This article contains spoilers for the Jane the Virgin season 4 finale
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Jane the Virgin is officially ending after season 5, but fans of the show may not be surprise, due to the meta-references that the narrator and characters make to the show’s story arc. Additionally, both showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman and star Gina Rodriguez have hinted that the show would end after five seasons. Urman also confirmed to The New York Times that the show would include its original ending from her pitch for the show. The final season will also provide closure, rather than the cliffhanger endings that each previous season has employed, so fans can rest assured that both Jane and Jane the Virgin will be given a proper ending.
According to Urman, the show was originally conceived of as a four-season story. However, as the show developed, the story was expanded to five seasons, while still maintaining the same general structure and story arc. After Michael dies, the Narrator tells the viewer that the show has finished “part two”, which would fit about halfway into the original framework. Simultaneously, Urman wrote a note to fans addressing Michael’s death, which occurred at the midseason finale of season 3, stating that Jane’s story was still unfolding: “And we are only at our midpoint.” Michael’s death was always meant to be the hinge of the two halves of Jane’s story, which, given his surprise return, makes perfect sense.
By this point, the five season structure was already was already solidified, to the point that the characters began to reference five seasons within the show. Jane is filled with self-aware comedic quips to its telenovela form; recently, for example, when Rafael had a secret he was keeping from Jane, her abuela jokes that if they were in a telenovela, Rafael would have discovered that he and Jane are long lost siblings.
Rogelio’s career as a telenovela actor, too, often mirrors the frame and theme of various episodes of the show. In addition to this telenovela humor, however, the show has referenced its five season framework multiple times. In Season 4, Episode 3, titled “Chapter Sixty-Seven”, Rogelio is angry at a plot line in a fictional telenovela. He cries out in typical dramatic anguish:
To which the Narrator responds, referencing Jane’s boyfriend at the time:
Because you can’t just introduce a new love interest three-fifths of the way through the series and expect the audience to ROOT FOR HIM!
If the joke wasn’t already clear, Adam first appeared in the final episode of season 3, acknowledging that both the Narrator and presumably the audience know that Adam is not Jane’s future husband.
Hey, that reminds me — where’s Adam?
Because of the show’s consistent story arc, Michael’s death and return have always been part of the plan. Season 5, building from the previous seasons, also returns to season 1, where Jane is forced to choose between a life with Michael or with Rafael. This time, however, the personal history is longer, the emotions run deeper, and the stakes feel higher: the perfect ending to a telenovela. Jane the Virgin may be ending, but fans of the show will get closure and answers to longstanding mysteries, including the identity of the Narrator and the person whom Jane will ultimately marry.
More: Rosario Dawson Joins the Cast of Jane the Virgin Season Four
Source: The New York Times
