The CW’s
Jane the Virgin has officially come to an end. On July 31, the show’s 100th and final episode aired on the network, but not without first unraveling perhaps the biggest mystery in the series: the identity of the “Latin Lover Narrator.”
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Jane the Virgin’s finale episode, “Chapter 100.”
Whether you’re Team Michael or Team Rafael, during the show’s five seasons you’ve probably wondered a handful of times who’s actually narrating the story with such pizzazz (and insight). And, well, as it turns out the beloved narrator — voiced by actor Anthony Mendez — is none other than Mateo himself. In a few years’ time, of course.
Yup, the now adult son of Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and arguably the reason why the whole series plot moves forward is precisely the one recounting it all.
The narrator’s identity is revealed during one of the ending scenes of the show, Jane and Rafael’s wedding. As Mateo makes a speech during the ceremony, prompted by his paternal “glam-mother” (played by legend Rita Moreno) he reveals, “She said I’d be great at voice-over work.” And we’ll take Rita Moreno’s word any day — even if in character.
The narrator then drops his characteristic telenovela accent to confirm that he is indeed as great as his glam-ma heralded him to be. “And for the record, I am,” he says before switching back to the accent we’ve known for five years.
Though for some fans of the show the reveal came rather unexpectedly, the majority seems to be loving the twist (and in fact, many had theorized about it in the past). “THIS MADE ME SPIT OUT MY DRINK WHAT THE F*CKKK,” a viewer commented on Twitter after discovering his identity. And some looked even deeper into the significance of Mateo being the narrator. “THEY JUST ADMITTED THAT THE WHOLE SHOW IS JANES BOOK COMPLETELY ABOUT JAFAELS STORY NARRATED BY THEIR SON JAFAEL NATION WE WON,” a fan celebrated on the bird app.
“Throughout the whole series there have been clues peppered, and there’s things that are specific about the way the narrator is relating to people in the world — the things that he says,” series creator Jennie Snyder Urman told Vanity Fair about the reveal. “There’s always the feeling of the narrator being in control of the story. There’s a constant reminder that this is a telenovela…. We’ve known it in our heads, which has made it easy to track those things throughout.”