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The two-part season finale of Snowpiercer was a real pulse-pounding nail-biter! The series was a bit slow to get out of the station, but from Episode 4 to the finale, this train has been running at full speed. I won’t give a blow-by-blow recap of each episode, but a general overview of the twists and turns of the story.
After First Class thawed out Pike, he did exactly what they wanted him to do in regards to Layton. Pike laid out the plans of Commander Grey, Ruth and the Folgers demanding Layton’s surrender … or else they would start gassing people from Third on to the tail. And as Pike promised, Layton knew continuing to fight would only lead to more casualties so he agreed to the surrender.
Ruth let Melanie know in no uncertain terms that what she’s done hasn’t only destroyed their friendship, but it’s totally destroyed Ruth world. And without Mr. Wilford guiding the Eternal Engine, how can this world they’ve created continue to move forward. Ruth’s reaction to the news that Melanie left Wilford at a station to die shows how these people have almost become a cult to Wilford and the engine, crossing themselves with a W to show their devotion. But now that Melanie has been exposed as a ‘monster’ who’s wrestled power from their savior — and killed him in the process — Ruth is happy to carry out Melanie’s execution herself, especially after she goes through Melanie’s belongings and discovers all the recordings of Wilford that she was using to construct the audio messages from him.
In the engine, Bennett is furious at what Miles has done and is working frantically to set up radio communication to the back of the train that can’t be monitored by Grey or the jackboots. Melanie is now being held in a car with other insurgents awaiting their execution — Lungs of Ice, in which an oxygen mask is placed over the nose and mouth and the cold outside air is pumped in to their lungs. When it’s her turn, Melanie is advised to just take one deep breath because it’s quicker that way. But Melanie still has some support among the rebels, and somehow Javi was able to make it from the engine to the execution car to swap places with the executioner in order to help Melanie escape (the woman with the list of names of the condemned was also in on the plan).
Before Layton turns himself over, Melanie is brought to him with a plan: the train is approaching Chicago, completing another revolution. Her original plan was to slow the train at the place where it all started so the passengers could mark the occasion but now, for the train to survive, she needs to convince Layton of a new plan — uncouple seven cars at a switch track and once they are gone Bennett will slow down enough so the momentum of the rest of the train will allow them to recouple. And Layton agrees because no one wants the Folgers in charge.
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For the plan to work, Layton still has to go through with his ‘surrender’ and Till gets Roche on board to help carry out the charade. After the ceremony, it’s off to get rid of Layton but he’s working against the clock now to pull the switch to uncouple the cars. Once Melanie does it from her end, he’s got three minutes to get it done from his side. Except there’s one problem — the first car is the one where the prisoners were being held and Layton wants to get them out before time runs out. But they’re chained and no one has a key so he has to make the terrible decision to pull the switch and let them go. While that was terrible, it was joyful to watch the Folgers as the reality of their situation dawned on them as the rear and front of the train drifted away from their cars which also included Grey and all of his jackboots. The Folgers will never know that their own daughter actually assisted in the revolution that got them sent to an icy grave.
With the train restored but now just 994 cars long, Melanie turns over control to Layton … who is finding it’s not an easy job to keep the masses under control. First and Second Class cars are being broken into and looted but Layton assures everyone that once they have a governing board set up and a constitution, everything will be normal except there will be no class division.
Melanie, meanwhile, finally goes to the Night Care for one of Miss Audrey’s hypnotherapy treatments and gets that weight off her chest that she’s been carrying — she put the train before her own daughter. Melanie Cavill doesn’t have many regrets, or at least she didn’t until her attempt at keeping civilization alive completely fell apart, but this burden of leaving her daughter to die is the one thing that’s weighed on her since Snowpiercer was conceived.
But re-establishing a new civilization and dealing with ghosts of the past have to take a back seat to a new threat — a mysterious radio signal detected by Javi. He’s certain it’s coming from somewhere outside, but Bennett is certain it’s coming from the back of the train. Except that’s a lie and he’s fudging the satellite signal so Javi can’t confirm his suspicions. With Melanie now just an engineer who will remain in the engine, Javi alerts her to the signal and she’s almost certain when they pinpoint the direction that it’s ‘him’.
And then we learn what I have suspected for a while now considering I could not see how this particular Snowpiercer could connect to the movie Snowpiercer — there is a second train. And Mr. Wilford is not dead (and sadly, if you looked at the show’s IMDB page, you’d have been spoiled by this bit of information). But now the fear is Wilford’s train will connect to Melanie’s train and there will be an attempt at a hostile takeover. As the trains get closer, Ruth is almost overtaken with joy that their lord and savior is indeed alive and well on the other train, and she organizes a choir to greet him when they board.
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But Layton is having none of that. They didn’t fight to liberate Snowpiercer just to have it taken over again, and especially not by Wilford. As he organizes a group to fight off the invaders, Ruth insists that as the head of Hospitality, she be the first one Wilford sees to welcome him onto the train. Layton humors her as it becomes clear they are not going to be able to fight off whatever is about to come through the door after the second engine connects to their tail. Melanie suits up to go outside, to cross the tops of the train cars to get to the back to disconnect the link from Wilford’s train that is disrupting their system. But she is knocked off into the snowy terrain below as the trains fly past her.
But the brakes are applied and both trains stop, giving Melanie a chance to try to get aboard the second train. As the tail of Snowpiercer is cut open, everyone awaits to see who the figure is that is approaching them from the other train. It’s not Wilford, but a young girl who asks if Ruth is from Hospitality. Ruth says she is and then the girl asks if Melanie Cavill is alive. Ruth says she is, although she doesn’t know Melanie is currently in the snow outside the train. The girl then reveals her identity — she’s Melanie’s daughter.
And with that, the final scene of the stopped trains flashes into a animated scene just as the series started with the animation in the first episode, leaving us now eagerly awaiting the second season. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the show when it started, but as the action and tension were ramped up and those questions of how the show connected to the movie were growing with each episode, I think they did a great job of just building and building to this stunning finale. We know Snowpiercer will return, but the question now is when?
Snowpiercer will return to TNT in 2021.
What did you think of the finale and the season? Tell us in the comments section below!
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