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Posted: 2019-08-03T19:13:58Z | Updated: 2020-09-28T18:53:00Z

What do you mean the telenovelas gonna end? a young Jane Gloriana Villanueva, sandwiched on the couch between her mother and grandmother, asks in a flashback in the beginning of the Jane the Virgin series finale.

They always have an ending, her abuela Alba says. But its always a happy one. The good people always get what they deserve. And theres usually a wedding.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

After five whirlwind seasons, the Jane the Virgin finale delivered on that promise with an end resembling a modern-day fairy tale. Jane actualizes her dream of becoming a successful, published author; she marries Rafael, after years of tension; and she grows alongside her family in an intergenerational tale about the strength, beauty and power of women.

In television, you rarely see three female Latinas being in charge of their lives, Ivonne Coll, who portrays Janes abuela, says in the look-back special that preceded the finale.

By bringing three passionate, flawed Latina leading ladies to the screen, Jane changed the landscape of television and brought Latinx representation to viewers who were so hungry for it a cross-cultural accomplishment done so seamlessly and sincerely that its difficult to remember what entertainment looked like before this show upended our lives in 2014. Latinos on television shows continue to be represented primarily as criminals or in law enforcement, as hypersexualized beings and in low-wage work, according to a 2014 study that looked into the quality of roles available for Latino actors. So the impact of seeing the uber-talented Gina Rodriguez, Andrea Navedo and Coll kill it on Jane cannot be overstated.

Jane has been rightfully praised for bringing the telenovela genre to English-speaking audiences and may even be partly credited with the surge in popularity of Spanish-language programming among such audiences in recent years. Despite its unquestionable histrionics, however, the show which is a loose adaptation of the 2002 Venezuelan telenovela Juana, la virgen poked fun at Latin America soap operas. It melded realism and drama, giving viewers characters they could be wholly invested in and coalescing to form a perfect firestorm of a series.

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