Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Ripple,’ chance encounters bring together a group of people who are battling their personal demons while trying to make it in New York. One of them is Nate, who has recently separated from his wife, with whom he has a daughter. The other is Kris, a music producer who has lost her job because she refused to cater to popular opinion. Their paths cross at Nate’s bar, when a dejected Kris walks in with the stuff from the office she has been ousted from. While Nate is not in a good mood after finding out about his serious medical diagnosis, he feels surprisingly better after talking with her. As their conversation progresses, they share their problems, and the sparks of a romance fly between them. However, it soon becomes clear that romance may be doomed before it even begins. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Nate’s Health Crisis Poses a Huge Problem for Nate and Kris
In a normal situation, Nate wouldn’t have blinked twice before jumping into a relationship with Kris, whom he likes a lot. However, the fact that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer makes him pause. At first, it seems that a round of chemo and a surgery will rid him of the tumor that is the root of all problems. However, after the surgery, he was informed that the cancer was more spread out than the doctors had initially thought, and it could not be removed in a single round of surgery. This means he will have to go through another round of chemo and prepare for another surgery. But even then, it is not guaranteed that the tumor will disappear completely. In the midst of this, a ray of hope appears in the form of an experimental trial.
At first, he didn’t make it into the trial because another young cancer patient, Finn, was selected instead. However, after she tragically dies before the trial can even begin, her empty spot is given to Nate. This is bittersweet news because on one side, he is happy he got the place, but at the same time, he is heartbroken over Finn’s death. Around the time of his first surgery, Kris goes through a heartbreaking time when her father passes away in London. It is especially difficult for her because they had not been on speaking terms for about two decades, and she never got the chance to make peace with him, despite having loved him with all her heart. When Nate finds out about this, he starts to wonder if getting involved with Kris at a time when his own life is in question will open her to more heartbreak.
Things get more difficult for Kris as she invests everything in opening her own record label while her first and only client, Aria, is poached by her former employers. When she tries to meet with Nate, she is confronted by Claire, who is technically still his wife because they are separated, not divorced. She tells Kris to leave Nate alone because it is a difficult time for him and their family, and being with Kris will complicate things for them even more. As saddening as it is for Kris, she takes Claire’s words to heart and puts distance between herself and Nate, which confuses him. But later, when he is hospitalised because of an infection, she realises she doesn’t want to waste any time that she can spend with him. By the time she expresses her feelings to him, she discovers that his own feelings have changed.
Nate and Kris Still Have a Chance to End Up Together
At the Christmas party, Kris apologizes to Nate for pushing him away while also confessing that she likes him a lot and wants to be with him. Nate, too, affirms his feelings for her, but he points out that she was right the first time around. He asks for space, citing the complications in his life that he doesn’t want to burden her with. He has to go to Houston for the trial, which means he and Kris won’t be able to spend a lot of time together anyway, and he doesn’t want her to stop her life because of him. Kris leaves the party, believing it is over between them, but then she receives a gift from him. When they met the first time, Kris brought a plant to the bar, which she left in Nate’s care. Before leaving New York, he brings the plant back to her with a message.
Kris finds the plant outside her door with an envelope, which she immediately knows is from Nate. In the letter, he asks her to take care of the plant while he is away, mentioning that he has found out she is also taking care of Walter’s plants while he is away. He also mentions that he is not returning the plant to her, but giving it to her for safekeeping until he returns from Houston. While the entire letter appears to be written with concern for the plant, it is clear that his words are directed towards Kris. What he means to say is that he hasn’t given up on them. He wishes to get better in Houston and return to Kris, so that they can finally be together. With this, he leaves Kris with the reassurance that he still likes her and wants to be her, and their love story is only just beginning.
Read More: Ripple Season 2 Cast and Plot Theories
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