When Jane The Virgin Officially Ends & What's At Stake In Those Final Moments

With just a handful of episodes to go before the series finale of Jane the Virgin, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up. This is a telenovela, after all, so things are dramatic as hell up in the Villanueva household. Then again, what would you expect from a show that began with a woman being artificially inseminated with her boss’ sperm?

The series finale is the 18th episode of season 5, which means we have just nine episodes left of Jane the Virgin (a truly devastating fact), but we've got some time to grieve: The final episode of Jane The Virgin airs on July 31. That episode will also mark the series’ 100th episode, which is not just a great number to put on a giant cake, but also a sought after TV benchmark because it’s typically the number of episodes required to sell a show in syndication (reruns 4ever!). Plus, the finale will air following a one-hour retrospective special — uh, yay! — something The CW has thankfully started doing for its beloved series as they are ending (see also: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).

But before it all ends and we begin rewatching the series from the start on Netflix, there are a few storylines you're going to need to keep in your mind grapes until the final credits roll:

While our titular heroine (Gina Rodriguez) has always dreamt of becoming a romance novelist, she recently learned that it was actually her dad, telenovela star Rogelio De La Vega (Jaime Camil), who helped secure her book deal. And while she’s working on a new novel — one her tough mentor is super jazzed about — she’s also in the beginning stages of a potential television writing career now that she’s teamed up with her father to write an English-language series for the U.S. market.

You thought Jane’s fiance, Michael (Brett Dier), died in season 3? Think again, babe. Again: telenovela. It turns out that the super-villain who’s out to destroy Jane’s family actually faked his death and erased his memory, only to bring him back (as a Montana rancher) at the end of season 4, just when she was about to get engaged to her baby daddy/former boss, Rafael (Justin Baldoni). The early episodes of season 5 saw Jane grapple with her feelings about Michael’s return as an amnesiac with no memory of her — then again once Michael got his memory back. Jane and Michael parted ways seemingly at peace with their difficult situation, but not before Raf started to move on. Jane is ready to settle down with Rafael and be a family with their son, Mateo, but will Raf ever want to again?

Speaking of that supervillain, the evil genius Sin Rostro/Rose (Bridget Regan) is back at it, somehow manipulating Luisa (Yara Martinez), Raf’s sister and the doctor who inseminated Jane, via Luisa’s new neighbor (played by 13 Reason’s Why’s Tommy Dorfman). What is her master plan? And will everyone realize she’s still messing everything up?

That’s a lot to answer before July 31. Plus, since this is the soapiest soap that ever soaped, you know there are going to be plenty more wrenches thrown into the mix before the story ends. And we didn’t even mention Petra’s career/love life, Alba’s marriage, or Mateo’s learning difficulties. Regardless of what else happens, there’s really just one thing we’re going to need as Jane the Virgin reaches its endpoint: Jane living happily ever after, with or without the man of her choice.