Apple TV’s latest release, “Ghosted,” brings Chris Evans’ Cole, who is a farmer, face-to-face with Ana de Armas’ Sadie, who is a CIA agent. It takes a lot of chaos for the underlying sexual tension between them to turn into a romance. Many secondary characters address this, and it is very true. Let’s find out more about these two.
Spoilers Ahead
Cole
Cole comes across as needy, as per his family, especially his sister. And his texts to Sadie also point toward this nature of his. But he is also someone who cares for the people he loves. But there is something of a catch in his character. He was kidnapped and almost executed; numerous guys were shot in front of him, and he almost fell into a gorge while hanging from a truck. For a guy who has never left home in his life, which is another way of saying that he hasn’t seen the world, all that he goes through should have taken a big toll on his mind.
Even Tony Stark was visibly shaken and had lost hope in the cave, and it was Yinsen who constantly reminded him that he had to be strong. But Cole doesn’t need any of that, apparently. He is almost cool to the point of casual with Sadie shooting one guy after another. We know they are bad guys, but we did expect Cole to ask her to stop at least once in the film. This doesn’t happen. It seems normal when we see the film, but if we think about it, it seems bizarre.
We cannot help but think that maybe he was an agent once but left that job to return to his family. And it seems that the makers considered this possibility and thus decided to make him a good wrestler to justify his bravery, his muscular physique, and his ability to take hits. He does not break under the harshest of circumstances. And we accept all this because we have taken for granted the fact that if one is with a spy, one automatically becomes braver, all thanks to spy films. Perhaps Chris Evans playing the character makes it more attractive to the viewers.
Subconsciously, there’s no question of right or wrong; we know that the guy is capable of all he does in the film. This is because we have seen him do much more of this. One explanation for this can be the fact that Chris Evans has been portrayed as the ultimate superhero. So, any action film he makes will remind us of how we have come to know him. He will have to break his mold by doing films of other genres like “Gifted,” “Knives Out,” and “Before We Go.” Coming back to Cole, he may be angry with the way Sadie has been lying to him, but it doesn’t pull him away from his feelings for her. He loves her and decides not to leave her alone on the mission. Ultimately, he does manage to prove to Sadie that he isn’t willing to run away, no matter the risks, and will be with her.
Sadie
Ana de Armas’ Sadie has spent most of her life struggling. She tells Cole that the agency gave her a purpose. The fact that she gives in to Cole’s approach can be considered, as we later realize, a sign of her loneliness. But that’s only natural. The best agents are always alone; take Natasha Romanov or James Bond, for example. That’s what makes them apt for the job. Alone means no loved ones to lose. Maybe the reason she left Cole was that she knew he wouldn’t follow her. But when she realizes that he has come for her, she understands that taking a stand for loved ones is what matters most. Her character adds nothing new to the conversation (just like Cole’s). It is just the usual emotional quotient that we have all come across in spy films.
As for Ana de Armas, her soft appearance doesn’t go well with her hardened nature. It is clear by now that Hollywood has this urge to use the most good-looking actresses and utilize their seductiveness as a characteristic, if not a weapon, for their spy persona. And we, the audience, have been so bombarded with this that we are okay with it. Ana de Armas has already been through this as Paloma in “James Bond: No Time to Die,” like many other actresses before her in the franchise.
Lashana Lynch as Nomi in “James Bond: No Time to Die,” Halle Berry as Jinx Johnson in “Die Another Day,” Angelina Jolie’s Evelyn Salt in “Salt,” Charlize Theron’s Lorraine Broughton in “Atomic Blonde,” Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust in “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,” Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff in the MCU—the list goes on and on. However, Ana did a better job as Paloma than Sadie. Somehow, her spy attitude doesn’t come off the way it should, and it seems that although she has what it takes to be a spy and is highly trained in combat, she was forced to become one and is doing what she has to do not because she wants to but because she is told to. We can opt for this as a real reason for her being in the agency, as she had, after all, no idea what she would do in life. All she knew was a struggle, and the agency may have decided to use her to its advantage.
The Argument
In the second half of the film, Cole and Sadie get into an argument at the CIA headquarters, where Sadie tells him that he is too afraid to live the one life he has got and that he is using his parents as an excuse to avoid life. And we are left wondering why that might be. We are not provided with Cole’s past so that we can analyze it. All we know is that he chose to be with his parents, and Sadie has no idea what she’s saying when she tells him that his parents don’t need him anymore. It can easily be her way of looking at life because she never had parents to care for. Her mother died when she was 10, and we have no idea about her father, and probably neither does she.
On the other hand, Cole tells Sadie that what she does for a living is her excuse to stay away from people so that she doesn’t end up losing them. It’s the fear of losing that has made her this way. But this doesn’t seem true because she barely felt the love that one fears losing. If anything, the reason she left Cole is that she never had anyone who loved her the way he did and thus didn’t expect anything from him. Her relationship with Marco was part of a mission and nothing else. So we can say that in ghosting Cole, Sadie ghosted herself as well. Thankfully, at the end of “Ghosted,” Sadie and Cole realize how much they need each other to come out of their shells. And that’s what matters. PS: Sadie doesn’t retire at the end of the film. So, there might come a time when Cole follows in her footsteps and is hired by the agency too. Perfecto Mundo!
