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The latest episode of Snowpiercer was certainly a white-knuckle thrill ride, but there was very little in the way of plot development.
The storyline that did move forward was Josie getting Layton out of the drawer. Unfortunately, the only place she could take him was to his ex Zarah in Third. Just because everyone assumes he’s back in the tail, it would come as quite a shock to Melanie if he actually did show up there which could have terrible repercussions for the Tailies.
But Layton is in desperate need of medical attention because you just can’t rip someone from a drawer with those drugs coursing through the system. There needs to be a detox period because Layton was exhibiting the signs of aggression and paranoia that come with going cold turkey. But Josie found an ally in Dr. Pelton who knew exactly how to deal with Layton’s symptoms. She needed the patience of a saint to deal with his outbursts. But his question was why is she helping him now?
One of the biggest shocks that Layton and Josie get is that there isn’t just one car of drawers … there are eleven. And Dr. Pelton has discovered files on all the passengers, of which some have a red X marked in a box. Layton and Josie’s files have X-es, as does Dr. Pelton’s. They can only assume that they are all targeted as insurgents, perhaps, and will be dealt with accordingly. Armed with this knowledge, a still groggy Layton manages to slip out of the hospital room to go after Melanie.
But Melanie has bigger problems on her hands, namely a Third Class work stoppage and that some hydraulic connection has come undone causing the brakes to lock up on some of the cars. And Snowpiercer is heading towards a large curve that then puts the track over a gorge. Even at the lowest allowable reduction in speed, hitting that curve with the brakes locked will derail the entire train which is already feeling the effects of the emergency both up-train and down due to an accident while attempting the repair, forcing a shelter in place lockdown (conveniently timed to the hour of the work stoppage). Visually, it was a very exciting sequence as the effects were felt up and down the train, also leading to a surprisingly tender moment between the now adversarial Till and Osweiller … that seemed to only last in that moment they thought they were going to die, because now that Osweiller has Till’s assault and her abetting Josie to get Layton out of the drawer, he’s holding all that over her to be an even bigger prick than he already is.
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And it seems Melanie is the only person who can repair the damage because (a) she’s small enough to fit into tight spaces and (b) she designed the train. No one else seems to know the specs but her. Which begs the question: Is or was Mr. Wilford ever a real person, and does that mean the Mr. Wilford we saw in the movie just another caretaker of the Eternal Engine? Melanie also has to deal with an enraged Layton, who’s found his way down to the lower deck of the damaged car. With just minutes to go before the train hits the curve and a blade at her throat, Melanie ‘confesses’ that the drawers aren’t for prisoners. The drawers are holding a select number of people for their value in case something does happen and everyone else on the train die. They are in stasis for their value to a future society. The revelation shocks Layton and he allows Melanie to go and save the train … which she does in the nick of time.
Layton makes his way back to Josie just as everything returns to normal and tells her he came back because he only wanted to be with her if this was their final moments together. What he doesn’t know is that Zarah is now pregnant. Will she keep the news to herself, or will she use it to try and get Layton back?
Snowpiercer airs Sundays at 9:00 PM on TNT.
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