Diksha Sundriyal
In Prime Video’s ‘The Idea of You,’ Solene Marchand’s dreamy romance goes awry when her new relationship with Hayes, the singer of a popular boy band, comes under public scrutiny. It is not lost on Solene that all of the ruckus around their relationship wouldn’t have happened if Hayes was the older one in the relationship. This gender bias and prejudice results in a lot of grief for both parties, forcing them to part ways even when they are completely in love with each other.
Despite trying to ignore what the world thinks of them, Solene Marchand and Hayes Campbell agree that they must break up. However, this is not the end of their story. Five years later, both of them are in completely different places, which opens the opportunity for their reunion. Does it happen?
Solene and Hayes Finally Get a Shot at a Happy Ending
Society’s judgment was the first thing that came into Solene’s mind when she realized she was attracted to Hayes. Despite their instant chemistry, she told herself that the age gap between them was too much and she could be his mother. But then, an age gap like that is not unheard of for public figures, especially if the older person in the relationship is a man. If it works for them, why shouldn’t it work for her and Hayes? Moreover, it isn’t just her who wants the relationship. Hayes is just as attracted to her as she is to him, and he is even more adamant than her to ignore everyone else and just focus on their feelings for each other.
While this works for a while, eventually, Solene has to accept that they don’t live in a bubble and that her relationship will have an impact on her teenage daughter, who deserves to have a normal and peaceful life. While her daughter is supportive of her and Hayes, when she is bullied in school, Solene decides to end the whole thing with Hayes, even though it breaks her heart. Hayes understands Solene’s point, and there isn’t much left to say except wishing their timing was better, which is what Hayes speaks of in their final meeting before they bid each other goodbye for good.
He says that while they have to part ways now, he believes that things won’t be the same in five years’ time. By then, Izzy will be off to college and she will be able to stay away from all the media circus, able to live her own life outside of her mother. By then, Hayes would also have explored more aspects of his life, he’ll be more mature, and older, which would perhaps make it more acceptable for people to date someone older than him. More importantly, by then, he hoped the frenzy around him would die down, and he would be free to love her without either of them having to answer for it. Solene knows five years is a long time, and she tells Hayes not to wait for her. She tells him to accept love if it comes his way, and there are no hard feelings between them.
As Hayes departs her house, he leaves his watch there, just like he left it the first time around, because it meant that he intended to come back for it. The watch did its trick the first time, bringing him and Solene together after she’d struggled with all sorts of doubts. Now that he leaves his watch for the second time, the act has much more meaning attributed to it. This is him showing Solene that he intends to wait for five years if that’s what it will take for them to be together. It shows that he is not giving up and that one day, he will come back for the watch and Solene, and they can be together again.
Five years is a long time, but it is not long enough for Solene to move on from Hayes. She is happy to see him flourish, but when he talks about coming to LA to meet someone special, she wishes that it is her he is talking about. Her wish turns out to be true when the next day, Hayes shows up at the art gallery. When he and Solene look at each other, they smile. It is a smile of relief, of seeing each other after all this time and realizing that the other person loved them enough to wait for them for five years. Solene had expected Hayes to move on, but the fact that he kept his word, that he came back even when he had every reason not to, confirms that he is not backing out anymore. And he was right.
Things have changed a lot for both of them in five years, and while the media scrutiny will continue still, considering that Hayes, now going solo, is at the height of his career, they are ready to take on that challenge. Solene doesn’t have to worry about her daughter anymore, which was the only reason she broke up with Hayes the last time. Now that that issue is resolved, there is no reason for her to hold herself back from having all the happiness she deserves. The look that Solene and Hayes share proves that this is the beginning of their romance and a new life.
Read More: The Idea of You: Is August Moon a Real Band? Where to Listen to Their Songs?
