Blade Star
Episode 10 of Zero Chill begins with the big game between the Wolverines and the Hammers about to start. Just before it does, Kayla rings Sky and tells her she’s conflicted and doesn’t know what to do. Eventually she makes her decision though, looking at the expensive bracelet Elina gave her and deciding to compete after all. Sky senses something is up though and speaks to Mac, telling him she needs to go to Blade Star. Well, at Blade Star she runs into Maia who has a brand new team now that Jacob has gone. Anyway, Sky shows up not long after and sees Archie, who agrees to let her in the audience. Kayla ends up in second place after her big dance number but Elina continues to grill her over her posture. Thankfully a despairing Kayla manages to take her opportunity to speak to Sky, confessing to her about the loneliness she feels skating solo on the ice. Eventually this leads to Kayla opening up and admitting she wants to skate with Sky in a pairing from now on. In an act of defiance, Kayla heads on the ice with Sky and the two wind up competing together. Despite their wonderful synchronized dancing and stand ovation, given it’s a solo performance Kayla leaves with a score of 0. Back at the rink, Mac has second thoughts but speaks to Bear about his dilemma. Eventually Bear decides to do his best and win for the team, sacrificing his house for Mac’s career. During the half-time pep talk, Bear’s Father gets up and walks away, prompting Sam to leave the game and follow. This allows Ava to get involved as the goalie. She certainly impresses, blocking a litany of shots and impressing Anton. Outside though, things kick off as Bear’s Father admits that he tried to throw the game. The two kids are not happy and feel betrayed by their Father, eventually walking away. Thankfully the Hammers win their game. Bear and Sam head back inside but the team stop celebrating as Anton takes them aside to talk. He’s not angry with them though (probably because they won) and allows them to join the rest of the team instead. While they do, Ava joins her Father in the hallway and confronts him about his attitude. She gives him back the hockey stick and tells him to give it to someone he cares ago. On the ice, Anton and Ava finally talk about their issues. He asks her for a chance to go back and try again, determined to patch up their differences. Eventually Anton hugs his daughter and starts to treat her like family. In fact, this brings the pair to Elina next, telling her that despite not having a competitive skater it doesn’t mean they can’t be together. Well, naturally Elina sets her sights elsewhere and hands over a business card to Maia. On the back of everything that’s happened, Sky encourages Kayla to leave and head off to the Czech Republic. Only, Mac decides against this big move and confirms to everyone that they’re staying in England after all.
The Episode Review
Zero Chill has been a really topsy-turvy and contrived season. It’s one that’s zipped by at a relatively quick pace and had just enough drama to make for an easy binge. However, it’s also hiccupped its way through lots of contrived drama along the way. Jacob completely disappears after episode 6 while Elina’s changed focus from Ava across to Kayla feels like a betrayal of her character arc and undoes some of the earlier work done with her. It really seemed like the show was gong to explore a Mother/daughter relationship and eventually lead to Elina seeing the error of her ways but alas, that was not to be. Meanwhile, Sky’s past illness woes are completely forgotten about too, despite so many characters making a big deal about it early on. Why even mention it if it’s not going to be elaborated on? Her character just seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity too, relegated to Mac’s girlfriend rather than fleshed out in a compelling way. Despite all that though, there will be fans of Zero Chill but I’m not quite sure whether that audience will be big enough to warrant the cancellation of Spinning Out remains to be seen. The show feels like a weird mishmash of ideas but it fails to capitalize on any of them in a way that feels exciting or fresh. With Spinning Out tackling a very similar idea, Zero Chill has zero ambition to try and stand out, culminating in a rather disappointing season.
