Jane the Virgin returns tonight and it has a lot to answer for. Last season, right when we thought Jane would get a happy ending, tragedy struck. Her newborn baby, Mateo, was kidnapped by the villainous Sin Rostro, who was revealed to be Rose, the stepmother of Rafael Solano, father of Jane’s baby.
According to Jane star Gina Rodriguez, the baby-napping twist had members of the cast crying and throwing their scripts during the table read. If that was the reaction among those involved, you can probably guess how Twitter reacted. “I think people were like, what the hell?” showrunner Jennie Urman says. “It’s so shocking because they had attached so deeply to Jane and her journey."
But fans shouldn’t be too worried. Mateo will be back with Jane “very soon,” Rodriguez says. Here are some other things you can look out for this season.
Mother & Child Reunion At first, Urman was thinking that it would take an entire episode for Mateo to return to Jane. But then she decided that would make things just too depressing. “How can we ever laugh? I kept imagining scene after scene of Jane crying,” she says. “I was like, I think we’ve got to compress things, get the baby back at the end of the first act. But then, of course, you don’t want to think it was too easy, it’s got to come with a cost, and...then we have to amplify the drama from there. It was definitely a challenging episode.” Urman wanted to get back to the story of what Jane's life will be like with a newborn and wanted fans to know that once Mateo returns, he is safe. For her part, Rodriguez says that fans are going to “love” seeing Jane and Mateo together. “This first episode, to me, shows a woman that does not shy away from an obstacle, from a conflict. She will fight and is not afraid to do so and is so determined and so fearless,” she says. Marriage Urman has said that Jane will indeed get married this season. But right now, Rodriguez, who was shooting the fifth episode when we spoke, is “living in Team Jane” — a.k.a. she doesn’t know who she wants Jane to get hitched to. “I think we have a perception that...the princess needs to be saved and so-and-so is going to come and make her life better,” she says. “We’re discovering that Jane knows how to do that for Jane." When I ask both Urman and Rodriguez whether Jane will have to choose between Michael and Rafael or whether someone else will enter the picture, they are appropriately cagey. “There’s definitely other people who enter the picture. To what extent, I can’t really say,” Urman says. “Michael and Rafael obviously loom huge, and that's where the pressure is right now.” As far as the matter of Jane's virginity, Urman says that she feels "protective" over Jane's choice to save herself for marriage. "It's just one of the many things that are in the stew of who Jane is," she says. Britney Spears There is a big star coming to Jane’s world: Britney, playing Britney. According to Urman, Jane’s telenovela star father Rogelio (Jaime Camil) thinks that Britney is his “nemesis.” Urman, however, says that Britney “has a different side to the story and that’s what we’ll be exploring.” According to Rodriguez, Spears was “fierce, hysterical, great with her comedy” during her appearance — quite an accomplishment, considering she has to perform opposite a comedy natural like Camil. “A battle up against him seems like a crazy feat, and Britney came and killed it,” Rodriguez says. “I’m so proud of her. I’m so proud that she fit so wonderfully into the family.” Rodriguez has shown off her dancing skills on the show before, but now she gets to dance alongside a master. “Britney was my first pop star,” the actress says. “She’s only a few years older than me. I remember just wanting to be Britney Spears. She was everything.” Urman promises that there will be more guest stars and they will all seamlessly fit into Jane's world.