“Jane the Virgin” showrunner Jennie Urman is promising a very “emotional” Season 2 finale, and after attending a table read of the episode, TheWrap can confirm she’s not exaggerating.
In fact, the script made series star Gina Rodriguez shed real tears on at least two separate occasions. At one point, the actress even excused herself to get a box of tissues.
“Jane and Michael’s wedding day – Jane and Michael and Rogelio’s, I should say – is full of surprises,” Urman told TheWrap ahead of the finale airing Monday night. “It’s an emotional moment for everybody on the show. Jane and her family, Michael, Rafael, Petra, it really brings to a head and there’s a lot of tension about whether she’ll get there.”
The episode promises to finally marry lovebirds Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Michael (Brett Dier), though plenty of twists and turns are abound, which is fitting for a season finale of the CW drama that’s based on a Venezuelan telenovela. Cast members even jumped to their feet in shock or glee at least three times during the table read.
Urman discussed the episode at length with TheWrap, teasing danger for Michael and Anezka’s plan for Petra. Read the rest of the interview below.
TheWrap: One reason why we might not actually see a wedding happen is this perception of an increased danger around Michael. Are fans right to be worried about him?
Jennie Urman: They’re definitely picking up on tensions in the story that we built into the narrative. They’re worried and there have been several hints that they should be worried, and whether their worries will manifest is the question. Sometimes you’re playing with dramatic tension and you want to subvert it, and sometimes you want to almost emotionally prepare people a little bit. They’ll have to watch to see which way we’ve taken it.
Petra also seems to be in some danger now that it’s been revealed Anezka has plans to impersonate her. What are she and Magda up to exactly?
I feel like the twin on a telenovela is a little bit like a Chekov’s gun. You can’t have that storyline without some sort of nefarious plan or intention. We learned at the end of the last episode that there is a plan, and then in the finale, the plan will be revealed. Anezka has a plan and whether it will work or not, what it exactly is, will all become very clear when you watch the finale.
It’s been amazing to watch Jane and Petra’s relationship evolve. Are they headed towards being BFFs?
It’s part of the reason we had Petra inseminate herself. In the first season they were sort of romantic rivals, but once she had the babies, they’re kind of this Frankenstein family. Now that adds extra stakes to the relationship. Without that, if Jane and Petra met on the street, it would probably be a one second conversation, they would realize they had nothing in common and never see each other again. But because they’re part of each other’s family now, and family is very important to Jane.
She’s very close to the people in her family and Petra hasn’t had that and craves it. There’s this desire to make it work, and yet they’re such different people. We really worked hard this season to slowly build up their relationship so that it would be believable. It’s never going to be smooth sailing because they’re very different people with different ways of looking at the world and interacting with the world. It can’t be smooth, but the ups and downs and the sense that they’re trying to make it work, is what we like in the writers’ room. Their victories feel as significant as anything romantic we do.
“Jane The Virgin” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.