Snowpiercer Season 3 Episode 3 review: Citizens of Snowpiercer, Layton has the train

3.5/5

Story: On the last episode of Snowpiercer, the pirate train had managed to find Wilford’s Big Alice after all, and while both sides absolutely need to reconnect, that is not going to be easy. Wilford has only got about six months of ‘running’ his train and he is in no mood to relinquish authority just yet. First, he gives Kevin a free-hand to torture members of the resistance into submission and rat out the rest of them and then he keeps the heavily pregnant Zarah in the engine to ensure Layton and co don’t attack them. Reconnecting is inevitable. The question is, how much blood are both sides willing to spill before they do so?

Review: Wilford, we know, will stop at nothing to retain control of his train. So, there’s some bloodshed – his – as Layton and co return and stake claim to the train. The bloodshed is minimal, after all, because that’s not what Layton wants and his plan, albeit delayed after Wilford tries to derail the pirate train, works out just well. Wilford does lose Kevin, but you’ve got to see that play out. It’s LJ at her creepiest best again.

The question now is the direction that Snowpiercer should take. Layton is convinced that there is a New Eden in the Southern Arabian Peninsula in Africa, where humanity’s last hope for recolonization is, based on the vision he had when he met Asha in the bunker at the nuclear plant. The track leading there, though, is perilous, and the people on Snowpiercer may not want to undertake a dangerous mission just yet. They’ve been through enough already. Layton’s idea of democracy, though, is to lie to them – convince them that Asha is from New Eden and that there’s hope – and then put it to vote whether to head there or not. That’s some next level deception, but it succeeds and Ben sets Snowpiercer’s course for the ‘warm spot’.

For now, all is well aboard Snowpiercer. Wilford has been locked up, Audrey’s been banished to third class, and Till is busy overseeing the medical bay as they revive people in the drawers, including Roche. What’s off is Asha – days after being rescued from the bunker, she is still covering in fear and seeking solace with her helmet on. What’s up, Asha? Are you really one of the 34 stationed at the nuclear plant or are you one of the remaining marauders who killed people there? Well, guess we have to wait to find out.

Verdict: I have to admit that even though I followed Snowpiercer the show religiously over the last two seasons, I was not much of a fan, mostly because of the limitations set by its setting – on a train over 1000 cars long that people just flitted across from engine to tail in minutes. The writing got a lot better by season 2 when Sean Bean was thrown into the mix as the great engineer Wilford. And, in Melanie Cavill’s (Jennifer Connelly) absence, he has, quite literally held fort. Season 3 has been a welcome change; each of the three episodes so far have been engaging and leaving audiences intrigued enough waiting for the next to drop. Good job, writers!