As showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman announced on Twitter on Sunday, Jane Gloriana Villanueva finally lost her V-card to Michael Cordero on tonight’s episode of Jane to Virgin. But it wasn’t before a few fakeouts, obstacles, and interruptions from the Villanueva clan.
Once Jane and Michael finally find a moment in the bedroom, the narrative plays out in classic Jane the Virgin structure. True to the show’s romanticism, Jane and Michael look lovingly into each other’s eyes. “I want it to be good for you,” Michael says earnestly. “It’s gonna be perfect because it’s you,” Jane, a person who’s never had sex, replies. The show chooses not to show us the actual moment, cutting to an animated scene to retain the fantasy.
True to its soapier tendencies, Jane immediately panics afterward when she realizes she’s accidentally sent a tape of her and Michael doing it to her professor. But more crucially, true the show’s realism, we soon find out the sex wasn’t perfect for Jane: She faked her orgasm, and later comes clean to Michael about it. The rest of their attempts at intimacy are more strained, and romance doesn’t come as easily now that the fantasy is gone. A special sex gel Jane buys to spice things up “feels like wasabi.”
Jane becomes anxious that she and Michael aren’t compatible enough, but what’s most surprising about the story line is how much their issues affect Michael. He tells Jane not to talk about their problems in the bedroom with anyone. “We should work this glitch out privately,” he advises, and later bails on Jane at an event when he finds out Jane told her BFF Lina about their problems. But the show couldn’t villainize Michael for too long — soon he’s back to his understanding self, and the two have seemingly life-changing sex, once again illustrated in cutesy animations.
What did you think, Jane watchers? How did the show handle the pivotal moment? Were you happy to see Jane and Michael resolve things, or did it feel a little too pat? Or were you, like me, holding out hope that this would pave the way for a Rafael comeback? And should the show just be called Jane now?
