The CW’s breakout hit Jane The Virgin took audiences and critics by surprise as it brought a heretofore unexplored genre to the forefront of a primetime television series. Starring Gina Rodriguez as the titular Jane, the series has embraced a telenovela-inspired format that has been both comic and poignant as it followed the exploits of pregnant virgin Jane and her two love interests. Surprisingly, showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman gave Season 2's game away early by announcing that Jane will in fact get married in the new season.
Urman openly told EW that Jane would be getting hitched, which comes as something of a shocker. While the premise of the show is fresh, there’s always been some concern that Jane the Virgin could not sustain itself in the long term. After all, babies don’t remain in the womb forever, and even the obligatory fudging of numbers for the sake of sweeps couldn’t exactly allow poor Jane to remain pregnant and virginal for five seasons and a movie. With the birth of Jane’s little boy in the first season finale, the love triangle between the virtuous Jane, longtime suitor Michael, and accidental sperm donor-turned-lover Rafael was one of the biggest plots to carry over into the second season. A resolution relatively early in the series promises either a refreshing departure from the usual romantic histrionics or a crossover into melodrama with a matrimonial twist.
Of course, the plots of Jane the Virgin are often so delightfully twisty that viewers could not possibly foresee certain developments. Who knows? Maybe an evil twin of Michael’s will emerge from the woodwork to ensnare Jane’s heart with the devilish differences from his brother. Perhaps Rafael will be struck by a bolt of divine lightning and find himself once more capable of fathering babies the old-fashioned way. Maybe a new guy who is the best of both worlds will turn up and sweep Jane off of her feet to free her of the strings attached to Michael and Rafael and allow her to blossom professionally.
Still, the kidnapping of baby Mateo in the final moments of Season 1 should eclipse any love triangle shenanigans for a decent interval in Season 2. The three adults have enough love for each other and the little Chekhov’s infant that had been gestating within the heroine for 22 episodes that they can overlook their romantic entanglements for the sake of the stolen baby boy. Jane the Virgin has always struck a whimsical balance between telanovela silliness and exploration of atypical family dynamics, and there can be little doubt that the love triangle should be resolved with enough realism as to sustain the histories between the characters and carry them forward into new plots for subsequent seasons. Neither Jane nor her love interests have ever been solely defined by their roles in the romance, and the marriage between two should not force the third out of the picture.
Marriage is no straightforward affair on Jane the Virgin, and we can only wait to see what twists are ahead for Jane and her boys in Season 2.
