The Snow Girl (La chica de nieve) recap guide: All 6 episodes explained

The Snow Girl episode 5 recap: Iris and Santiago

The Snow Girl episode 5 is a departure from previous episodes in that this time around, we get to see the last nine years from the perspective of Amaya’s kidnappers. The opening of episode 5 reveals that Iris Molina was one of Ana’s patients and she’d been struggling to get pregnant with her husband Santiago for years.

Desperation drove her to take Amaya when she saw her lost and crying at the parade. Recognizing her as her doctor’s daughter, Iris could easily have returned Amaya to her parents, but she makes the rash decision to kidnap her instead.

Even though Iris’s intentions are not necessarily evil, what she does to Amaya over the next nine years is pretty horrific, brainwashing and grooming Amaya into believing her name is Julia and that Iris and Santiago are her real parents. Beyond that, Iris isolates Amaya from the rest of the world to the point Amaya thinks that anywhere outside of her house there are bad men waiting to prey on her. Since Amaya’s story is all over the news and in the papers, they can’t risk taking her out of the house, resulting in Amaya living a very sheltered and lonely life.

In 2016, Iris sends a tape of Amaya to Miren, knowing she’ll show it to Amaya’s real parents with the goal of letting them know that Amaya is safe. But as we know, Miren releases the tape publicly, and it causes a big media firestorm. They have to be more cautious than ever at home, which poses a problem when their landlord, a man named Raul, comes knocking to get the mortgage payment.

Unfortunately for Raul, he comes to the house unannounced and happens to see Iris tugging Amaya inside. Even though he doesn’t say anything, he’s obviously suspicious, and Iris picks up on this. She murders Raul to keep their secret. Iris grows increasingly paranoid over the years. she tells Santiago that she will do anything to keep Amaya, to the point that she would willingly kill herself and Amaya just to prevent anyone from separating them.

By 2019, Iris’s erratic behavior has deeply disturbed Santiago, leading him to the police station where he intends to confess to the kidnapping. But just as he’s crossing the street to go inside, he gets hit by a car and dies.

His death gives Iris a significant life insurance payout. With her husband dead, Iris plans on leaving the country and moving with Amaya to France for a fresh start. Before they leave, she sends in the second videotape to Miren, this one labeled “goodbye,” as a way to let everyone know that they won’t be contacting them again.