When “Jane The Virgin” comes back for Season 2 Monday, our titular heroine will have just given birth and promptly had her newborn stolen.
So there’s not much time for romance, even as Jane (Gina Rodriguez) continues to waver between baby daddy Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and ex-boyfriend Michael (Brett Dier). But everyone’s working together to get baby Mateo back.
“We’re a comedy and you can’t laugh, really, until Mateo comes back, so that’s our first order of business in the premiere,” executive producer and showrunner Jennie Urman told TheWrap.
Below, Urman discusses mixing serious issues with the lighthearted aspects of the show, why she decided to reveal Jane’s getting married this season so early, and what to expect from big guest stars like Britney Spears, who will play herself in an upcoming episode, and Kesha.
We have to start with baby Mateo. How soon will we see him back?
We’re a comedy and you can’t laugh, really, until Mateo comes back, so that’s our first order of business in the premiere. Finding out what Sin Rostro wants, why she took him, that’s their first adventure. And from there, drama gets launched, both in the emotional realm and the telenovela realm, for the rest of the episode and the rest of the season. But we get him back. We gotta get him back!
What kind of mother is Jane going to be?
Incredibly loving, certainly, and kind and compassionate. Slightly neurotic, I would say. Maybe clinging to routine, potentially a little too worried, and definitely and well-researched.
You went to some pretty serious places with the pregnancy. Will we see things get serious with motherhood? For instance, could we see Jane with post-partum depression or things of that nature?
She doesn’t have post-partum depression but there are certainly challenges. Challenges with motherhood and things that she can’t anticipate and for someone who likes to plan her life so particularly, the shock of unexpected and uncontrollable will really impact her. You’l see some of that, and we like to have serious things and keep lighter things as well.
So you’ve said Jane’s getting married this season.
I know, I don’t know why I said that! It just kind of popped out. But she is. I think maybe also I, as a TV viewer, you want things to build to something so you’re not constantly watching a show play musical chairs. I guess I wanted people to know we had a plan.
How permanent will this marriage be?
Well I can’t say that! She makes a choice and we’re building towards a wedding.
In terms of that choice and that love triangle, momentum had seemed to shift toward Michael by the end of last season. Is that going to continue or will things swing towards Rafael a bit now?
I would say both are good choices, great choices. We’re going to see Jane connect with both men and try to choose. She’s not just choosing for herself, she’s choosing for Mateo as well. It’s not the same as being young and single and following your heart. It’s a much more complicated, deeper decision and she takes it seriously. I hope people are torn, I do.
And you also have Adam Rodriguez coming in, could he factor into Jane’s love life?
Who knows? He’s coming in as a professor of Jane’s, in that capacity, but of course, on ‘Jane’ things always twist and there’s always surprises built in.
You have some other big guest stars coming, Britney Spears, Kesha. What can you say about their appearances?
Kesha comes in the second episode. We had written the plot about these next door neighbors and they’re rockers. Jane is trying to put Mateo to bed and they have night rehearsals and they maybe don’t like her screaming baby. So they just clash, and that’s Kesha.
Britney comes in for a very specific reason, something that’s happening at the hotel. Once Rogelio learns she’s in town, he gets very upset. We learn that he thinks she’s been avoiding him for years and we learn about their history, their friendship and why he considers her his nemesis.
Kesha’s role sounds like she could come back for more than one episode.
It’s one right now, but she certainly lives next door and she was fantastic so I would love it.
“Jane The Virgin” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.