Most of the On My Block characters didn’t make it to the Netflix spinoff Freeridge, but the new show found a way to bring back the original’s best character. Taking place in the titular town that was also the setting for On My Block, Freeridge follows a new cast of characters who are grappling with a cursed box as well as teenage issues and family problems. Although the cursed box appears to be a McGuffin at first, the box is actually a connection to a beloved On My Block character, Abuelita.
Abuelita, who is referred to by her given name of Marisol in Netflix’s Freeridge, is one of the most iconic On My Block characters and was hugely important to the original show. In On My Block, Abuelita was a central figure not only due to her role as Ruby’s grandmother, but because of her involvement in finding the RollerWorld money. Despite Abuelita’s tragic death in On My Block, its spinoff Freeridge found a creative way to bring Abuelita’s spirit to the new Netflix show.
Freeridge Brought Back Abuelita Through Her Twin Sister
Though Abuelita dies in On My Block season 4, the Netflix spinoff Freeridge brings the beloved character back by featuring her twin sister, Mariluna. Both twins, Marisol and Mariluna are portrayed by Peggy Blow in On My Block and Freeridge, respectively, which further helps to channel Abuelita in the Netflix spinoff. The twins become a focus in Freeridge when the main characters investigate the curse they believe is afflicting them. However, when Gloria believes that she is being haunted by a ghost, Mariluna, who's actually alive, quickly takes center stage. Despite the vast differences between the two, featuring Peggy Blow as Mariluna in Freeridge helps keep Marisol’s memory alive.
Why Mariluna & Abuelita Are So Different In On My Block & Freeridge
Although Peggy Blow brings twins Marisol and Mariluna to life in On My Block and Freeridge, that is where the similarities end. One might expect Marisol and Mariluna to be alike because they are twins, but they aren’t like each other at all in Netflix’s Freeridge. According to Mariluna, the two twins were once inseparable, but the vastly different lives they lived as adults can account for why they are so different in the two Netflix shows.
According to Mariluna, the reason the two twins grew apart is that Mariluna had to leave her family behind to marry a rich man. As a result of their different paths, the two sisters never spoke again in life. Though the characters in the On My Block spinoff had grown apart and Marisol moved to Freeridge, it is revealed that Marisol kept a box from Mariluna, and that the “curse” was actually an inside joke between them. While the “curse” and the box were initially bad omens for the Freeridge characters, they are evidence of the twins’ sisterly love, meaning that Marisol/Abuelita is not fully gone in Freeridge.