Heartbreak, Cold Ice, and High Stakes: Why Finding Her Edge Belongs on Your Watchlist
There is something inherently captivating about ice sports. Maybe it’s the contrast between the fluid grace displayed on the rink and the brutal physical cost required to pull it off. You see an athlete gliding across cold ice, looking completely weightless, while knowing that a single misplaced millimeter of steel can ruin a career or shatter a knee.
When Netflix dropped its adaptation of Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel Finding Her Edge, it tapped right into that razor-thin line between elegance and disaster. Created by Jeff Norton and Shelley Scarrow, this eight-episode sports drama gives us high-stakes ice dancing, messy love triangles, and intense family pressure.
If you are craving a series that blends the high-stakes athletic pressure of Spinning Out with the soapy romance of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Finding Her Edge hits every single note.
1. The Premise: Legacy, Grief, and Keeping the Doors Open
At the center of the series is the Russo family. Once figure skating royalty, they’ve hit hard times following the death of their mother—the emotional core and backbone of their training facility, Russo Rink.
Their widower father, Will (Harmon Walsh), is sinking under financial pressure. The family enterprise is on the brink of collapse. They need a national champion to keep the doors open and restore the family legacy.
Enter the three Russo sisters:
- Elise (Alexandra Beaton): The oldest sister and single-skating powerhouse. She carried the weight of the family’s expectations on her shoulders until a devastating injury sidelined her.
- Adriana (Madelyn Keys): The middle child and an exceptionally gifted ice dancer. She walked away from competitive skating following her mother’s death, overwhelmed by grief and burnout.
- Maria (Alice Malakhov): The youngest sister, navigating her own path while watching her family strain under the pressure of the sport.
When Elise’s injury puts her out of commission, the mantle falls back onto Adriana. To pull the rink back from financial ruin, Adriana has to return to the competitive ice, team up with a new partner, and deliver gold.
2. The Mechanics of the Love Triangle
Let’s be honest: sports dramas live or die by their personal stakes. Finding Her Edge delivers a classic romantic setup with a genuine emotional core.
The On-Ice Partners
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ Adriana Russo │
│ (Madelyn Keys) │
└─────────────┬─────────────┘
│
┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
│ │
▼ ▼
┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐
│ Brayden Elliott │ Fake-Dating │ Freddie O'Connell │
│ (Cale Ambrozic) │ ◄───────────► │ (Olly Atkins) │
│ The dedicated new partner│ Tension │ The ex-partner / ex-love │
└───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘Adriana’s romantic situation is genuinely complex:
Brayden Elliott (Cale Ambrozic)
Brayden is Adriana’s new partner on the ice. He is hardworking, ambitious, and aware of what a win would do for his career. To boost their public profile, attract sponsors, and build hype ahead of competition, Adriana and Brayden agree to fake a romance. Naturally, fake-dating under the bright lights of the media quickly blurs the line between strategy and real affection.
Freddie O’Connell (Olly Atkins)
Freddie is Adriana’s former ice dance partner—and her ex-boyfriend. Their original partnership fell apart alongside their relationship. Now, Freddie is back at Russo Rink, skating with a new partner of his own. The unresolved feelings between Adriana and Freddie create palpable tension on and off the ice.
The narrative doesn’t present these men as basic stereotypes. Rather than framing them as cheap caricatures, the show takes time to flesh out Brayden and Freddie. Both come from complicated homes, and they even share moments of mutual respect despite competing for the same podium position—and the same woman.
3. Sisterhood and Sibling Dynamic: The Real Heart of the Series
While marketing heavily leans into the love triangle, the relationship between Adriana and Elise is the show’s true emotional backbone.
| Sibling | Primary Role | Conflict & Trajectory |
|---|---|---|
| Elise Russo | Sidelined champion | Struggles with identity loss after her injury. Her dynamic with Adriana evolves from deep resentment to mutual support. |
| Adriana Russo | Returning prodigy | Carries the weight of saving the rink while managing her grief and romantic choices. |
| Maria Russo | The grounded sister | Observes the family turmoil while trying to establish her own path outside their shadow. |
| When Elise is injured, she doesn’t just lose her competitive season—she loses her identity. Having spent her entire life as the designated star, watching Adriana step back into the spotlight triggers deep-seated envy. | ||
| Alexandra Beaton plays Elise with remarkable nuance. She avoids turning the character into a simple antagonist, showing the pain behind her cold demeanor. Watching the sisters shift from bitter resentment to genuine alignment is one of the show’s most rewarding arcs. |
4. Technical Execution: Ice Choreography and Realism
One common flaw in sports shows is obvious body-doubling that breaks immersion during routine sequences. Finding Her Edge handles this balance remarkably well.
The production brought on real elite talent. Canadian Junior champions Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont serve as skating doubles for Madelyn Keys and Cale Ambrozic. Other top-tier junior athletes step in for the supporting cast. Real-life Canadian ice dance champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier even make a cameo in Episode 5.
The camera work highlights the physical grit of ice dancing. You see the sweat, the blade cuts, the bruises, and the sheer fatigue after a run-through. It captures the razor-thin margin between a breathtaking lift and a dangerous fall.
5. Adaptation Choices: Book vs. Show
Adapting Jennifer Iacopelli’s novel meant making calculated changes for a episodic television format. The showrunners made several adjustments to heighten the narrative tension:
- Centralized Location: In the novel, the athletes assemble for Team USA training at Kellynch Rink. The series concentrates the action at the Russo Rink, creating a more intimate, high-pressure environment.
- Simplified Romantic Rivalry: The book features a subplot where Elise has a long-standing crush on Brayden. The series wisely drops this to keep the romantic tension focused on the main triangle between Adriana, Brayden, and Freddie.
- Deeper Backstories: The show expands the home lives of the male leads, giving Brayden and Freddie distinct struggles outside of their relationship with Adriana.
These changes streamline the pacing while preserving the core themes of the original book.
6. Where the Show Struggles
While Finding Her Edge succeeds as a dramatic sports romance, it isn’t without its flaws:
- Pacing in Middle Episodes: Episodes 4 and 5 linger heavily on off-ice drama. Viewers coming primarily for the athleticism may feel the sports narrative takes a backseat to party scenes and relationship angst.
- Predictable Tropes: The series leans heavily into established YA storytelling beats—the miscommunications, the dramatic public confrontations, and the sudden power outages at the rink.
- Studio vs. Ice Ratio: A significant portion of training takes place in dryland dance studios rather than on the ice. While practical for filming, it occasionally robs the athletic routines of their momentum.
Final Verdict
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
Bottom Line: Finding Her Edge delivers a satisfying balance of elite athletic pressure, family dynamics, and romantic drama. Grounded by strong performances from Madelyn Keys and Alexandra Beaton, it’s a slick, engaging binge for fans of young adult sports dramas.If you enjoy sharp sports choreography, well-crafted character dynamics, and an engaging romance narrative, this series is well worth adding to your watch list.
