Emma Brunner is one of the leads in Netflix’s comedy-drama series, FUBAR, sharing the screen often with her father who has kept a secret from her similar to the one she has from him.
CIA veteran Luke Brunner is months away from his retirement when he’s pulled back for one last mission, which involves rescuing a fellow CIA operative. To his shock and disbelief, it turns out to be none other than his daughter, Emma Brunner.
While Luke has been a CIA operative for forty years and kept it a secret from his loved ones, including Emma, she has been working as a CIA operative for years too, while the agency has made it so that they can never know about each other’s profession.
A perfect daughter
Emma had always wanted to be the perfect daughter, and she does become one too, something that Luke admits himself and is proud of.
From getting straight A’s to becoming the first chair violin, along with no cursing, drinking, or smoking, Luke has been elated with pride over how Emma turned out and loves her for it, acknowledging her excellence in spite of his absence throughout her childhood.
However, this absence and distance from her daughter is the very reason Emma strove to become perfect, to be the ideal daughter she could be. This was all in an effort to impress her father enough so he’d stay and spend more time with her and the family.
However, Luke could never do that or see that his daughter’s doing so much and excelling so much because she wants him by her side. By the time he does, it’s rather late and a lot of limitations have been imposed on her personality.
Feelings of inadequacy
Emma Brunner is in a relationship with Carter, an elementary school teacher who’s meek and reserved appearance-wise but ever-so-giving and caring in terms of affection and empathy.
Emma loves him but a lot of adversities during the mission to take down Boro Polonia, an international terrorist Emma has been working with for quite some time, impact her relationship with Carter.
During the mission, her colleague, Agent Aldone Reese starts getting close to her, he also gives her glimpses of care and words of affirmation, including making her feel like she is needed and deserves a lot more than what she has.
This triggers a sort of realization in her that she has been missing something in her relationship with Carter. She doesn’t want to admit it at first but eventually does to Luke. This feeling of inadequacy eventually takes the form of Emma cheating on Carter.
Although they don’t have sex, Emma and Aldone do make out two times, before Emma’s reluctance is fortified when even Aldone acknowledges what he’s doing is becoming a homewrecker, intentionally.
Who does Emma choose?
That Emma kissed Aldone is something Carter has no idea about, even if he has his suspicions that they might be cheating. When Luke can’t bear to see Carter getting cheated on, and having his opinion about him changed, he confesses to him about the kiss he witnessed.
Carter is heartbroken and while that kiss is not the last one Emma Brunner and Aldone Reese share, she’s heartbroken over the conflicting feelings and the guilt she carries for being unfaithful to her fiancé.
She goes back to Carter and when he brings up that he knows she cheated, she admits to it, telling him she loves him and wants to be with him. However, he breaks up with her, right then and there.
She tries to treat Aldone as a rebound but he refuses her, claiming that she only wants to give him a shot because Carter just broke up with her and she doesn’t wish to be alone at the moment.
At the end of the season, Emma Brunner’s love life status is that of a single woman. Since her breakup with Carter, she has not been with anyone and it seems nothing non-platonic has transpired between her and Aldone. Meanwhile, Carter has had no luck with any other relationship either.
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