Why Jane the Virgin's New Love Triangle Won't Disappoint

Jane the Virgin broke fans' hearts when the series killed off Jane's (Gina Rodriguez) husband Michael (Brett Dier) last season. Afterwards, viewers (and Jane) were given a considerate time to mourn before The CW telenovela eased its heroine back into the dating scene with a handful of mismatched beaus. But now that Jane has had her first casual fling, she's ready to open her heart again to real, true love when Jane the Virgin returns for its fourth season this week -- but with who?

When we last saw Jane, she was rushing off to tell Rafael (Justin Baldoni) that she had feelings for him. That is, until she ran into her first love, Adam (Tyler Posey) outside the Marbella. Now that fate has brought Adam back into her life, Jane will once again find herself in the middle of a complicated love triangle between two completely different men. According to creator Jennie Snyder Urman, this won't be a repeat of what fans saw Jane deal with when she was torn between Raf and Michael. Adam's free-wheeling personality will bring out a whole other side of Jane (and a whole other set of issues), while Rafael's current financial status (aka the fact that he's completely broke) will put a pressure on the pair they haven't faced before.

To find out what's in store for the new love triangle, plus where Petra (Yael Grobglas)fits into all this, TV Guide spoke with Urman about everything fans can expect of Jane this season.

Jane was about to tell Rafael that she has feelings for him when she ran into Adam. How will she juggle her feelings for both of her exes at once?
Jennie Snyder Urman: Jane trying to untangle her feelings and to make clear what her feelings are is really what our premiere episode is about. We left her about to tell Rafael that yes, she does have feelings for him when suddenly her first love comes back into the picture in an unexpected way. He brings with him a lot of stakes and history and a different kind of relationship, and Jane and Adam have a real adventure at the beginning of the episode. Then after, she starts to really try to untangle where her heart is, and that's really what the first episode is about and a lot about what the first half of our season is about.

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Rafael has always been the one with money in his relationship with Jane until now. How will Rafael's new financial situation affect his dynamic with Jane and how they co-parent Mateo?
Urman: Rafael losing his money and having to come to terms with how different life is when you aren't incredibly privileged is one of the stories that we're most excited to tell this year. The dynamics between Jane and Rafael change significantly. Rafael and Jane realize just what a cushion his money has been, and suddenly every issue with Mateo is not as easy to deal with when you can't throw money at it. It creates new stresses in their relationship, it changes both of them. Rafael has a really hard time letting go of the fact that he is not incredibly wealthy anymore and that's a lot of his journey this season, is him trying to get his money back and figuring out what his life is like without it.

Rafael was very zen last season and really tried to be on the straight and narrow, but now how far will he go to fight for the Marbella back?
Urman: He goes pretty far. He makes a bunch of decisions, questionable choices, and he really loses sight of what is important and the progress that he's made. For him, his life suddenly feels upended and he doesn't know who he is without money and he has a really hard time letting go, and it forces him to make some difficult choices and make some questionable moves.

How will Jane react when Rafael is making all these questionable moves?
Urman: She both tries to help him through and she struggles with choices that he makes, so you'll see the whole range of emotions, from compassion and empathy to anger.

We know Adam is a bit of a daredevil, which is basically the opposite of Jane. How will we see Adam push Jane out of her comfort zone and help her grow?
Urman: Adam is a 28-year-old who has not had a child, who has been living much more by the seat of his pants. He has roommates, he's still figuring out his career, he's much more "live in the moment and live for today." And Jane's life is completely the opposite, both who she is by her nature and because of the fact that she unexpectedly got pregnant. Just introducing that type of energy into her life changes her and makes her realize that she is only 28 years old and she does have a lot more living to do and a lot more joy to be squeezed out of life, things to try. It pushes her out of her comfort zone in every way and there are some definite ramifications for that, physically and emotionally and in terms of her family, and she has to try and balance who she is with Adam with how that person fits into the rest of her life.

How hard was it when writing and casting Adam to make sure that he would be able to follow in Michael's footsteps and be a worthy third corner of the Jane love triangle?
Urman: We got really lucky because Gina suggested Tyler Posey and I thought he was great and he was available. So we right away knew that we were going to have somebody that we had confidence and excitement in as an actor and we also knew that Gina was excited to have him join as well, so we knew they would be able to create an instant chemistry. So there was pressure on us in the writers' room to write a part where it didn't feel like it he was the same guy that we've introduced in her life in another iteration. We wanted him to feel unique, we wanted him to bring a different energy than Rafael brought into her life and Michael brought into her life and create a character that was different. And then we just lucked out in our casting.

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We don't know a lot about Jane and Adam's history together. What can you tease about what their relationship was like why they broke up in the first place?
Urman: You will learn in the first episode why they broke up and what they were like, but I will say, Adam brought out -- he was her first love, so he brought out the giddy, meant to be, over-the-top, swept up in love, version of Jane. And when he left, it was under surprising circumstances, which is why his return is so loaded.

Raf and Petra ended the season very up in the air with Petra feeling she'd never be Rafael's priority. What's next for their relationship?
Urman: That is also explored in the first episode. We find out what happened to Petra that night when she ended up on the dock with her sister and a gun and we also start to untangle Rafael and Petra's feelings towards one another, their insecurities and where they're both at emotionally. And we end the first episode in a surprising place I think which sets us up for more surprising turns down the road.

You've said before that Jane and Rafael will always be an important part of this show, but is the same true for Rafael and Petra? They will always be in each other's lives because of the twins, but do you feel like you can keep their romantic back-and-forth going forever?
Urman: Tricky for me to answer that without giving too much away about where we're going, but I will say they're both going to be moving into surprising and different relationships this year, whether it's with each other or other people, and I think that a new normal will start to emerge with them as well.

Darci (Justina Machado) and Rogelio (Jaime Camil) did not end things in a great place last season. What will their struggles look like as they try and co-parent their baby together?
Urman: I mean, their primary struggle is that they just can't stand each other. Beyond that, their problems will continue to ebb and flow, compound and contract. Darci is somebody who can go toe to toe with Rogelio and really challenges him and is not afraid of him and can push him and knows exactly how to get under his skin, so their relationship is constantly evolving and equally matched, which is why we like writing it in the writers' room. We're so lucky we get Justina to play Darci and the way that she complicates his relationship with Xo will become increasingly important, and also she gets a surprising love interest which really throws Rogelio for a loop.

Jane the Virgin airs Fridays at 9/8c on The CW.

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