Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘A Man on the Inside’ begins as a comedy about a man finding his footing in a new career while in his late 70s, but it soon turns into an exploration and study of aging and loneliness. The protagonist is a man named Charles, a retired professor who is hired to go undercover at a retirement home in San Francisco called Pacific View. His job is to find the person who has stolen a ruby necklace belonging to one of the residents. What Charles finds instead is a reflection of his own feelings and insecurities and a group of people who become his close friends. One of those people is Florence. SPOILERS AHEAD
Florence’s Tragic Arc is Based on a Real Woman’s
The basic premise of ‘A Man on the Inside’ is inspired by a Chilean documentary called ‘The Mole Agent.’ Following the undercover job of Sergio Chamy, the Oscar-nominated film delivers a story that warms your heart while breaking it at the same time. When adapting the documentary into a Netflix series, Mike Schur borrowed a lot of elements from the original. While several significant changes were made to the story, the basic premise, the story’s themes, and some of the characters were kept similar to what we see in ‘The Mole Agent.’ One of those characters was a woman named Mrs. Petronila, aka Petita.
In ‘The Mole Agent,’ Petitia is an elderly woman who harbors a love for poetry. She is often seen quoting poems or even creating her own based on the circumstances. She is a friendly person who is popular with the residents and the staff alike. She also forms a friendship with Sergio in his early days at the retirement home. Often, we see her as the voice of reason who tries to give her fellow residents a perspective on things around them. By the end of the documentary, however, she meets a tragic fate.
A few days before Sergio Chamy’s job is done and he is scheduled to be taken out of the retirement home for good, Petita has a health complication. She is rushed to the hospital one morning. When Sergio asks the staff when she will be back, they tell him that when residents go like that, they rarely come back. Often, the doctors ask to keep them for a few days, even if just to observe. Other times, depending on the severity of their illness, they have to stay at the hospital longer. In the worst-case scenario, they pass away, which is what happens with Petitia. Her sudden and unceremonious departure from the retirement home leaves everyone in shock and heartbreak. It makes Sergio so sad that he becomes impatient to leave the retirement home.
In the documentary’s adaptation into the TV show, Petita’s character was brought on board as Florence. Her love for poetry and friendliness were kept intact, but the character’s arc was expanded, focusing majorly on her friendship with Virginia. Even her eventual death mirrors what happened to Petita in real life. Her passing away is so unexpected that even Virginia doesn’t know how she could have died so suddenly and is entirely inconsolable about the passing away of her friend. Her death also has an emotional impact on Charles, leading him to visit his daughter and spend some time with her and his grandchildren. This shows how important Florence had been to the group, making her passing away even more emotional.
Read More: A Man on the Inside Ending, Explained: Who is the Thief?
