Ice Breaker
Episode 4 of Zero Chill begins with Kayla sneaking Jacob into the house. Eventually she’s found out, but the family allow him to stay for dinner. It turns out Luke has been in contact with Jacob’s parents too, and they’re flying out to see him in action with Maia. They’re also going to visit Mac’s charity game. That afternoon, Zero Chill adds some more contrived drama to the fold in the form of Mac’s rival hockey player, Carson. He’s going to be staying with them for a few days. There’s obviously no love lost between them and he’s incredibly rude too, drinking milk from the carton and leaving Mac’s Mum to bring up his luggage. After a big, secret meeting about the game plan, Ava catches up with Mac outside. There’s an Icebreaker event on that evening and the two decide to go together. Mac agrees to sneak her in, dressed as a mascot. Day turns to night and the Icebreaker gig gets underway. This happens to be in the bar we’ve been seeing so much of, as Carson does his best to try and win over Sky. Mac is forced to watch from afar, giving faint whiffs of another possible love triangle on the horizon. Eventually all the simmering drama blows up that evening. Carson tries to woo Sky; Mac gets involved and has ketchup sprayed on him; while Ava jumps in and pounces on Carson, leading to her mask flying off and across the room – something which Anton immediately frowns at. Sky hurries off as one of her friends, Bear, follows. It turns out he’s also going through a lot of drama, including word that his Mother has passed away. He asks to be friends, as it soon becomes clear that they used to be in a relationship. When Mac catches up with Anton, he praises the boy for his passion and trash-talking. He hugs the boy, telling him he’s proud, as Ava watches from afar. To get her own back, she grabs Mac’s secret book and hurries over to Carson, handing it over and proclaiming “Happy reading.”
The Episode Review
Zero Chill returns with more painfully contrived drama as this guy Carson comes into the fold. It’s clear he’s only there to stir up trouble, with Ava’s flip-flopping allegiance all over the place. It’s still not initially clear whether we should be rooting for her or not, but the ending seems to hint that it’s the latter. Meanwhile, Kayla continues to just sort of flit around in this episode, with her earlier drama petering out in favour of the ice hockey team and Sky’s past. In fact, that latter point even sees another new character in the form of Bear enter the fold. It turns out he used to date Sky but clearly something drew them apart. The story so far has been a bit all over the place if I’m honest, but the fast-paced episodes are just enough to stick with this one for the time being. Whether this series improves or not in the second half though remains to be seen. Based on this showing, it doesn’t seem very probable but we shall see.
