Bad Guys Gone Good: Our Favorite TV Villains Who Turned Over a New Leaf
By Sundi Rose
Photo: The CW
Petra Solano – Jane the Virgin
In terms of a telenovela, Petra is a pretty anemic villain. She’s more of a thorn in Jane’s side than anything. She’s snobby, rude, elitist, inflexible, and worst of all, she’s freaking gorgeous. Oh, and she also used to be married to the father of Jane’s baby. She also has two little girls about the same age as Jane’s son, yet they are disgustingly well-behaved and sweet. Okay, we still hate her a little.
Though Petra is the queen of the scheme, she’s mellowed a lot in the years since we first met her. She’s a long way from the woman who stole Rafael’s sperm and impregnated herself with a turkey baster. She’s not so far from the woman who moved the bones of her sister’s ex lover onto the neighboring hotel’s grounds, but that wasn’t downright evil at all. Just good business.
When Rafael went to jail for some white collar crime or another, Petra was forced to mother her children on her own. She wasn’t sure she’d be up to the task, and was crippled with anxiety over the idea of it. With a little help from Jane, mothering softened her, and the two women found some common ground. You could almost characterize them as friends now.