Last Wednesday, "Jane the Virgin" returned for its fifth and final season with an episode full of drama and surprises: Jane, who starts the series being a virgin (hence the name of the show), is mistakenly inseminated - artificially - with the son of a complete stranger named Rafael. With whom after many stories and five seasons later, she is about to engage. But, of course, Jane’s “dead” husband Michael, reappears with a new name and a new personality. Classic telenovela move. 

After having struggled with accepting that she is a widow and was "single" and now having to realize that her dead husband is actually alive, Jane is deeply shocked and overwhelmed. So much, that when she gets home and her mother (played by Andrea Navedo) asks her how she is doing, Jane breaks down and, for about seven minutes, she tells everything that has happened to her over the years. A rich monologue written by Jennie Snyder Urman (creator of the series) where Jane, played by Gina Rodriguez gives us an Emmy worthy performance.

As if that were not enough, this episode was directed by Rodriguez herself and, although she has already directed the series before, it seems that this has been one of the most challenging episodes. So, in addition to having to deal with the emotional roller coaster that Jane is going through, the monologue was shot in a single take.

How did she do it? First of all, Ms. Rodriguez left everyone with their mouths open on the day of the table read because by that time she had already memorized her lines: "It's easy to memorize because I know the story. It's not as if Jennie [the creator] introduced new and strange information. She made me talk like a normal human being, going from one thought to another in a perfect and realistic way. When you have magic, it's butter, it's nothing" she told reporters after the first reading.

The production company had scheduled around five hours to shoot the scene and when she got to set, they did just one rehearsal and went on to do the first take, which went off without any problems. They had to repeat because of minor issues, like the cat jumping off Jane’s arms in the middle of its “performance.” However, it was the fourth take where everything fell into place and made it into the episode. Ms. Rodriguez said it only took them “four takes and about an hour and a half” to get the scene done.

The production had programmed to take approximately five hours to shoot the scene. So, on the shoot day, they did a first blocking rehearsal on set and the first take went perfect. Due to minor problems, they did three more takes, all of them with a complete run through. In the end, Ms. Rodriguez said it took them "four takes and an hour and a half" to get the whole scene.

In 2014 and with only nine episodes aired, Gina Rodríguez won a Golden Globe for her performance in "Jane the Virgin.” Without a doubt, the best reward for her dedication and discipline would be to win an Emmy.

“Jane The Virgin” airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.