'Jane The Virgin' postmortem: Showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman talks Sin Rostro reveal
It seems like this Rose definitely has a few thorns.
On the most recent episode of Jane The Virgin, Rose—the paranoid, conniving wife of hotel magnate Emilio Solano—was revealed as Sin Rostro. Though nearly every character on The CW hit has been a suspect, Rose’s identity as the mastermind behind Sin Rostro’s criminal drug ring and secret plastic surgery operation was a surprise so shocking that some fans may have actually suffered from whiplash.
In fact, it wasn’t until Rose murdered Papa Solano (by buying him alive in concrete while he was holding her panties—classy!) that she emerged as the criminal kingpin. In retrospect, Rose seems a fairly obvious choice to moonlight as Sin Rostro (hellooo, her name!)—but that wasn’t always the case, says showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman.
“When I wrote the pilot, I knew there would be some conspiracy theory going on in the hotel. I knew I wanted that to be a major thread throughout the season, though I didn’t know exactly what form that would take. I didn’t have the plastic surgery ring or any of that stuff. So when one of our writers came in and pitched it, I loved it. It was very much in the spirit of our show,” Urman says. “And once we landed on that, we decided Rose would be Sin Rostro.”
Though Jane writers have killed off characters before—like Zaz in “Chapter 2”—Emilio’s death seems especially dramatic, which means there’s no predicting what Rose (played by Bridget Regan) will do next. But if you ask Urman, that’s part of the fun.
“[Bridget] has that really classic, beautiful femme-fatale type thing going on, and she plays with a lot of mystery,” says Urman of the Agent Carter actress. “You don’t know quite what she’s thinking, and that’s what I responded to.”
But even though fans know the truth about Rose, all signs still point to Emilio as Sin Rostro. “I think Rose managed to fool everyone, including the police, Michael, and Rafael, into thinking it’s Emilio,” explains Urman. “Her plan was to get rid of him to protect her own identity, but something switches in the next episode.”
And while Jane has relied heavily on time-honored telenovela tropes—like flashbacks, love triangles and eye patch-wearing villainesses—Urman says Emilio definitely won’t return as a ghost, though his memory will continue to haunt Rafael.
“Emilio looms large for his son because he died thinking Rafael was a disappointment,” Urman says. “The twist coming up in the next episode has a lot to do with Rafael living up to his dad’s expectations…he wants to win his dad’s approval, even though it’s too late. ”
Additionally, “Chapter 13” will lend insight into Rose’s back story in a way that will recall some of the show’s raciest scenes. “You’ll see how Luisa and Rose met,” says Urman, laughing. “To me, the one true thing we know about Rose is that she has very strong feelings about Luisa. Luisa is her kryptonite.”
The upcoming episode will also mark a departure from over-the-top drama that characterized “Chapter 12.”
“Each episode has its own feel, and the next episode has a really grounded emotional story about the baby and Jane’s 20 week ultrasound,” explains Urman, who drew inspiration from her own pregnancy for the upcoming storyline. “She’ll have a crisis with the baby, which kind of cements how attached Jane’s become to this idea of being a mom, which is something she hadn’t expected. And the events with the baby will bring Rafael and Jane even closer, with surprising results.”
Does that mean that Jane will remain “The Virgin” for much longer? “It will definitely be tested,” teases Urman. “What I can say is that you’ll meet Jane’s romance writer altar ego. As she writes, she becomes this very romantic character out of the romance novels she loves and there will be some fantasy sequences with her as Juana and Rafael as Raf, a long-haired, Fabio-inspired character. We’re going to have a lot of fun with that, and we’re going to get deeper into their relationship with lots of funny moments coming up.”
Jane The Virgin airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.