Into The White
Episode 10 of Snowpiercer Season 2 begins with Layton and Ruth biding their time, preparing to leave the train. This plan includes taking out the guard on the other side of their door. Using the shard of glass Layton managed to obtain last episode, they’re going to stab him into submission. Layton and Ruth aren’t the only ones trying to break free though, as we see Alex is actually attempting to do the same thing. Ruth and Layton outsmart their captor, bundling him inside the carriage and locking the door behind them. Together, they use a shovel to head up-train and find Alex. While Javier drives the train, Layton and Ruth make their move. They head up-train, breaking into the cabinet and breaking out some big weapons. With swords in hand, they take out the guards and speaks to Javier about the upcoming plan. They’re several hours away from the turn – which they need to take – and they communicate with Ben down the train to let him know what’s going on. Javi radios in with Ben, feeding back the plan in code, as the two trains work in tandem and prepare to mobilize. The ragtag group in Snowpiercer work together, with Till satisfyingly knocking out Audrey and catching up with Zarah. Ben tries to take out his captor with less grace, and although he does manage to switch lines he finds himself a bloodied mess in the aftermath of this skirmish. Alex communicates with the bridge when the engine starts to experience turbulence, trying to buy them all some time. She claims everything is okay but LJ calls her out for this bluff. Alex is predictably taken away but as she leaves, she snatches up a razor blade from the table. Javi is knocked to the ground and beaten senseless in the wake of this betrayal. Alex is forced to watch this play out too, as the dogs eventually attack him and kill the man. Melanie meanwhile, charges across the barren, bleak wasteland to catch the train. Ben tries his hardest to slow the train down but Wilford has more torque and speeds the train up. Melanie watches this play out, catching us up to the moments during her solo adventure. Alex is forced to watch from the back of the train. Eventually Alex snaps, stabbing Wilford in the neck with the razor. Josie watches from a distance as the doctors immediately start to stitch him up. Alex meanwhile, is forced to run and evade those on Big Alice. She makes it down to Snowpiercer where she confirms that there’s still a way to save Melanie. They want to cut the head off Snowpiercer and manually grab Melanie with a rogue set of train carriages before heading back and recoupling. Their trump card here is Josie, who’s tasked with heading outside and running up the top of the train carriages. Unfortunately, Wilford is too smart for this and blindsides the Brakeman down in the engineer’s room, stopping him from uncoupling the train. Josie however, works for Layton and outsmarts Wilford. She smashes down on the watery fish tank encapsulating the carriage and essentially blows it in half. Layton and the others head off alone, as we cut forward and see Alex and Layton across the ice. They head straight up to the research facility. It’s completely abandoned and Melanie is nowhere to be found. She does, however, have a log of her journey and how she took off. Melanie walked into the white in peace, but not before leaving a message for Alex to hold on. As Ben, Josie and the others check the monitors, they realize that Melanie’s plan was successful and they’ve got various hot spots all over the place. With a plan in place, Layton and the other rebels take off and prepare to attack their train, determined to get it back from Wilford and the others.
The Episode Review
Snowpiercer bows out its second season with a dramatic episode of highs and lows, with Layton and his merry band of rebels finding clues to Melanie’s whereabouts – and concocting a clear plan going forward. It was perhaps obvious that Wilford would outsmart Layton but this time he underestimated Josie being their trump card. This was a really satisfying moment, although with Audrey still a prisoner and Ruth stuck on the train with Wilford, it spells bad news for them both going forward as both trains look for revenge. For the most part though, this second season has been a thoroughly enjoyable ride and the ending leaves the door wide open for where it may go next. With season 3 already green-lit, everything is poised nicely for the upcoming fight.
