Does Michael Come Back Again in Jane the Virgin
The One Lingering Flaw in Jane the Virgin's Otherwise Perfect Catastrophe
This postal service contains spoilers for Season 5 of Jane the Virgin.
Jane the Virgin concluded on Midweek, equally information technology tells u.s. telenovelas must do, with a wedding. After five seasons, Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Rafael (Justin Baldoni) tied the knot in front end of their family and friends, a heartfelt ending to a heartfelt show that has followed them from an accidental bogus insemination to co-parenting a son at present capable of reading on his own. Simply there'southward a frustrating tangle to this happy union that cheapens it ever so slightly: a storyline before in the flavour that resurrected Jane's presumed-dead first married man, Michael (Brett Dier).
There are those who might fence that Jane the Virgin is non a testify about "real" life—it's based on a telenovela, after all, and leans heavily into that genre'due south flavor and tropes. Only though the show dwells in a world that's more dramatic and a tiny bit more magical than our real one, it has pulled it off past staying grounded in emotional reality and weaving in circuitous bug of faith, sexuality, abortion, and clearing smartly and with a kindness that's sorely lacking elsewhere on TV. (I of the show's favorite devices is contrasting the wackiness of Rogelio'due south telenovelas with the complicated, imperfect happenings of the earth the Jane the Virgin characters inhabit.) That'southward what makes this misstep stand out so much: The way the show portrays love after a major loss lacks its usual emotional realness.
Michael's render this season seemed, at starting time, like the prove also returning to its roots: Jane spent months torn between Rafael and Michael earlier finally marrying the latter. Then, Jane the Virgin underwent a three-year fourth dimension bound after Michael apparently died and left Jane a widow—only to reappear at the stop of Season 4 with amnesia, courtesy of perpetual villain Sin Rostro (Bridget Regan). Jane struggled with the thought that Michael was back but that his new personality, "Jason," was all that was left. Then, thanks to a reappearance of the show'south "magical snowfall" motif—really, plaster falling from the ceiling—Michael regained his memories and continued, once again, to a wary Jane.
That's when information technology became clear to viewers: The newly returned Michael—the man she had been happily married to—wasn't a serious selection anymore. Instead, his return was just a way for the writers to allow Jane to officially "cull" Rafael this time, not once but twice: first over Jason, then over the real Michael. That decision is driven even farther dwelling when Michael reappears toward the stop of the show, engaged to a character we've met exactly once earlier, with a baby on the style, and musing about how they all ended up where they are "supposed" to be.
This storyline operates on the assumption—or at least, caters to viewers who concord it—that Rafael and Jane's love afterwards Michael's death would never be "truthful" because he was her 2nd choice. That does such a disservice to the very concept of love after grief and loss. Opening one's eye after grief or entering a relationship with someone who has that by trauma is a challenging and complicated experience, not one to be down-rated simply considering it wouldn't accept happened if the previous partner were all the same alive. The Michael Returns plot reads like Rafael's wish-fulfillment fantasy: that he can take the satisfaction of Jane formally choosing him this fourth dimension over her late married man. In real life, a homo who'due south marrying a young widow doesn't accept that luxury and would need to accept that he is simply a dissimilar chapter of her life, not part of a contest.
We've seen this kind of relationship washed justice earlier—on Jane the Virgin itself, in fact. Jane's grandmother Alba (Ivonne Coll) has slowly learned to open her heart once again later existence a widow for years, and in this final flavor, she'southward fully embraced her spousal relationship with new dear Jorge without any proffer that information technology lessens her dear for her late husband or is lessened by her having loved before. With this kind of role model right in front of the audience, Jane didn't demand to decline Michael to be with Rafael. It'due south hard to see logic in a storyline that insists Alba and Jorge'south human relationship tin can be a happy ending, only Rafael and Jane'southward can't unless she rejects her showtime hubby.
It's not about whom Jane ends up with. The testify has always done a remarkable job of showing the strengths and flaws of all three members of its primal love triangle, and every bit recently equally Season four, I marveled at how beautifully the writing seemed to sympathise that Jane and Rafael's rekindled romance was no less beautiful or romantic than Jane and Michael'due south past honey had been. How rare to show that whole, painful process of Jane opening up and finding love once again, without discrediting anyone involved. Bringing Michael back only to prove that Jane has moved on, then, felt non just redundant—we'd already seen that she'd moved on—but a little insulting. Insulting to Rafael, who was forced back into the jealous-guy mold he'd long left behind. Insulting to Jane, whose life suddenly had to revolve around choosing a guy when she'd long since left those days behind her. And insulting to Michael, a graphic symbol who deserved meliorate than to be a plot device for his wife and her new love in his final appearances. Don't get me incorrect: Jane the Virgin nevertheless leaves behind a legacy to be proud of. I merely wish information technology hadn't stumbled over this hurdle when the terminate line was so about in sight.
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Source: https://slate.com/culture/2019/08/jane-the-virgin-finale-michael-amnesia.html#:~:text=Then%2C%20thanks%20to%20a%20reappearance,t%20a%20serious%20option%20anymore.
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