‘The Baxters’ Season 1 Ending: Ali Cobrin Reacts to That Shocking Death & Kari’s Enduring Love for Ryan
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 1 of The Baxters]
Kari Baxter (Ali Cobrin) is put through the emotional wringer in the first season of The Baxters, Prime Video’s new faith-driven drama series based on Karen Kingsbury’s novel series. Her husband, Tim (Brandon Hirsch), leaves her for Angela (Taylour Paige), one of his college students. Kari soon discovers she’s pregnant. Tim does come back to Kari, but their happy ending is tragically cut short. Tim is killed by a student who wanted revenge after Angela fled. Kari is forced to raise her newborn daughter without Tim.
Below, Cobrin takes inside the jaw-dropping Season 1 finale, Kari’s relationship with ex-boyfriend Ryan (Jake Allyn), and whether or not Kari’s capable of forgiving the man who killed her husband.
How did you react when you learned that after this intense journey to save their marriage, Tim was going to die?
Ali Cobrin: Karen Kingsbury, the author of the books, really hits you in the gut. Like, punch after punch. I was totally shocked, but I honestly wasn’t surprised. It was like, of course, Kari Baxter is now going to have to deal with the death of her husband. After everything she’s been through this season, of course, that’s the next journey for her.
Kari has gone through so much in a very short amount of time.
Literally, but that’s Karen’s style. I think that’s why it’s going to make such good TV because she has so many books that involve the Baxter family. She has so many stories that don’t, but all her stories have cliffhangers and continuously hit you with the drama.
Prime Video/Joshua Applegate
Do you think Kari is capable of forgiving Dirk, the man who killed her husband?
Oh my gosh, that is such a crazy thing to wrap my mind around. I don’t think by the end of Season 1, but soon on her journey, I do think she could. She would offer him forgiveness because that’s just the way she lives her life. She does what she has to do to move on. That whole family, but her specifically, she’s the most forgiving. But yeah, I think for her to move on and for her to keep her heart open, she would need to.
Do you think there’s a part of her that will eventually seek out closure with Angela?
As Ali, I would be like, “Go after her.” Kari is above it all. It was like such a big blip in the grand scheme of their love and their life and their family. I don’t think she thinks twice about Angela, which I have to admire. To be half as good as Kari would be amazing. She’s just so morally sound. She has a good head on her shoulders. She’s really got it all together. It’s really incredible.
At the end of Season 1, Ryan comes by the house to say goodbye before he leaves for New York. Do you think there’s hope for these two romantically?
I’d say 100 percent. I mean, we saw him in the first episode when Kari and her sister were talking about him. I think he’s been in the back of her mind. I don’t think she regrets anything, but if she’s had one bad thing she’s ever done… Not bad, but something that’s on her conscience, I think it’s that she thinks about Ryan Taylor her whole marriage. I think on her wedding day she thought about him.
Is he the one that got away, perhaps?
Oh, yes. Full stop. She loves him. She has a great love for Time and believes love is a choice. She chose Tim, and she would be with him forever and would live happily ever after. But I think she’s thought about Ryan every day since she’s known him. They’ve known each other their whole lives.
How do you think Kari would feel about Ashley and Ryan kissing?
I think she would be really upset. It’s out of control, ridiculous behavior, but that’s Ashley.
At the end of Tim’s life, do you think Kari had forgiven him for everything?
Yes. I think there was full redemption. And really, the timing of it all, she got closure and full forgiveness in the minutes leading up to his death.
Was there any part of you, as Ali, that wouldn’t have made the choices that Kari did?
I don’t know how Kari approached these things with such grace. I can’t fathom it, and I’m lucky to not have to share her experiences. But had I shared any of them, I would be a nightmare of a human being. That was my favorite part about playing Kari, every choice she made was a better choice and the ideal choice. To be that person would be wild.
The Baxters, Seasons 1-3, Prime Video
