My JTV Thoughts
As we near the end of this crazy, whirlwinded, soapy, Americanized telenovela, I’ve come to this conclusion (or belief, I guess?) that JTV will end with Jane either choosing Rafael over Michael, or choosing no one at all.
What?! You’re crazy! They wouldn’t do that! Why would they?
First of all, this isn’t to discredit Michael or his character. Admittedly, I’ve been #TeamRafael from pretty much the get-go. HOWEVER, I can’t deny the fact that there was a special kind of love and bond shared between Michael and Jane, especially during their short lived-marriage. They loved each other in a way that is different from the way Jane and Rafael love each other. And yes, I will agree that Michael is Jane’s soulmate.
But this leads me to point out: Jane and Michael already got married. From a viewers perspective (or at least, my perspective), as unexpected as Michael’s death was, there was a sense of closure on Jane and Michael’s love story that came with Michael’s death. They battled a love triangle, worked through countless complicated situations, got married, and lived their (albeit short) happily ever after.
And then Michael died.
But Michael’s death isn’t where JTV ends. Instead the story continued to follow Jane after her husbands death. We saw how she grieved, and wallowed in pain. We watched her grow, and eventually, move on. In fact, writing and completing her book was a sense of acceptance of Michael’s death, and a signal that she was slowly trying to go forward with her life. And so, she did.
Over time, her love story with Rafael began to blossom once more. And suddenly, the show created another relationship that developed just as organically as Michael and Jane did, but no longer had to worry about that pesky love triangle anymore - now that Jane wasn’t conflicted by her feelings for Michael. Yes, there was still a lot of push and pull, and even a little moment where Rafael had feelings for Petra again. But, the show has always made an effort to point out that Rafael has been a constant factor to the most pivotal moments of Jane’s life (See: Rafael encouraging Jane to “be brave;” the entire episode that drove Jane to writing her book, and even helping her read Michael’s eulogy).
By this point in the story, anyone who used to be #TeamMichael was likely accepting the fact that Rafael would be just as good for Jane as Michael was. Thus bringing me to my reasons why Jane would pick Rafael.
Okay, so from the very beginning of the series, JTV has laid heavy groundwork around the concept of “family.” “Family” is basically the heart and soul of this show. It’s a theme that is touched upon in just about every (if not all) episodes of the entire series. From the very first episode, we are introduced to Jane’s close relationship with both her mother and grandmother. We learn about how important they are to her life, and how much they each played a part in shaping her into the woman she’s grown up to become. But then, the series added another element of “family” when the show introduced Rogelio and reunited Jane with her father. Suddenly, there was a sense of “family” coming full circle as Jane had both her parents to finally lean on. And because of this, and because of the fact that Jane is our heroine of the story, there have always been hints of Jane and Rafael coming in full circle as well in order to provide a “complete” family for Mateo (See: Every time Alba roots for #TeamRafael).
Yes, okay you can argue “But what about Petra and the twins?!” However, the show has already done it’s job to show us that Petra and Rafael have trajected on to different paths, and have completely moved on from one another. Rafael and Petra are still family, just not in the conventional way. And they’re both fine with that.
Not to mention, one of the driving forces of Jane wanting to be with Rafael is because of Mateo. Unlike the twins, Mateo has repeatedly expressed his happiness when his mom and dad are together. We can rule out Petra and Rafael as endgame because, not only do Petra and Rafael no longer hold a flame for each other, but their daughters don’t seem to show that same kind of desire for their parents, as Mateo does for his. So, even though this reason may not be rooted deeply in Jane and Rafael’s relationship, it does make parallel sense when you compare Mateo’s parental story to that of Jane’s.
Now, while Jane picking Rafael is the most logical choice (at least, as far as storytelling goes), we can’t rule out the possibility that Jane would end up with neither Michael or Rafael. Do I see Jane ending up on her own as a possibility? Very much so, and only because Jenny Synder Urman has always made an effort of putting that idea out into the universe whenever she talks about JTV. It’s possible she only says it as a red herring for avid fans, like myself. But when you pair that thought with the fact that JTV also heavily emphasizes the idea of “strong women” just as much as they emphasize “family,” well, you can see why Jane ending up alone is still in the realm of possibilities. Not to mention, Jane letting go of Rafael and Michael is also probably the healthiest option for ALL of them, because 1) Michael and Rafael both deserve someone who would choose them first every time, and 2) Jane needs to find someone whom she is 100000000% confident in (not flip flopping between one ex to the next ex). Now, is it possible for Jane to end up with a new love interest? Unlikely, since there isn’t enough time to establish a new love interest that viewers would be interested in. But, like I’ve said, it’s still possible for Jane to end up going solo instead of with Rafael or even Michael.
To flip the discussion, I also strongly believe that Michael is not endgame for Jane. I know members of #TeamMichael are gonna come at me for saying that, but there are actually A LOT of reasons why he’s most likely not (and even shouldn’t be) Jane’s endgame.
The first reason is because, if we really look at where our story currently is, Michael is literally Jane’s past, while Rafael (who we know has/had intentions of proposing) is Jane’s future. I don’t doubt that the show is going to want to have Jane explore her feelings for Michael-Jason, but here’s the thing we shouldn’t forget: HE’S STILL MICHAEL-JASON! He’s not just Michael or just Jason. As he already pointed out, Michael feels like 2 different people. And reasonably so, because for the last 4 years, he’s lived his life as Jason, this canned beans eating, dog-loving cowboy from Montana. Therefore, even though he has Michael’s memories, it doesn’t mean Jason is completely wiped away. And if there’s anything we, the viewers, have learned, it’s that Jane and Jason aren’t compatible.
Also if the show does decide to have Jane explore her feelings for Michael-Jason, I wouldn’t be surprised if things go south. Why? Because all these feelings that are resurfacing are rooted in their past. They’re talking about old memories and reminiscing on what they used to have, that they’re currently blind sighted to who they’ve become. 4 years is a long time, and people can change a lot during that time. Which is why, I wouldn’t be surprised if both Jane and Michael discover that, rather than actually still being in love with each other, they’re mostly in love with the idea of being together and what they used to have. Because honestly, with everything that has happened to the both of them in the last 4 years, there’s no way they can just pick up right where they left off. We all know that doesn’t work.
Another reason why I don’t believe Jane will end up with Michael is because, narratively speaking, it doesn’t make sense. Why would the writers build up Jane and Rafael’s future so much, only to pull the rug at the very last second?! For Jane to back track and pick Michael again only negates EVERYTHING that happened between Jane and Rafael in the back half of Season 4. The writers of JTV have proven time and time again that nothing happens by chance. Therefore, I want to give them enough credit that they would just cancel everything they gave to Jane and Rafael in season 4. Not to mention, while Michael and Jane’s marriage wasn’t very long, the fact that they already got married was a satisfying conclusion to their love story. Whereas, Jane and Rafael weren’t JUST dating. They were both getting ready to settle down and commit to one another. For Jane and Rafael’s happy ending to just suddenly swept away is incredibly unsatisfying from a viewers point of view, regardless of being #TeamRafael or #TeamMichael, because it makes viewers feel like all that build up was just a waste of time.
Finally, the reason it’s hard to believe that Jane would pick Michael is because of Mateo. Everything goes back to Mateo. I read a blog post where someone tried to argue “But Michael had such a good relationship with Mateo to the point where he treated him like his own son.” Here’s the thing. When Michael died, Mateo was still just a baby. Even young children don’t have clear recollections of their memories as babies. And now that Mateo is older, his memories of Michael are based on the stories Jane has told him. Therefore, there really is no relationship there between Mateo and Michael anymore. Add that on to the point where I talked about how Mateo desires for his parents to be together so that they can be a family, and you can imagine how Michael can suddenly be painted as the villain from Mateo’s point of view. Not only that, Jane choosing Michael over Rafael would threaten her relationship with her son. We’ve had numerous occasions where Mateo clearly gravitates to his dad, so if Jane were to pick Michael and destroy any of Mateo’s hopes of a “perfect” family, well, it would also destroy the relationship between Jane and Mateo. If the writers wrote Mateo to be okay with Jane choosing Michael, it would be a VERY out of character decision, given how much we know Mateo wants his parents to be together. Mateo accepting Michael and Jane would only be reasonable if this wasn’t the show’s final season, because then we’d have more time to explore Mateo’s journey toward acceptance.
So how do I think this is all going to end? Honestly, I have no clue. I do have some theories about how Michael may possibly leave the show…but I think I’ll save those thoughts for another time, because I’ve accidentally written an essay about Jane the Virgin, and my heart and brain still need some time to process the first five episodes of this last season.
If you did read this, kudos to you!
And if these episodes of JTV are driving you absolutely bonkers, well, don’t forget to “inhala exhala.”
