A few months ago, I made a shocking discovery: My younger sister, a fellow Jane the Virgin diehard, is Team Rafael. As the day one captain of Team Michael, I was beside myself. How could this be? Have I failed as a big brother? And yet now, as Michael was brought back from the dead only to serve as an obstacle to the inevitable Jane-Raf pairing, I don’t care about which of these two men our dear Jane ends up with — as long as Petra is by her side.
In Jane the Virgin‘s current fifth and final season, the best series on television (yes, I said it) has spent a great deal of time putting the finishing touches on Jane’s love life, but its most important development has been cementing the relationship between Jane and Petra as the heart of the series. And considering how the characters were positioned at the start, it’s truly the biggest miracle to happen since Jane became pregnant.
Most of the credit for this unexpected turn belongs to the writers and star Yael Grobglas. At the start of the series, Petra was positioned as an even bigger villain than Sin Rostro. A cheater, criminal, and schemer, Petra was as anti-Jane as possible and she spared no expense in making life hell for the artificially inseminated mother of her husband’s unborn child. And even when she and Rafael split, she still was kind of the worst, one-upping Jane by inseminating herself with her ex’s sperm and paving the way for the most intimidating twins since The Shining. But something funny happened along the way — we started to feel for Petra. If we’re pinpointing an exact moment, it’s probably when she gave birth to Anna and Elsa with Jane by her side, and then her subsequent struggle with postpartum depression. And with material that finally allowed her character to be sympathetic, Grobglas ran with it, turning in one of TV’s most underrated performances.
But Petra’s sudden likability didn’t suddenly turn her and Jane into the ride-or-dies that they’ve become. Actually, that work was done when we weren’t watching. After Michael’s heartbreaking death, Jane jumped ahead three years, and that’s where we found the now-bonded Petra and Jane, who had leaned on each other and formed their own little family with Rafael in prison. And even when he returned to their everyday lives, the relationship continued to go strong, with Petra subconsciously falling in love with her own Jane!
Speaking of JR, it was the recent string of episodes where Jane and Petra dealt with their breakups that forever solidified the two woman as the ship that fans should all really be on. Yes, their “single ladies club” run was a short one, but watching these now self-described “sisters” out on the town together made me so damn happy. And as if my heart couldn’t get any fuller, the upcoming Jane and Rafael wedding that I never wanted gave me one reason to be grateful. Thanks to help from Petra, last week’s episode ended with Jane and Rafael deciding to not go through with courthouse nuptials, meaning they would have a traditional wedding with things like a Maid of Honor and Best Man. This led to an adorable battle for Petra’s services, with the couple arguing who more deserves to have her by their side. Personally, I’m on Jane’s side, and not just because they’re on the same cycle (but that only solidifies my argument here). Rafael won out, but I’m spinning it as our ladies really just felt bad for him and knew that their unbreakable connection didn’t need some label.
With only six episodes left, we’re nearing the end of the road for Jane, and we have surprisingly few loose ends to tie up (unless you’re really invested in the fate of Rogelio and River’s show). So with a Jane and Rafael wedding and surely some classic telenovela twists to come (Michael back again?), the final run has the opportunity to focus on characters over plot and let us just enjoy these last few hours with the ones we love. And by that, I mean give me as much Jane and Petra together as humanly possible.
Jane the Virgin airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
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A telenovela adaptation, Jane the Virgin tells the story of Jane Villanueva, a virgin who is accidentally inseminated during a routine checkup.