"Jane the Virgin" has been a show that's near and dear to my heart for years. It was genius in the sense that it took classic telenovela tropes and turned them on their heads, but the characters are the true heart of the show.
Though the premise of a virgin getting accidentally artificially inseminated seems ridiculous and unrelatable, the characters felt so real, making us root for them through the craziest situations.
And throughout the first four seasons, I never once doubted in the characters. Even if they were doing horrible things, I believed that it was truly something that they would do. I believed in their relationships too, even if I didn't necessarily like them (as a Jane/Michael fan).
However, though I'm sure the writers didn't mean to, the fifth and final season destroyed the arcs of several characters and encouraged people to choose toxic relationships.
Warning: There will be major spoilers for the entire show.
With the dramatic cliffhanger of Michael being alive ending season four, season five already gave a lot of people high expectations.
People who wanted Jane to end up with Rafael wanted Jane to choose him over Michael once and for all. People who wanted Jane to end up with Michael were hoping that this would be their grand reunion.
What we got was something that was, in my opinion, equally as bad for both groups.
Rafael's character gets destroyed. After seasons of buildup to a Rafael who is a reformed person and an amazing partner for Jane, in just a few episodes Rafael is doing things that are completely out of character.
Rafael has always been built up as someone understanding and supportive of Jane. Then when Jane is going through a crazy situation and needs him the most, he suddenly blames her for being confused when her HUSBAND COMES BACK FROM THE DEAD.
Not only that, but he uses their child as a pawn against her and kicks her out of their home.
This is toxic behavior and anyone would want to get out of a relationship like this. (And yes, it is implied that Rafael is dealing with depression during this time, but that plotline is done so badly that it's not believable at all.)
On the other hand, Michael (once he remembers who Jane is) is still as in love with her as before. It looks like he doesn't have much going for him in Montana and would drop everything to be with her.
Though Jane broke his heart, he wished her the best because he just wanted her to be happy. Also, people tend to gloss over the fact that he was literally tortured, which just adds even more pain to Michael's story.
Yes, a surprising relationship between Michael and Charlie was shoehorned in at the end, but it felt like a very forced way to get rid of Michael.
Jane rejects him and goes back to Rafael (who says he can't trust her anymore because she had the audacity to try to figure out her feelings for her husband) and throughout the rest of the series, Jane acts like her wanting to explore things with Michael was wrong and horrible, constantly apologizing to Rafael for even thinking about getting back together with Michael.
This kind of pressuring and making Jane feel like she was wrong to be confused about such an extreme situation is also incredibly toxic on Rafael's part, but it's completely glossed over, with the narrator himself saying that Rafael was the real love interest all along.
In this situation, it leaves no one happy because Michael got his heart broken and Rafael got years of character development completely shattered. It honestly would have been better if Michael had stayed dead, which is heartbreaking to say since Michael was one of my favorite characters.
The worst part is that I can't even dislike the show despite how much it crapped on the Jane/Michael/Rafael stories because of all the good times.
The season finale, in particular, did a great job of highlighting all of the great things about the show like the portrayals of the Latinx community, bisexual coming out stories, women supporting other women, immigrants' struggles, and so much more.
These characters have really felt like a family and made a huge impact on so many people and ending with the Jane/Rafael wedding was a great way to close it off. It was sweet and really pulled at the heartstrings.
"Jane the Virgin" is a really special show and I'm happy I watched it, but it's also impossible to ignore all the things that it did wrong near the end.
I hope that the finales of future shows like this don't follow in their footsteps.
