About Jake
I've heard a number of people complaining about the killing off Jake. Since the actor couldn't do the TV series the writers had 3 options.
1. Kill him off. Which they did.
2. Recast. Then their would have complaints about the new actor. Like with Brandon.
3. Have Jake and Cassie split up. This would spoil the movies and the idea of their perfect marriage.
Whatever the writers did they would have come under fire about it.
This way, the marriage was still a perfect, happy one, their are new story possibilities, and Chris Potter can make a guest appearance. Either dream, flashback or Jedi style ghost, spouting wisdom and plot twists.