Finding Her Edge Ending Explained: Who Does Adriana End Up With?

‘Finding Her Edge,’ which is based on Jennifer Iacopelli’s book, follows figure skater Adriana returning to the rink, while also balancing a messy love triangle

Cale Ambrozic as Brayden Elliot and Madelyn Keys as Adriana Russo in Finding Her Edge: Season 1.Credit : 

Netflix

Finding Her Edge has already skated to the top of Netflix’s charts!

The series, which is based on the 2022 book of the same name by Jennifer Iacopelli, stars Madelyn Keys as Adriana Russo, a 17-year-old figure skater training for the World Championships with her new partner, Brayden Elliott (Cale Ambrozic).

At the same time Adriana is prepping to come back the sport after a two-year hiatus, she is dealing with a myriad of personal issues. First of all, she’s still grieving the loss of her mother, Sarah, while also helping her dad, Will (Harmon Walsh), and older sister, Elise (Alexandra Beaton), prevent their family skating rink from closing.

In addition to her familial problems, Adriana is also in the middle of a love triangle with her former skating partner and first love, Freddie O’Connell (Olly Atkins) and her new partner Brayden, with whom she pretends to have a relationship to spark interest and sponsorships. The series ultimately culminates at the World Championships when Adriana and Brayden face off against Freddie and his new partner, Riley Monroe (Millie Davis).

Finding Her Edge, which premiered on Netflix on Jan. 22, took inspiration from both real-life events and Jane Austen’s 1817 novel, Persuasion. Iacopelli explained in 2022 that she drew inspiration from the 2018 Olympics where people speculated that Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were romantically involved when they weren’t.

“I wanted to explore the potential toxicity of something like that happening, especially to younger skaters who maybe don’t quite have the same control over their careers as those two did,” the author told Tundra Book Group.

Here’s everything to know about how Finding Her Edge ends.

Who wins the World Championships?

Before Adriana and Brayden compete against Freddie and Riley in the World Championships, the two pairs have to qualify at the national competition. During the qualifiers, Adriana and Brayden face increased media scrutiny after a (staged) picture of them kissing goes viral and they get nicknamed “Braydriana.”

Their routine doesn’t earn them the qualifying scores they needed, and Brayden initially blames Adriana for prioritizing their fake romance over their skating career. However, when one of the pairs ahead of them gets eliminated, Adriana and Brayden get bumped up and score a place in the World Championships — alongside Freddie and Riley.

By the time the competition in Paris arrives, Adriana and Brayden perform an impressive technical and emotional dance, while Freddie and Riley also skate their best.

Adriana and Brayden ultimately win the World Championships with a score of 98.36 — narrowly beating Freddie and Riley’s 98.14 score.

Who does Adriana end up with?

Throughout Finding Her Edge, Adriana is torn between exploring new feelings for Brayden during their fake romance and reconnecting with her first love, Freddie. While she’s in Paris for the World Championships, she finds herself reconnecting with Freddie, while continuing to pretend to have feelings for Brayden.

In a shock to the rest of the skating world, Adriana publicly declares her love for Freddie by kissing him after winning the World Championships with Brayden. The situation upsets Brayden, as he developed real feelings for Adriana, so they end their partnership and friendship.

“Obviously, I am Team Freddie, but I’m Team Brayden too,” Atkins told Collider in January. “He put so much work into trying to make this relationship work, competitively and romantically. And then, to see it fall through his fingers at the end of the show, it really broke my heart a little bit, as much as I was rooting for Freddie. There’s a lot to it.”

Was Brayden and Adriana’s relationship ever real?

When Adriana and Brayden met, she was desperate to save her family ice rink, while he was looking for a new skating partner to help elevate his profile. Although they don’t initially hit it off, Adriana and Brayden try to give their partnership a chance and start training together.

After a few skating sessions, Adriana and Brayden realize that they have compatible talent and technical skills, so they start training together in earnest. Shortly after becoming partners, Brayden discovers that fans are hoping their off-ice chemistry matches their dancing abilities, so he suggests that they pretend to date.

Although Adriana is initially hesitant, she accepts his offer in hopes that the public attention will draw sponsors to help support her family’s ice rink, which is on the brink of closure.

Adriana and Brayden’s relationship was ultimately strategic and not real. However, there were moments during “Braydriana” where both of them felt genuine emotions toward each other. For instance, Brayden realizes that he developed feelings for Adriana after he sees her having a romantic moment with Freddie ahead of the World Championships.

How does Finding Her Edge end?

After Adriana and Brayden take home the World Championship title, they end their personal and professional relationship. However, neither one of them is done with skating.

The final moments of Finding Her Edge show the characters one month later, revealing that Adriana and Freddie have decided to team up and skate together. Upon starting to practice together, they’re shocked to see none other than Brayden and Riley — their former partners — paired together.

“Hope they’re ready for some serious competition,” Adriana teased at the very end.

Keys expressed excitement about the ending of Finding Her Edge and told Collider that it feels like the story between the two pairs is far from over.

“I’m really excited that, at least in that last scene, Riley doesn’t even say anything, but you can see it in her eyes,” Keys told the outlet. “There is some tension between her and Adriana too. I think that is good, and that is what she deserves, as a character. I hope that Adriana gets to learn a couple more lessons about how to be in a friendship. Will that be messy with also her feelings with Brayden? Absolutely. I can’t wait to see what that would look like.”

Meanwhile, Adriana’s family’s skating rink problems also find resolution as Will sells it to the professional skating organization, Voltage, which turns the rink into a skating academy.