A major character returned to “Jane the Virgin” for the finale, and we’re not crying — you’re crying

After putting viewers through the ringer by killing off amazing, wonderful Michael (Brett Dier) around the mid-season mark, the show Jane the Virgin gave viewers a much-needed return from Jane’s (Gina Rodriguez) late husband — and we have to say, it was absolutely perfect.

Michael had come back in small ways since his passing, talking to Jane as a photograph, appearing in small flashbacks, and such, but Monday’s Season 3 finale included his biggest, most significant return yet. He and Jane, for example, met with a priest two weeks ahead of their wedding, and received an assignment to write love letters for one another for when times get tough. Per usual, Michael was full of jokes in the meeting, but also so sweet. In the present, the priest reveals that Michael did in fact write the letter, which “was one of the most beautiful love letters [Jane] ever read.”

In another flashback, we see Michael and Alba (Ivonne Coll) practicing his wedding vows, which he said in Spanish because he’s actually an angel with a heart of gold, so HOW DARE YOU KILL HIM OFF, JANE WRITERS?!

Okay, rant over, but that’s just a testament to how much the character is missed many episodes after his death, which is why this return is so nice. Anyway, they practice the vows, then Michael tells Alba about the letter, which Alba recalls in modern day, but doesn’t know where it’s hidden.

After much searching, Jane does finally get her hands on the letter. Jane thought Michael had hidden it in a loose floorboard at their old place, so she went to look for it, but couldn’t find it. The current tenants, then, called up the previous tenant, who had it — and that previous tenant was, in a bizarre coincidence, Adam. AKA, Jane’s first love.

Before reuniting with Adam, she reads the letter. Narrated by Michael, it’s beautiful and sentimental, made all the more so with flashbacks to what led to their chance encounter:

"Dear Jane, first, sorry for being goofy in the priest’s office," Michael narrates. "I was just nervous because I was scared about writing something for you, a writer, and I've been thinking about what to say, which got me thinking how lucky I was to have met you at all and all the small twists of fate that led me to you in the first place, and how, in a way, our destiny was just a series of detours bringing us back to each other again and again." "A twist of fate, the night we met, that's what it felt like. I wasn't even supposed to be working. I picked up a shift for my buddy, who's kid was playing in a recital and then, I was technically off, but I took a detour and stopped for a burger a few blocks away and I was heading back to the precinct when [a noise complaint came in]. If not for that recital and that burger, I might not have ended up on the doorstep of a drunk 21-year-old girl."

And here come the waterworks:

"It's not just a series of coincidences. It's destiny, and I never doubted you were mine. And never doubt that all I want, forever and always, is for you to be happy."

YOU GUYS, JANE AND MICHAEL WERE FOR SURE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER. FATE IS REAL, SO REAL. THE TEARS ARE SERIOUSLY FLOWING RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

This only reinforces how much we miss Michael, but it’s giving us some hope about Jane’s romantic future. His letter did lead Jane to Adam after all — she sees him right after she reads the letter in full — so could he be her new destiny, the person that makes her happy? Or, are she and Rafael meant to be? She did come to terms with her feelings for him after all…We’ll, obviously, be thinking this over all summer long, and eagerly anticipating some answers come Season 4!

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