TNT
Just when a new democratic society is born on Snowpiercer, Mr. Wilford has to ‘return from the dead’ and muck it all up. Many in First Class believe Wilford will retake the train and re-establish the class system that they believed worked well — at least for them — and all will be right with the world. Ruth Wardell is certainly happy to have Mr. Wilford back, and LJ Folger also believes she has some pull with him but one of them, at least, is beginning to see through the facade of the ‘Benevolent Creator’ even though she’s trying to deny it.
Layton is able to get some valuable information from Wilford’s Head of Hospitality, Kevin, by coercing him with … real Buffalo wings. Kevin was originally from Buffalo, so the treat was enough to get him to sing about Big Alice’s population — about 100 — and his reaction to the wings told Layton even more: they are hungry. When Wilford sends a communique that he’s willing to do a trade of Melanie for Kevin, Layton sees that as their best chance to get even more information about Wilford’s plans and Big Alice.
What it seems, however, is that the trade is more about getting Kevin back before he cracks and tells Layton all of Wilford’s secrets. Inviting the young man to his private car, Wilford fixes Kevin a hot bath to help wash away the ordeal of being held hostage on Snowpiercer. Kevin is able to tell him that the population of the train is in disarray because of the new classless society, which Wilford notes, but Wilford has a feeling that Kevin revealed just a bit too much about Big Alice. And it wasn’t that he told Layton the number of people aboard, it was the fact that he revealed they were starving. And Wilford just could not have that kind of information being put out there so, stepping into the bath with Kevin, Wilford handed him a straight razor and forced Kevin to slit his own wrists as punishment. RIP Kevin, we hardly knew ye. It will be interesting to see Ruth’s reaction when (or if) she learns of her counterpart’s fate.
Wilford wasn’t going to allow Melanie to see her daughter before the prisoner trade, but Alex made her way to the trade point anyway. She’s very curious about the vial of melted snow Melanie had carried with her and revealed that the water contained traces of the chemical compound that caused the freeze, CW-7, but in a fit of spite for leaving her behind she smashed the vial. But having that information, along with the knowledge she already has from being outside that it is snowing — something not possible at the current temperature on the surface — convinces Bennett, Javi and Layton to launch a weather balloon to take the temperature in the atmosphere. And the results show that it is definitely warmer above than below, which explains the snow. Armed with this information, it’s time to call a truce with Wilford to join together in the hopes of rebuilding civilization on Terra Firma instead of a train. How’s that going to sit with Wilford?
A lunch is arranged, and Wilford agrees to attend. Alex fears this will expose him to those on Snowpiercer who would rather he stayed dead, but Wilford also sees this as an opportunity to expose Layton and Melanie for his own purposes. And when Melanie gives those assembled the news that the planet does appear to be warming, the look on Wilford’s face shows he is less than pleased. Why would a man who claims to have built this train to save civilization — even though Melanie is the true architect, at least she claims to be — and basks in the adoration of those he saved from a freezing death want civilization returned to the planet’s surface? It’s funny that Wilford refers to Layton as a king twice, obviously to sway his devoted cult into seeing him that way, when Wilford himself is the one attempting to regain the crown Melanie took from him?
He does his best to shoot down Melanie’s theories but she is adamant that they need to continue to study what’s happening in the atmosphere. And the only way to do that is on the ground at a base station in the Rockies. And the only person qualified to spend a month off-train to conduct the study is … Melanie. And neither Layton nor Alex are thrilled with that idea. She may just be the head engineer now, but Melanie is the one person who knows Snowpiercer top to bottom and losing her for a month could spell disaster. And it’s not going to help her relationship with Alex.
TNT
But there is a question that lingers now. With Bess Till promoted to detective so she has more to do than just follow Layton around, she’s immediately thrust into a case in which a former Tailie, Lights, was assaulted, her fingers chopped off with an axe, perhaps as a way to prevent her from working. While watching Wilford walk away from the luncheon, hand raised with his first three fingers forming a W, Till had to see Lights’ hand. Just as she thought, only the first three fingers remained, pinkie and thumb removed, forming that same W sign. Does Wilford already have loyalists on Snowpiercer?
There was also a huge revelation this week, one that will have a major impact on Layton. As Zarah went to work in the medical car, she discovered a Jane Doe patient there in a coma with severe frostbite. Zarah immediately recognized what was left of the patient’s face as … Josie! She did not die after her fight with Melanie, but Zarah isn’t happy to see she’s still alive. In fact, she even tried to kill her just to keep the secret from Layton but her conscience got the better of her, quickly swapping out the IV bag she’d poisoned with a fresh one. She wrestled with telling Andre the truth, and she finally did after Wilford left, sending him to the medical car to see for himself. And … she opened her eye while he was talking to her.
It’s a pretty neat twist for dramatic purposes, but it completely undoes the shock we all experienced when we thought Melanie let her die in the frigid air. It also raised the question as to how she survived the extreme cold. She’d already lost a hand to just a brief exposure to the cold air, so how did she survive albeit with severe frostbite all over her body? Of course there was some foreshadowing in the season premiere when Melanie was treated by the Doctors Headwood with their goop that has basically cured Melanie’s frostbite. I have to assume there will be some kind of deal made with Wilford to get the Headwoods to use their goop on Josie. And knowing they’ve also created their own version of a Frankenstein monster impervious to the cold, we can assume Josie will also be getting her hand back as well.
Snowpiercer airs Mondays at 9:00 PM on TNT.
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
Share this post
