La Palma – Season 1 Episode 1 “Cry Wolf” Recap & Review

Cry Wolf 

Episode 1 of La Palma starts with tourists enjoying the views on a boat at Bonita Beach. Suddenly, the surrounding water starts boiling and erupts, killing all the tourists, including two Norwegians. The scene then cuts to Frederick, his wife Jennifer, and two kids, Sarah and Tobias, arriving at Santa Cruz de La Palma for their annual Christmas vacation.

The relationship between Fredrick and Jennifer seems frayed, as there appears to be a disconnect in their plans for the vacation. Jennifer has recently taken up fitness and wants to spend time walking and exercising while enjoying the scenery, while Fredrick wants to sit near the pool and have a mug of beer and food. Their daughter Sarah appears never to want to leave her brother’s side and socialise as she takes care of Tobias, who seems to have a mental condition. 

Elsewhere at the Geology Institute of La Palma, Marie, Alvaro, and Haukur are monitoring volcanic actions on the island. Following an eruption in 1949, scientific data indicates that a volcanic eruption could trigger a massive tsunami sweeping across the Atlantic, leading to catastrophic consequences.

Marie notices that the transmitter that sends data to her computer is not working, so she and Haukur head to the mountain to investigate. They head inside a cave at the side of the mountain and notice a massive crack on the cave roof and the rock sediments crushed onto the equipment, causing the damage.

Marie also noticed water seeping through the rocks, which was not the case during her earlier investigation a few days ago. In addition, they see dead animals on the cave floor, and Haukur measures a high concentration of carbon dioxide and sulphuric gas. However, upon reporting their observations to Alvaro, he sternly warns them not to notify the public before they have conclusive evidence of imminent risk of eruption.

Haukur informs Marie that Alvaro is cautious because he had rushed to announce to the public the possibility of an eruption earlier in 2021, causing alarm and mayhem, but the eruption did not happen. Marie agrees to keep it quiet, even from her brother, when she gets home later that day and continues to research. Despite telling Marie to keep it calm, Alvaro takes their findings seriously. He calls his doctor friend Antonio and asks to see the autopsy reports on the victims of the boat accident. Antonio confirms that the victims’ skin was burnt by extremely hot gas and had inhaled lethal levels of carbon dioxide and sulphur. 

Meanwhile, after testing the water collected from the caves, Marie noticed that it is deficient in minerals, meaning it took less time to travel from the surface to the tunnels. Marie theorises that the crack, they say, might go all the way up to the top of the mountain. Haukur checks the topography image, showing that the crack is in the same place as the crack from the 1949 eruption.

Marie and Haukur decide to make another visit up the mountain for a thorough investigation, and their fear becomes real since the crack cuts through to the mountaintop. 

The vacation is not going well in the hotel room, as the cracks in Fredrick and Jennifer’s relationship seem to show. They can barely hold a conversation, and a hotel attendant who seems very interested in Jennifer causes further strife, and Sara takes notice.

Sara is Fredrick’s stepdaughter, but they have an excellent father-daughter relationship. Frederick is left alone on the Balcony when he notices slight tremors that cause the wineglass on the table to shake. 

While Marie and Haukur are busy taking data at the mountain, Alvaro and the team at the geology institute notice an incipient earthquake swarm on the monitors.  There is a gas emission on the hill, and Alvaro directs the staff to inform the civil guard that there might be people up the mountain. Marie calls Alvaro, and as he warns them to get down the mountain, a gas eruption occurs.

The gas is poisonous, so Marie, Haukur and other tourists camping on the mountain start running to get away. At the end of the episode, Marie is separated from Haukur,  loses her footing, crashes to the ground, and is subsequently engulfed by the gas.

The Episode Review

Like many natural disaster thrillers, La Palma stars with trouble quietly brewing while those in charge argue about whether they are right or wrong. Meanwhile, normal citizens like Jennifer’s family are carrying on with their day, oblivious to the imminent danger.

The first episode sets the platform for the biggest disaster in La Palma after years of thinking it would never happen. In a way, we can understand Alvaro’s hesitation to alert the public. He once did it and it turned out to be a false alarm. You know what they say about once bitten, twice shy. Alvaro is the perfect example. Then we have Marie, young, idealistic and full of theories and ideas.

She has no idea what it costs to be wrong about such things. Sadly, this time she is right and it might be too late to save people. Let us jump onto the next episode to see who survives.