Jane By Design Recap: "The Sleepover"

Jane By Design has hit a few bumps since it returned for its summer season, but the show has been getting back on track and this week’s episode, “The Sleepover,” did a great job raising the stakes before the season finale next week, while still managing to inject some humor and sweet moments that make it so much fun to watch.

While Ben is away, Billy has been staying with Jane. The two stay up late and watch horror movies, he sleeps on the floor in her room and their friendship feels rock solid again, which is a nice change from the beginning of the summer. But it’s not easy for them to keep the adults in the dark. When Ben calls, Jane pretends their mom is in the shower and then when Rita shows up to check on Jane, Billy hides in the bathroom, runs the water in the shower and cues up a recording on the computer of a woman singing to fool the guidance counselor. It works and after Rita leaves, Billy convinces Jane that they should act like real teenagers and throw a party.

Even though Billy sends out tons of evites, the only people who agree to come are Zoe and Karl, the janitor. It turns out that Harper (I want to petition for her to be a series regular) is having a party the same night and she makes it clear to Billy that no one is going to show up at Jane’s when they could be at her house. Billy does convince Nick to attend the party and the two bury the hatchet once and for all. Nick and Jane manage to make amends too. But Zoe freaks out when she realizes that Billy has been spending all his nights at Jane’s. On the one hand, I get where she’s coming from, but on the other, they’ve been best friends a lot longer than she’s been around. That’s pretty much what Jane tells Billy and he remains in a rough spot. Jane and Zoe have a tense conversation over Zoe’s dress for the play, but it’s obvious that’s not the real thing they’re being possessive of.

Things are even more hectic than usual at Donovan Decker. The deadline for the Harrods’ presentation is approaching and there’s still no sign of Jeremy. Eli wants to use his designs again, but India makes it clear that’s not going to fly. Gray is desperate to track down Jeremy, who surprises everyone by calling Jane from London. He wants to apologize for the way that he treated her, but he doesn’t give her any information about where he is. India and Jane put their heads together to try and figure out where he might be and Eli doesn’t appreciate being left out of the loop. Jane tries to reassure him, but India doesn’t want to waste time making him feel better. Jane goes to Gray and tells her that Jeremy called and Gray immediately wants to send Jane to London to find him. Eli and India both protest, but Gray insists.

Jane calls Billy and lets him know that she has to skip the party. He’s disappointed, especially since he figured out how to get more people there. Nick mentioned that Harper’s parents always chaperone her parties so Billy amends the evite and lets everyone know that Jane’s party will be parent free. The whole school is suddenly interested in coming and Harper is not happy. She tells Billy that his party is stupid, but she shows up there along with everyone else. Billy and Karl are trying to keep the mess to a minimum, but it’s impossible with so many rowdy teenagers in the house. Zoe arrives and tries to use Nick to make Billy jealous, but Nick is not going to get in between them. (He’s redeemed himself from his mistakes earlier in the season. He’s not boyfriend material for Jane, but he’s a good friend for Jane and Billy to have). Billy pulls Zoe into Jane’s room and assures her that she’s the only one he wants to be with. The two kiss and make up.

India is having a hard time saying goodbye to Donovan Decker, not that she’d admit it. But as she looks longingly around the offices, Eli is onto her. He tells her that he knows about her and Jeremy and he knows that Jeremy hurt her when he left. India starts to open up to him and Eli tells her that he gets what it’s like to care about someone who doesn’t want to let him in. The next time we see them, they’re in Eli’s bed. (I have to give the show props for a bait and switch since the previews made it seem like Billy and Zoe were going to be the ones who hooked up. That being said, I’m so disappointed in Eli. Poor Jane. Of course if Jane and Eli weren’t a thing, I’d probably be on board for India and Eli).

Jane arrived in London, but she had no idea where to look for Jeremy so she called India for help. India suggested all the different places that she knew Jeremy liked. After she hung up, she told Eli that she thought he should leave and he pointed out that she was at his place. He felt bad about what he did (as he should) and India seemed pretty upset too. Jane scoured London, finally ending up at pub. Exhausted, she sat down at the bar and ordered a Shirley Temple. She put her head down and asked if there was anything on besides soccer. Jeremy placed her drink in front of her and reminded her that she was in his territory now and she had to call it football.

The two shared a hug and their reunion was cute. Jeremy apologized to Jane again and told her that he’d never meant to hurt her. Jane forgave him and told him that she needed to get the designs because there was still time to fix everything. Jeremy seemed disappointed and told Jane that he’d given Gray and Donovan enough and he was not going to fix the designs. The only reason he’d called was because he’d wanted to apologize to her. He walked away as Jane tried to get him to change his mind.

Back at the Quimby house, Billy and Zoe were cleaning up the remnants of the party when Rita showed up at the door again. Billy told Zoe this was what they’d trained for and sent her into the bathroom with the computer, even as she pointed out that she wasn’t Jane and had no idea what to do. Rita wanted to know if the kids had a party and Billy insisted they didn’t. Rita said the front lawn was a mess and Billy attempted to lie. He said Jane was running an errand and her mom was in the shower. Rita spotted a cup on the floor as Zoe struggled with the computer. She accidentally pressed the wrong button and Rita knew they were faking her out and decided she would wait for Mrs. Quimby to get out of the shower. Uh-oh…

Next week is the summer finale and once again the previews showed a return to Jane and Billy and the ‘will they or won’t they’ tease. I was so sure I was Team Eli and now I’m starting to waver. Jane’s juggling a lot of balls in the air and I have a feeling at least one or two are going to come crashing down on her next week. I’m looking forward to the episode and I’m a little sad that the season is over already, especially since ABC Family has yet to announce whether or not there will be a Season 2.