Aahana Swrup
Nick and Emily’s relationship forms significant narrative cornerstones for both characters in ‘Absentia.’ Initially, when the latter returns to her old life, in the aftermath of a six-year-long abduction, she finds herself in for a rude awakening. In the time that the FBI Agent was assumed dead, her husband and fellow agent Nick Durand had remarried. Even so, as their lives remain inherently entangled, it becomes evident that ex-spouses still harbor some feelings for one another. While this results in the occasional instance of romance and intimacy, nothing substantial ever happens between the couple. Still, as season 3 finds them sharing a home and co-parenting their son, Flynn, we get a glimpse into their potential domestic lives together. As a result, fans of the relationship are bound to grow invested in what the third and final season of the series brings for this couple. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Emily Risks Her Life to Save Nick Continuously Throughout Season 3
For the majority of season 3, Nick and Emily find themselves separated from each other due to brutal circumstances. Early on, an investigation into an organ harvesting ring gets the FBI agent abducted by a powerful European crime organization, Meridian. In the aftermath of his abduction, the Bureau launches its own efforts to find him and bring him back in tandem with Emily, who embarks on a similar self-assigned mission. On a surface level, part of her desperation to find Nick again stems from her concern for Flynn, who has already lost one too many people in his life. Given her own past disappearance and his step-mother, Alice’s recent death, Emily doesn’t want her son to suffer through another loss. At the same time, her own relationship and feelings for her ex-husband also play into the lengths that she’s willing to go to save Nick.
Prior to Nick’s abduction, he and Emily set up a reliable and steadfast routine for themselves as co-parents. This includes regular family dinners, overseeing their son’s upbringing as a joint unit, and maintaining a dependable and amicable relationship between them. However, this new dynamic as co-parents and housemates held a notable air of platonic friendship between them. Despite the prior resurgence of old romantic feelings between them, this new reality finds the duo in a different place in their lives. While they still hold much love and care for each other, it seems too much has happened between and around them for them to be able to revert to their old lives. Still, even though nothing romantic seems to be happening between them, Emily still cares about Nick enough, as a former partner and a current friend, to put her life on the line in the hopes of saving his.
Nick and Emily Work Well Together as Friends and Co-Parents
Although the journey to rescuing Nick remains long, painful, and international, Emily manages to find her way back to him. However, their fight doesn’t end even once they’ve been reunited. In the past few weeks, Nick has faced the brunt of intense physical and psychological trauma at the hands of the Meridian. Still, he isn’t eager to turn his back on the criminal organization just yet. During his escape, the FBI Agent had met a group of young refugee kids, who had helped him when he was at his lowest. As it turns out, these kids’ parents were all abducted by Meridian, who is using them as rab lats for their menacing new bioagent weapon.
Consequently, once Emily finds her ex-husband again, she realizes he wants to take the fight to the crime syndicate and free the refugee victims they have subjugated. As a result, the duo (and Cal) end up working together to take down the Meridian facility and its head, Elliot. In the fight that follows, Nick and Emily work together spectacularly, playing their respective roles and bringing the mission to a successful end. In the aftermath, when the time comes to leaf through the intel and find the real masterminds behind the entire operation, the duo continues to work together as a unit. Alternatively, in their personal life, they settle back into their roles as Flynn’s co-parents without any complications. Therefore, in these moments, it becomes clear that despite their varied history, Nick and Emily have arrived at a place in their lives when their romantic past no longer has any bearing on their future, which is turning more and more platonic by the day.
Nick and Emily Find Their Happy Endings Outside of Each Other
By the end of ‘Absentia’ season 3, Nick and Emily do not get back together. While a rekindling of their romantic relationship might have been their priority at one point in time, the duo has gone through too much to remain unchanged. The same is true for their relationship. As such, it eventually becomes evident that the ex-spouses work best as friends and partners, outside of any romantic parameters. Additionally, life also brings them to a crossroads where their paths are meant to diverge, at least for some time. While looking into the Meridian case, the duo quickly realizes that the high-profile investigation will attract the ire of some powerful and influential people.
Consequently, the only way to ensure Flynn’s safety is to stage his and Nick’s deaths so that the father and son can slip into a safe and incognito life. This means Nick has to sever his ties with the FBI and settle into a more full-time fatherly role for the foreseeable future. After all the dangerous adventures he has undergone in the past few years, this makes for a pleasant new change for the ex-Agent. He’s happy to focus more on his relationship with his kid and start a new chapter in his life. As for Emily, the last few years have made it evident that she can never fully go back to her past, normal life. Instead, her destiny lies in the spywork she can do to take down as many bad guys as possible. As for her personal life, her romance with Cal, though still unlabeled and ambiguous, promises to turn into something fun, reliable, and constant. Ultimately, even though Nick and Emily don’t end up together, they will likely remain in each other’s lives for a long time, given their own past and their shared future with Flynn.
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