Olivia Rodrigo just got a perfectly bittersweet sendoff in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3. Ever since it was announced that Rodrigo would be reducing her on-screen presence, appearing only as a guest star as she focuses more on her music career, there have been questions about how the show would write her off. Rodrigo’s character, Nini Salazar-Roberts, only appeared in the first two episodes of High School Musical season 3, though she makes her way back to Camp Shallow Lake in time for the finale.
In an arc that mirrors Rodrigo’s own meteoric rise as a pop artist, Nini has to make a choice in the finale: she can either return to the central High School Musical setting of East High once classes begin, or she permanently moves to LA in order to more fully focus on her aspirations as a singer-songwriter. Nini decides on the latter, but HSMTMTS resists the temptation to make a big deal out of it. Instead, it’s an atypically understated moment with Nini’s best friend, Kourtney Greene (Dara Reneé), that tells the audience everything they need to know.
Nini hangs around in the background of the High School Musical season 3 finale, cheering on her classmates from a distance as they put on a summer production of Frozen and leaving them little notes of encouragement to find later. But in the one scene that she shares with her best friend, Nini’s conflicted emotions are plain to see. She’s clearly proud of Kourtney, who overcame her anxiety to put on an excellent performance of “Let It Go”, but she’s also a little heartbroken. She says, at one point, as her nose gets a little red and her eyes fill up with tears: “You’re all, like, really special to me. Think I kind of had to go away and come back to see that.” It seems, for a few moments, that Rodrigo’s real emotions could be slipping through Nini’s words.
It’s Better That Nini & Ricky Didn’t Reunite In HSMTMTS Season 3’s Finale
Nini’s arrival at Camp Shallow Lake briefly rattles her ex-boyfriend, Ricky Bowen (Joshua Bassett), though the two characters ultimately don’t see each other. Instead, Nini leaves her ex a parting gift of sorts, she gets him a lottery ticket, as revealed in a letter, which helps him complete his bucket list. It shows that, even though they’ve split up, Nini still shares a history and understanding with Ricky that she cherishes. From both a storyline perspective and considering the future of High School Musical, this bittersweet goodbye works better than an outright reunion.
It’s no secret that there’s a lot of interest in the real-life relationship between Bassett and Rodrigo. They’re rumored to be exes that went through a bad breakup. Although neither actor has confirmed this, Bassett has fueled speculation by revealing in a 2021 interview that Rodrigo hasn’t spoken to him in over a year. The pair also went viral just for taking a photo together at the HSMTMTS season 3 premiere event, with fans wondering whether they’ve since reconciled. Given that showrunner, Tim Federle is open to Rodrigo making another appearance down the line, a future Ricky/Nini scene would bring a lot of attention to the High School Musical franchise.
But even if she doesn’t show up again in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, that’s okay too. Nini’s farewell in the finale beautifully expresses that, even if you miss someone, even if you love them dearly and wish them well, it’s okay to grow apart and chart your own path. Rodrigo’s exit didn’t come with cinematic closure, satisfying without tying up every loose end. It left the door open while acknowledging, implicitly, that she may not walk through it. All in all, it’s a moving melancholy resolution for a show that often prefers to be big and bright, and optimistic.
