Amaya is alive. It is the first and fundamental answer provided by The Snow Girl, from Netflix, in its last chapter. But, the big question mark about the fate of the lost girl ceased to be the only one posed by the series as it progressed. As Miren (Milena Smit) becomes involved in the case, she discovers that the disappearance is a journey into sordid worlds, some linked to her traumatic past. The end of the production allows both narrative lines to come together at a single point.
The adaptation of Javier Castillo’s homonymous work came to Netflix as a brilliant six-part production. The challenge of condensing an enigma about a crime without evidence and leading to more sinister possibilities, resulted in a sophisticated story. Beyond the usual suspense, it is also a reflection on human nature, violence and emotional suffering.
Each of those main themes from The Snow Girl were part of the terrific closing chapter. The plot answered every one of the questions it raised, and furthermore, it deftly explored a murky setting. What began with the apparent kidnapping of Amaya during the Three Kings Parade in Malaga ended up becoming a more twisted event. All of which came to a logical and well-narrated conclusion.
A maze of clues that leads to two locations in The Snow Girl
As will be recalled, the police immediately began the investigation into what happened to the missing girl. But he approached it from the common perspective that the culprit, by necessity, must be a close family figure. Which pointed directly to David Luque (Tristán Ulloa), close to the victim’s parents.
But it soon became clear that the main suspect had had no part in the crime with which The Snow Girl begins. However, Miren and her former writing partner, Eduardo (José Coronado), accumulated clues about dark situations related to missing children. Gradually, Luque’s name began to be directly related to networks disseminating pornographic videos. What is even harder, with a very serious situation that Miren went through in the past.
However, the efforts of journalists do not seem to get anywhere. The indication of Luque’s involvement in a network of sexual videos has no connection with what actually happened with the girl. But yes with a handful of older and more perverse circumstances. For her fourth chapter, The Snow Girl unites the flashbacks she showed earlier and the bits of information she hinted at into a single narrative thread.
The thread that seems to unite all the pieces
How does all of the above connect? Through Miren, that she suffered a sexual assault years ago, without any answers as to who committed it. Much worse: she suffered the derision that the video of the rape was released.
The journalist, convinced that the response to Amaya’s disappearance could involve sexual crimes against children, goes further in that direction. Which will lead her to discover that Luque and her son are responsible for the violent crime that she suffered.
The snow girl showed that Miren’s insistence on following a line of investigation into pedophilia was not correct to unravel what happened with Amaya, but it was necessary. At the same time, her obsession with the little girl’s case was linked to her trauma, which prompted her to search for urgent answers. Finally, she not only finds them, but also exposes Luque.
The Snow Girl and the Endless Search
But the unknown of Amaya’s whereabouts remains unresolved. It will only be achieved in the fifth episode, which she presents in flashback to a couple with fertility problems. They both go to Ana’s (Loreto Mauleón) office, Amaya’s mother, in her desperate attempts to conceive a baby. They are Santiago (Julián Villagrán) and Iris (Cecilia Freire). The plot shows, in a brief sequence, the couple’s frustration and their countless attempts to become parents.
But it also does something else. Next, the plot progresses to a suspicious image of Iris and Santiago, right in the middle of the crowd where Amaya disappeared. From then on, events precipitate. Iris finds the girl missing and crying. At first, it seems that her intention is just to comfort her, but after she decides to take her with her. The closest and most immediate solution that she finds to her obsession with being her mother.
Finally, The Snow Girl reveals that the alleged kidnapping is actually a desperate act. The marriage preserves Amaya, she changes her name to Julia and, with the passing of time, makes her her de facto daughter. Even when Santiago decides to tell what happened and dies in the middle of an accident, Iris will remain convinced that she “made the right decision.”
In the end, all clues lead to an emotional conclusion.
One of the most interesting points of The Snow Girl is that it avoids the use of red herrings. In reality, both the path that Miren and Eduardo took in the investigations and the final result that led to finding the girl are valid.
In the context of history, the journey of the parallel lines of information is necessary not only to understand the scope of the conflict. Also to carefully analyze their characters, pains and fears.
When the young journalist finally finds the house where Iris kept Amaya, it is much more than a full stop. It is also the answer to a long search of truth that encompassed the series’ sense of urgency. One of its best elements and, without a doubt, what distinguishes its careful argument from other similar stories.
In her final sequences, Amaya’s parents try to reach out to their daughter, even though she is traumatized and confused. Of course, the entire case becomes a book written by Miren, appropriately called The Snow Girl. Without any loose ends to regret, the adaptation ends its journey — at least with this case — impeccably.