We’re almost at the end of the road. Snowpiercer began with the Tailies starting a rebellion against the other classes on the train in order to get better living conditions, and now passengers from all sections of not one but two trains are bleeding and dying to protect the frontier-town home they made for themselves from an invading army of technically advanced soldiers. Granted, the open spaces of New Eden mean the action in this episode doesn’t hit as hard as, say, fight scenes on the train, but there are still some nail-biting moments.
Many of the moments involve Melanie, who comes back after being imprisoned by Nima in the last episode. Nima leaves her a note, trying yet again to justify his actions and delusions. He still thinks he can thaw the world without any setbacks and that a few sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. It’s become very clear that Nima is not that much of a compelling villain, definitely not as the final boss of Snowpiercer. Sure, there is some attempt to flesh out his past and give him layers with his relationship with Alex, but as convincingly as Michael Aronov plays the shyness and greed of Nima, he simply does not have the presence and gravitas of Sean Bean’s Wilford or Clark Gregg’s Milius. As a villain, he works fine, but as the absolute final boss to defeat at the edge of Armageddon, he leaves something to be desired.
Picking up where we left off, Layton and the New Eden citizens are still under siege from the sniper — who technically doesn’t try to kill them but simply has them pinned down so they can’t retaliate. With the soldiers breaking the deal and opening fire on people, Alex finally snaps and turns on them, frying the computer and making it impossible to switch the tracks. Layton, Sykes, and Javi fight their way to Alex while the latter works on building a device that can jam the radio signal and stop the silo forces from burying the town.
Back on Snowpiercer, Melanie refuses to help Nima destroy the world, and Nima finishes taking the mask off and turns full military oppressor. He gives Melanie an option: Either help them take Big Alice back or he will bury the town. So much for a “few” sacrifices when, as far as we know, this is half of humanity right here. Melanie still tries to appeal to the humanity in Nima, reminding him of a time when he would not even work for a company if it dumped chemicals in the ocean. Now look at him, poisoning the world and not able to listen to any other opinion but his own. Again, this is a bit too little, too late when it comes to Nima’s characterization — and it doesn’t stop there.
In New Eden, Layton rescues Alex from one of the commandos, and Alex finally asks about Wilford. When Layton tells her how he died, she seems clearly upset, even if she does admit that she can’t blame Layton for trying to kill Wilford as she once tried it herself. Oz distracts the sniper by taunting him on the radio, giving the best sheriff in the new Wild West, Bess Till, enough time to find the sniper and take him down. And not a moment too soon, because there is only one more bullet left, which Till uses to save Layton from a commando. With that, the battle is won. Alex finally warns the group that their original ambush plan won’t work because Nima just has too many soldiers on his side. What’s more, she tells them the stakes: that Nima’s compound will spread over the globe, erode the atmosphere, and poison them all, making their blood boil out of their body as they become unable to breathe. You know, just another Tuesday in Snowpiercer.
Nima pivots, and his new plan is to bring an entire army, not just the masked commandos, but all his forces, to completely eradicate the town. Thankfully, Melanie manages to trick him into following a different plan. She joins the armed forces, dozens of them, all heavily armed. But rather than start firing on the people of New Eden, they fire the knockout gas we’ve seen Nima use before to knock out everyone in town. The victory is short-lived; the army literally just waltzes into town unopposed. Nima, Melanie, and Alex (who found her mom and followed her) capture Big Alice without a hiccup, while Josie wonders if Melanie sold them out again — which, to be honest, would be on brand.
However, she wouldn’t because she knows it doesn’t matter what Nima offers her; his plan will kill them all regardless of allegiance or loyalty. She immediately gets to work on a counterattack, contacting Layton and revealing that she will bring Snowpiercer into town. All Layton and the others have to do is get onboard and attack from inside. With a little help from Javi, the revolutionaries overwhelm a group of soldiers stationed by Town Hall and realize that their weapons are for show — they don’t have any bullets. At this same time, Nima goes on a little parade around New Eden like a conqueror surveying their new land. Bootlicking Headwood gives him a tour of the facilities and talks about how alike the two are because they are masochists who sacrifice people for their goals.
Finally, Snowpiercer arrives, just going over the track switch like it was nothing (so much for that whole plan). A group of soldiers gets off the train to defend it, and Layton and the others make their move. Now this is the thrilling action sequence I was waiting for, with the army of New Eden organizing, archers (using crossbows) on the back while the front lines charge at the silo soldiers using axes, poles, knives, and whatever weapons Till managed to make in time. They make it onboard the train, and round two is on. Though Nima, ever the snake, orders his soldiers to blow up the hill and bury the town, it doesn’t work. Javi managed to jam the signal and save the town. While the man who froze the world screams out in anger, Melanie and Alex escape and head to the sub-train to join the fight one last time.
Tailie Thoughts
• So how many people are left, exactly? The silo mostly had workers and soldiers, but the admiral said that many people on Snowpiercer died during the retrofitting. As far as we know, New Eden has half of humanity, so how exactly is destroying the town a “small” sacrifice?
• Poor Alex. First, she finds that the man who kind of raised her killed himself. Now it turns out Nima is her father, explaining why she is so smart.