sitting at home doing nothing (or even doing something) drop everything and go watch "Jane Says". It's worth it.
And if you're interested in Jane, it adds a twist to her life, always a bonus with characters as awesome as her!
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