Breaking Down the Ending of the Ice Skating Romance Drama Finding Her Edge

The Netflix series Finding Her Edge is based on Jennifer Iacopelli’s 2022 novel. It tells the story of Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys), a former figure skater who quit after her mother’s death. Now working at her family’s rink, Russo Rink, Adriana discovers it’s about to close because of money problems. Her father, Will (Harmon Walsh), has been focused on helping Adriana’s sister, Elise (Alexandra Beaton), pursue her skating dreams, and hasn’t paid attention to the rink’s growing debts and falling attendance, putting the family business at risk.

The show follows Adriana as she decides to return to competitive skating, not for the love of the sport, but to save her rink. She needs to secure sponsorships and media coverage to keep it running. To increase her chances of success, she teams up with Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic), a skater whose strengths balance her own, giving them a competitive advantage. The series focuses on the ambition and calculated moves within the high-stakes world of elite figure skating, portraying Adriana’s comeback as a strategic decision driven by both her past achievements and the need to survive.

How Adriana and Brayden become partners

Adriana and Brayden met at a lavish party thrown by the Russo family to showcase their team. Adriana was catching up with fellow skaters, while Brayden was searching for a new partner after his previous one left to perform on Broadway.

When Brayden and Adriana first meet, there’s a definite spark, but also a sense of caution. Brayden immediately praises Adriana’s talent, while she gently lets him know she’s not looking for a partner. He makes it clear he needs someone as driven as he is to win, and though Adriana finds him a bit overconfident, she also feels a connection in how they both skate.

Though he often appears confident, Brayden is actually facing a lot of personal and family pressures that people don’t usually see. According to Ambrozic, Brayden projects an image of being the best, but underneath that, he’s navigating difficult emotions and learning a lot about himself. His relationship with Adriana is also new territory for him, and viewers can see him grappling with feelings he hasn’t experienced in a long time.

Following the party, Brayden and Adriana began practicing together at the Russo Rink. Camille St. Denis, Adriana’s mentor and a close friend of her mother, urged them to seriously consider becoming a team, pointing out how well their strengths and skating styles matched. Initially, training was tough – they often fell, mistimed jumps, and disagreed on how to approach routines. Adriana’s focus on technique helped ground Brayden’s more energetic and creative style. Overcoming these challenges required them to learn to communicate, trust each other, and adapt to one another’s pace.

The Russo rink’s struggles and immediate threats

Russo Rink is facing serious financial problems. They haven’t paid their bills, the ice-making equipment is breaking down, and lenders are threatening to take back property. Will, still deeply saddened by Sarah’s passing, is heavily investing in his daughter Elise’s figure skating career, spending much more money than the rink can afford. He’s underestimating the costs of things like coaches and publicity, despite repeated warnings from Camille that his spending is putting the rink at risk of closing.

Things get tough for the family when their cars are taken away, and Will first claims it’s due to a stolen credit card. But Adriana quickly realizes the problem is her father’s poor management of the ice rink’s finances. She confronts Will, explaining that she’s been forced to handle adult responsibilities – like managing the rink’s budget, dealing with the media, and even tracking expenses for Elise’s shows – and she knows the rink is in serious danger. Will is determined to protect his late wife Sarah’s memory and won’t let Adriana help, but their argument makes it clear: unless they act fast, the rink could be lost for good.

With everything falling apart, Adriana understands that saving her family’s ice rink will take more than just her skating ability, which is why she agrees to work with Brayden. According to Madelyn Keys, the financial struggles her family is facing are what initially motivated Adriana. While her reasons evolve throughout the process, those financial pressures were the initial driving force behind her decision.

Elise’s actions

Elise, a solo skater, feels threatened by her sister Adriana’s return to competition and her new partnership with Brayden. Elise believes solo skating is superior to pair skating and ice dancing, and doesn’t respect Adriana’s discipline. This leads her to be critical of Adriana during training, undermine her confidence, and create tension at the rink. Elise also harms Adriana’s reputation by revealing private family information to the media, worsening the conflict between them.

The film takes a really interesting turn when Elise gets injured – a broken arm, to be exact – mid-performance. It’s not just a physical setback; it forces her to really face her limits as an athlete, something she’d been expertly dodging up until then. Suddenly unable to train like she used to, she starts to realize just how much of who she is wrapped up in being the best skater around. And honestly, it makes her jealousy of Adriana even worse. Watching Adriana succeed and get all the attention while she’s sidelined really brings Elise’s fear of becoming irrelevant to the surface – the fear of being forgotten or replaced. It’s a powerful and relatable emotional beat.

Slowly, Elise starts to understand how her actions have affected others. Talking with Adriana and their sister, Maria, helps her realize she needs to take responsibility for hurting her sister and causing problems at the rink. She begins to work with her family to fix things, helps out with rink activities, and carefully resumes training, respecting her physical limitations.

Freddie, Riley, and all the romantic complications

When Adriana sees Freddie, her former skating partner and first love, back at the rink, old feelings resurface. Their breakup was never really dealt with – Adriana suddenly stopped skating, leaving Freddie feeling hurt and betrayed. Their reunion is awkward, filled with unspoken issues and lingering anger. Freddie can’t quite move on, and Adriana is forced to face emotions she’s been avoiding.

Riley (Millie Davis) joins Freddie as his new skating partner, bringing a sense of calm and stability to the team. She’s different from Freddie’s previous partner, Adriana, because she sets clear boundaries and always keeps things professional. While she knows about Freddie and Adriana’s past, she avoids getting caught up in any drama or competition. When Freddie gets distracted or struggles with his feelings, Riley talks to him directly, reminding him about the importance of trust, dedication, and staying focused on their skating.

As Adriana starts training with Brayden, Freddie becomes increasingly uneasy. Seeing Adriana regain her confidence and bond with someone else fuels his inner turmoil. His hidden feelings manifest as jealousy, a tendency to get defensive, and occasional bursts of honesty that mix up his past and present emotions. Meanwhile, Adriana finds it difficult to navigate her growing connection with Brayden while still feeling a sense of history with Freddie.

Throughout the season, Freddie develops as he deals with both personal challenges and the pressure to succeed. According to Atkins, it was important to show not only the romantic feelings Freddie experiences, but also the constant weight of expectations he faces. The dynamic within the Russo family adds to this pressure, both in terms of competition and romance. Freddie handles it well at first, but as the season progresses, the stress starts to overwhelm him. He’s juggling a lot, and it takes a toll.

The national qualifiers and worlds

Adriana and Brayden faced a lot of media attention at the national qualifiers after a photo of them kissing became popular online, leading to the nickname “Braydriana.” The media called them “the hottest couple on ice,” which created excitement but also put them under extra pressure from the judges. Their performance was well-received, earning a score of 89.27 and initially putting them in second place. However, Freddie and Riley then scored higher, taking second place, while Sean and Destiny remained in first. Because only the top two pairs could advance, Adriana and Brayden were eliminated from the World Championships. Afterwards, Brayden angrily blamed Adriana for the negative publicity surrounding his family’s finances and a critical article questioning her skating ability—an article that was later found to have used Elise as a secret source.

During a celebratory gala, it’s revealed that Sean and Destiny have been disqualified from the competition after testing positive for steroids. This unexpected turn of events means Adriana and Brayden now qualify for the World Championships. Knowing sponsors are excited by the potential of a partnership between them, Adriana suggests she and Brayden publicly act like a couple – while maintaining clear boundaries – to attract funding and save their skating rink, Russo Rink.

Adriana and Brayden won first place at the World Championships with a score of 98.36, beating Freddie and Riley by a small margin (98.14). However, their success was short-lived. After the competition, Adriana revealed her relationship with Brayden was just for show, kissing Freddie in public. Though they were a strong team, Brayden, hurt by the revelation, decided to end both their partnership and any personal connection, leaving Paris alone.

Adriana has a particularly moving moment later in the season. While skating a celebratory performance wearing her mother’s wings, her sisters surprisingly join her on the ice, highlighting their family bond and forgiveness despite the competitive environment.

Adriana cherishes a particular moment more than her World Championship win. While winning was a very public achievement, she felt isolated when Brayden didn’t embrace her on the ice, with everyone watching. What truly touched her was when her two sisters, who hadn’t skated in years, came to celebrate with her. According to Keys, this showed Adriana she has the support of her family and isn’t facing life’s challenges alone.

How Finding Her Edge ends

In the end, Adriana chooses Freddie, and they begin a romantic and professional relationship. Camille then offers them a chance to skate together again, which they happily accept. Meanwhile, Brayden takes a break from competitions. He returns when the Russo Rink is bought by Voltage, a skating organization that pays off the family’s debts. The rink is then renamed Voltage Skating Academy, and while Will Russo gets to keep his house, he no longer manages the rink’s day-to-day operations.

I think the heart of Adriana’s story, as Keys points out, is all about finding security. It’s not just about her feeling confident within herself, but also achieving financial stability and building a solid future with Freddie. That’s where her journey really lands, and it feels incredibly satisfying to watch her get there.

At the very end, Brayden rejoins the Voltage program and is paired with Riley, switching up the original teams. Elise begins mentoring at the academy, and Maria decides to leave competitive skating for a more everyday life. The series concludes with Adriana and Freddie skating together again, but a final shot of the two new pairs facing off hints that their stories will continue.

2026-01-23 01:07