'Jane the Virgin' season 3 kills off a major character — what will happen next?

Jane the Virgin fans knew that things were getting tense between Jane and Michael. In "Chapter 53," the episode that aired Jan. 31, both characters struggled with stress. Still, we didn't think it would get so bad that Michael would...die. But, in "Chapter 54," he did. 

What happened?

The previous episode was one big cortisol spike. Jane couldn't sleep because obsessive thoughts were hijacking her peace of mind. Finishing her novel tormented her. She also worried about how she was raising Mateo. Was she a good mother? Did he have developmental problems? And she couldn't stop stressing over Michael, either. Was he going to score well on his LSAT? Would he get into law school? And that's exactly what stressed out Michael: law school.

Of course, as of "Chapter 54," law school isn't going to happen after all. Due to his near-fatal shooting in season 2, Michael suffered from an aortic dissection — right at the end of taking his LSAT, no less. Now, his days of stressing are over. In fact, his days of doing anything are over. 

Why now?

But with Michael being a fan favorite, it's hard not to feel a little betrayed. Why did he have to die?

Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman told Deadline that Michael's plan was definitely premeditated. In fact, there have been red herrings along the way. Most notably, 44 episodes ago, the show's narrator told us that Michael would love Jane for as long as he lived "until he drew his very last breath." Oh, yes, and then there was that death scare last season, too. 

In the same interview with Deadline, Snyder Urman explained that now seemed like the perfect point, plot-wise, for Michael to die. Jane was just getting comfortable with married life.

"Now, at the midpoint, she finally felt settled again," said Snyder Urman. "This felt like the moment to shake things up in a bigger way. This is a telenovela, after all."

What will happen next?

Don't worry. This probably won't be the last we see of Michael. Snyder Urman told The Hollywood Reporter that Jane's husband, played by actor Brett Dier, will appear in flashbacks.

"The tricky balance is when to bring him back, because you don't want to bring him back too soon so that the audience doesn't feel the loss of him, because that needs to settle and feel real," she said. "But you feel him throughout. I can't emphasize that enough."

And whose wedding popped up in the time jump at the end of the episode? Snyder Urman didn't tell THR explicitly.

"Whose is it?" she said. "People have to move on, you have to."

Could she be referring to Jane needing to move on? Maybe. We will have to keep watching.