“Jane the Virgin” is officially back on The CW for its third season tonight, and with it, the almighty sexual tension of the show’s Jane-Michael-Rafael love triangle. Here at RedEye, we are a house divided: Should Jane end up with her stable policeman husband, Michael, or her hot baby daddy, Rafael? We argue each team below.
NOTE: Spoilers abound, so read at your own risk.
TEAM MICHAEL
I am proudly Team Michael. Here is the part where you tell me I am vanilla and predictable. That’s OK; I accept both of these things.
Michael is the essence of boyfriend material: thoughtful, attentive, goofy, stable. He is the stasis of romantic bliss. You have a torrid summer affair with Rafael; you marry Michael. End of story.
But being Team Michael goes beyond the simple appeal of a nice, generically good-looking sitcom guy—or even just preferring him over Rafael as a character. At his core, Michael is a guilty pleasure. He appeals to that insidious side of you that sort of likes overprotectiveness, the idea of complete and total devotion from a man. It makes your 21st century feminist soul wither a little, sure, but yet the feeling remains. He’s a fantasy of stability.
The logical, modern route would be for Jane to end up with Rafael, a man she could travel the world with and who challenges her worldviews. Nowadays, who wouldn’t choose an outrageously handsome billionaire over some regular cop? In that sense, Michael almost feels like the more forbidden choice. He’s made normalcy seem scandalous. Would I choose a Michael in real life? Who knows. But in terms of narrative arc—and pure emotional pull—I’m weirdly into it.
And yeah, I understand that Team Michael is looking anything but stable right now. I’m holding out for a medical miracle here. The Jane-Michael wedding was a great victory, but it’ll be a long road ahead. Stay away from the grieving wife, Rafael!
—Emma Krupp
TEAM RAFAEL
I understand the argument that is Team Michael. Michael is sweet and supportive—he loves Jane more than anything and has made sacrifices to be with her. He’s the kind of guy your mother would love, the kind of guy who doesn’t pressure you into moving too fast, the kind of guy who respects your beliefs. Stability is his calling card; a guy like Michael doesn’t rock the boat.
I will admit that I’m predisposed to prefer Rafael in my TV love triangles. He’s initially set up as the risk, the “follow your heart, Jane” option, which programs my brain to root for him no matter how perfect Michael seems later. There are a lot of other basic reasons to pull for Rafael too, like the fact that he’s the father of her child or that they share the same heritage.
But here’s the real sell for Rafael: He balances Jane. Respect and stability and sweetness are all well and good, but Jane already has those things in abundance. Maybe if she were a risk taker, you could argue that she needed someone like Michael to ground her and provide a safety she could come home to. But Jane is safe and organized and stable on her own. What she needs is someone to push her, like Rafael did with her writing ambitions, or challenge her, like he does when she needs to let go a little bit.
Life with Michael would certainly be easier than life with Rafael, but I find myself doubting that Jane would do or be as much with the safer option. Yeah, Rafael is hot, but there’s more to this team than that.
—Lauren Chval
