History YMMV / JaneTheVirgin

** Is Michael a selfish, manipulative and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu at that point, with almost ''every'' character praising how good he is. [[spoiler:Then, when he comes back from the dead in season 5, his manipulative and selfish traits are emphasized once again, even after regaining his memory (for example, he openly tries to disrupt Jane’s happy new life and family with Rafael and Mateo just because he still loves her, not caring about the consequences his attempt to get Jane back would have on her and her family). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu at that point, with almost ''every'' character praising how good he is. [[spoiler:Then, when he comes back from the dead in season 5, his manipulative and selfish traits are emphasized once again, even after regaining his memory (for example, he openly tries to disrupt Jane’s happy new life and family with Rafael and Mateo just because he still loves her, not caring about the consequences his attempt to get Jane back would have on her and her family). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, since they had decided to put him back together with Jane the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu at that point, with almost ''every'' character praising how good he is. [[spoiler:Then, when he comes back from the dead in season 5 and isn’t going to end up with Jane anymore, his manipulative and selfish traits are emphasized once again, even after regaining his memory (for example, he openly tries to disrupt Jane’s happy new life and family with Rafael and Mateo just because he still loves her, not caring about the consequences his attempt to get Jane back would have on her and her family). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]
** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of season 3 (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but since they’ve both matured a lot during all the time spent apart and got to know each other ''way'' better (to the point they both openly recognize they know each other better that anyone now), they manage to form a pretty solid and healthy couple and also a loving family with Mateo, ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale. So, it’s safe to assume the first interpretation is definitely the right one as the series progresses.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, since they had decided to put him back together with Jane the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu at that point, with almost ''every'' character praising how good he is. [[spoiler:Then, when he comes back from the dead in season 5 and isn’t going to end up with Jane anymore, his manipulative and selfish traits are emphasized once again, even after regaining his memory (for example, he openly tries to disrupt Jane’s happy new life and family with Rafael and Mateo just because he wants to rekindle their relationship, not caring about the consequences his attempt to get Jane back would have on her and her family). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of season 3 (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but since they’ve both matured a lot during all the time spent apart and got to know each other ''way'' better (to the point they both openly recognize they know each other better that anyone now), they manage to form a pretty solid and healthy couple and, by extension, a loving family with their son, ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale. So, it’s safe to assume the first interpretation is definitely the right one as the series progresses.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of season 3 (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but since they’ve both matured a lot during all the time spent apart and got to know each other ''way'’ better (to the point they both openly recognize they know each other better that anyone now), they manage to form a pretty solid and healthy couple and, by extension, a loving family with their son, ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale. So, it’s safe to assume the first interpretation is definitely the right one as the series progresses.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, since they had decided to put him back together with Jane the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu at that point. [[spoiler:Then, when he came back from the dead in season 5 and wasn’t going to end up with Jane anymore, his manipulative and selfish traits were emphasized once again (for example, even after regaining his memory, he openly tried to disrupt Jane’s happy new life just because he wanted to rekindle their relationship, not caring about the consequences his attempt to win Jane back would have on her and her family, in particular Mateo and Rafael). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]
** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and, by extension, loving family with their son, ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale, so the first interpretation is definitely the right one for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu since they had decided to put him back together with Jane. [[spoiler:Then, when he came back from the dead in season 5 and wasn’t going to end up together with Jane anymore, his manipulative and selfish traits were emphasized once again (for example, even after regaining his memory, he openly tried to disrupt Jane’s happy new life just because he wanted to rekindle their relationship, not caring about the consequences his attempt to win Jane back would have on her and her family, in particular Mateo and Rafael). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their break-up. He is fully the latter by late season 2. Or rather, the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his controversial traits and made him a sort of MartyStu since they had decided to put him back together with Jane. [[Then, when he came back from the dead in season 5 and wasn’t going to end up together with Jane anymore, his manipulative and selfish traits were emphasized once again (for example, even after regaining his memory, he openly tried to disrupt Jane’s happy new life just because he wanted to rekindle their relationship, not caring about the consequences his attempt to win Jane back would have on her and her family, in particular Mateo and Rafael). In conclusion, it’s safe to assume he is a bit of both interpretations.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their breakup. He is fully the latter by late season 2, or rather, the writers went so far as to basically whitewash all his problematic and controversial traits when they decided to put him back together with Jane, making him a sort of MartyStu…

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their breakup. He is fully the latter by late season 2, or rather, the writers went on so far that they basically whitewashed all his problematic and controversial traits when they decided to put him back together with Jane, making him a sort of MartyStu…

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and, by extension, loving family with their son, ending up married HappilyEverAfter in the GrandFinale, so the first interpretation is definitely the right one for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and, by extension, loving family with their son, ending up together HappilyEverAfter in the GrandFinale, so the first interpretation is definitely the right one for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and family with their son, ending up together HappilyEverAfter in the GrandFinale, so it’s definitely the first option for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Rafael come season 3. With his revelation that his feelings for Jane are gone, Rafe returns to the flawed but ultimately good-hearted person from season 1, and no longer the jealous manipulative {{Jerkass}} he was being driven too during season 2.

* BrokenBase: [[spoiler: Michael's death midway through Season 3 and the 3 year timejump that followed it.]] Some thought it was an effective move that was well foreshadowed and led to fresh new plots. Others thought it was a cheap ploy to pull at the audience heartstrings and was just pulled so Jane could end up with Rafael.
** [[spoiler: Michael's return]] is causing just as much controversy. Specifically, [[spoiler: the seemingly-pointless resurrection of the love triangle that has resulted from it, and how well or not-well Jane and Rafael are conducting themselves within the situation]].
** Jane and Michael's relationship, in general, seems to attract reactions in extremes. It was either the worst thing in the world or the absolute fucking '''best''', although there are some whose feelings on it are somewhere in between.

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three (including the three-year TimeSkip occurring in the mid-season finale) being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and family with their son, even ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale, so it’s definitely the first for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and family with their son, even ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale, so it’s definitely the first for both questions as the series progresses.]]

** Is Michael a selfish and reckless DirtyCop like Rafael sees him, or a sweet and dependable NiceGuy like Jane sees him? The show takes something of a middle ground -- while he does try to manipulate events in his favor in the beginning (like blackmailing Petra with her affair so they'd keep the baby, etc), he is loyal to and prioritizes Jane, and later admits his mistakes that led to their breakup. He is fully the latter by late season 2.

* EvilIsSexy: Both Petra and Rose. [[spoiler: Especially Rose, what with her being Sin Rostro and all.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally good person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and recognizes how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but having both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make it work and form a pretty solid and healthy couple and family with their son, even ending up HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale, so it’s definitely the first for both the questions by the time the series progresses.]]

** Is Rafael a fundamentally decent person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad and realizes that Rafael is projecting, but also realizes how much the toxicity he has around him affects him negatively and also how hard he works to be a good father for his kids, to learn from his mistakes and to be a better person in general. The two spend all of Season Three being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they are more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up, but since they’ve both grown up a lot since the first time they were together, they manage to make things work and even end up together HappilyMarried in the GrandFinale, so it’s definitely the first for both the questions as the series progresses.]]

** Villadero: Jane/Michael, with their last names.

** Is Rafael a fundamentally decent person who makes questionable decisions as a result of the increasing dysfunction surrounding him, or a selfish, sleazy manipulator? Building on that, are his feelings for Jane grounded in reality, or just him projecting his desire for a stable family unit towards her and Mateo? Jane herself acknowledges that Rafael goes to dark places when things get bad and realizes that Rafael is projecting. They spend all of Season Three being AmicableExes; [[spoiler:by the time they try to rekindle their relationship in Season Four, they seem more aware of the potential consequences should they screw up]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: David Castañeda played Nicolas for a few episodes in season one, years before he'd become known as Diego on ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019''.

* AcceptablePoliticalTargets: UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump unexpectedly becoming president in RealLife during the filming of Season 3 resulted in a few jabs at his presidency in the subsequent seasons.

* HolierThanThou: Jane is extremely self-righteous and intolerant of liars. She has berated several characters for lying to her, yet has lied when it suited her. For instance, she lied to her husband [[spoiler: Michael]] about spending money on Mateo when someone else had already covered the cost in order to pad their budget.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Season 4 sees the show suddenly adding in a whole bunch of very casual, low-key gay characters, plus giving Petra a bisexual awakening, in what's likely a response to the much-criticized aspect that its only gay couple in the first three seasons being extremely dysfunctional and even criminal.

* HolierThanThou: Jane is extremely self-righteous and intolerant of liars. She has berated several characters for lying to her, yet has lied when it suited her. For instance, she lied to her husband [[spoiler: Michael]] about spending money on Mateo when someone else had already covered the cost in order to pad their budget. She is also harsh towards Petra about covering for her mother [[spoiler: pushing Alba down the stairs]] as well as covering for [[spoiler: her sister in attempting to sabotage Jane]] but frequently states that family comes first.