At the end of The Last Anniversary’s finale, it finally feels like the women of Scribbly Gum Island have taken back what is theirs. It’s certainly a satisfying ending because we get all the answers we’ve been missing, but I can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed by it at the same time. Maybe because of how it plays out, super straightforward? There is that one major twist in the final episode, which definitely shocked me. I’m personally very happy with the way things turned out for Sophie and Grace. I hope they can be best friends for many years to come, and I’m so glad that Sophie’s finally found a family of her own, even if it is very unconventional. But, with that said, I will not waste any more time, let’s dive straight into episode 6.
Spoiler Alert
What Happened To Alice?
The Last Anniversary episode 6 begins with a flashback to when Alice was fired because she rejected Finch. When she went to Rose with her troubles, Rose offered her a place on the island, a cabin where she could live by herself. Only Rose and Connie’s dad had been afraid of Russians since the war, and he would never give the house to a single woman. This is when Rose and Alice came up with Jack, a husband who was working on the mainland and would barely be seen. Alice and Rose fell in love with each other, and when Alice had an audition (she was a singer), Rose stole a dress from Finch’s store for her. When the man found out, he did to her what he tried to do to Alice, which made Rose pregnant.
Somehow, Connie and Rose hid the pregnancy from their dad; they didn’t have a choice. Rose had to give birth in the cabin, but she was bleeding so badly somebody had to get a doctor. Connie told Alice to take their boat and go find a doctor in the storm, but Alice never returned, and the baby was born. That baby was Enigma, and Rose became completely depressed, not knowing what happened to Alice, or maybe feeling guilty for what happened to her. That’s why Enigma grew up abandoned, and that’s why Rose always kept a distance from “raising” her. It was she who used to come see Enigma in Alice’s dress. So I suppose the postpartum depression was somehow passed down to Grace. I suppose we’ve got to blame Rose for the way Enigma treats motherhood, but with family, everything will eventually be okay.
What’s Ron planning?
As if the women of Scribbly Gum aren’t in enough trouble, Margie’s husband, Ron, is planning on selling the island from under their feet, but luckily, they find out about it. According to Ron, it is for their own good, and it’s so that Margie and he can go live in some Southeast Asian country happily forever. Man doesn’t even know that his wife hates making sandwiches for him. Ironically, he learns that his wife is cheating on him and that his son was thrown out of his house for similar reasons (well, mental cheating) at the same time, leaving him very angry. Of course, Enigma and Margie get a lawyer and save the island (phew), but only after Ron throws a tantrum like a school child whose mom left him behind.
What Happens To Grace?
In the present day, Sophie and Callum can’t get a hold of Grace after they’ve been at the hospital one night. When they get to the island, Grace shows up, and Callum walks away with Ollie. Sophie’s the one who comforts her, and it seems she can tell what’s going on with Grace a little bit and is hoping to set things right for her. However, Grace doesn’t seem receptive because we know she’s got a different plan. A little later, Grace tells Sophie that she has been having this thing going on with Zeke since they were teenagers, when they circle back to each other once in a while, but this time she feels like it’s a real connection. This is basically right before the big island party for Enigma. But later, she tells Callum a slightly different version of the story; she tells him that Sophie saw them together, and he just asks where. He doesn’t really care at all, because it seems he’s been looking for an excuse not to care.
Callum has to get on stage and sing a romantic song, which he does pretty amazingly, but when he gets off the stage, he begins to weep. Sometime later, when Sophie and he are alone, he asks her to join him in the water. She does join him, but when they get close to each other, she tells him that this is wrong and that he isn’t even trying to understand what Grace is going through. Sophie acts as the bigger person here and gets out of the water, leaving Callum regretful, both about not emailing Sophie after Thailand and about not bothering to see what’s wrong with Grace.
At the same time, Grace goes off to Mystery Island because she seems to be done with everything. Nobody’s really cared to support her through all of this, and she’s been denying she’s depressed, though she’s been taking sleeping pills that make things worse. She leaves a nice little sketch of Ollie on a worm with a note for him and leaves. I suppose it’s a way for her to say that it’s not that she didn’t care, but she found it too hard. Grace gets some food, which she suspects has some nuts in it, and goes off without her EpiPen. She knows what she’s doing. On the other hand, Rose and Enigma realize she’s missing, and Enigma immediately knows where she’ll be. Enigma uses the EpiPen she has with her on Grace and then gives her CPR until she wakes up. Though Grace lies about it, Enigma knows that she tried to kill herself on purpose. It seems the memory Grace had of Enigma not caring about her when she was 11 is a bit different in Enigma’s mind. She always carries a pen with her, meaning that she, too, dearly loves her daughter; she’s just terrible at expressing it. Somehow, Rose picks this moment to let them both know that she’s Enigma’s mum. Rose and Enigma may not have had help, but Grace will get therapy and be fine.
Will Sophie Be Okay?
Rose also reveals that she killed Finch, for obvious reasons, but I mean, she also lost Alice because of him. Now, Sophie has all the answers she needs after the disastrous party when she was called out by Thomas’ wife for no fault of her own, but she feels sort of empty on the inside. This is because she’s finally found a family of her own, and it is Rose who invites her to come back “home,” because they all need her and they believe she’s a part of the family too. Sophie, Enigma, and Grace (even Rose, maybe) may have different reasons to feel abandoned and completely different stories, but at the end of the day, they felt the same way, lonely, so it only makes sense that they found life in each other. Also, Veronika was inspired by Rose’s story and decided to take the leap with Audrey, which is adorably sweet.
At the end of The Last Anniversary episode 6, Sophie is at Connie’s reading the P.S. that Thomas wrote in his favor, but we know how that turned out. When she steps outside, there’s a new man in front of her, and he looks at his watch when he meets her, just as she used to. When she asks about it, he says it’s nothing much (he’s probably doing it for the same reasons she used to do it for), meaning that she’s probably found the one guy Thomas was eager for her to find. The show ends on a positive note, and the credits roll in with Veronika’s podcast taking off. I’d honestly listen to it myself.
