Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘A Man on the Inside,’ a retired professor named Charles Nieuwendyk goes undercover at the Pacific View Retirement Residence to solve the case of a missing necklace. He is hired after answering the ad by a private investigator, Julie Kovalenko, who needs someone of his age to enter the retirement home without being suspicious. The premise of the story is interesting enough, but the themes it explores give it more depth. It is made more interesting by the fact that the premise is not imaginary but is based on a real man who went undercover at a retirement home, and the show borrows some real-life characters to create its varied palette of residents at Pacific View. Virginia is one of them.
Virginia’s Arc Bears Passing Resemblance to a Real Woman
The central premise of ‘A Man on the Inside’ is inspired by a Chilean documentary called ‘The Mole Agent.’ It follows the story of Sergio Chamy, who goes undercover to solve a case at a retirement home. There, he meets all kinds of people and learns all sorts of things from them. One of the residents of the place is a woman named Berta, who is lovingly called Bertita by her friends and the staff. Berta’s backstory reveals that she has been living at the place for twenty-five years. She is unmarried and has been so her entire life. When Sergio comes to the nursing home, she is immediately charmed by him and even thinks about marrying him.
Berta makes her intentions known by trying to befriend Sergio soon after he becomes a co-resident. She even tries to get a day out with him when she asks him to join her on the short trip to the bank to get her pension. At first, Sergio agrees to accompany her, but later, when he realizes what Berta is trying to do, he tells her he cannot go with her. He explains that it hasn’t been long since his beloved wife’s death, and he is still mourning her. This is why he cannot think about exploring something new with her at this time. We see the same thing happen between Charles and Virginia when the former comes to Pacific View.
Virginia is enamored by him, and she even sets herself up on a date with him. However, Charles is grieving his wife, with whom he is still very much in love, and tells Virgina about it. Discovering this, Virgina decides not to pursue Charles anymore and agrees that they should remain friends. However, it is after this that the arcs of Virginia and Berta diverge. In the documentary, we don’t see Berta court anyone else. She doesn’t even seem to be interested in anyone else. She reveals that she has lived her entire life by herself, and she only thought about being with Sergio because she actually liked him. When he refuses her advances, we don’t see her turn her affections elsewhere.
By the end of the documentary, Berta is still single and unmarried, and we don’t find out whether that changes for her later. The show, however, takes a different turn with Virginia. Not only does it give her another love interest, but it also gives her a whole history with that person. Before Charles came to Pacific View, Virginia had a complicated relationship with Elliot. Didi reveals that they both arrived at Pacific View around the same time and have since been on and off in a relationship. They got married, then had the wedding annulled, and then somehow got married again. Things have been so muddled up that no one can say for sure whether they are still married or not. This history between them puts Charles at odds with Elliot. However, once it becomes clear that nothing is going on between Charles and Virginia, Elliot returns to the picture and gets a happy ending with Virginia.
Read More: A Man on the Inside: Is Emily Based on Sergio Chamy’s Daughter?
