Aahana Swrup
‘La Palma’ is a Netflix Norwegian/Spanish show about a catastrophic disaster that takes over the titular Canary Island in Spain, threatening thousands of lives. Sara and her family—brother Tobias and parents Fredrik and Jennifer—arrive at a hotel in La Palma on their annual vacation trip. However, unlike the cool and calm of previous years, an unfavorable development in the island’s mountains promises looming tragedy. Thus, as researcher Marie Ekdal notices the cracks forming on the island, the island’s inhabitants and other countries nearby find themselves in a race against time to brace themselves for the damage of an upcoming tsunami. Given the situation’s high-pressure nature, the series effectively keeps the audience on their toes regarding the fates of the central characters. SPOILERS AHEAD!
La Palma Recap
Ever since the eruption of 1949, the La Palma Islands have developed cracks that many at La Palma Geological Institute believe could lead to a volcanic eruption of devastating seismic activity. Nonetheless, when Marie Ekdal, a new researcher at the establishment, attempts to bring attention to suspicions of a crack expansion as suggested by her in-field monitoring, her superior, Álvaro Perez, quickly shoots down the idea. Álvaro has been in charge of the Institute for a long time. Yet, he lost some credibility when he tried to warn the public of the possible tsunami threat during the eruptions of 2021. As such, he is dedicated to only acting on such threats of international threat once he has full trust in the theory.
Even though Álvaro dismisses Marie’s initial worry, he snoops around the issue and realizes that earlier, a tourist family had died near the island in a boat accident caused by the surrounding water’s rising heat. Meanwhile, Sara and her family arrive at a hotel in La Palma and coincidentally find themselves upgraded to the tourist family’s previous room. The family of four undertakes this trip every year to relax around the holidays. However, things may be a bit more tense this time due to the brewing complications in Jennifer and Fredrick’s marriage. On the other hand, their oldest daughter, Sara, who has a penchant for shouldering every responsibility, finds herself faced with an opportunity for romance when her paths cross with another teenager at the resort, Charlie.
Nonetheless, Sara constantly lets her family complications push her into overthinking and missing chances. Back at the Institute, Marie and her research partner Haukur continue investigating the crack’s development. As a result, they end up on the island right as Álvaro receives a warning for a level 5 earthquake. Fortunately enough, the duo managed to survive the gas eruptions, only a little scuffed up from the event. The gas eruption also compels Álvaro to take action and reach out to the government to initiate an evacuation plan. Nevertheless, it’s of little use since the minister refuses to take his word seriously. Consequently, the public receives no warning by the time the mountain gears up for its second eruption—this time of ash.
Sara, overwhelmed by her parents’ argument, makes the rash decision to leave La Palma island and return to Madrid via plane. After booking her plane tickets, she contacts her uncle, Jens, to see if he can lend her cash for the taxi ride from the airport to her home. Naturally, the call distresses Jens, who tries to convince her to talk to her parents before flying back home alone. Unbeknownst to them, at the same time, Álvaro tries to get the government to halt all air travel in preparation for the upcoming eruption. Nonetheless, by the time the warning comes, Sara’s train takes off and flies right into the erupting smoke clouds. As a result, the plane crashes into a nearby locality, leaving many dead and injured.
Fortunately enough, Sara had gotten off the airplane at the last minute, persuaded by a text from Charlie. Since the other teenager impromptu saves Sara’s life, she tries to be brave and expresses her feelings for Charlie, which leads the two girls down a path of a budding romance. The following night, Jens—who works at Norway’s Foreign Ministry—finally receives news of the looming tsunami on the horizon. Yet, he finds himself in a dilemma since the Spanish authority demands confidentiality from all workers, even ones whose families are currently on an island in the direct path of the upcoming tsunami.
La Palma Ending: What is Jens’ Plan?
Throughout the narrative, the sudden nature of the mountain’s possible volcanic eruption remains the central crux of the issue. Previously, in his attempt to ensure people were well-informed, Álvaro jumped the gun and issued a tsunami warning for a disaster that never came. Therefore, this time around, he needs to be entirely sure of the disaster’s possibility to make officials understand the situation’s gravity. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t happen until the second ash eruption. Significant gas and ash eruptions are a result of the expansion of cracks in the mountains. If the eruptions continue, lava is bound to come up. This will lead to a landslide, triggering a tsunami bound to wipe out numerous coastal areas.
Therefore, as the Foreign Ministry prepares to deal with the issue, it forbids workers from leaking information about the upcoming tsunami to anyone. If the public finds out about their sealed dooms, it will incite a mass panic that will further complicate evacuation plans. Nonetheless, Jens can’t leave his sister to her demise—especially when his superiors aren’t even working on an evacuation strategy for La Palma. For the same reason, as he realizes that Jennifer and her family’s chances of evacuation are dwindling, he leaks the information to her and instructs her to take the last ferry out of the island to get to the nearest airport in Tenerife.
Thus, Jennifer and her family rush to leave the hotel and travel to the ferry. Even though Sara tries to take Charlie with her, she fails to reach the other teenager in time. Furthermore, the family’s race to the ferry—which is scheduled to leave in a matter of minutes—pushes them to steal a van. Consequently, even after the family manages to arrive at the harbor in the nick of time, Frederick ends up left behind. Meanwhile, Jens gets to work on a backup plan as a wave expert tries to offer his expertise at the Ministry. While Jens’ boss dismisses the expert, he sees the potential in using the other man’s knowledge to find a safe spot for the people in Tenerife who will be inevitably left behind.
Do Marie and Erik Leave the Island?
Shortly after Jennifer and her kids leave La Palma on the last scheduled ferry, another eruption compels the authorities to call for an evacuation warning. However, while everyone on the island rushes to escape, Marie finds herself in a peculiar predicament. Earlier, Marie tries to get her brother, Erik, to leave the island before things can escalate. The siblings lost their parents to a tsunami when they were younger and had lasting trauma from the event. For the same reason, she’s desperate to protect Erik without leaking information about the upcoming disaster. Her efforts backfire as she picks a fight with her brother.
In the end, an altercation with the police leads to Marie’s arrest, which puts her in lockup as the mountain builds up for its big eruption. By then, Erik realizes his sister’s true motives and refuses to leave her on the island alone. However, even as the evacuation warning sounds, the officer at the station prolongs everyone’s stay as she waits for protocol. Thus, Erik has to free Marie from lockup himself before time runs out. Naturally, once he gets his hands on the keys, he also frees another criminal. Afterward, the duo runs into Fredrik and joins him in looking for an escape.
While all the boats at the harbor are filled up, Erik—who enjoys diving—knows of a boat hidden at a beach. Nonetheless, once the trio arrives at the boat, they encounter the criminal Erik previously released. The criminal is armed and ready to prevent Marie and the others from leaving on the boat he has set his sights on. Consequently, in the altercation that follows, the criminal ends up shooting Erik. Ultimately, Marie is able to leave the island with Fredrik on her brother’s boat. Still, her escape arrives at the cost of Erik’s sacrifice. The latter’s death also remains increasingly disheartening since it’s caused by human dysfunction rather than the inevitable natural disaster looming in the background.
Do Fredrik and His Family Survive?
While Fredrick barely evades certain doom on La Palma by evacuating the island on the boat with Marie, Jennifer and the kids arrive at the Tenerife airport to board a flight out. Even though the chaos at the airport presents an entirely new complication, the trio manage to secure their seats on an airplane. While in line for boarding, Sara spots Charlie, who takes her advice and manages to evacuate La Palma in time. The teenager ends up separating from her family to check up on her tentative girlfriend. For the same reason, by the time Jennifer and Tobias board the vessel, they aren’t sure of Sara’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Sara—having realized Fredrik won’t be able to make it in time—offers Charlie his place on the plane. Yet, as the teens board, Jennifer and Tobias leave the craft, unwilling to leave Sara behind. Therefore, minutes before the take-off, Jennifer can only talk to her daughter on the phone and convince her that she and Tobias will find another way out. Thanks to Jens, the same becomes more than an empty consolation. All this time, Jens has been working with the wave expert to find a safe spot at Tenerife. Eventually, he does find a strip of the bay where the chances of the tsunami waves canceling each other out are fifty-fifty.
Nevertheless, Jens’ boss won’t let him reveal the knowledge to the public. She’s concerned about the ways in which it could backfire on the Ministry if the spot fails to escape the tsunami’s destruction. Even so, Jens grasps the situation’s gravity—especially after the volcano erupts and his boss decides to give up on a proper evacuation plan. Thus, at the last moment, he hijacks her canceled press conference to share the coordinates of the safe spot with the media, compelling the public to spread the information. As such, Jennifer and Fredrik both learn about the place through their phones and make a beeline for the Bay Area. Both Jennifer and Fredrik experience close calls and barely evade death. Yet, they manage to arrive at the safe spot—alongside other survivors.
Are Sara and Charlie Dead Or Alive?
Even though Jennifer, Fredrik, and Tobias manage to evacuate safely before the tsunami hits the islands, Sara’s fate remains up in the air. Unlike her family, Sara managed to board the plane in time for the take-off. Due to the time-sensitive nature of the situation, the plane fails to take off, especially as the seismic activity leads to cracks in the runaway. For the same reason, the plane is still grounded in the airport as the tsunami arrives and wipes down the runway. As a result, Sara and Charlie both undergo the wave’s destruction and trauma.
Yet, as the teenagers—and numerous other passengers—are encased within the plane, they manage to retain some level of shelter. Consequently, the tsunami doesn’t directly lead to their deaths. Instead, Sara manages to survive in the aftermath. Once she has her bearings, she attempts to drag Charlie away to ensure she’s alive. Thanks to a flight attendant who also survived the wave, Sara is able to perform CPR on the other girl. As such, Charlie also makes it out alive. Afterward, the pair survive the tsunami and are sequestered to safety at Jens’ safe spot. In the end, Jens’ efforts save the lives of hundreds, including his entire family, who are once again reunited in safety.
Read More: Best Disaster Movies on Netflix
