Netflix’s New YA Sports Romance Almost Sticks The Landing

Warning! This review contains minor spoilers for Finding Her Edge.

Netflix’s new YA sports romance adaptation, Finding Her Edge, falls flat in the romance department while offering a grounded look at a highly competitive athletic family. Based on the book of the same name by Jennifer Iacopelli, Finding Her Edge follows competitive ice dancer Adriana Russo (Madelyn Keys) as she strives to build a new skating partnership with the “bad boy” of ice dancing, Brayden Elliot (Cale Ambrozic).

To make matters more complicated, Adriana’s old partner and childhood sweetheart, Freddie (Olly Atkins), returns to her family’s skating compound with a new partner in Riley (Millie Davis), one of Adriana’s closest friends. Meanwhile, her father drowns in financial debt as her older sister spirals into a near depression, and everyone’s still grieving the loss of the family matriarch, too.

Given everything that’s going on around them, the inevitable love triangle between Adriana, Brayden, and Freddie doesn’t take up as much time in Finding Her Edge’s eight episodes as you might think. In the grand scheme of things, however, that’s probably a good thing, as I have a feeling that any avid romance fan watching this will be disappointed with the outcome. It certainly didn’t feel earned.

Finding Her Edge’s Love Triangle Is The Weakest Part Of The Show

Credit: Netflix

Romance trope-wise, Finding Her Edge has everything going for it. Love triangles, first loves, competitive rivalries; there’s even a splash of fake dating, as Adriana and Brayden make a pact to play up their connection for the cameras and social media to score a sponsor. Tropes are a staple of the genre, but they’re only as effective as the characters involved in them.

In this case, it’s Freddie who feels like an afterthought. Love triangles can create solid dramatic tension if both romantic prospects feel like a worthwhile match for the leading character. Unfortunately, Freddie is a barely noticeable presence for the first half of the season, and the audience is never shown anything truly compelling about his background with Adriana.

Freddie spends most of his time avoiding Adriana, especially as she grows closer to Brayden, until Adriana’s feelings seemingly pivot out of nowhere. Compare that to her chemistry with Brayden, which is palpable both when they’re dancing together and when they’re simply hanging out, and the difference is painfully noticeable.

Individually, Brayden is also a much more developed character than Freddie. He has actual growth as he trains with Adriana, while Freddie remains mostly stagnant until an ill-timed confrontation with his absent mother. I haven’t read the original book, so I can’t say whether this problem was present in the source material, but there’s a real imbalance between them.

Although the love triangle didn’t work, I admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the interactions between Freddie and Brayden outside their relationship with Adriana. These characters are teenage boys. You’d forgive them for being petty, but both of them rise above that and are genuinely interested in helping each other.

Their moments of bonding somewhat redeemed the issues with the love triangle — at least they weren’t just there to be jealous of one another. However, I felt like we saw more of Freddie’s true self when he shared scenes with Brayden than he did with Adriana, once again highlighting the issues with the show’s primary romantic angle.

Finding Her Edge Succeeds At Fleshing Out The Russo Family’s Struggles

Alexandra Beaton as Elise Russo and Madelyn Keys as Adriana Russo in Finding Her Edge Season 1

While Adriana flip-flops between Brayden and Freddie, the rest of the Russo family is given a turn in the spotlight, too. Adriana’s older sister, Elise (Alexandra Beaton), is by far the show’s most complex character. After a tough tumble during a performance, Elise is scared to return to the ice while simultaneously feeling like Adriana is replacing her in the family’s skating hierarchy.

Given the Russo family’s legacy — their parents were Olympic champions — Elise’s difficulty coping with her injury is understandable. She’s not a flawless heroine, and that’s exactly what makes her an intriguing character. She makes major mistakes, but she gets called out for them, too, and works to make amends with her family and heal.

Then there’s the youngest sister, Maria (Alice Malakhov). She’s feisty and independent, and her big skating scene was genuinely the most fun and dynamic one to watch. Seeing her wrestle with her family’s dynasty and its nepotistic tendencies in her own way was interesting; both Elise and Adriana crave the spotlight, while Maria wants to be normal.

If Finding Her Edge was simply a show about three sisters trying to find their way within the high-stakes world of competitive skating, it would have worked, too. Some of the season’s best and most emotional scenes occur between the Russo girls, and I appreciated the show’s attempt at exploring delayed grief.

Again, though, that proves that the series failed its central romance. Given how her partner issue was resolved, Adriana could honestly have skated with anyone.

Finding Her Edge is not prestige television. The episodes are riddled with cheesy dialogue, predictable twists, and a handful of awkward performances. Still, it felt more grounded and realistic than some other contemporary YA dramas, and there’s enough other narrative material to remain invested in Adriana and her sisters’ futures, despite the lackluster love triangle.

All episodes of Finding Her Edge are streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.