Spoilers for seasons 2 and 3. Jackie’s season 2 finale confession is to Cole, but it is not a final, exclusive choice between the Walter brothers. Series creator Melanie Halsall says Jackie is in love with Cole while still loving Alex, and the interrupted scene leaves the triangle unresolved.
Did Jackie choose Cole or Alex?
At the end of season 2, Jackie tells Cole she is in love with him. That confession answers who she is speaking to, not whom she has definitively chosen for a future. An emergency involving George cuts the conversation short before Jackie and Cole can establish what happens next.
Halsall puts the ambiguity plainly: “The way we see it is she’s in love with Cole, but she still loves Alex.” The distinction matters: Jackie’s feelings for Cole are explicit, but the show does not make her love for Alex disappear or resolve the triangle in that moment. Netflix Tudum’s season 2 ending explainer discusses the scene with the creator.
Why Jackie is drawn to Cole
Jackie spends much of season 2 trying to make her relationship with Alex work while keeping her feelings for Cole at a distance. Halsall says Cole brings out things in Jackie that she cannot hide, and that she is afraid of losing control around him. Nikki Rodriguez, who plays Jackie, describes the same tension: “Cole brings out this side of Jackie where she feels out of control, and as a perfectionist, that’s really scary for her.”
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This is an interpretation of Jackie’s emotional experience, not proof that she has settled her future. Cole challenges the control she tries to maintain; the intensity between them makes her more exposed than she is comfortable being.
What Alex gives Jackie—and why he still matters
Alex represents a different kind of connection. In Netflix’s official season 2 cast interview, Rodriguez says that Alex makes Jackie feel she belongs and has a place in the Walter family. That sense of belonging matters to someone rebuilding her life after losing her family; it is not simply a lesser version of her relationship with Cole.
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The brothers therefore connect to different parts of Jackie’s story: Cole brings emotional intensity, while Alex helps her feel included and rooted. The contrast is not a verdict that one brother is good for her and the other is not. The cast interview also frames identity as something the characters discover by trying out what they want; Alex actor Ashby Gentry says, “Season 2 is about how our identities are fluid, how we discover who we are, and what we want by trying things on.”
How season 3 changes the meaning of Cole’s choices
Season 3 adds context to Cole’s withdrawal from Jackie. In episode 7, he ends things after Eliot convinces him he cannot offer Jackie the future she deserves. Showrunner Halsall identifies Cole’s insecurity and inability to believe in himself as his fatal flaw.
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By the finale, Cole realizes he never stopped loving Jackie and intends to tell her that he ended the relationship because he felt unworthy. Before he can explain, Danvers rams Cole’s car, causing a crash. The later revelation makes the breakup look less like a loss of love than a decision driven by Cole’s doubts about himself—but it does not erase the hurt or settle what Jackie will choose.
What the season 3 finale leaves unresolved
The finale ends with the love triangle still open, a dance-floor kiss, and the potentially devastating car crash. Netflix’s season 3 ending explainer describes those events without resolving the final pairing. The crash interrupts Cole’s intended explanation, so the audience does not see Jackie respond to his account of why he left.
Season 3 also shifts attention toward Jackie’s own needs. Rodriguez says Jackie has historically put others first and begins putting herself first this season. George’s health scare gives the family perspective, and Rodriguez describes him as a voice encouraging Jackie to follow her heart. That makes Jackie’s eventual decision about more than which brother she loves: it also has to reflect what she wants for herself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the finale means for Jackie and Cole
Jackie’s season 2 confession shows that her feelings for Cole are real, while Halsall’s explanation makes clear she still loves Alex. Season 3 then reveals that Cole’s insecurity helped drive him away, but its finale stops short of a reconciliation or a final choice. The story has clarified why the triangle is emotionally difficult without deciding its outcome.
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