Hi,
This is my first time actually properly posting on this forum. I started watching the show because I loved Rrahul's acting in Twisted, huge fan of thrillers here, and I figured since he was that good in one thriller, he would have chosen this also wisely and I wasn't wrong. Thrillers are meant to make you keep guessing like you missed something, and this show delivers on that.
Every thriller I have read and seen till date, needs an innocent to rise out of ashes, they are the ultimate underdog stories and I feel that is what Riddhima is in this show, even though I don't think she is as innocent as they have shown her till now. She is easily scared, cries a lot but has also always stood up against Vansh since day 1, so one of the 2 personas have to be the real one while the other is pretend. Even the shoot out, she was so scared he was going to kill her, and yet, when she got her chance to get rid of the "murderer" she jumped in front, effectively ready to die for him. I don't know if she has a past with Vansh or whether like Vansh, she is also trying to figure out some truth, but she just doesn't feel like the innocent cry baby they try to paint her at times.
Coming to the current track, I am genuinely loving it. The 2 shades of Riddhima are clearly visible now, where she is crying for family and Vansh, but is refusing to bow to Vihaan even after he has proven himself dangerous and aware of his surroundings better than she trained him to be. I don't think this is because she isn't scared of dying anymore, she is fighting for her family right now, I think it is because Vihaan isn't important enough according to her for her to keep pretending in front of him. And as for Vansh, from his POV, he needed to test Riddhima and know which is the real her before he decides what to do with her.
I read people saying that he doesn't trust her so how can she trust him. And that is true and false at the same time. He knew from day 1 that she was a spy and yes, she tried telling him her past, but she never started with after the marriage, she always started her line with before marriage, which he said he doesn't care about, something I think every girl wants her husband to say somewhere. She kept going behind his back even when he asked her not to, even after knowing the truth, she didn't tell him about herself, so how could he trust her right now? Yes, he always listened to his family, but don't we all give first preference to what they say? And whenever he asked her, a lot of times she hid the truth from him, further weakening the faith he was developing on her as he would later find out in some cases, like the painting.
I don't think Riddhima should or would leave Vansh after finding out the truth and here is why:
His POV: His wife was a spy, sent by his biggest enemy. She tried to kidnap his witness who then got murdered, turning him into one for law, and she tried to kill his sister, something his sister only told him before going into coma. She never tried to tell the truth, even when he told her he got the cctv footage of who kidnapped Ragini.
Her POV: He didn't listen when she tried, on the cliff, when his enemy already had a gun to his head. She truly loved him, yearned for him, but he has no clue about any of it.
The only redeeming factor here, where he might trust her a bit or at least question his judgement, is that she readily trusted an outsider just because she did not want to marry his enemy, he doesn't know about the poison bottle here. So I don't think what Vansh is doing is "wrong" in the sense of punishing her or emotionally torturing her here, she has done worse with him and he is trying to test her in all ways here, one if she fails in, he is going to break further and if she passes, they both become equals in true sense. I think this test is about her becoming that equal, stop letting people and emotions manipulate her because while he defeated death this time, he might not always and she can't keep on trusting every stranger she meets with a familiar face. The ridiculous story she believed, further corroborates that what he is doing to her is needed for her own good since she happily pokes her nose everywhere without precautions. Yes, if Vansh as Vihaan crosses his line with her and she doesn't say anything, like the kiss in the shower, that would be a point of no return since he would also be broken that she gave his place and rights to someone else this soon after his death and she would also be broken at betraying Vansh but won't be able to say anything again, and that would lead to them both hating the other and rightfully so. I toh personally want Riddhima to know the truth and then seduce Vihaan to make him snap and say the truth, that would be a fun twist for Vansh to also know his wife can live in the dark world with him. So for me, this is truly a fight for them to be equals.
I am not supporting the physical or emotional abuse anywhere, I am just calling a spade by that name. They both have physically and emotionally tortured each other, and there is no "bechara" or "bechari" here. Two wrongs don't make a right, but painting one wrong and one right because of gender, also isn't something that I support. I believe in Feminism and that is all about equals in all senses.
Sorry for the long rant!