Cole Crashes Car in Season 3 Finale as Breakup With Jackie Unravels 1 Romance

Q: After that shocking crash and unexpected kiss, will Cole survive long enough to win Jackie back?

Probably yes, but Netflix has not confirmed it onscreen yet. Season 3 ends by deliberately leaving Cole’s fate unresolved after rival racer Danvers Stacey rams his car, sending it into a violent rollover just as Cole is trying to find Jackie and tell her the truth about why he broke up with her. Noah LaLonde has said Cole’s fate is “left uncertain,” and showrunner Melanie Halsall described the finale as a major cliffhanger meant to leave viewers desperate for more. The strongest evidence that Cole is likely to survive is outside the episode itself: Netflix has already renewed the series for season 4, production is underway, and reporting around the renewal indicates Nikki Rodriguez, Noah LaLonde and Ashby Gentry are all returning. That makes a permanent death for Cole look unlikely, though the crash could still leave him badly injured and reshape his racing future. Whether he can “win Jackie back” is much less clear. Jackie ends the season kissing Elliot, and the show has positioned him as a real emotional complication tied to her old New York life and ambitions. At the same time, Cole finally recognizes that his breakup was driven by insecurity, not lack of love, and he was on his way to confess that before the crash. So the most evidence-based read is that Cole probably survives into season 4, but his recovery, Jackie’s guilt over the timing, and Elliot’s new place in her life will likely make any reunion harder rather than immediate.

3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Aug 7

Cole’s fate is left unknown after a rival racer causes his car to crash while he is rushing to tell Jackie the truth about their breakup.
The crash follows Cole’s decision to dump Jackie by falsely saying he was bored and not a relationship guy, even though he was trying to protect her from criticism that he was derailing her Princeton-bound future.
Season 3 had initially resolved the triangle: Jackie and Alex split in episode 1, and Jackie and Cole finally became a couple before outside pressure, slipping grades and a police warning strained them.
The finale deepens the cliffhanger by pairing Cole’s failed reconciliation with Jackie kissing Elliot, who represents the old life and future she once imagined for herself.