‘Jane The Virgin’ Season 4 Spoilers: How Xo’s Cancer Narrative Came Together

Even though “Jane the Virgin” is a light-hearted show, it still tackles with serious issues such as death, illnesses, abortion, and even politics.

This Season 4, the show let Xiomara Villanueva (Andrea Navedo) deal with breast cancer. Showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman told Vulture that she thought about the cancer story last year, because her own mom already had breast cancer twice. But since the characters were still reeling from the death of Michael Cordero (Brett Dier), Urman decided to let it wait. This year, the timing finally felt right.

“I think our show functions best when it has something real and serious and relatable and something that draws the family together. The show started with something very serious — accidental pregnancy and Jane’s life getting turned upside down,” Urman said. “I think that when we have something serious underneath our show, it gives us a firm foundation. The light moments become relief for that. That feels like life.”

Personally, Navedo loves how brave the show is to tackle cancer. It’s painful for fans to watch their favorite characters suffering, but Navedo said illnesses are part of reality.

“It was a big departure from everything Xo has done on the show so I was excited about that, but I was also nervous because I really wanted to do a good job, and I knew how heavy the story line was,” she shared. “I have a cousin who, at age 36, passed away from cancer and she left three girls. It’s such a crazy battle for anybody to go through, and I really wanted to do it justice and be as honest as possible so that people could connect and feel like it wasn’t glossed over or taken lightly. It’s kind of a big deal, in my opinion.”

Hopefully, Xo will conquer her cancer before the show wraps up. It has already been hinted earlier that “Jane the Virgin” will end with Season 5.

Lead star Gina Rodriguez, who plays Jane Gloriana Villanueva, spoke during the Women To Watch day of panels from Create & Cultivate and Fossil in Austin, Texas last March, according to Variety. She was talking about her first-hand experience as a director, which really thrilled fans. However, she shocked fans when she casually mentioned their “final season.”

“When it came to directing ‘Jane,’ as the star of the show — as a woman, as Latina, I was like, ‘I need to come so correct that I cannot be denied,’” she said of her decision to take charge.

Rodriguez added that it was “the most incredible experience,” and she is proud to note that it was actually “the highest-rated of the season.” She then concluded that she plans to “do more [directing] next year — in our final season.”

“Jane the Virgin” Season 4 airs Fridays on The CW.