Episode Synopsis:
It’s been a few months, and the summer team, our protagonists included, are getting ready to head back home. The girls spend a while looking back on their adventure, then enjoy what’s left of their time on this remote continent and make plans to return together. The show closes as they arrive home to a warm welcome from friends and family.
Episode Review:
In the method that’s become standard for the show, there’s another time skip, this one to the end of their adventure. As has also become standard, this allows for well-made showing, rather than boring telling, about how the girls have changed and grown into their roles as part of the Antarctic expedition.
The girls are now taken for granted as part of the day to day operation of the base, making it clear that they’re full-fledged members now. They go on operations to extract ice, hang out with other members during downtime, and still find time to report back home with their videos. It’s more quality storytelling from a show already packed with it.
While life there has become routine, there are always things about Antarctica to learn and be amazed by.
Perhaps the biggest off-screen change is in Shirase. At the end of the last episode, she was going through some pretty intense emotions concerning her mother, and had come to some form of closure with them. After that acceptance, though, it’s clear she’s really come into her own and begun enjoying Antarctica, not as the end of a personal journey, but just for the fun of being there with her friends.
It’s a strong end to her personal arc, and I couldn’t ask for more from the show.
Well… maybe there’s one more thing.
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