Dad's being harsh, but it's not like Elsa doesn't totally deserve it. After all, it's not like she only cheated once.
Sam: Did you know there’s a hole in the middle of Antarctica the size of Maine?
Julia: Is that how you’re feeling lately? Like there’s a hole in your life?
[...]
Sam: I don’t know how I feel
—
Sam: Tu lo sapevi che in mezzo alla Antartide c’è un buco grande quanto lo stato del Maine?
Julia: Immagino sia quello che provi. Senti un buco nella tua vita?
«Something that seemed so rock-solid, or, I guess, ice-solid.. And yet, impossible as it sounds... that’s exactly what’s happening. A giant hole. [...] The hole in Antarctica is most probably a result of hot water bubbling underneath the Arctic Ice. Invisible, but slowly destroying the ice sheets from under the surface. Inch by inch, one layer at a time, what was once thick ice finally gets so thin... it cracks wide-open».
—
«Una cosa che sembrava solida come la roccia, o meglio, come il ghiaccio, eppure, per quanto possa sembrare incredibile, è quello che sta succedendo. Un buco gigantesco. [...] Con ogni probabilità il buco nell’Antartide è causato dall’acqua calda che ribolle furiosamente sotto al ghiaccio. È invisibile, lentamente distrugge gli strati di ghiaccio sotto la superficie. Poco a poco, uno strato ala volta, il ghiaccio un tempo così compatto diventa sottile... fino ad andare in frantumi».
Nice to see Sam again! Despite the troubles, this show makes me feel happy with the attitudes between the family members, in particular within Casey and Sam.
Review by GabyBlockedParentSpoilers2020-01-05T07:16:14Z
The VO from Sam and his therapy sessions are key in framing the emotional subtext of the Gardner's lives: as Sam talks about the hole in Antartica, we also see the hole in the Gardner family: Doug leaving cause Elsa cheated, Casey distancing herself from her mom, and Sam not having anyone to confide in. All of this things have created a hole in the Gardner dynamics and shifting their lives as something is missing that can't make everything better and whole.
Out of everyone's storylines, though Sam is the title character, I find Casey to be a much more compelling character. She is the one experiencing the most emotional instability and life changes. Thought Sam has grown in the first season, Casey has changes she wasn't prepared for (sleeping with Evan, changing schools, being bullied by friends and losing the trust she had in her parents) are much more daunting and hard to deal with than what Sam has gone through, all without the support system that Sam has had (his overbearing mom, Julia his therapist, Paige his girlfriend, and his best friend).
Elsa and Doug are still the most boring and uninteresting characters on the show, they just fill the hole of useless parents, but I can't feel bad for either of them, especially Elsa seeing how much they try to protect Sam, while leaving Casey on the sidelines (missing her track meet, prioritizing Sam's needs at school, etc). I like seeing Casey rebel against her mother, now let's see if Doug can grow and fix his relationship with Casey.