Good-bye, New Eden, we hardly ye. As great as it was to change the scenery and get some sequences outdoors, this is still a show about people on a train. By the end of this week, we’ll likely be stuck indoors for most of the remainder of this final season of Snowpiercer. Thankfully, this episode makes the reasoning behind the decision to leave New Eden behind reasonably sound. Well, it is as sound as anything involving our favorite hot-headed former cop, former revolutionary leader, former mayor, and former pirate rebel can be.
As soon as Layton realizes that Doctor Headwood didn’t just leave in a hurry but actually had time to plan the kidnapping of Layton’s daughter, Liana — she even took her husband’s shoes that she kept behind glass for some reason — he decides he needs to head out to find the kidnappers by taking Big Alice. Of course, simply taking the train is not as easy as it sounds. After all, it took months to convert the engine into a power source for the entire New Eden community, and it is the engine that is keeping them alive. But none of it matters to Layton, who goes fully off the rails (pun intended) this episode, lashing out at all of his closest friends and allies. He insults Oz for needing help and causing Zarah to go to him up in the mountain and get killed. He lashes out at Josie for not supporting him going rogue and implying she would care more if it was her own daughter kidnapped.
When the council meets to discuss the idea of splitting Big Alice, Ruth accuses Layton of making a mockery of the very system he put into place, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t listen to the fact that — without the engine — they won’t be able to heat the town. “The days of hijacking trains are over,†Ruth tells Layton, which is exactly the moment he goes ahead and tries to hijack the train. Forcing Javi to help him, Layton disconnects the train, and thankfully, there is enough power to sustain New Eden for three weeks while Big Alice goes away to chase after Liana. Right before they can leave, however, the two are confronted by Sykes, Ruth, and Josie, with the former beating Layton up until he submits to a vote from the entire town to allow him to leave. In arguably the biggest surprise of the entire season so far, Layton does not do a big inspirational speech because he decides to address the people not as a rebellion leader or even a councilman but as a father. All he wants is to fight for his daughter the way he fought for the people of Snowpiercer and now New Eden.
Unsurprisingly, Layton gets the engine. Not only that but he doesn’t go alone, as most of the Tailies decide to help him out — as does virtually every main character. This includes Alex, who does some experiments on a bird and deduces that something is happening to the heat pocket and perhaps it is not a pocket but a bubble about to burst. The only exception seems to be Mr. Roche, who stays behind with Oz and Javi. Now, the race is on to catch up to Snowpiercer before the three weeks are up and New Eden dies.
Back at Snowpiercer, Ben and Bess are captured after letting Audrey go in the last episode, and the two are forced into labor. That is until the Admiral sends Ben on a special task. Turns out, one of the Admiral’s men died by being electrocuted in a job he wasn’t qualified to do, but Ben is. If Ben goes to the agricultural car and reroutes an electrical panel and redirects the ventilation, the Admiral promises to reduce the worker shifts back down to a more comfortable 12 hours a day — he ends up agreeing to ten hours. The plan is that they can use a new fertilizer brought over by Dr. Nima, which can double food production because, apparently, the workers (meaning the residents of Snowpiercer) keep dropping like flies.
When Ben and Bess head to the agricultural car, things are rather suspicious. For one, they find control panels ripped out, brand-new panels installed elsewhere, and a pipe that wasn’t there shortly before that lead to the subtrain. After finding gas masks and the “fertilizer†in some canisters, Till begins to think it is maybe cyanide. Except so far, the Admiral doesn’t seem the type to just execute people, especially when they can be of service to his grand mission. There is something chemical here, but not poison — despite the dead soldier having chemical burns on him, not electrical ones. Proving her theory, Bess lures the Admiral into the car and activates the gas, hoping to sacrifice herself and take the Admiral with her.
Except she wakes up later in prison. It turns out the gas was neither a fertilizer nor poison but a tranquilizer. As the two figure out, the workers pushed the entire plan up. The tranquilizer is not to punish the people of Snowpiercer but is located in the back car, positioned perfectly for an ambush when Big Alice arrives. The Admiral is preparing for war.
Tailie Thoughts
• It seems Snowpiercer really wants the audience to debate whether there can be such a thing as a “good dictator†through the Admiral. After all, his brutality and authoritarianism are killing the remnants of humanity, but he is doing so to finish the mission that is literally going to save mankind. He is so focused on that idea that he is continuously disgusted at every big piece of décor onboard Snowpiercer; the lavish paintings are useless and worthless unless they can be burned to keep the people warm. The aquarium with exotic creatures is useless because “When the world is starving, you don’t name the lobsters in the tank.†You know what, he does have a point there, at least.
• With every major character leaving on Big Alice, we are never going back to New Eden, right? This is as big a death sign as they come. And if that wasn’t enough, Alex’s experiments suggest that the heat pocket will die down soon enough, as Nima seems to confirm. They may now know it, but the people of New Eden desperately need the Admiral’s plan to work soon.