Last night’s Season 2 finale of Jane the Virgin ended on a shocking note — kind of. The show is based on a telenovela, after all, so when Jane finally chose Michael over Rafael and the two began to plan their wedding, we knew something had to come along to derail their happiness. That something was Michael’s former partner Susannah. Michael and Jane are finally about to consummate the damn thing at the Marbella after the wedding, when he steps out of the room to get ice and comes face to face with Susannah, who shoots him in the chest. Turns out Susannah isn’t even Susannah: she’s Rose, a.k.a. Sin Rostro, a.k.a. the villain we all thought was dead.
Whew! Heavy stuff, right? Is Michael alive? How is Jane going to find out what happened? But Jane the Virgin knows how to balance the sweet and sour, and the finale was mostly given over to Jane and Michael’s wedding. It was traditional in some ways — Jane and Michael were married in a church, of course, and duh, Jane’s a virgin bride — but in others it was bracingly modern and irreverent; even a little goofy. It was the best TV wedding I’ve seen in ages. Here are ten reasons why.
1. Jane’s “family heirloom” veil
The episode opens on a flashback: Jane’s abuela, Alba, tells her young granddaughter the familiar story of how she got married in a veil worn by her mother and her mother’s mother. She tells Jane one day she’ll wear the same veil. But it turns out Alba’s story is just a story, and her wedding wasn’t as idyllic as she led Jane to believe. “So the veil I’m wearing tomorrow….” Jane begins. “Worn by generations of women,” Alba says, “just not Villanueva women. I bought it at a flea market.”
2. The walk down the aisle
At the wedding rehearsal, it’s clear there won’t be room for both of Jane’s parents, Xiomara and Rogelio, plus Alba, to walk her down the aisle like she’d hoped. The priest tells her she’ll have to narrow it down to two, and of course she chooses Alba and Xiomara, the women who raised her, instead of bowing to tradition and choosing her father. (Once she reaches the altar, Rogelio offers her an arm and escorts her to Michael, so he’s not totally obsolete.) And I love that it’s not even a discussion; we don’t even hear the conversation that resulted in that choice. No biggie.
3. Jane takes a bus to her wedding
At the end of Season 1, Jane went into labor while riding a public bus and Xiomara managed to convince the bus driver, over the phone, to bypass the regular stops and rush Jane to the hospital. In the Season 2 finale, Jane, in her wedding dress with full hair and makeup done, and Rogelio board a bus to the church when Rogelio’s car breaks down. They make it just in time.
4. Jane makes room for her thesis on her wedding day
The reason Rogelio’s car breaks down? He kept the air conditioning on while Jane ran into her thesis advisor’s office to re-submit her proposal. At the last minute, amidst the frantic wedding plans, she realizes her heart’s not in her original proposal, and she wants to write a love story based on her grandmother and grandfather meeting in Venezuela and coming to America. So she hauls ass to her college, with less than two hours to spare before her wedding begins. The plot creates drama, but there’s not really a conflict between her wedding and her thesis; she gets to have both.
5. Michael recites his vows in Spanish
When it comes time for Jane and Michael to recite their vows, Jane goes first, and says them in English. Then, with a glance at Alba, Michael delivers his in perfect Spanish, proving once again how much he cares about Jane and wants to be part of her family. Ok, ok, we get it, Michael’s perfect! Of course he got shot!
6. “Go have sex!”
Right after Jane and Michael tie the knot, Jane lays a bouquet of flowers at the foot the statue of the Madonna, who then urges Jane to “go have sex”; the church choir begins to sing the refrain, and then Alba, Xiomara, and Rogelio stand up and join in. (Rogelio: “Go have sex with my best friend!”) She’s waited so long it’s no wonder she’s hearing things.
7. Bruno Mars!
When Jane and Michael take the stage at the reception for their first dance as a married couple, Rogelio unveils a surprise: He’s asked his “third best friend” Bruno Mars to perform for them, which he does, singing “Rest of My Life” — the song’s debut. Savvy move, Mars and Jane.
8. Jane and Rogelio’s dance
The wedding features all the traditional events, like the father-daughter dance — except this dance is not so traditional. In my favorite moment of the episode, Jane and Rogelio take the stage for the customary father-daughter dance, but instead of slow dancing to a cheesy love song, they perform a choreographed hip-hop routine.
9. Michael’s breakdancing
Blink and you’ll miss it, but yeah, Michael can breakdance! During the reception he gets loose with his buddies, prompting Susannah to mutter, “What is it with straight dudes at weddings? So homoerotic.”
10. The venue
When Jane, Xiomara, and Alba’s house flooded back in episode 16, Jane was devastated: She’d always planned to get married at the house where she grew up with her mother and abuela. Rogelio pulls some strings and has the crew of his telenovela recreate the house on the soundstage just for the wedding. It’s a perfect location for a Jane the Virgin wedding: cozy, intimate, and just weird enough to work.