Jane By Design Recap: "The Celebrity"

This week’s episode of Jane By Design, “The Celebrity,” picked up where the premiere left off with India asking for Jane as she smugly told everyone at Donovan Decker that they were going to have to impress her now. This was another solid episode. I have yet to see a bad episode of this show or a new character that I don’t instantly like. However, there was a little bit of angst in this episode that shook my little happy Jane world and I do not care for it one bit.

Jane is just as surprised to see India as everyone else was and India makes it clear she has complete creative control. She introduces them to Aidan Chase, he’s the latest Hollywood It Boy, and he’s going to be the face of the campaign. As everyone fawns over him, Gray takes India aside and reminds her that she used to be one of the designers and she should show them respect. India makes it clear that after the way she was treated, she’s not interested. (By the way, how cute is India’s new haircut)?

At school, Jane is filling Billy in on the big changes and asks him if they’re still on for movie night. Every year the school (or maybe the town?) shows a movie in the cemetery. (Am I the only one who thinks that’s creepy and disrespectful)? Billy is not really feeling movie night since their classmates are still treating him like a criminal, but Jane reminds him that they’ve gone together since they were seven and she wants him there. Billy agrees to go.

Meanwhile, Ben is trying to make his and Rita’s eight week anniversary special, something she’s not really feeling, especially since they just celebrated their seventh week. She rejects the giant teddy bear he gave her and named Renny (their squish name) and shoves him in a drawer. She reminds Ben that she wants to keep things professional. Ben tells Billy and Jane that he needs to cancel the candy hearts and the gorilla gram and they agree that he just needs to slow down and stop freaking Rita out.

Billy continues to have a rough time at school. Harper holds her purse to her chest like Billy is going to steal it and the other kids look at him suspiciously. He has an outburst in the middle of class and the teacher sends him to the office. While waiting for Ms. Shaw, he meets a new girl, Zoe. She tells him that she’s there because she refused to take a pop quiz and offers to read his palm. She proclaims him a loner, but not entirely by choice. Billy points out that they’re basically just holding hands as Rita pops into the hallway and asks Zoe if she can go over her transcripts later. It turns out she’s just a new student. Zoe tells Billy that pop quiz crusader sounded cooler. He obviously impressed. (Cute potential couple alert)! Rita tells Billy that he’s a good kid and he needs to be careful because one slipup could send him right back to the detention center. He agrees to work harder.

Things are as chaotic as ever at Donovan Decker. Eli wants Jane to see that he deserves his job and didn’t just get it because he’s Gray’s nephew. Jeremy is less than impressed with his designs and Jane breaks up an argument between the two. India surprises everyone by liking the collection, but then she tells Aidan that he won’t like it. (Sneaky)! He rips it apart and everyone scrambles as India tells them that it’s too late and the deal is off. But Eli comes through with his own design and Aidan loves it, much to India’s (and Jeremy’s) chagrin. Gray pulls Jeremy aside and tells him that she had cameras installed and knows what he did. Jeremy thinks he’s busted for being the mole, but Gray is talking about all those times he had sex with India in the office. She tells him that while their acts were vile and illegal, she wants him to get close to India again and find out what she wants.

Jane, Carter and Eli are out to lunch with Aidan, hanging on his every word as he tells stories of his exploits. On the way out, the paparazzi snap pictures of Jane and Aidan together and it ends up on Perez Hilton’s site. Ben reminds her that she’s supposed to be keeping a low profile and warns her not to let it go to her head. Jane doesn’t listen and shows up at school, wearing giant sunglasses as everyone tries to talk to her at once. Rita pulls her aside and asks if she can get Aidan’s autograph for her. (Ha)! Like Ben, Billy does not really love the new Jane and tells her that he wants to go to movie night alone.

Rita is horrified when there’s a giant gorilla in her office. Ben swears that he tried to cancel it, but Rita is mad that he didn’t listen. When Jane can’t get a hold of Billy for movie night, she takes Eli up on his offer to go to a party with him and Aidan. But it’s pretty obvious that Jane’s celebrity status has already faded and she ends up embarrassing herself. Eli points out that a celebrity friend isn’t a real friend and Jane admits that she has a real friend who needs her and she let him push her away. Eli suggests she leave the party and go find her friend.

Billy had changed his mind about the movie night, but when he gets to the house, only Ben is there. Billy tells Ben that he’s a liability to Jane because her star is rising and his is crashing and burning. Ben makes him sit down and tells him that he’s not his brother and he needs to suck it up and get over it. (Seriously, Ben is the best). He reminds Billy that he’s always been there for Jane and now it’s time for him to let Jane by there for him.

At the office, India is not amused when Jeremy is watching her. She tells him that he needs to start thinking more youthful in his designs. Jeremy doesn’t believe her help is genuine, but she tells him that he’s in the same position she was in. India blames Gray and Jane for her fall from grace and she warns Jeremy that Eli will push him out the door unless he teams up with India to bring them all down. India tells him that she knows he was the mole and threatens to expose him if he doesn’t do what she wants. Jeremy is surprised, but then he kisses her. (Blackmail turns him on, apparently). India asks if he’s kissing her because he wants to or because Gray told him to spy on her. Then she says it doesn’t matter and they start to get busy on the couch. (Seriously, people, you know there are cameras)!

Rita tells Ben that she doesn’t want to talk about the gorilla gram. She thinks things are moving too fast and she wants to slow down. He tells her that the reason he comes on so strong is because he cares about her so much. He doesn’t want to slow things down. Rita tells him that they have to take a break. (NO! I am not okay with this). Rita leaves Ben sitting on his blanket alone looking all sad and I do not care for this scene at all.

Zoe finds Billy sitting alone and asks him to read her palm. He’s tells her that she’s done cartwheels and she’s nervous to be at a new school. (Aw, they are really cute). They’re laughing and teasing each other as Jane arrives and watches them for a moment. She sits with Ben instead and tells him she didn’t want to interrupt since that was the first time she’s seen Billy laughing in ages. Ben asks what happened with the whole, “it’s you” thing and she tells him they’re trying to get things back to the way they used to be. She admits she’s not sure she got the answer she wanted. Ben tells her that he knows all about timing being off and says he should have listened to her advice about not coming on too strong. She tells him she should have listened to his advice about not letting fame go to her head. They agree it was a lesson learned and sit back to watch the movie.

So this week ended on a bit of a melancholy note, but it was still a fun episode. Zoe seems like a great addition and I like Eli even more than I did last week. I do not like Ben and Rita being on a break, but I’m sure that will work out. I’m very curious to see what happens with Jeremy and India and which side he’s ultimately going to come down on. Feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments below.