Tamal Kundu
The Netflix sci-fi thriller series ‘Vortex’ follows Ludovic Béguin, or Ludo (Tomer Sisley), a 52-year-old veteran detective associated with the Brest police department. In 2025, he is tasked to investigate the apparent suicide of a woman who died on the beach where the body of his wife, Mélanie (Camille Claris), was found 27 years ago. In this world of the not-so-distant future, the French police use VR technology to assess crime scenes. While analyzing his case, Ludo is stunned to encounter his wife from 1998. With only 12 days in hand, they race against time so Mélanie will live. However, as her actions in the past begin to impact the future, Ludo’s fear of losing his current wife, Parvana (Zineb Triki), and their son, Sam, becomes very much real. If you are wondering whether Ludo ends up with Mélanie or Parvana in ‘Vortex,’ we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ludo and Parvana: A New Life Together
Time travel and the butterfly effect are common tropes in sci-fi cinema and television. What sets ‘Vortex’ apart is that its writers are unafraid to deal with narrative fallouts. They could have kept Ludo single in 2025, which would have simplified things for them and for Ludo. Instead, they depict that Ludo restarted his life about 15 years before. He met Parvana, an Afghan refugee who is a nurse and a few years younger than him. In Mélanie’s absence, she effectively raised Ludo and Mélanie’s daughter, Juliette or Juju. She has such an impact on the young woman’s life that she is now a doctor.
The Ludo of 2025 doesn’t necessarily have romantic feelings for Mélanie, but he deeply cares for her and doesn’t want her to die. As Mélanie’s actions begin to alter the timeline, Ludo becomes afraid that he will lose his family, but that doesn’t mean he stops trying to help her. In 1998, Mélanie understandably grows envious of the woman who will one day replace her in her family. Having learned all about Parvana from Ludo, she has her brought in. But when Ludo, of all people, shows up to interrogate Parvana, who is 18 years old at the time, Mélanie seems to feel a mixture of remorse and panic and sends her back.
The entire experience convinces Parvana to move, and as a result, she and Ludo never meet. In 2025, a horrified Ludo discovers that he and Parvana are not married, Sam doesn’t exist, and Juju is a slacker. When he discovers that this happened because of what Mélanie did, he begs her to give him his family back, and she does. Mélanie fixes things in the past, ensuring that Parvana and Ludo meet and creating a timeline where things are mostly similar to the original one.
Ludo eventually tells Parvana the truth. Instead of not believing him, she asks him to choose life with her over Mélanie. Despite what he claims, she knows if he saves Mélanie, there might not be a place for her and Sam in his life. But as Ludo states, he can’t simply let Mélanie face her impending death alone. A critical moment in the narrative happens when Ludo takes Juju to see her mother. Things initially go well, but Mélanie reacts somewhat poorly when she learns that Juju is a lesbian, prompting the younger woman to leave VR angrily.
After discovering that Hector, a childhood friend of Mélanie, is the real killer, Ludo tries to warn her but discovers that Parvana has destroyed the glasses. Dealing with the prospect of losing Mélanie again, Ludo confronts Hector, who kills him. Fortunately, Mélanie figures out the truth on her own, killing Hector and effectively saving all his victims, including Ludo.
This creates a new timeline, where Ludo is married to Parvana, and Sam exists. But Mélanie spent 15 years on the run before returning to see Juju. Ludo learns that he played a role in her arrest. Juju, who has become a lawyer in this timeline, resents her father for his actions. The season concludes with a bittersweet ending for Ludo and Mélanie. Realizing that this is the Ludo from VR, Mélanie tells him she has been waiting for him for 27 years. They interlock their hands, unlike all those times in VR when they couldn’t touch each other. Ludo ends up with Parvana, but it appears that Mélanie will remain an important part of his life.
Read More: Do Mélanie and Ludo Die in Vortex? [Spoiler]
