The new ice skating drama Finding Her Edge almost had what it takes to enthrall me, and it would seem the internet felt the same way. Based on Jennifer Iacopelli's novel by the same name, the show debuted Jan. 22, with Netflix dropping all eight 45-minute episodes at once. It settled at number four on the week's most watched list, but received only 5.8 stars on IMDB. Always quick to jump at a romcom-novel-turned-movie, I fell in love with the concept immediately. An ice skating drama featuring a little enemies-to-lovers trope mixed in? Count me in! Well, enemies to almost lovers, thanks to the love triangle that Finding Her Edge centered around. Ice skater Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys) finds herself torn between a blossoming attraction towards Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic), her mildly insufferable new skating partner, and her lingering feelings for her old skating partner, Freddie O’Connell (Olly Atkins), who was also her first love. However, the show did not really convince me that Adriana had a connection with either of them.
Frankly, I think Finding Her Edge tried to take on too much. Alongside Adriana, the show also followed the stories of her family members, the Russos. After the passing of Adriana's mother, Sarah Russo, Adriana's father, Will Russo (Harmon Walsh) fights to keep the family business, Russo Rink, afloat. Remarkably, Russo training involves both skating at the Russo Rink and living in the house. Finding Her Edge paid particularly close attention to Adriana's sisters, Elise (Alexandra Beaton) and Maria (Alice Malakhov). Between juggling the three sisters' storylines, I did not feel like Adriana got the spotlight she deserved as the main character. To that end, she did not have enough screen time to build emotional depth with either Brayden or Freddie to keep me invested in either potential relationship. She spent almost no time with Freddie, so I was shocked (spoiler warning!) to see her choose him at the end of the first season. On top of that, the character development for both boys was atrocious. How did Brayden go from a ‘bad boy rebel’ to a loverboy in 10 seconds flat? Unconvincing. Freddie's only emotions toward Adriana seemed to be jealousy and anger, not true love. As far as I could tell, Brayden and Freddie seemed to have more emotional vulnerability with each other than they ever had with Adriana, as Freddie opened up to Brayden about his rocky relationship with his alcoholic mother.
Worse yet, I found some of the characters and their decisions actively ire-inspiring. For example, Elise's character just about irritated me to the point of stopping the show. After an injury put a stop to her dreams of becoming a world champion in single skating, she responded by lashing out at everyone in her family, making her an unlikeable character off the bat. That being said, she definitely had the best character development arc, recognizing her cruelty and turning it around in time for the latter half of Adriana's journey towards winning a World Championship title in ice dancing. Admittedly, the near-rage that I felt toward her character is the mark of a good actress, and for that I commend actress Alexandra Beaton, who probably made me feel more passion than Adriana and her would-be lovers ever did. At the same time, the show just felt chock-full of unhealthy competition and jealousy, making it less enjoyable to watch. Will Russo's dismissiveness towards ice dancing as a sport rubbed me the wrong way, especially since it was never fleshed out and instead just casually but repeatedly mentioned. Furthermore, I thought the ice dancing scenes were probably the best part of the show. Finally, I understand that Adriana was in a love triangle, but frankly her choice to kiss Freddie while in an exclusive (although fake) relationship left me absolutely peeved. I think Brayden had every right to get angry!
Despite my qualms, there were aspects of the show that I loved. For example, I thought Maria's self-expressive skating and willingness to break out of her family's 'ice skating' legacy was an excellent message. The grief that all four Russos experienced over the death of their mother was well-acted; the moments where they remember her were absolutely beautiful, almost bringing me to tears on multiple occasions. I loved watching Will and Sarah's best friend, Camille St. Dennis (Meredith Forlenza), who works as the ice dancing coach for Russo Rink. Her chemistry and kindness was a welcome relief; even when Will snapped at Camille, she clearly knew him well enough to support him. Finally, the directors definitely knew how to end each episode at a tantalizingly dramatic moment. The ending of season one, with Adriana and Freddie getting together, Brayden switching ice dance partners to work with Freddie's old partner Riley (Millie Davis) and Russo Rink getting bought out by their competitor, Voltage Skating, might reel me in for season two. Unfortunately, that spark of interest I felt at the end and the moments I loved did not overcome the overall mediocrity of the show; Finding Her Edge could have been fantastic.
Nonetheless, I do have enough lingering curiosity about where the show will go next to consider watching the second season. I'd file it under ‘airplane watch’: cute at times, but I would not go out of my way to recommend this one.
Emily Federovitch is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at eaf258@cornell.edu.
